Bethel Baptist Service: January 14,  2018: 10:15 am

Following Jesus Body, Mind and Attitude take the view that the sources of all sins are the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life. It treats the story of Adam and Eve not only as that of creation but of all human beings. Therefore, Following Jesus Body, Mind and Attitude examines Genesis Chapter 3: 1-7 from the perspective of what went wrong in the idyllic setting of the Garden of Eden.  Adam and Eve were discontented with what God had provided. They wanted it all. They wanted what God had given them plus what he had restricted. They were enticed by the forbidden. Absent was any self-denial. There was no gratitude. What God provided was theirs by right and not by His grace. Adam and Eve desired to be as wise as God. They trusted their own understanding. They, therefore, disobeyed God. The fruit was good for food: the lust of the flesh. It was pleasing to the eyes: the lust of the eyes; and desirable for wisdom: the pride of life.

Following Jesus Body, Mind and Attitude contrast the action of Adam and Eden in the idyllic garden with those of Jesus in the barren desert as He was tempted by Satan, Mathew 4: 1-11. The temptations of Jesus were with respect to the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life. In contrast to disobeying God, as Adam and Eve had done, Jesus resisted and overcame these temptations by acting in obedience to the Word of God.

Following Jesus Body, Mind and Attitude include the prediction that in 2018 every human being, without exception will be tempted and tested by the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life. It concludes with the admonition of Paul in Romans Chapter 12: 1-3 to discipline the desires of the body; to transform and renew the mind, and not to think of ourselves more highly than we ought.