Human Fall Part 2

My name is Jack Corley, and I'll be talking this evening about the Fall of Man, part two. Those of you who were here last week or watched it on Ustream will realise that we spoke about the issue of how evil began, and how we human beings find ourselves in a world of conflict. Whereas most people seem to think that it's an issue of injustice, poverty, race, and a host of other things, we see the root of evil to be much more fundamental, with many of these issues being symptoms of a deeper cause. Last week, we explained that right at the beginning of human history, there was an original couple, understood in the Abrahamic faiths to be Adam and Eve, who were to be the models for God in creating an ideal family. They were meant to be, in a sense, the prototype of the ideal family. However, due to the interference from the Archangel Lucifer with Eve in a sexual union, Eve betrayed God and also betrayed Adam, later seducing Adam into a physical relationship in a premature way. Because she herself was already stained as a result of her relationship with Lucifer, both Adam, Eve, and Lucifer, all the people that God trusted, were cut off from their Creator. Since these couple were meant to become the true parents in history, they could not set that example; they became false parents, and their children also turned out to be false, meaning that they now had sin as part of their inheritance. Of course, we know that the first son, Cain, murdered his younger brother, Abel. This was obviously a very tragic start to human history, and we have been suffering the consequences ever since.

A lot of people who have heard this story or read it may take it at face value, thinking it was the literal eating of a fruit or, at the very most, perhaps just an act of disobedience. Irrespective of what the act was, simple disobedience was the problem. Of course, that's true, but we also see that there was an actual act which severed our relationship with God and resulted in our present-day people being born with original sin. This kind of situation leaves many unanswered questions, such as why it was possible for Adam and Eve to deviate from God. Did God know that they would deviate? If so, why did He allow it to happen? Perhaps He could have intervened or stopped it. These are among the many questions people ask, and some of the questions we'll be dealing with tonight. I hope that you'll find the presentation to be interesting, inspiring, informative, and useful for your personal spiritual life. So let's begin with part two of the Fall of Man.

How was it possible for Adam and Eve to fall? This is a question many people ask, particularly those who believe in one or other of the Abrahamic faiths, or just conscious people in general who question the existence of God. How is it possible for evil to come into this world if the Creator we believe in is meant to be only good? I want to refer you back to one of the points made in an earlier presentation about the issue of growth. Everything grows over time. For example, in the world of plants or animals, they do not simply appear fully grown; they are born as very small and sometimes helpless creatures, but over time they grow to what we would call perfection. This means that all of their organs and their bodies fully function as they were meant to, and they have matured to the fullest extent. This could be the definition of perfection. In the case of a fruit tree, the point where it bears fruit is the point where it has reached perfection, but that obviously doesn't happen instantly; it takes time and follows the principles of growth.

In the case of our first ancestors, Adam and Eve, their bodies were designed to grow pretty much automatically. I think all of us understand this. We can affect our bodily growth to some degree; if we overeat, undereat, or don't take basic care of ourselves, then our bodies can be affected. However, generally, we do not control fundamentally our body's growth; that is something that is preordained or predestined based on our genetic makeup. In the case of our spiritual growth, it's different. We have control over the way we grow. Here we have a situation where there was a certain period when Adam and Eve, our first ancestors, were in a period of what we call indirect dominion. What does that mean? It means that they were not able to communicate fully with God. God was not able to directly communicate fully with them. Over time, they had to follow a certain command or principle through which they would come into a relationship with God, where they would no longer need commands; the love of God would guide their lives and be the rule in their lives.

If Adam and Eve had actually followed the principle, obeyed the commandment, and reached the level of perfection or oneness with God, their Creator, then they could not possibly commit some unprincipled action. It's like if you are absolutely in love with somebody; you would not want to harm them. You would do everything possible to care for them, to love them, and to express your love for them. You would not need rules because what would govern your relationship is love itself; that is the highest law. The principle guides us towards this perfection. However, there is one power which is actually stronger than the power of mere principles or commands, and that is the force of love. Human beings are primarily emotional creatures, not always rational. Even though we may understand rules and regulations or principles, often what influences us most is the power of love or some other emotion. We are influenced often by strong emotions rather than by reasoning.

