Our O.T.
Lesson – The Fall, or The Fall into Sin
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Recounts
the first time people sinned.
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Sets
the context for the whole Bible – a story of a creation in rebellion against
God, and a God who is determined to save His people.
I’m not sure
I like the name, “Fall,” however.
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I’ve
never “fallen” on purpose.
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And
it’s pretty clear that the Man and Woman chose to eat the fruit.
o
I’m
not saying they understood the consequences.
o
But
they chose – it made sense to them.
§ The fruit looked good.
§ The idea of knowing good and evil
seemed like a good thing.
§ And being like God … well, that would
be the icing on the cake, wouldn’t it?
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To
be sure, they protested their innocence
o
The
woman you gave me gave me fruit …
o
The
serpent deceived me …
o
But
their innocence was lost.
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It’s
pretty awful to think of such a choice leading to such terrible consequences.
o
Death
entered the world.
o
Every
human born would be sinful by nature – you can’t pass on what you don’t have!
§ Holiness was lost
o
Separation
from God led to fear, injustice, domination, rebellion, suffering, sorrow, and
lovelessness.
o
That
is probably part of why we call it a Fall – it leaves a little bit of that idea
of an accident, and if we could say, “It’s not my fault!”
§ If only Adam and Eve hadn’t
disobeyed, my life wouldn’t be the mess it is.
§ If only Adam and Eve hadn’t sinned,
people would be kind.
§ If only Adam and Eve hadn’t …
But it is
our fault, too, isn’t it?
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Sin
is a condition we live in, but we still choose to sin.
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I’m
not too sure about the idea of falling into sin, but I have dived head-first
into temptation and sin. Perhaps you can relate?
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In
Dante’s poem, Paradise Lost, he describes the gates of hell as having an
inscription over them, “Abandon all hope, ye who enter here.”
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When
it comes to sin, it’s important that we abandon a certain kind of hope –
o
a
false hope that holds on to the notion, “if I had been there, I wouldn’t have
sinned.”
o
A
foolish idea that, despite being born into sin, I can do things right and
satisfy God’s holy law.
o
That
kind of hope must be abandoned.
There is,
however, a different kind of hope. In Genesis 3:15, God promised to send a son
(the woman’s offspring/seed) who would crush the serpent, undo his work, and
reconcile God and His people. God promised to send a savior, and it is in him
that there is real hope.
Long after
these events with Adam, Eve, and the Serpent, in the fullness of time, God sent
forth His Son, born of woman, born under the law, that He might redeem those
under the law. He came to put enmity between Satan and humanity, and to utterly
defeat him, though He Himself would be mortally injured in the process.
Jesus, the
Son of God, was born of Mary to keep the promise of Genesis 3:15. The first
years of His life seem to have been pretty normal for a boy in 1st
Century Israel. There was some travelling early on – to Bethlehem before He was
born, then to Egypt (another part of the Roman Empire, just down the road),
then up to Galilee, to Nazareth. Then, when Jesus was about 30 years old, He
went south to Judea and found John baptizing in the wilderness. Jesus was
baptized, the heavens opened, the Holy Spirit descended on Him in the form of a
dove, and the Father spoke from heaven, “This is my beloved Son in whom I am
well pleased.”
We talked
about Jesus’ baptism a few weeks ago, and I reminded you that Jesus’ baptism
mean that Jesus stands with sinners. He was there to gather sinners to Himself
– to call them to believe that God was keeping His promise. So the first action
this newly baptized messiah, the anointed savior, was sent to do was to face
the tempter.
Our Gospel
lesson says that Jesus was fasting in the wilderness for 40 days, and he was
hungry. This was when the tempter showed up. Jesus stood with sinners, perhaps
He would do as all the other sinners before Him had done and cave to
temptation. Besides, Jesus was the seed, the offspring, of Eve, the one who
chose to eat the fruit in the garden, perhaps now He would eat what should not
be eaten, too. But Jesus stood under the temptation to turn stone into bread.
The first
man and woman had been deceived by twisting God’s Word, and the tempter took
that tact with Jesus next. “Throw yourself from the temple, because God has
said …” And Jesus simply says, “It says, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God
to the test.’”
Again, the
man and woman had desired to be like God, and the tempter put forth the offer
of glory as of a king, or as God himself. And now Jesus tells him, “Be gone. It
is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only shall you
serve.”
Three
opportunities – three choices – and Jesus stands in holiness, laying claim to
righteousness for you and for me. Holiness was found in a human being once
again.
Just as
Jesus was in the wilderness for 40 days, we set aside 40 days to remember his
holy, innocent, suffering and death. We call this season Lent, and during this
time we take on extra disciplines. Some will fast – from tempting food,
intoxicating beverages, or enticing screens. Some will take on other
disciplines – additional time in prayer, extra time reading God’s Word, more
generous effort in charity. All of these things are good – singularly or in
combination – when they are taken on to discipline ourselves against
temptation, to resist something small that helps when we face something big.
But we know
we are already fallen. If we weren’t, those disciplines would be easy for us.
As it is, they are good practice for resisting temptation, though we know there
will be times when we fall, give in, dive headfirst into sin. Our hope is not
in ourselves, but in Jesus, the one who stood, resisted, and overcame the
tempter’s tantalizing tricks.
As we look
ahead to Jesus’ death and resurrection, strive for holiness in your lives. Your
savior has overcome temptation for you. You are not just “Fallen” any more. He
has raised you to a new life – a holy life – a life resisting the tempter’s
voice as we listen to Jesus and follow Him. Amen.
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