Intro
Can
you believe it? The serpent attacks, not
through brute force, but through words.
And Adam just stands there. He
doesn’t say or do anything. He just
stands there next to Eve as the serpent twists the truth. Did you catch that
in our Old-Testament reading? After Eve tasted the forbidden fruit, she
gave some to her husband “who was with her” (Genesis 3:6).
Main Body
Let
me ask you this? What two duties did God
give Adam, even before He made a complementary counterpart for him, a companion
so Adam wouldn’t be alone? Genesis tells
us: “The Lord God took the man and placed him in the Garden of Eden to work it
and watch over it” (Genesis 2:15). Adam
was to tend the garden and watch over it, so no harm would come to it. The
Hebrew word for “watch over” is shamar, which also means to guard.
One
of Adam’s duties was as a security guard to ward off intruders. Of course, a
guard is only needed if such a
possible threat exists. And sure enough,
there was, for God would give Adam the opportunity to show and prove himself in
such a task.
God
gave Adam two duties to carry out, but only one not to do. Genesis also tells
us that: “Do not eat from
the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for on the day you eat from it, you
will die!” (Genesis 2:17).
So,
now the serpent comes. We don’t know
exactly what he looked like, for the word in Hebrew can be a small snake or
giant sea monster. But either way, the
serpent was a threat, an enemy, from which Adam was to protect everything in
the garden. And God’s mandate to watch
over the garden also included his wife, Eve.
So,
the serpent comes. But that shouldn’t be
a problem. God has prepared Adam well. For if God had told Adam to watch over
and
guard everything in the garden, Adam knew that such a threat could exist. And
a pre-fallen Adam had no fatigue of the
fallen flesh to muddy his mind, or to make him physically unable for the
task.
God
had earlier created the entire world through speaking it into existence. But
for Adam, “the Lord God… breathed the
breath of life into his nostrils, and the man became a living being” (Genesis
2:7). The word for breath is also the
word “spirit.” The Spirit of God Himself
animated Adam, which gave to him unending life, life eternal. So, Adam was
armed with God’s Word and Spirit
to defend against any fallen angel.
So,
the serpent comes to Eve, Adam’s bride; and Adam is there, right next to her.
Eve is trying to do her best against the
serpent and his lies, which sound a bit like the truth. Adam has heard
directly from God; Eve has
heard from Adam. So, what will Adam
do? Will he guard her as God has charged
him to do? Will he show her how deeply
he loves her and protect her. Will he step
in and be the leader that God had given him to be? No, he does nothing.
Adam,
lead! Guard and watch over Eve! You know what’s at stake. God said that the
day you eat of it, the day
you eat the forbidden fruit, you will eternally die. Do what God has called
you to do. Show your bride your love and drive the
serpent far from the garden. Remind Eve of
what God has told you. Call the devil a
damned liar; drive him from the garden. Quote
God. Preach God’s Word to Eve and the
serpent. At least pray and cry out to
God for help. All is at stake if you
don’t act.
But
Adam doesn’t act. He’s unwilling to
suffer for Eve. He’s unwilling, if need
be, to give his life for his bride, which wouldn’t have happened since Adam was
still eternal. But Adam probably didn’t
know that, for, although Adam was still sinless, He wasn’t all-knowing like
God. Perhaps, God was putting Adam to the
test.
So,
there is Adam, unwilling to open his mouth and speak God’s Word. When Adam
needed backbone, he had none. When Adam needed to self-sacrifice, he feared
it. Where God had called Adam to
protect—and if needed, lay down his life for his bride—he did nothing. God had
put Adam to the test, and he failed. When Eve needed him to act, he did
nothing.
But
it wasn’t only Adam who failed that day, so long ago. For when God created
Eve, He created, in the
Hebrew language, an ezer ke negedo. She was to be opposite in nature of Adam,
deliberately
created to be someone who would complete him.
Adam was incomplete without his Eve.
But
contained in that Hebrew phrase is also the idea of being underneath Adam.
Being underneath Adam makes sense. For God had charged Adam to watch over and
guard Eve, not the other way around. But
what do we find Eve doing? Where Adam had
faltered in his leadership and protection, Eve stepped forward, ate the
forbidden fruit, and then gave some to Adam.
