“AND THE EYES OF THEM BOTH WERE OPENED” (TO OUR BROTHERS AND SISTERS IN COURTSHIP)

MEMORIZE: And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons. Genesis 3:7

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Amos 7-9, Proverbs 31

When God created Adam, He put him in charge of all He had created and also gave him a commandment. Genesis 2:16 says, “And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: but of 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.” When God provided Eve for Adam, he told her about God’s commandment and both happily kept the commandment. Although they were both physically naked, they didn't notice it because they were covered in God's glory. The glory of God functions like a light that lightens a thing. Revelations 21:23 says this: “and the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof.” Eve looked beautiful to her husband because she was covered head to toe in God’s glory. Adam looked radiant to his wife because he was covered in God’s glory too.

One day Satan tricked Eve and she ate the forbidden fruit. She then gave it to her husband who also took a bite and something happened. Genesis 3:7 says, “And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons.” Almost immediately after they broke the commandment and ate of the tree, God’s glory that covered them like a garment departed. Adam looked at himself and suddenly found that he was naked. He looked at Eve and saw her naked too. He began to see all the imperfections in her. The same thing happened to Eve, she suddenly realized that Adam wasn't that great. To hide their shame i.e. nakedness, they both got leaves and covered themselves. Within a short while, the blame game began (Genesis 3:11-14). Adam, who was now very much aware of the imperfections in his wife, began to blame her for his problems. After the blame game began, hatred, envy, jealousy, and other negative emotions entered into the equation.

This is exactly what happens when two people in courtship fall into fornication. Before falling into sin, the sister would look like an angel to the brother. The brother would look like a diamond to the sister. The moment they both fall into sin, each of them would begin to see the faults, weakness, in the other person. Why? Because, God’s glory has departed. Shame comes into the equation and the blame game starts. The courtship turns into a burden and both no longer feels comfortable again. After repenting, confessing to the elders of the church, serving punishments, it will still take the mercies of God for the departed glory to return. Even if God restores His glory and the courtship continues, it will never be as it was before the 'fornication.' This is why i want to appeal to you, in courtship or as a single person, to keep yourself and ensure you don’t fall into sin. The moment you begin to allow that brother, you are ‘courting,’ to touch you in inappropriate places, the glory of the Lord will begin to fade away and your nakedness i.e. imperfections will start to show.

NOTE: if you keep yourself before marriage your partner will respect you after marriage.

PRAYER POINT: Father, please keep our brothers and sisters in courtship from falling.

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Bro Samuel | Reaching the world for Jesus.