There are two meanings in Chinese for 失神(losing God).

1. One refers to people who have not paid attention and so their minds have floated away. There’s no spirit in their eyes
2. Literally losing God (this is the meaning we’ll discuss)

In Taiwan, there was a news report. The Taipei police had received a case about someone losing God. At that time the Taiwanese economy was booming and people struck it rich. Many of them changed their idols from wooden to gold idols. Because of this, they unwittingly invited thieves into their homes and temples. Many of these golden idols were stolen. The police got into action and recovered over 600 idols. The reported reported thus, “When the owners of the idols went to the police station to retrieve their idols, the first thing they did wasn’t to thank the police but to kneel down before the idols to give thanks and worship.”

Will we have such a similar case of losing our God? Of course not because we have no status or idol in our church. Our God is spirit, you can never steal Him. And yet we have cases of people losing their God.

The previous sermon discusses two characters who lost their God - Samson and Judas. The third character will be discussed in this sermon.

1. Adam
   Gen 3:23-24
   Adam lost the garden of Eden, because he had gone against the instruction of God and eaten the forbidden fruit. He just ate of the fruit, why was the punishment so severe? It seems like he only committed one sin but actually it consists of a series of sins.

1) Firstly, he didn’t believe the word of God.
Gen 2:16-17
God said, “In the day you eat of it, you will surely die.” This is something very serious. Yet, Adam didn’t believe the words of God were that serious. He thought God was a loving Heavenly Father. “How can He take my life just for eating the fruit?” He didn’t regard the word of God as true but rather as a mere warning.

Before the devil even enticed him, he already doubted the word of God. Therefore when the devil spoke through the serpent that they wouldn’t surely die, they aligned themselves with the words of the devil rather than the words of God, because they had originally had such a mindset. “It can’t be that serious that it’ll bring me death.” This is like the saying: wise men think alike! 英雄所见略同

They took the true words of God as false and the false words of the devil as true. They would rather the believe the words of the devil rather than the words of God.

After they ate of the fruit, they immediately recognised they were naked. They became afraid and ashamed. At that point in time, they regretted listening to the words of the devil; they regretted not believing the words of God. “Why did I doubt the word of God?” But their regret was too late.

So the Lord Jesus warns us, “Man does not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds by the mouth of God.”

We must understand that we don’t only live by food and bread alone but by the word that proceeds by the mouth of God. This is because Man is made in the image of God. That’s why Man must be aligned with God. Only if the life of Man is preserved by God can this life be eternal. Man has life. Man can also eat physical food to sustain his physical life. But Man cannot on his own preserve his life eternally.

Although from times of old till now, many seek to extend their lives to live forever. Yet mankind has still failed to find the path to eternity. Because life belongs to God. God is the Lord of life. Only God can preserve our lives unto eternity. Just like what Jesus said, “I am the true vine and you are the branches.” The branches have life, that’s why they can bear fruit and have flowers. But the life in the branches is not the original life, they aren’t the source. That’s why the branch must still be joined from the main tree, which is the source of life. If a branch is broken off from the main tree, it will eventually wither off and die.

Man is created by God. Man has life but Man has life only because he’s born and not because he is the source of life. That’s why Man lives by every word that proceeds by the mouth of God. But Adam chose to doubt the word of God and not believe, consequently losing the grace of God.

Today the Lord Jesus has saved us so we can once again re-enter paradise. We must clearly listen and follow the word of God, because it concerns our eternal lives.

2) They didn’t hold on to their proper domain
Gen 3:4-5
The devil said that the day they eat of the fruit would be the day they’d be like God knowing good and evil. From their action of them partaking the fruit, we can see that Adam desired to be like God. If he had no desire to be like God, he wouldn’t have listened to what the devil told him that his eyes would be open and he would be like God the day he ate the fruit. If you have no desire to be like God, you wouldn’t take the fruit when told you could be like God. So not only the devil should be blamed for enticing them, they too had the desire in their hearts in the first place.

This doesn’t mean Adam and Eve didn’t know what was good and evil before that. They were made in the image of God.
Eph 4:24
“put on a new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness”
Adam knew of true righteousness and holiness. Also, God gave Adam authority to rule over the entire world. Adam named every animal. Being able to do this shows Adam had wisdom and capability, enabling him to administer over the entire world.

From here we can see Adam started off having wisdom, able to discern good and evil.

The devil also said the day they ate of it their eyes would be open. This doesn’t mean the eyes of Adam and Eve were originally dim. What it meant was that what they could see was limited. By eating of the fruit, their eyes would be able to see like God, seeing without limit. Becoming like God and having an unlimited ability, and knowing good and evil, you’d have no need of God, since you’re like Him.

Therefore it wasn’t just as simple as knowing good and evil after eating of the fruit. It was becoming equal with God and not listening to the instructions of God. This is what the devil has wanted to pursue.

The devil is a fallen angel. What was his sin?
Jude 6
The sin of the angels who have been judged was not keeping their proper domain. Angels and Man are crested by God. Therefore both angels and Man ought to stick to their proper office and domain the Creator has placed them in. Sadly some angels chose not to keep to their proper domain and chose not to continue listening to the instructions of God. Instead they wanted to lift their status up to be equal with God.