Why did God make love stronger than the principle? You might think that one way God could have prevented the fall was by simply making a rule so strong that they had no choice but to come to Him. This would result in the creation of more or less robots. Love is the motive and purpose for the creation of humanity; it is the source of life and happiness. For love to fulfil its role, it has to be the supreme power. Years ago, the late Sir Winston Churchill made a statement about democracy: he said that democracy is the worst form of government, except for all the others. What did he mean by that? It means that it's the best system we have; it gives the greatest freedom to achieve our goals, but it is very far from an ideal system. Any system which depends on laws, rules, and regulations is obviously not ideal because ultimately the highest way to govern a human being or anything is through love. Therefore, God meant that human beings should be governed not by laws, not by the Ten Commandments or any other commandments, but by love itself. This way, man would act out of that love and in response to that love from God.

For example, when Jesus was asked which among all the rules in the Mosaic law was the most important, His answer was quite simple: first of all, love God with all of your heart, with all of your soul, and with all of your mind. The second is like it: love your neighbour as yourself. He concluded that therein lie all the laws and commandments. In other words, we don't need a list of rules and commandments; ideally, God wants to rule us through love. He instituted the principle that love is the supreme power, the supreme law, and that if the first ancestors had reached that level, they would have experienced that love, which would have guided them to be righteous, true, and faithful. In other words, He wants dominion of love over human beings. The great beauty of God is that He wants us to be enveloped in this Divine love.

During their growing period, Adam and Eve had not yet reached that level of love in their relationship with God, which meant there was the possibility that they could fall. There was a certain vulnerable period when they were still immature and still growing. They were trying to follow the command of God but were vulnerable to some force from outside, which could be a force of unprincipled love. Before perfection, there was the possibility of human beings falling. However, after perfection, God intended that there would be no possibility of them returning again; they would simply not want to. They would have been fully content, fully complete in their hearts, and would not have the desire to go anywhere other than the realm of God's love. The possibility of the Fall was during that period of growing to perfection.

If a force of unprincipled love were to enter, then the possibility indeed was there for Adam and Eve to deviate. They had to stand very firmly on principle, even if emotionally they were being turned in another direction. They had to keep very strongly to the conviction that the command of God and the direction of God was right, even if they didn't fully appreciate why that command was so important. The vulnerable time in their development was, of course, during this period of what we call indirect dominion. Now the question is: why did God give the commandment? Why was the commandment necessary? Simply to prevent the fall. If Adam and Eve had trusted the word of God and obeyed the commandment, in other words, trusted the principle and obeyed the command of God, together they would have been able to repel the force of unprincipled love. Only the combined following of principle and the commandment would ensure that Adam and Eve would not have taken the wrong direction. The commandment was a wall of protection for Adam and Eve; had they obeyed that command, they would have reached perfection, and the force of unprincipled love would not have been able to enter into this relationship.

Why did God give the commandment? This is another very important issue. He wanted human beings to have dominion over the natural world, including angels. He wanted human beings to grow and become those who would finally inherit God's blessing. That would be possible because of the effort that they themselves would have made. By fulfilling their responsibility, they were in a position to have certain inheritance rights, and they would also have the dignity of being children of God. They would have made that choice freely, and therefore the relationship between God and His children would have been one of a mature and conscious decision by His own children to come into the bosom of God's direct dominion and love. The commandment was a temporary measure until Adam and Eve made the right choice. Did freedom cause the fall? Of course, you could say that if they were created as robots, they couldn't have fallen. But is that what God wanted? Do parents want to have robotic children? I don't think so. You might like to play around with robots sometimes, but I don't suppose you'd like your children to be like that.

