Gen 3:1-7 1st Sunday in Lent Mar 5, 2017

As we enter Lent, we enter a season of heightened awareness of temptation. The Law brings forcefully to our senses and to our consciousness that we are sinners.

Rom 3:20 “Through the Law comes knowledge of sin.” Or you can hear St. Paul say, “If it had not been for the law, I would not have known sin. For I would not have known what it is to covet if the law had not said, “You shall not covet.” So we hear the Law clearly. We are made to feel the threats and the punishments of the Law.

If we don’t feel them, then we may feel we are without sin. But when we do feel those threats, then we can say, “Yes, I know. I’m a sinner.”

This means the mirror function of the Law kicks into high gear in this season. Imagine this mirror being like the mirror you see in an actor’s dressing room. Light bulbs circle it. There are no shadows. You stare into that mirror and you can see every little bit of your face. The lights around it are glaring, as bright as the light of Jesus face in the Transfiguration. They expose every little flaw; like a searchlight or spotlight searching out every crevice.

Strangely enough, fasting plays into this—at least in my experience. First, let’s agree it’s not necessary. It will do nothing to improve your standing with God. How could you improve it when Jesus’ death and resurrection has given you perfection?

But I have found it to have some benefit. How? Look at it as a way of seeing your weaknesses. You may say, “I could never give up anything. Besides, it’s totally unnecessary.” You are right. But look and see. Because it is totally unnecessary, it works. When you are unwilling to give up anything, you are seeing just how weak you are. You are seeing yourself more clearly. You are seeing your weaknesses, how incapable you are to resist even small things and therefore seeing the need for a Savior from sin. Again, that has been my experience.

On the other hand, some of you are already there. You come to church, already hurting. You come ready to wring out of God every bit of what He has to give us. For one reason or another, you are like the walking dead. You are mortally wounded and you are dying to be given the medicine of immortality. As your pastor, I want to give you everything He has to give.

Whether you feel that hunger intensely already or you need the Holy Spirit to awaken in you that hunger through the Law, with this heightened awareness of our sin, comes the devil.

He will have you questioning who you are as a child of God; whether you are His child; he will have you questioning God’s grace, His mercy. He will lead you to false belief and even despair. In short, he will do a number on you.

He’ll attack you with, “God could never forgive you for that. How can you expect God to love you when you have been such a disappointment?”

It’s easy to hear it now and see ourselves resisting, but in the heat of the moment, we’re likely to melt and actually listen to him.

Or he may take a different approach. “That’s not really that bad. Everyone else does it. Nothing happens to them.”

He leads us down this road, with us justifying our behavior so long, that he would convince us we don’t really need a Savior.

It’s then that the Holy Spirit must strike even harder with the Law. “Who do you think you are? Are you the only one who is not truly a sinner?” He is trying desperately to knock some sense into you.

Or the devil may say, “Hide your sin. Don’t let anyone know about it. Don’t tell God. You can deal with it yourself.”

David talked about how well that worked for him in our second psalm. “When I kept silent, my bones wasted away; for day and night your hand was heavy upon me.” But then he discovered why the Lord’s hand was so heavy upon him. “Stop trying to take care of it yourself.” He also discovered that the Lord had always been there to forgive him in Christ.

We continued praying this psalm, “I acknowledged my sin to you, I said, ‘I will confess my transgressions to the Lord.” Did you recognize that? It’s part of our invitation to confess our sins as part of DS III. And then we spoke that glorious word, “and You forgave the iniquity of my sin.”

The last line of that particular psalm, lead us into the next Psalm. It was like they were chained together. “You are a hiding place for me,” which then set us up for the next psalm, the one that is the basis for our HOD, “A Mighty Fortress.”

You’ll notice that we’ll be singing it twice. They are basically different English translations of the same German hymn, with a little bit different rhythm patterns. But it’s probably a mistake to always call it the Battle Hymn of the Reformation.

Yes, it works as a battle hymn but look at it this way. Look at this hymn and that psalm in light of the attacks Satan launches against you in your personal life, as he throws those lies left and right,

“God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.” He is our refuge, our hiding place, the place we can go when the temptations start.

And what is it we need to know? That Satan has been judged. He is condemned. We want the Holy Spirit to convince us of this, so we know he has no standing in the heavenly court when he tries to bring charges against us, as the two passages on the back of the bulletin demonstrate.

For this, we go back to where it all started. It’s in the first lesson. The action in it takes place at the base of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. Eve speaks to the tempter and he succeeds in getting her to take the fruit of that tree, eat it and give it to her husband, Adam.

