Series 1 - Lesson 6 - Annotation 11
What deceptive thoughts concerning life does the Adversary give to the race?
11. The Adversary, represented in Genesis by the serpent, presented the first deceptive thought when he told the woman the first lie -- "Ye shall not surely die (Gen. 3:4). The woman believed the lie instead of believing Jehovah God, the law of life. Jehovah God had warned the man that "in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die" (Gen. 2:17). The "eating" of the tree represents disobedience to the law of God; thinking thoughts that do not accord with the truth of man's being. By taking these false beliefs and wrong concepts into his unfolding consciousness man begins a process that is called the "fall of man," that is, he begins to form a consciousness, a pattern of thinking and feeling, that is adulterated. (See Annotations for Lesson Three, Lessons in Truth.) He thus "dies" or becomes unconscious of good only as being the reality. He has a consciousness that is filled with beliefs of both "good and evil" (Gen. 2:17).
The serpent of sense (i.e., wrong use of the five senses) tends to encourage disobedience to spiritual law by tempting man to sin through plausible arguments such as these: "You do not have to obey God. You do not have to think only good thoughts. It cannot hurt you to have sensual desires and appetites. It does not hurt you to be envious, to be jealous, to hate, to want revenge, to be greedy, to be self-righteous. You have done it before and you are still alive." The subconscious phase of mind, or the feeling nature (the feminine quality of mind represented by Eve), is not given to reasoning. It accepts whatever is given to it as Truth, acting principally from desire and impulse, and is thus easily beguiled or fooled. The reasoning state, the intellectual phase or thinking faculty (the masculine quality of mind represented by Adam) is disobedient and thus sins willfully. In such cases the mental law acts automatically and brings negative results.
Eternal life implies an eternal, unbroken consciousness of life in the spirit, soul, and body of man. This consciousness is attained only by man's uniting his intellect (thinking faculty) and his feeling nature with the Christ Mind or Superconscious. This can be done only under the guidance of Spirit. Such true guidance enables man to incorporate into his mind and body the life, substance, and intelligence of Spirit already a part of his divine nature. (See Annotations for Lesson Ten, Lessons in Truth.) He does this through the power of the creative Word of God carried consciously into his soul (mind) and body.
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Preceding Entry: What is the Christ righteousness?
Following Entry: What is reincarnation? What purpose does it have in the experience of man?