So, the question is: did freedom cause the fall? True freedom, free will, is to be followed by free action. In other words, you are given the freedom to make a choice and to act in a certain way. Freedom also means being free within the principle. By following this principle, you attain perfection. There is no freedom without responsibility. Unfortunately, that's one of the things we often forget; we can have a loose lifestyle and think there are no results or consequences. There is also no freedom without accomplishments. Within the scope of the freedom that we have, we should actually accomplish. In this case, we're talking about how Adam and Eve were meant to develop as the children of God. They were meant to perfect themselves, utilising that free choice and demonstrating to God their devotion and conviction as His children.

There are limits to freedom. For example, if you decide that you do not believe in gravity anymore, that's fine to have that belief, and you're free to believe that, of course. You're also free to walk to the edge of the cliffs and try to walk to France, but you will discover you will not get very far; in fact, you'll get no further than the base of the cliffs, many hundreds of feet down. You will never make it to France, no matter how much you believe in your freedom to defy gravity. What happens here is that you lose your freedom when you violate the principle. In this case, gravity takes over once you step over the cliff. In the case of Adam and Eve, they lost their freedom once they stepped beyond the border of the principle in God's command. Since Eve's heart and intellect were still immature when she was tempted by the angel, she became confused emotionally and intellectually. Although the freedom of her original mind induced in her a sense of foreboding, she crossed the boundary and fell. This was, of course, a real issue, a problem where Eve was no longer free once she had stepped across the boundary.

How would the commandment work? Again, I quote from the Divine Principle: no matter how freely Eve related to the angel, if she had maintained faith in the commandment...

If Eve had not responded to the temptation, the power of unprincipled love would not have been generated, and she would not have fallen. Even though there was a feeling of temptation coming towards Eve, if she had maintained her conviction on the principle, she would have rejected any unrighteous approaches by the Archangel. There would have been no possible relationship; in fact, the Archangel would have been protected from himself. We point out that humans are in a position higher than angels, so they were meant to protect Lucifer from himself. If they had obeyed the principle and rejected Lucifer, it would have been beneficial for him, for themselves, and for the whole province. The question of how the fall was possible has caused much theological debate throughout the centuries. God wanted His children, not robots, and in the process of growing, there was a period of vulnerability where they could take a wrong direction. Unfortunately, they did. God wanted relationships of love, not simple obedience without choice.

Love must be freely and spontaneously given. If someone is forced to respond, that is not an exciting relationship, and joy cannot be found in such a situation. Joy comes when love is freely reciprocated. I recall seeing a card in America that said, 'You are great because you are a human being. You are great because you are free. But the greatest thing about you is that with that freedom, you choose me.' Wouldn't you like to receive a card like that from your spouse? Out of the billions of people in the world, they choose you, and that is the beauty of love. With all this freedom, they choose you. Likewise, with God, even if there were unrighteous temptations coming from any direction, they would still choose to stay on the principled path and develop their oneness with God. Therefore, God gave His children this freedom to give the relationship of love meaning.

With freedom comes the possibility of evil and the potential to go wrong. When you love someone, you give your heart to them, making yourself vulnerable to betrayal. This is the nature of love. When God created human beings, He entrusted His love to them. He trusted them to grow into maturity and gave them the biological capacity to procreate. God entrusted us with an enormous amount of hope and trust. Unfortunately, this trust was betrayed. Many people wonder why God did not intervene to deal with this issue. Why did He not decide to interfere when He saw they were going in the wrong direction? God would not violate the principle. Humans reach maturity by fulfilling their responsibilities. To give meaning to the relationship, there must be freedom, and freedom comes with responsibility.

As parents, we understand that children are born helpless, but they grow and mature over time. Even at three years old, they are much more mature than when they were born. However, you cannot talk to a three-year-old about serious matters; they simply cannot comprehend. You must communicate indirectly through stories and in a childish manner. Likewise, God could not communicate with His children until they reached a level of maturity where they could comprehend His heart. If God intervened, He would be ignoring that responsibility and violating His own principle. God alone is the creator, and this is an important point regarding why He did not intervene. Whatever God relates to has the value of being acknowledged by Him. God was not responsible for the actions of the Archangel. If the Archangel had followed God's will and Adam and Eve had done the same, evil would not have come into existence. It arose from their violation of principle, which has nothing to do with God.