It is in Jesus we see the steps taking place here being reversed; their effect erased, obliterated.

But what of that tree? Was it poisonous fruit? Did God put a tree with poisonous fruit right in the middle of the garden? It didn’t have to be the fruit. It’s the word that was attached to it. You see, it’s always the Word. What makes the water of baptism a washing of regeneration? The Word. What makes ordinary bread and wine capable to giving us the very flesh and blood of the incarnate God? The Word. What made this tree off limits? The Word. That’s where Satan goes when he attacks Eve. He takes her away from the Word.

But why did God create this tree in the first place? Consider with me what it was like in the Garden of Eden. Everything was in synch. Everything did exactly as they were commanded to do; as they were created to do—the animals, the plants, the sun and moon and stars, the humans.

But Adam and Eve had something none of the rest of the creation had. They had knowledge of their creator. Nothing else had that. Along with that knowledge, came the desire to show reverence, respect and even obedience to this Creator. But how were they do it, if they were simply doing exactly as they were created to do?

They needed a place to do it; a place where they could show reverence, respect and even obedience. God gave that place to them. It was at this tree. This became Adam’s church. Had they not eaten from it, this would have been the site for future generations to come and worship. And where was it located? Where you would expect something like that. In the center of the garden. Just as the tabernacle would be. Right in the middle of the camp of Israel, the place you would expect for such an important activity as worship of the Creator.

Here was a physical, outward way for Adam and Eve to show their worship toward God. Here, perhaps, was even the place where God would come to Adam and Eve, just as He would do in the tabernacle and He still does at Church.

Here was the place where God would come to defend them, when the tempter came. And he knew He would come. Here was they could run to retreat to and find God, the one who had given them this Word.

So, you see: it wasn’t to simply show they weren’t like robots, doing only what they were programmed to do. It was giving them a place to do what they would most desperately wanted to do—worship their God. And this Word of command from God gave them the place.

This is precisely where Satan starts. With the Word. Satan asks, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the Garden?’” Do you see what is happening here? He is appealing to her desire to eat from what was clearly off-limits. This was a tree she could not eat from. All the others, she could. But not this one. Why not? It’s not for her to ask. His Word was clear.

Eve has already failed. She is already listening to a different Word. She has chosen a different teacher than the Lord Himself. She should have said, “Lord, keep me from questioning your Word. Drive away this one who would have me question it.” She didn’t.

But rejoice to see your Savior successfully repel that old tempter. What kept Jesus from turning stones into bread? The fact that it was a word from Satan. Jesus would not listen to him. He would have only one teacher. It would be His Father, and His Father alone.

Satan was not done with Eve yet. Now he moves to issues of life. “You will not surely die.” That’s a flat out contradiction of what God said. He most certainly did say they would. “In the day you eat of it, you shall surely die.”

What exactly did God mean by surely die? Did Adam and Eve know what it meant? Did it make any difference if they did or not? Was it an option for either of them to test God to find out what He meant? Didn’t He simply say, “Don’t eat of it?” Whether death was a part of the prohibition or not, what more did they need to know? His Word was clear.

Once again rejoice to see your Savior repel Satan and his temptations. Again, it concerns a matter of life. Satan is a little more subtle this time. He even uses God’s word, Ps 91, which we also prayed, but he takes it out of context and distorts it. “Throw yourself down from the pinnacle of the temple. Your father will rescue you. He will not let you die.”

Jesus response? What is the purpose of doing this, Satan, other than testing God? The Word is clear about this. The Lord is not to be put to the test.

And then Satan moves in for the final kill. “God knows when you eat the fruit, you will be like Him. It’s a matter of the god you worship. Who will it be? Will it be yourself, to grant to yourself all you can give yourself, serving yourself, and making sure you have what you want or feel you need? To fear nobody more than yourself, making every effort to satisfy yourself? To love nobody more than yourself. To trust nobody’s judgment like you trust your own?

Thank God your Savior wasn’t like that. When Satan finally pulled off the gloves, to get what he really wanted, Jesus would have none of it. Worship you? “You shall worship the Lord, your God and him only shall you serve.”

And where was Adam while Eve was going through this? Waiting to see what would happen. Did he come to her aid? “Eve, what are you doing? God’s Word is clear.” Did he say that? No, the first Adam failed.

So, the second Adam had to undo his mess. St. Paul says the same thing basically in two different ways so we can get the point. “As one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men.” And again, “For as by the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous.

