TEXT:
The serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate.
Genesis 3:4-6 (ESV)
In refuting His enemies, Jesus told them that they were not the children of Abraham that they claimed to be but were instead children of the devil, who He went on to describe in this way: “He was a murderer from the beginning, and has nothing to do with the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies” (John 8:44). That description is based on the incident recorded in this morning’s sermon text, where Satan, in the form of a serpent, lies to Eve and ultimately causes the downfall of both her and her husband, and all of their descendants after them, including us. As a result of the fall, all of creation is tainted with sin and bears all of sin’s consequences. Everything less than perfect in this world--everything that causes us pain and grief and fear and shame--is a consequence of sin. Perhaps the apostle said it best when he wrote: “Sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned” (Romans 5:12).
Sin, in its essence, is embracing a lie rather than the truth. It is “exchang[ing] the truth about God for a lie,” “worship[ing] the creature rather than the creator” (Romans 1:25). Adam and Eve’s sin violated not only God’s command but also their humanity. Instead of being satisfied to be creatures and servants of the God of all, they wanted to attain divine status for themselves and become the masters of their own affairs. In other words, they wanted to be their own god. Their pride, self-will, and rebellion established a pattern for the rest of us, since every sin demonstrates those characteristics. It would be good for us, especially during this Lenten season, to prepare to deal with the constant and subtle temptations of the devil by trying to learn from the experience of our first parents, examining what God says and how Satan distorts it.
God gave Adam and Eve a great deal, including a great deal of freedom: “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth” . . . “Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit. You shall have them for food” (Genesis 1:28, 29). The name “Eden” has been variously translated as “bliss,” “pleasure,” “fruitful,” and “well-watered.” It was an environment that provided the first human beings with not only everything that they would ever need but also everything that they should desire. The only limitations that God placed upon them were put into place for their own protection, and the tragedy of their fall into sin makes clear how benevolent those limitations were.
The same is true in our case. God gives us countless gifts and a great deal of freedom in using them, but He has also given us an instruction manual for using His gifts in a way that glorifies Him and benefits us. We call this instruction manual the Ten Commandments. As you look at these commandments, each one of them is telling us how to use a particular gift of God in a way that will enable that gift to be a blessing rather than a curse for us. In the First Commandment God tells us how to use the gift of Himself, in the Second His name, in the Third His Word, in the Fourth authority, in the Fifth life, in the Sixth sexuality, in the Seventh stewardship, in the Eighth reputation, in the Ninth the property of others, and in the Tenth the family and household of others. These commandments are very clear and simple. Whenever one of them is violated, the gift that it is intended to protect is compromised or lost.
But notice how Satan distorts what God says. In the case of Eve, he begins by asking a simple question aimed at making Eve doubt that God really said what He said: “Did God actually say . . . ?” (Genesis 3:1). His question confused her and caused her to expand God’s command with her own interpretation of it. Satan then goes on to blatantly contradict what God has clearly said: “You will not surely die” and even to question the Lord’s motives in placing limitations on His creatures: “God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” He accuses God of placing limits on His creatures because He is being protective of His own status. Isn’t it the same way with us today? Instead of rejoicing in what we have, we covet what we don’t have. Instead of enjoying the freedom that we have, we focus our attention on the limits placed upon us and resent those limits. Instead of simply being what God created us to be, we strive to be something different than what we are--and we are admired and praised for our efforts in doing that.
And what is all of this other than questioning God and His motives? Adam and Eve fell into sin because they tried to redefine their relationship with God. Instead of being content to be His creatures who He loves and provides for, they wanted to be His equal--someone who He would have to negotiate with. This attitude was also the downfall of Satan himself, together with his angels. And whether we want to admit it or not, the story of Adam and Eve is also our story as it repeats itself in every generation. Satan still lies and we still believe his lies rather than God’s truth. We insist on defining for ourselves who we are and what we will do, in open defiance of God’s beautiful creative order, and we are reaping the harvest of our disobedience and rebellion. The world is conflicted and death reigns and it’s all because God’s perfect order in creation has been rejected in an attempt to improve on it with all of our so-called human wisdom.
Satan still lies and he always will. But he does not win in the end. Not too many verses after the passage before us God gave His first promise of redemption when He cursed the serpent with the words: “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel” (Genesis 3:15). He spoke, of course, of the sacrificial suffering and death of the Savior, born of the woman’s descendant by the power of the Holy Spirit. He is the One who defeated Satan and his lies once and for all and His resurrection proves it. But even this glorious fact--that the forgiveness of sins, life, and salvation are ours through the death and resurrection of Jesus--Satan lies about. His name means “accuser” and he continues to accuse us--the redeemed--of our sin, trying to convince us that the sacrifice of Christ is not enough to make atonement or that our sin is so bad that God couldn’t possibly forgive us and accept us as His children. It’s all a lie. The truth is the assurance given us in God’s Word: “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the Law of the Spirit of Life has set [us] free from the law of sin and death” (Romans 8:1).
Amen.
May the One who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood, making us kings and priests before His God and Father, lead you to a life of repentance and trust. May He also be glorified in the lives of you, His people. He who calls you is faithful, and He will do it. Amen.