Zion Evangelical Lutheran Church-Friedheim
Celebrating our 169th Year
Chartered February 25, 1838
A 21st Century Parish with a 1st Century Faith
Acts 2:42
Ash Wednesday
February 6, 2008
Genesis 2:4b-9, 15-17; 3:1-7
The fall of humankind
The problem of sin
“Lord God, our strength, the battle of good and evil rages within and around us, and our ancient foe tempts us with his deceits and empty promises. Keep us steadfast in your word, and, when we fall, raise us up again and restore us through Your Son.”
Introduction: People, as they are want, ask these days, “What, is sin?” or, they will place themselves into any number of given scenarios, putting forward the question, “Under these conditions…is it a sin if I were to ...”? As we can well guess, we already know the answer, clearly. Yet, we as humans are always trying to create for ourselves a way to justify ourselves.
Is it a sin for one set of circumstances and not for another? People ask and ponder. [Hence the obsession with situation ethics of our day, in which certain conditions determine the correctness or the incorrectness of any particular position]
Some may ask “Is it a sin, for example, if you feel good in doing it? As if to say, if I find pleasure in a certain activity, it can be justified as being legitimate. Is it a sin, some might ask, if both parties consent or participate in a particular activity? As if to say, if you can justify the activity - it might be correct. Such issues, raised in the late 1960’s and early 1970’s were expressed most vividly in the words of the hit song which simply said, “If loving you is wrong – I don’t wanna be right.”[1]
Our text for this evening gives us the biblical outline for the guidance of God’s people today. Throughout our Lenten journey in which we will ask the Savior to walk with us; this year we will focus on God’s dealings with His people in the Old Testament. Tonight, we focus on man’s plight and his problem with sin. And, as we shall see, although sin would always hurt us God is able to give life to man.
What does the Bible, or, for that matter, what does God Himself consider to be sin? According to the Biblical account of man’s fall, the Bible describes sin in three specific terms.
I. By definition sin is - Disobedience to God’s law
II. By definition sin is - Doubting God’s Word
III. By definition sin is - Desiring to be like God
I. By definition sin is Disobedience to God’s Law — vv. 1-4. “Now the serpent was craftier than any of the wild animals the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?” The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’ ” “You will not surely die,” the serpent said to the woman. Genesis 3:1-4 Eve believed the lie the devil was telling her.
A. Satan, “the father of lies”, continues this tactic to this very hour. He puts a little truth in every lie, and a little lie in every truth so that we become convinced that his fibs are worth believing.
1. He does this subtly. “The serpent was craftier than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made” Give the devil his due, he works in cunning and scheming ways.
2. He does this judiciously.
a. He uses the wisdom of this world.
b. He judges in a way the world accepts as fair.
c. He asks us to trust our own “good judgment.”
B. How can we defeat the devil’s wiles?
1. Stay connected to God’s Word – this is where He speaks today.
2. Listen only to your shepherd’s voice. “My sheep hear My voice…” says Jesus, our shepherd. “…and they follow Me…”
3. Do not be misled by imposters. They are hirelings; they care nothing about and for the sheep.
II. By definition sin is Doubting God’s Word — v. 1. “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?” Genesis 3:1 Eve’s yielding was the result of Satan’s causing doubt in her mind.
A. Doubt causes us to hesitate.
1. Doubt causes us to become suspicions of the Father’s clear word.
2. Doubt causes us to become skeptical of the Savior’s clear words.
3. Doubt causes us to question what the Spirit has clearly inspired the holy writers to speak.
B. How can we defeat the devil’s wiles?
1. Remember, the Savior’s Words are both valid and certain.
2. Have faith in God’s promises, which is nothing short of taking God seriously – taking Him at His Word.
III. By definition sin is Desiring to be like God — v. 5. “God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” –Geneses 3:5 This is nothing more then appealing to pride.
A. Pride says, “I can make my own decisions”, the self-made person becomes confident in one’s own actions and has the will to do so.
1. This is the downside of this focus and fascination on the self-when we are fiercely independent and self-sufficient, our disappointments loom large because we have nothing else to focus on. We have become our own gods…expressed by the individual who simply explained, “I pray…to myself!”
2. Our world speaks. For so long we have been taught to expect more out of life at the very time when good jobs, nice houses and a sufficient retirement fund are increasingly difficult to obtain. All too often, the result is crippling anxiety and crushing depression.[2] That, my friends is the best our world can give us – crippling anxiety and crushing depression! We must turn to Christ who offers us a peace this world simply cannot give.
B. How can we defeat the devil’s wiles?
1. Trust not in your own self, rather trust only in Him. Thus writes the hymn writer when he says, “Trust not in rulers; they are but mortal; earth-born they are and soon decay. Vain are their counsels at life’s last portal. When the dark grave engulfs its prey. Since mortals cannot help afford. Place all your trust in Christ, our Lord.”[3]
2. Learn humbleness of heart as we come broken before the Father’s throne, and plead for mercy, clemency, compassion and pity.
Conclusion: This is why today is called “Ash Wednesday” for we come in our brokenness and plead for the Lord to have mercy. Adam’s fall is the fall of every man. In Adam we are all one. Adam fell because of himself. If we are to live, with God and for God, we must look to a second Adam – Jesus Christ our Savior - for salvation, rescue, and life.
[1] Song written by Homer Banks, Carl Hampton and Raymond Jackson. It has been performed by many singers, most notably the late Luther Ingram, whose version topped the R&B chart. Ingram's version rose to #3 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in 1972.
[2] From Generation Me Jean Twenge, PhD © 2006 Simon & Schuster
[3] Praise the Almighty LSB 797 stanza 2
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