As a parent, God feels responsible because He created this world and all human beings, including the Archangel Lucifer. Fundamentally, God feels responsible, but He cannot directly touch evil, as that is not something He created. Touching it would give it the level of something He created. For example, in the modern world, governments face issues like terrorism. If they acknowledge terrorists as a legitimate opposition, they are recognising them as equal to the rest of creation. In the beginning of history, God could not acknowledge the evil act, as doing so would dignify those actions as part of His world. God cannot allow Satan to become a co-creator of a new principle. As painful as it is for God to work throughout history to save humanity, that is the price paid to work within His own principle to restore mankind.

Another reason God did not intervene is to make human beings lords of creation. We were given a portion of responsibility and a time period to grow so that we could mature and have the right of inheritance. Humans, distinct from other creatures, were the only ones with this responsibility. If they fulfilled their responsibility, they would gain the right to rule over creation. In the Genesis creation story, God did not go around with Adam and Eve, instructing them on naming the creatures. Instead, He gave them the responsibility to name creation, indicating His heart and the trust He placed in them. They could choose how to name the creatures and gain qualification by inheriting God's character and creativity. God could not intervene; if He could, He would have resolved the problem long ago. There are very good reasons for His inability to intervene.

Reverend Moon spent 14 years in prayer and study to uncover these basic answers. Most of the principles he discovered took nine years, but this particular issue took 14 years to understand. A common question is why God did not prevent the fall if He foresaw it. Was the fall predestined? These are critical questions. God gave the commandment to convey His message to His children without interfering in their freedom and responsibility. The commandment was not an interference; it was clear guidance, but the choice remained theirs. God respects us and trusts us in a relationship of love. We can look at the story of the prodigal son. When the younger son asked for his inheritance and left, the father did not stop him. The son squandered his inheritance and eventually returned, repentant. The father welcomed him back with open arms. The main point is that the father did not intervene, even though he knew his son was immature and would likely mess up. Once the son recognised his mistake and repented, the father was ready to embrace him again.

Constantly bombarded by this, this has been the pain of God: to try to create a world or extricate people out of such an environment. So, what is sin? This is again a big question because various cultures have defined this issue of good and evil in different ways according to their perspectives and cultures. According to the Divine Principle, sin is a thought or deed which violates Heavenly law. When one forms a relationship with Satan, in other words, if we commit any act that violates Heavenly law and allows Satan to point this out based on principle, then we have committed sin. If you think about Satan as the prosecuting attorney, he is the one who prosecutes you in front of God or in front of the Heavenly Constitution. What does that mean? He can only do that based on the law; Satan cannot prosecute you outside of the principle. The moment you step outside of the principle, using the principle which he knows, he can say you violated it. That's why in the scripture, Satan is referred to as an accuser, and he accuses God's children day and night. People feel this accusation in a subconscious way and have feelings of guilt and shame, which constantly bothers them and prevents them from being free.

The only way we can be free, as Jesus said, is, 'You shall know the truth, and the truth will make you free.' In other words, when we learn clearly what the right way to go is and adhere to that path without any false step, then we will be free. Satan can come and say what he wants, but by principle, you cannot accuse me; you have no right to accuse me because I know the principle and the right way to go. So, get lost. Like Jesus when he was being tempted in the desert, he responded in each case by principle. All his answers were carefully crafted to represent principle; he didn't say one word that Satan could catch him on, and finally, Satan had to disappear. One of the great benefits of this teaching is that we are given the tools in our hands to defend ourselves, protect ourselves, and know our enemy. Our enemy was the creature that was closest to God before the creation of man, and he took this knowledge with him and used it against God's children. That's why we, as God's children, have to know this and utilize it to finally reject Satan's attempts to crush us.