In doing so, Eve had taken Adam’s role for herself; she was watching
over him.
So,
the fall into sin wasn’t just eating the fruit.
Eating the fruit exposed the sin that had already taken place. Because both
Adam and Eve had already sinned,
their eating of the fruit was inevitable.
Did
you ever wonder why Scripture says that only men may serve as pastors? Now,
that’s an unpopular topic today, and
most people don’t understand why. Most
pastors are too scared to touch the topic.
But let’s ask this: Can women be good pastors? Of course!
Based on ability, they are just as qualified as men. It has nothing
to do with ability. Not having women
pastors goes back to creation and the fall into sin.
Adam
and Eve had switched their God-given roles that He had given them in
creation. Adam let Eve watch over him,
and Eve had taken to herself what God had given to Adam to do. When the
Apostle Paul told Pastor Timothy
that he “didn’t allow a woman to teach or assume authority over a man,” he then
said why: “Adam was created first, then Eve” (1 Timothy 2:12-13). It goes back
to creation, and the fall, where
Adam chose to let Eve watch over him, and Eve chose to be like Adam.
When
you come to Church, God gives you an object lesson. When you only see a man
watching over the
flock, you get a visual image of a man now forced to do what Adam failed to do.
And where Eve had taken Adam’s role, we now
see God forcing women not to do as Eve had done. Through that object lesson,
we see our fall
into sin.
Even
how God designed His Church is to be an object lesson of our fall into sin—and
our
need for salvation! For it’s then that
we see Jesus. Where Adam and Eve had failed,
Jesus succeeded. Jesus, full of the love
and self-sacrifice, went toe-to-toe with Satan to guard and watch over you.
That’s our Gospel reading for today.
Your
sin lands you in the wilderness of this world with no protection or hope of
saving yourself from Satan’s twisted words. But unlike Adam, Jesus battles for
you and
fulfills His calling as your Protector over the evil serpent.
Watching
Jesus isn’t like watching Adam. Jesus
isn’t slow to speak when it comes to your salvation. His backbone is strong,
as is His courage. Satan says, “If you are the Son of God,
command these stones to become bread.” And
Jesus’ response is lightning fast: “Man does not live by bread alone, but by
every word that comes from the mouth of God.”
“So,
if you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from the top of this Temple. Go
ahead and put your Father’s words to the
test.” But, instead, Jesus pierces Satan
with sure and certain words: “Do not put the Lord your God to the test.”
“So,
if you fall down before me and worship me, I’ll give you all this,” as Satan
points to creation. He promises Jesus
glory in this life. That would
contradict the Father’s plan for Him to suffer, take our sin into Himself, die,
be buried, and THEN enter His glory. So,
Jesus can’t be silent. Where Adam was
silent, Jesus speaks: “Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him.”
Look
to Jesus! He doesn’t shrink from His
God-given roles like Adam had done. See how
much Jesus loves you, even willing to die for His Bride, the Church, unlike
Adam who was unwilling to do what was needed to save Eve.
The
devil took Jesus to a high mountain to tempt Him. But then God the Father took
Jesus to the
mount of Calvary for His greatest test. And
He passed the test. But, in Christ, it’s
you who gets the perfect and flawless grade.
Well,
back to pastors only being men. Male
pastors do more than serve as an object lesson, pointing us to our sin. In a
male pastor, we are also to see Jesus, for
where Adam had failed, Jesus succeeded! And
so with the eyes of faith, we see God using a male pastor as an object lesson,
pointing us to our sin AND our salvation.
A male pastor not only points us to Adam’s fall into sin, but also Jesus’
salvation for us!
Conclusion
As
Satan continues to tempt you to mistrust God’s Words, hear the voice of Jesus,
spoken
through one who is to be an object lesson, pointing you to Christ. Jesus says:
“You are forgiven. You are my Bride, baptized and covered in my
righteousness.”
Now,
it’s as our Epistle reading tells us.
We
don’t have a High Priest [Jesus] who is unable to sympathize with our
weaknesses. Instead, we have one who has
been tempted in every way as we are, yet without sin. So let us come
confidently to the throne of
grace to receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need. [Hebrews
4:14-15] [Amen.]
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