Sermon for Trinity Two – Sunday June 13, 2021
Calvary/Marquette ● Soli Deo Gloria

Grace be unto you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

Genesis 3:1–15 (NKJV)
Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said to the woman, “Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’?” 2 And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden; 3 but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.’ ” 4 Then the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. 5 For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

6 So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate. 7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves coverings.
8 And they heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden.

9 Then the LORD God called to Adam and said to him, “Where are you?” 10 So he said, “I heard Your voice in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; and I hid myself.” 11 And He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you that you should not eat?” 12 Then the man said, “The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I ate.”13 And the LORD God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”

14 So the LORD God said to the serpent: “Because you have done this, You are cursed more than all cattle, And more than every beast of the field; On your belly you shall go, And you shall eat dust All the days of your life.

15 And I will put enmity Between you and the woman, And between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, And you shall bruise His heel.”

In the Name of Jesus Christ,
Dear Fellow Redeemed in His Blood,

Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’ve heard about gun-related violence in our country. For example, three years ago, on May 18, 2018, a 17-year-old student named Dimitrios Pagourtzis, entered his school in Texas and killed 10 and wounded 13 before surrendering to police.

Why did this young man take his father’s shotgun and .38 and shoot classmates? Well, reportedly, this honor roll student and football player told police that he meant to kill the classmates that he shot and wanted to spare the students he liked, so that he could ‘have his story told.’ He claimed that he was bullied.

Why do these types of things keep happening in our country? It’s a complicated question, with a complicated answer. This isn’t the first time that a mass shooting has occurred and these things don’t only happen in schools. They’ve happened in restaurants, post offices and other public meeting places. They’ve been perpetrated by mentally imbalanced individuals and honor roll students, by people who showed signs and by others who showed no sign. It isn’t a simple matter of restricting or taking away weapons.

There have been many attempts to explain why someone would do such a thing, including:

 A Lack of Self-Esteem
 Abusive Parents
 Bullying Peers/Teachers
 Living in a Violent Environment
 Violent Video Games and Movies

Yet, perhaps most disappointing, some lay the blame at the feet of God for the actions of individuals. I haven’t heard a single ‘mass shooter’ suggest that he/she pulled the trigger because ‘god’ told them too, still some lament, ‘How could God let this happen?’ Is God the puppet master pulling all the strings? Surely not the God of the Bible.

Murder is as old as humankind. The first murder took place – not because of ‘a lack of self-esteem’ or because of abusive parents or bullying peers or living in a violent environment of violent video games and movies.
When Cain killed his brother Abel...it was the result of sin, a consequence of unbelief, anger and jealousy. While our world fixates on what it considers external causes, we find in the Word of God that the problem is an internal one and the one solution is to be found outside of us. In this Word of God, we find both the origin of the problem and its solution.

Let us begin with prayer:

Blessed Father in heaven, You are abundant in goodness and truth, forgiving iniquity, transgression and sin. I thank You for the grace and mercy assured me by the redemption of Your Son. In Your fatherly love look down on Your disloyal child. ‘Cast me not away from Thy presence and take not Thy Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of Thy salvation and uphold me with a willing Spirit.’ Have mercy on me for Christ’s sake, and forgive what I have done wrong and what I have left undone. Quiet my troubled conscience with the knowledge of sins forgiven. By faith in Christ fill my heart with the joy of adoption into the family of heaven. Engraft me as a living branch upon Your Son, the Vine, that I may bring forth fruit in abundance by leading a holy and blameless life to the glory of Your name and for the benefit of all people. Help me ever to live in Your favor and finally to die in Your peace; for the sake of Jesus Christ, my Lord and Redeemer. Amen.
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This isn’t a fable. It isn’t a story. It isn’t a human attempt to ‘make sense’ of life and of why our plans so often go so terribly wrong.

This is history. It is the only reliable record handed down by God the Holy Spirit, through Moses. It was made necessary because in the course of time, the fallen intellect and lifespan of humankind were shortened. God in mercy saw to it that a written record was established and preserved.