Good and evil are determined by motivation, direction, purpose, and also consequences. Sometimes it's hard to see when something is good or evil unless you understand motivation. For example, suppose you see somebody running while you are out one day walking and enjoying the weather, and you see one person chasing another. The person chasing has a big baseball bat and is running after the other person. Suddenly, he smashes into him and breaks his legs. You might think, 'Oh my God!' and rush over to ask, 'What did you do that for?' From your point of view, it seems clear he was trying to kill this guy. However, you then discover that the person being chased was running to the edge of a cliff to commit suicide, and the only way to stop him was by breaking his legs. Motivation looks quite different in that context. He was not trying to hurt him; he was actually trying to save him.

When Jesus said we should turn the other cheek, he didn't mean we should be like a doormat, but that we should keep a single mind. Even if people persecute us, we will take it on the other cheek and continue on our path. Motivation is really an important issue. As a Catholic growing up in Ireland, we had what we called mortal sin, which meant that if you died before you confessed, you went straight down to Hell—the burning fires of Hell. Thank God for that; it helped me a lot because I didn't want to go there. Then there was venial sin. Venial sin is a kind of sin where, if you die before you confess, you don't go straight to Hell but end up in a waiting room before you can get into Heaven. It's like being stuck at a bus station; you can't quite get to your destination, but at least it's a place that is probably comfortably warm, not burning hot.

What types of sin are there? We see several types here. First of all, original sin, which we inherit and have no control over. Inherited sin is also something we cannot control. For example, did you decide to be born, or where to be born, or to which parents to be born? Fundamental things happen in our lives over which we have no choice, such as being born. We are blessed or burdened by the family we are born into, the nation we are born into, and the time we are born. The effect is like whether you were born a hundred or a thousand years ago or ten years ago, or the country in which you were born. Maybe you were unlucky enough to be born in Cambodia just before the Khmer Rouge destroyed millions of people, and you were one of the victims—just bad timing. Many things we cannot control about these situations.

For example, original sin is something that simply passes down through our lineage because we are directly connected to Adam and Eve. Even in our physical lineage, inherited sin is something that may be a fault or some kind of issue for your nation or in your particular lineage. Maybe there is some particular weakness for gambling or alcoholism, or perhaps your ancestors committed serious violations and hurt other people or killed others. Then you inherit this debt in a collective sense. There are situations where our nation has violated another nation, and we may be looked upon and persecuted for being from that nation. We pay a collective price for our country's mistakes in the past. In the last war, there is still some residue of resentment towards certain nations in various parts of the world. When I visited China, they never forgot to remind us about the terrible actions of the Japanese, and in Russia, they still talk about the fascists as if it were just yesterday. In some countries, they still hang on to their resentment towards other nations, so even if you had nothing to do with it, if you come from that nation, you are in a sense paying the price for that mistake.

Of course, there is also personal sin. We each understand that we have made mistakes, violated principles, and acted selfishly, thus collecting personal sin. This basically forms our tree of sin, and we can work to resolve the last three types here: personal, collective, or inheritable sin. We can try to resolve this by our efforts. For example, we can stop sinning as individuals; we can decide to discontinue a habit, set our lives straight, repent, and start training ourselves to act differently. For collective sin, we can look at where our nation or race has violated others and make amends to those or the descendants of those who suffered as a result of our ancestors' mistakes. Regarding inheritable sin, there are certain bad habits we inherit that we want to change in ourselves so that our children do not inherit those. However, original sin is something we cannot touch; it is beyond our control and capacity to solve. That's why the Messiah comes to solve the root of sin. The Messiah must come to end original sin and create, in a sense, a new lineage separated from the fallen age, from the time of Adam and Eve.