Isa 14:12-15
Lucifer means “son of the morning”. Lucifer was an archangel. He was full of power. But he wanted to lift himself up to be equal with God. He was unwilling to stay on and stick to the office/position his Creator had placed him. He wanted to be equal. This in itself is a form of pride; being unwilling to submit to the authority of God. He was also unhappy God had decided his proper domain to be the created. Even though he knew that he was created and actually be appreciated to his Creator (if not for the Creator creating him, he wouldn’t have this glory), when he had glory, he wanted to be equal to God.

Hence there were angels who didn’t keep their proper domain and left their original abode.

Adam was the sin of God. He was given authority to administer the entire world. His status was even more honourable than that of the angels. Likewise, he didn’t keep to his proper domain. He also wanted to lift himself up to be equal with God. Therefore he believed the devil that he would be like God when he ate of the fruit. Consequently he was driven out of the garden of Eden.

Why did God not allow Adam and Eve to eat of the fruit. In English, it says it is of the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil?
Some people misunderstand that eating of the fruit enabled them to discern good and evil. If they didn’t eat of it, they wouldn’t have been able to.

The Chinese translation is clearer. It says the fruit is the fruit of the tree that allows you to discern the good and evil. This means that if you eat of the fruit, you’re evil. If you don’t, you’re good. The fruit discerns whether you’re a good or evil person. This is not about being able to discern what’s good and evil after you eat of it because Adam and Eve already had that ability!

So the reason God put the forbidden fruit there was to test them. To test them about? Whether they were willing to hold on to their proper domain. Whether they were ready to obey the instructions of God. If they kept to their proper domain and kept the instructions of God, their end would be eternity, living forever in the garden of God with God. But if they didn’t keep their proper domain, they’d be chased out. This was a very important test for His children.

Likewise God has tests for His children today. For example, baptism. Why do we need to take such trouble to be baptised in the sea? Why must we conduct footwashing after that? Why must we pray for the Holy Spirit evidenced by tongue speaking which sounds strange? Some of our friends may say, “You hold such a senior position at work but in church you speak gibberish!” Some people find it hard to handle this.

The crux of the matter lies in who gave these instructions. These were commanded by the Lord Jesus. He told His disciples to teach all He had commanded and He would be with them till the end of the age. All these teachings of Jesus are so important. We must continue to preach right to the end of the earth.

But we see many people doubting these instructions. “Really? Must we do all these things? Must we really be baptised in living water, have our feet washed and speak in tongues?”

When someone tells us that it’s not necessary, we’d gladly accept it!

Have we wavered in what we originally believed in? Our attitude towards the word of God has changed, we don’t believe the words as they are in a simple manner.

Everyone seems to be like God. How can we be saved? Jesus said this this this way. But some people say, “You don’t need all these things! As long as you have faith it’s enough! As long as you have love it’s enough!” As if they are the judge in the future.

Many people want to be like God. Everyone doesn’t want to listen to God. While they don’t want to listen to the instructions of God, they want others to listen to their instructions. If this was the case, isn’t this person one who wants to be like God who doesn’t keep their proper domain. Let us ask God to help us in this.

3) The sin of greed and dissatisfaction
Were Adam and Eve really greedy?
Gen 3:6
If they had a lack of food and ate of the forbidden fruit, perhaps it’s reasonable 清幽可怜. If God said they couldn’t eat of all the trees and could only eat of one tree, it’ll be difficult to blame them for eating forbidden fruit. But actually it’s the other way around! They could eat of all the fruit and couldn’t eat from just one tree. Adam and Eve should have been contented and thankful for all the trees that could eat of. There was no reason to eat of the forbidden fruit. Doesn’t eating of the forbidden tree just show their greed? They really deserve to be whacked.

That’s why Paul said godliness with contentment is great gain. To be godly is good. But even with godliness one needs to be contented, without which one could still fall. We must be like Paul. “I’ve learnt to be contented.” We really must learn to be contented.

Let’s see how Paul learnt to be contented.
Phil 4:11-13
We often tell ourselves that if we can arrive to a particular circumstance or achieve so much then I’d be content. “I’m not greedy. If I can be like him, I’d be content.” All of us have a target; an ideal. But when we finally get there, are we truly contented. If that were indeed true, the world would be a lot more peaceful.
Paul said that in whatever state he was in to be contented. It’s not being content when you’re in a particular state. Instead, to be content in WHATEVER state you’re in. So whether he’s in an environment where he’s poor, rich, adversity, peace, he was content.

There’s no way we can control the environment we’re in. Sometimes we think our own hard work will bring us the environment we desire. But that may not be the case. Because by the time you arrive at that state, we decide it’s not ideal enough after all. We think about what’s lacking. Furthermore this environment can change anytime.

So it’s not about choosing which environment to be in and then being content. But being content in whatever environment.

Anything anyone has can be taken away. Even if it’s not taken away by someone else, it could be taken away by natural calamities. But the attitude one can have towards life is not something can be taken away by anyone.

The devil took everything away from Job. But he couldn’t take away the reverence Job had for God no matter the circumstance. Freedom was taken from Paul. But the attitude Paul had towards life couldn’t be taken away.

What’s critical is the attitude we have towards life no matter what circumstance we’re in. Paul left us a wonderful example.

“In whatever state I’m in, I’m content.”
How was Paul able to do this? Through Christ who strengthens him.

If Adam had been content, he would not have sinned.

We must ask the Lord to preserve us so that we can be godly. Also to add contentment to that, so we will not lose God.