While many today have been misled and deceived by our most dangerous enemy and thus consider these words a fable…we carefully study them…for they have been given to us by our Creator God.

Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said to the woman, “Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’?” 2 And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden; 3 but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.’ ”
4 Then the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. 5 For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

How would you react if while weeding your garden, you were suddenly addressed and questioned by a snake? We would probably immediately check the side effects of the medications we are taking and make an appointment with a psychiatrist!

Why weren’t Adam and Eve surprised or frightened when the serpent spoke to them? Well, remember, they didn’t live in the same world then that we live in today. They were perfect beings, created in the image of God. They lived in a sinless world and as a result had no fear! There is no indication that they were even surprised or curious about it.

What should have caused fear to rise in their hearts was the suggestion that God was up to no good. Really, that was the unveiled implication of the question: “Has God indeed said, You shall not eat of every tree of the garden?” We know of course, that this question did not find its origin in the tiny brain of a snake, but in the mind of a fallen angel, Satan who is called the serpent of old (Revelation 12:9, 2 Corinthians 11:3). The purpose of this question was to raise questions in their hearts about what God had actually said to them.

When the Serpent contradicted God, they should have turned and run the other way. For the LORD had plainly said, (Genesis 2:16b-17):

“Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; 17 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.”

They ought to have immediately rejected the suggestion because it ran contrary to God’s Word. It wasn’t even subtle. Satan boldly declared that disobeying God would not result in death -- but in enlightenment!

Satan is doing the same things today. He may not appear as a snake, but he has succeeded in misleading people into questioning and dismissing what God has said! Satan still suggests that God is just trying to withhold good things from us by forbidding certain lifestyles. The enemy has succeeded in misleading those who live in sin into believing that they are the truly the enlightened ones and those who follow God’s Word are narrow minded and filled with hate.

What happens when human beings dismiss God’s Word and follow Satan’s lead?

6 So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate. 7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves coverings.

God’s commandments seek to warn us and turn us away from things that will hurt us physically and spiritually. God’s commandments are unambiguous and clear, “You shall not.” Satan suggests, ‘That’s so confining; God just doesn’t want you to have a good time.’

Satan’s temptations have weight with our fallen natures. He suggests, “If it looks good, take it.” “If it feels good, do it.” “What’s the harm?” (The answer is, of course, Eternal Death).

It worked with Adam and Eve and they were sinless human beings! They didn’t have a sinful nature to contend with, but we do; we have a traitor within. The desire to sin doesn’t come from God, not now, not ever; it comes from within us from within our fallen natures. The desire to murder another human being doesn’t come from outside of humankind, but from within us, within our corrupt natures.

In the Epistle of James, the Holy Spirit lays it out the progression like this (James 1:14-15, NKJV):

14 But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. 15 Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death.

When Adam and Eve decided that the fruit looked to be a good source of food; that it was pleasant looking (After all, how could something so good be evil?). When they believed the lie that it would result in their growing wiser apart from God…they took of the fruit and ate.

Now, please notice that Eve didn’t encounter the Tempter alone. Adam, her husband was with her. For some reason Adam didn’t play the role given Him by God. He heard. He saw. He disobeyed alongside his wife or behind her. It is for this very reason that this isn’t merely called the Sin of Eve, but the Sin of Adam.
The result was immediate…they were ashamed. There had been no reason to be self-conscious or ashamed before disobeying God. God created their bodies and brought them together as husband and wife. It was after they disobeyed God that they knew shame and their minds changed.

They didn’t only know shame…they knew fear.

8 And they heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden.

So up to this point they had nothing to be afraid of, nothing to fear! God was their loving father and they wanted what He wanted. As soon as they disobeyed Him, their consciences awakened and they knew guilt and fear. Their consciences told them that the consequence was punishment. They had disobeyed their Creator’s one command. They hid from God.