Now, let's take a look at what fallen nature is. We do have fallen nature as a result of our first ancestor's sin. It is a wrongly directed original nature passed from Lucifer to Eve, from fallen Eve to Adam, and from both of them to all of their descendants. It is like a twisting of the original nature, just as Lucifer twisted the direction of God and followed a half-truth in order to get her to fall with him. There are four basic fallen natures. The first is not seeing or loving as God does. When the Archangel Lucifer saw Adam and Eve being created, he probably helped with that. As he saw them growing closer to God and being in a position to relate to God in a different way, he should have tried to understand the heart of God and the love of God towards Adam and Eve. He should have felt it was his honour and privilege to serve God in raising up His children. If I refer back to the Prodigal Son story, the mistake of the elder son who did not go away was not that he was doing anything wrong; he was very obedient to his father and stayed with him. However, he did not know his father's heart. When his father wanted to make a banquet for the wayward son, he started complaining, saying, 'You want to give all this banquet for the son that has messed up his life, whereas I, who have always been with you and never did that, have never had a banquet for me.' What does that tell us about the elder son? He did not understand his father's heart. If he had, he would have gone out and brought back his brother because he would have recognized the anguish of his father over his missing younger son. If he truly loved his father, how could he let his father suffer? He would have said, 'Dad, just give me time; I'll go out there and find this young boy and bring him back to you.' That would have been the right thing to do.

The point here is that the Archangel Lucifer should have understood the love of God towards Adam and Eve, which was very beautiful and special. Out of love for God and his respect and sense of obedience and obligation to God, he could have said, 'God, do you want me to be like a teacher or instructor, or somehow guide them? I will happily do so.' That is the way Lucifer should have served Adam. In other words, he should have taken the viewpoint of God towards Adam and Eve, loved them as God loved them, and helped to raise them up. Instead of having that attitude, he took another approach. He began to compare his relationship with God before the fall with Adam and Eve's relationship with God when they arrived. He realized they were going to be the direct children of God, and their love for God was new and had a unique quality. Lucifer felt envious of this. However, if he had followed God's hope and actually served them, he would have received the love and gratitude of God, which would have surely compensated for any feeling of loss in his heart. God did not want any creature to feel a lack of love, and He had prepared everything so that each would be fulfilled and satisfied. The Archangel did not respect Adam as God's mediator and did not receive love through him. The second fallen nature is to leave one's proper position, feeling, 'Why should I have to receive God's love through Adam and Eve? This is not really necessary.' He then left his position and tried to establish himself in a different position in relation to Adam and Eve and in relation to God. In other words, he reversed the order of dominion and decided that he wanted to take the position where he was closer to God, and even God's children, Adam and Eve, should come to him. This is a totally unprincipled desire and unprincipled relationship, which would simply sever Adam and Eve from their relationship to God. The Archangel claimed dominion over Adam and Eve, who were to be his rightful lords. Rather than serving them, he took the position of master over them. The nature in human beings of being arrogant or exploitative is part of that character coming from Lucifer.

Finally, the fourth fallen nature is the multiplication of sin. We have a situation where the evil word, in a way, went from Lucifer, who fooled and trapped Eve, and then Eve pulled Adam into this vortex, and they all went down. All of humanity got caught up in this situation. The tendency of a person to spread lies and multiply negativity or wrong information is part of that nature. People often have the expression, 'It's often the case with young people that what everybody is doing is acceptable.' Kids come home from school and say, 'So what's wrong with that? I start smoking; what's wrong? Everybody's doing it.' Parents respond, 'Well, it's not good for your health.' But the kids insist, 'But everybody's doing it, Mommy.' The idea that you can do something simply because everyone else is doing it is prevalent. Lucifer pulled Eve away from God into his web, and then Eve also pulled Adam away from God into that fallen relationship. How does Satan influence us? Satan is a real being, as Scott Peck pointed out, a real entity. He works through his cohorts, which are fallen angels and evil spirits—those who were with him when the fall took place. One of the statements you will read is that God spoke to the serpent and said, 'On your belly you shall go, and dust you shall eat all the days of your life.' What is the meaning of dust? Dust means the evil spiritual elements of people doing wrong things. Satan exists through eating dirt; dirt is the sin of human beings. He is empowered as long as we commit sin and have give-and-take with him. If you think about dictators like Stalin or Hitler, as long as there were people ready to carry out their commands, they were empowered. Once people abandoned them, they became completely powerless. Likewise, on a cosmic level, Satan can only have power if human beings give him that power or if evil spirits in the spiritual world give him that power. The way it works is that Satan inspires or encourages evil thoughts or actions through an evil spirit, which then influences our spiritual bodies. We may feel a strong urge to do something wrong; sometimes people experience overwhelming urges to be promiscuous, steal, or commit some other wrong act. What happens is that they are often overwhelmed by spiritual power at the urging of Satan, and then our bodies are pushed into sin, committing acts that violate principle.

