Ch. 2
The First Adam Brought the Cursed Nature
In the very beginning, Adam, the first man, was created in the image of God (Gen. 1:27). He had total innocence and a pure heart with no impure motives. He was holy and blameless. Since God tests the hearts of everyone He has created, Adam was given a choice between the tree of life and the tree of death. On the tree of death were the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the boastful pride of life. “But the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die” (Gen. 2:17)
Then Satan tempted Eve with a lie and enticed her to eat from the tree of death by telling her: “Ye shall not surely die” (Gen. 3:4). Eve received this new doctrine from Satan and ate from the tree of the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the boastful pride of life. Since Adam apparently loved Eve more than he loved God, when Eve gave this fruit to Adam, he ate also.
Because of this sin of Adam, all mankind received a cursed nature, the “flesh” nature, which is the nature of Satan. Every descendant of Adam then came into this world and walked in self-love, self-centeredness, and selfishness. They did not love God or their neighbor; they lived for themselves, like Satan.