Human beings to this very day attempt to hide from God. There are some that convince themselves that there is no God or that God is just like they are with faults and foibles. There are others who convince themselves that they really can’t know what God wants. Still others claim that gods of their own making are equals with the Creator or that many paths and saviors are available. In their heart of hearts, many of them know the truth.

God reaches out to us in His Word. He asks us questions and reveals the truth about ourselves that we would prefer ignore. He confronts us with our sin by means of His Holy Law. Let us understand that God didn’t ask these questions of Adam and Eve because He didn’t know, but to convict them of their sin.

9 Then the LORD God called to Adam and said to him, “Where are you?” 10 So he said, “I heard Your voice in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; and I hid myself.” 11 And He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you that you should not eat?” 12 Then the man said, “The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I ate.”13 And the LORD God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”

Let’s call it – The Blame Game. Human beings have been playing this game since the fall into sin. Adam tried to pass off his guilt to God and to Eve.
The Woman, whom YOU gave to be with me…in a subtle way Adam blamed God. This wouldn’t have happened if you hadn’t given me that woman! She gave me and I ate. It’s your fault and hers, not mine.

When the focus shifted to Eve…she did the same. It wasn’t my fault. It was the serpent. He tricked me and I ate.

Notice that neither Adam nor Eve wanted to take personal responsibility for their actions. This is still the human ‘M-O’ the ‘modus operandi’ or ‘method of operating’ today. Instead of taking responsibility for our actions and owning up to them our first response is to blame someone else.

Why should we be surprised that no one wants to point the finger at those who murder today? It’s the gun. It’s the violent video game. It’s the violent movie. It’s the bully. NO…it’s the sinful human being acting on his sinful impulses.

There is no simple fix for sinful human beings. We can’t fix our fallen natures. The problem isn’t guns or drugs or automobiles…the problem is this…human beings have a corrupt sinful nature. It’s the problem. Consequently, sin can’t be stopped by forbidding it. Murder won’t cease to be if guns, knives, alcohol and automobiles are made illegal. Sinful desire remains, even as making certain drugs illegal has increased their desirability!

There is but one solution for sin and God promised it in Eden and provided it on Calvary.

14 So the LORD God said to the serpent: “Because you have done this, You are cursed more than all cattle, And more than every beast of the field; On your belly you shall go, And you shall eat dust All the days of your life.

15 And I will put enmity Between you and the woman, And between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, And you shall bruise His heel.”

There were immediate consequences for the serpent. Since it had been used by the Devil to accomplish evil, it would itself be forever changed. On its belly it would go all the days of its life. Moreover, GOD placed in most human beings a natural revulsion for the snake, as a reminder of the sin and it’s beginning.
There were also consequences for the One who misused the serpent. Satan and Humankind were not to be allies against God but be hostile to one another. This hostility would pass from generation to generation between Satan and his host and humankind. Those who were misled and deceived by Satan would also be hostile toward those born of God – and so it is to this very day.

In the fullness of time, one particular descendent of the woman, born of a virgin named Mary, would crush Satan’s head and take away his power. No longer would sin and death reign in all of humankind because of this Seed of the Woman. He would Himself bear all human sin and pay the debt and punishment of all humankind, being forsaken of God. He would then rise again the third day, defeating death.

What Satan had set in motion would be undone.

Why then is there still evil in the world? Humankind is still corrupt by birth and nature. Humankind can still be deceived and misled by Satan. The Day of Judgment is coming and then all will change. Sin and Death will be cast off forever and that fallen angel will be judged and confined, cast forever into hell, along with all those born of him.

For were sin abounded, grace abounded more. God promised deliverance from sin and death even in Eden. There is now forgiveness of sins and deliverance from the consequences of sin and eternal death, for the Seed of the Woman has come and his death (crushed heel) delivers from sin and death eternal. For those who trust in Jesus the Christ and His sinless life, sacrificial death and glorious resurrection are freed from shame, guilt, fear and death.

Bruise for me the Serpent’s head that set free from doubt and dread,
I may cleave to Thee in faith safely kept through life and death!
Amen!