Will you be tempted this Lenten season? Of course, Satan doesn’t pick a particular season to tempt. He will do it incessantly, and he does it in ways you may not recognize. Lent helps you to see what you are up against. But we start Lent by seeing Jesus’ victory in our place. This is all about what He does for you. He wins the victory by defeating the Satan, here in the wilderness, showing what He will accomplish once He goes to the cross. AMEN

Let us pray for the whole Church of God in Christ Jesus and for all people according to their needs.

Brief silence

Lord God, heavenly Father, as we journey through this Lenten season, grant that we may be established firmly in Your Word, that our hearts may not be tempted by the false delights of sin, but may be firmly fixed upon Jesus, who journeyed to the cross to take away our sin. Lord, in Your mercy, hear our prayer.

Gracious Lord, though death reigned over us through Adam’s disobedience, You sent Your Son to be perfectly obedient to Your will on our behalf, so that through Him, we might be granted the free gift of salvation by grace. Grant to us pastors who preach this free gift given through the one man Jesus Christ, so that we may trust in Him alone and not in our own will and works. Lord, in Your mercy, hear our prayer.

Merciful Lord, we are weighed down with many weaknesses of our sinful flesh and often give in to temptations to sin. Grant Your peace and comfort to all who are troubled by besetting sins, addictions, demonic oppression and despair, for Christ has won the victory over all sin and temptation that we of ourselves are unable to bear. Lord, in Your mercy, hear our prayer.

Almighty God, grant wisdom and competence to all earthly authorities, including the president, Congress, the judiciary and all state and local government officials, that they may work on behalf of those they serve, rather than seeking to earn for themselves worldly glory, wealth and power. Lord, in Your mercy, hear our prayer.

O Lord, we pray that You would help all those who are unemployed or underemployed, that they may be able to provide for themselves and their families as they desire. We also pray that those who are granted wealth may realize that all good gifts come from You, that they may be generous with the bounty You have bestowed upon them. Lord, in Your mercy, hear our prayer.

Almighty God, Your Son won the ultimate victory over death and disease by His cross, Passion and resurrection. We pray for all those who are in need of healing of body and soul [including especially Dick who is to have surgery tomorrow and Anne surgery on Thurs. Guide the surgeon’s hands and work your healing through the medical teams. _____________]. Grant them health, recovery and peace, all according to Your good will. Lord, in Your mercy, hear our prayer.

Holy God, we thank You that You promise to hear our prayers and to answer them as You see fit. We give thanks for the Passion of Your Son, who sojourned here below, so that we might live with You forever in Your eternal kingdom. When our journey in faith is finished, grant us to join all the blessed saints in Your glory, through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

Questions from the Sermon1. Lent can be a season of heightened awareness of what?

2. What has pastor found in his experience is a good way of seeing this more clearly?

3. When we prayed Ps. 32, we prayed a line from which order of the Divine Service?

4. The tree in the middle of the Garden of Eden became what for Adam?

5. If Adam who sinned is the first, who is the second Adam?

Questions from the Sermon1. Lent can be a season of heightened awareness of what?

2. What has pastor found in his experience is a good way of seeing this more clearly?

3. When we prayed Ps. 32, we prayed a line from which order of the Divine Service?

4. The tree in the middle of the Garden of Eden became what for Adam?

5. If Adam who sinned is the first, who is the second Adam?

Questions from the Sermon1. Lent can be a season of heightened awareness of what?

2. What has pastor found in his experience is a good way of seeing this more clearly?

3. When we prayed Ps. 32, we prayed a line from which order of the Divine Service?

4. The tree in the middle of the Garden of Eden became what for Adam?

5. If Adam who sinned is the first, who is the second Adam?

Answers to questions from the Sermon1. temptation and our sinfulness

2. fasting

3. the Third Setting (We used it for the Epiphany season)

4. his church

5. Jesus

Answers to questions from the Sermon1. temptation and our sinfulness

2. fasting

3. the Third Setting (We used it for the Epiphany season)

4. his church

5. Jesus

Answers to questions from the Sermon1. temptation and our sinfulness

2. fasting

3. the Third Setting (We used it for the Epiphany season)

4. his church

5. Jesus

Rom 3:20 …through the Law comes knowledge of sin.

Rom 7:7 I would not have known what it is to covet if the law had not said, “You shall not covet.”

Typology: A type is a person, event, or institution in the Old Testament that prefigures or points toward a fulfillment in a greater way in the New Testament.