Grace, mercy, and peace to you from
God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.
I
enjoy watching football, like many of you.
Whether it’s the Tornadoes or the Spoilers [Cardinals], UND or NDSU, the
Vikings or the Seahawks, a game can be decided by one play, by one man. For example: The 49ers are down by two and
are marching down the field. It’s 4th
and inches with 30 seconds to go in the 4th quarter. They have the ball at the Panther’s 50-yard
line; when all of the sudden there’s confusion, there are 12 men on the
field. So one of the players goes
sprinting for the sideline but is just a fraction of a second too late getting
off the field. Flags fly all because of
one small infraction that didn’t even really have an affect on the game. Through one man a game can be decided on the
seemingly smallest of infractions.
Adam and Eve are
living the good life in the garden. The
weather’s perfect, they have everything they could ever want or need. They happily live their lives in a close
relationship with each other and with God.
There’s no enmity, no strife, no hurt, no pain; everything’s in perfect
harmony.
The
only command God gives them is this, “You
may surely eat of every tree of the garden, but of the tree of the knowledge of
good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall
surely die.” That’s it. Seems a small thing, doesn’t it? They can live like kings in the garden and
the only thing God commands Adam, “You shall worship Me by obeying my Law that
you not eat of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.”
After giving this
command, God then creates Eve from Adam’s rib.
Adam shows her around the Garden of Eden. He explains all the animals living there,
teaches her their names. He also, no
doubt, preaches to her a sermon. A short
sermon about the one command God had given.
Pastor Adam proclaims to Eve God’s will of not eating of this particular
tree.
Satan,
then, appears in the form of a serpent but doesn’t address Pastor Adam, but
rather the lay member of the congregation, Eve.
“Don’t you want to be like God?”
Satan asks…”Did God really say…”
Where was Pastor Adam while this was going on? Standing right there watching, listening
while Satan tempts his wife, unwilling to defend his bride. Eve speaks to the serpent; she’s the one who
enters into this conversation. Eve spoke
when she should have kept silent and Adam was silent when he should have
spoke. As the pastor of the First Church
in Eden, he was responsible.
They ate and sin
entered the world, the temptation was too great. They ate of the fruit from which they were
forbidden to eat. In the face of temptation
they utterly failed. Sin and death, like
an alien cancer, has wormed its way into human existence.
Through one man
taking one bite, through one seemingly small infraction, it’s game over. Everything hung on the performance on this
one man and he was caught red-handed and by Adam’s fall, we too are
partakers. Think of all the damage
caused by this one man. By this one
man’s sin, our human nature is corrupted with evil that’s beyond
comprehension. By this one man, we must
endure war, chaos, and disaster. By this
one man we must suffer death. By this
one man and the original sin that has been passed down, we’re losers who
deserve eternal punishment. God is holy
and we’re not.
So, here we
are. God has given His Law to us as
well. We, also, are tempted by Satan
that we would take a bite out of the forbidden fruit and eat and we not only
take a bit but stuff it down our gullets core and all. Adam was tempted and failed, we’re tempted
and fail. Because of Adam’s fall and his
seemingly small infraction, because of our sinfulness, we’ve lost the
game.
But this, dear
friends in Christ, is where the illustration breaks down. In football when the game is over, it’s over,
after the final whistle blows there are no do overs. Through that one player caught being the
twelfth man on the field, that’s it, it’s over.
But not so with Adam. Not so with
us. The Bible should have ended at Genesis
3:13, which should, by all rights, read, “Then
the Lord God said to the woman, ‘What is this that you have done?’ The woman said, ‘The serpent deceived me and
I ate.’ “ “And His righteous wrath kindled in the Lord God and He smote
Adam and his wife Eve and slayed them because of the evil that they had done,
for breaking the commandment of the Lord.”
But it doesn’t say that. The
Bible keeps going because of God’s love, grace, and mercy, even promising them
a Messiah, one to crush the serpent’s head, to restore what Adam and sent awry,
to bring forgiveness and reconciliation.
Through
one man comes rebellion but another comes restoration. Through one man defeat but through another
victory. Through one man
sin but through another forgiveness. Through one man comes eternal death but
through springs eternal life. One man
cracked in the face of temptation but another remained faithful. Through the one man, Adam, we die, but
through the one Man – the second Adam – Jesus, we live.
In
Romans 5, Paul writes, “If, because of
one man’s trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those
who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in
life through the one man Jesus Christ.”
Where Adam failed
when tempted by Satan, where we, fail when tempted by Satan, this Second Adam,
Jesus, remained the obedient servant, even in the face of the same devil’s
temptations. He did this, not for
Himself but for you. Christ kept the Law
perfectly, for your benefit. We often fail
when the fruit is held before our eyes, yet, Christ is your perfect
sacrifice. He remained the spotless Lamb
of God who marches onward to the cross without complaint.
He’s
won victory over the devil and his temptations.
Christ fights your battle for you armed with nothing more than a cross
and a few nails. His armor a scarlet
robe mockingly placed on Him, His helmet, a crown of thorns. He’s fought the battle on Calvary’s Hill and
won victory for you.
The first Adam,
that one man, and what we inherited from him leads to certain death. But the second Adam, Jesus, remained faithful
for you. Was crucified for your
disobedience, so that you are credited with His obedience.
The
second Adam protects His Church – His bride – His eve. He protects and defends you. He attacks Satan, who would harm you. He goes in your place, overcomes what you and Adam
could not. He did it for you. He removes death’s sting. The roaring lion that prowls around, who seeks
to devour you is now nothing but a barking dog with no bite. His teeth, his claws have been removed. He can’t have you. He can’t harm you.
Through
one man we inherit the cancer of sin and death.
Through one man and his infraction it seems we’ve lost the game. But through one Man – Jesus – He takes our
loss, our punishment, our sin and in return gives you His victory, His Kingdom,
His holiness.
We go in
peace with full confidence, not in ourselves but in Christ our Lord, who has
crushed the serpent’s head, has accomplished that which Adam failed to do and
what we are failing to do and will fail to do.
We go boasting in His obedience that He credits to you. Amen.
The
peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in
Christ Jesus unto life everlasting.
Amen.