Actions then emerge from a person under that kind of pressure, and so we are, in a sense, in a midway position where we can be influenced either by good or by evil spirits. God, of course, wants to work with us and through us by influencing us also through good spirits. There are good angels and good spirits in the spirit world; all the saints are among those leading spirits. They want to influence us towards goodness. In various ways, we get this silent voice guiding us, which tends to lead towards greater health, a nature that is more unselfish, and a more peaceful environment, creating a person or an environment that is more harmonious and happy.

On the other hand, you can often detect the presence of evil through the misfortunes that surround us. Sometimes it manifests as sickness; in fact, spiritual people say that something like 90% of the sicknesses we have to deal with have a spiritual cause. It is as if there are influences trying to damage and destroy our physical bodies. The nature to be selfish, of course, stems from feelings of guilt and an environment of conflict. Whenever you are dealing with spiritual doubts, you might sometimes feel a spiritual power. One way to discern whether that power is from God or from evil is to see if it leads you towards a selfless attitude. If it is divisive, then you must avoid that spirit.

For example, in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said, 'Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the sons of God.' If it were the reverse, what would he have said? 'Cursed are the warmongers; they shall be called the sons of Satan.' In other words, anything that leads towards true peace, harmony, and unselfish behaviour—where you try to create an environment of peace and harmony—is the work of God. If we spread bad words about people and cause division, that is the work of Satan. Speaking badly of others in a way that is divisive and has no good purpose is harmful. There are times when you must discuss people's shortcomings, but it must be done in a caring and responsible way, aiming to understand and help them.

If you know something about someone that is wrong, and you maliciously spread that information—even if you are telling the truth—your intention to cause division means you are not a peacemaker; you are doing the work of Satan. We must be aware of how to be a son or daughter of God, which requires separating ourselves from Satan. We need to deny the overwhelming power of Satan's spiritual influence, which is very powerful, in order to separate ourselves from it. We should not allow our spirits to be seduced by wrong thoughts, deeds, actions, or words. It is easy to be seduced by someone speaking negatively about another; gossip is one of the ways that Satan divides people.

If we simply cut off from that and focus on positive thoughts and actions, we can believe the best in people and look for the good. After all, God is not looking to find what is wrong with us. Some people have been brought up to feel that God is waiting to pounce on them the moment they make a mistake. That is a strange God, a strange parent. Every true parent wants to see the good in their children; they look for reasons to compliment them, highlighting their achievements despite their mistakes. A parent's heart is always to look for what is good, positive, and uplifting. Satan's way is completely the opposite.

If we hear a voice encouraging us to be critical and to pull others down, we are in the wrong place and need to repent and change our attitude. Then we can truly return to being sons and daughters of God and the peacemakers that Jesus spoke about. In next week's presentation, we will explore the issue of how God has been restoring the fall. The great news is that God did not abandon us; He is eternally committed to His children. God is committed to saving His children and will outlast Satan and evil. He will eventually resolve the whole issue of evil, ensuring that there is not even a speck of evil in the cosmos. This is God's commitment to save His children.