Your Heavenly Father Fixed the Fall into Sin
How many of you live in St. Albert? What’s the best part of our city? Is it the farmer’s market? The walking trails? The school system? There are lots of great things about St. Albert!
What’s the worst part of our city? Is it the traffic? The construction? The taxes? The politics? There are plenty of not-great things about St. Albert too, and I’m sure that list could go on.
When we think about God the Father almighty, it is natural for us to think about what comes immediately after that phrase in the first article of the Apostles’ Creed, i.e. “maker of heaven and earth.” He created the light, the sea, the sky, the dry ground and all the living things that inhabit them. And after each creation was created, we hear the same refrain: “And God saw that it was good.”[1]
If you had been there on the seventh day, when God rested from his labours and declared that everything he had made was very good,[2] what would you have said the best part of creation was? Adam and Eve? The Garden? The peace and perfect balance between all living things? There’s not a wrong answer, because everything was perfect.
But if you think about it, all of those possible answers have a lowest common denominator – there’s one similarity that ties all of them together, and it’s this: that all of those things we imagine as the best part of creation are the inverse of what we see and experience now.
If you thought a perfectly balanced ecosystem would have been the best part, it’s probably because you live in a world that doesn’t have that, and you know from first-hand experience what imbalance feels like, e.g. drought, floods, fire, hurricanes, earthquakes, famine. If you thought that peace between creatures would have been the best part, it’s probably because you got bit by a dog when you were a kid, or you’re currently going through the fallout of separation or divorce, i.e. you know from painful, first-hand experience what a lack of peace feels like.
So, what went wrong? How could we go from an almighty God creating the perfect world to this, with all the problems and troubles and heartaches we experience every day? In a word, it’s “sin.”
Maybe you’ve heard the story of Adam and Eve before. Even if you have, it’s good to hear it again. Genesis 3 starts this way: Now the serpent was more crafty 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’?”[3]
Before we read the next verse, can you answer that question? Did God really say this? No, he didn’t. This is what God said to Adam, even before Eve was created: “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die.”[4]
Let’s see how well Adam passed this message along to Eve: 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.’”[5]
Did Adam do a good job? Was Eve listening? Yes, he did; she was. So far so good. But the devil’s not done: “You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman. “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”[6]
Before we read the next verse, was this true? Would their eyes be opened? Yes, but not in the way this snake oil salesman implied: When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.[7]
Adam and Eve had disobeyed the one command God had given them. They had corrupted the whole of God’s creation and earned consequences not only for themselves but for the whole world. In the verses that follow we hear about pain in childbirth, conflict in relationships, painful toil just to put food on the table, and ultimately death. And that wasn’t just for Adam and Eve. It was for all their children and their children’s children. All because of sin. And all because of a snake.
Scripture paints many pictures of the devil: as a dragon, a serpent. Peter compares him to a lion: Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.[8] What is the devil looking to do to you? Devour you.
The devil is an opportunistic opponent who is looking to prey on your every vulnerability and weakness to lead you away from God, so that instead of living in perfect harmony with your Creator, you live in hostility with him; instead of eternal life in heaven, the devil wants you to be damned to eternal death with the him in hell forever.
And the devil is good at what he does. “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?”[9] What was the devil trying to get Eve to do? He was trying to cause Eve to question… whether she heard God right, whether she understood God correctly, whether Adam had reliably transmitted God’s message to her.
The devil asks you the same kinds of questions, “Did God really say… that you have to honour your government? These aren’t honourable people!” “Did God really say… that homosexuality is a sin, that women can’t be pastors, that we’re not supposed to pray with Christians who believe differently than we do?” The devil is good at what he does.
“You will not certainly die, for God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”[10] What forbidden fruit has looked desirable to you? Is it the intimacy God reserves for marriage? Why would God hold out on you? After all, you love each other. Why wait and deprive yourself of something that’ll be yours in a matter of time anyway?
What outright lies has the devil told you? “It’s not that bad.” “No one will know.” “No one will be hurt.” Meanwhile your own soul languishes under the weight of shame and guilt. You don’t reach for fig leaves, but you try to hide from others and even live in denial from your own conscience.
The devil’s whole goal is to lead you away from God; to consume you in everlasting condemnation as a direct result of the sins you commit. And the devil is good at what he does.
But your Father is better.
Do you know the first thing God said to Adam and Eve after they sinned? Was it, “How dare you,” or, “You’re in for it now”? No. It was, “Where are you?”[11] Did God not know where Adam and Eve were? He knew. So why did he ask? To give them the opportunity to own up to their actions. And did they? No. They offered excuses. They shifted the blame… to each other, to the devil, to God. They did not own up to their actions.
And even so, God did not blow up, not at them anyway. This is what he said to the serpent, “Because you have done this, cursed are you above all livestock and all wild animals! You will crawl on your belly and you will eat dust all the days of your life. And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.”[12]
The devil had successfully recruited Adam and Eve to join his rebellion against God. But what did God promise to do? Put enmity between the devil and Adam and Eve. In other words, God would restore the relationship to it was always supposed to be. Instead of Adam and Eve in league with the devil against God, God would bring Adam and Eve back to his side and help them to understand that the devil wasn’t some enlightened visionary who was going to teach them the secrets to a full and happy life; the devil was their enemy and God was their friend.
And did you catch how God was going to do it? The offspring of the woman was going to crush the serpent’s head. That was Jesus, and that’s what Jesus did when he died on the cross. He destroyed the devil’s work. He removed the wedge of separation between us and our Creator, and he reconciled us to him. Because your Creator did more than just create you. He has loved you from the very beginning and he has lived up to his name, i.e. he is your Father.
When the set time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those under the law, that we might receive adoption to sonship.[13] Despite your sin – no matter how often the devil deceives you – your Father doesn’t view you as enemies. What did he make you? His sons. His children. He adopted you into his family.
And that comes with rights and privileges: Now if we are children, then we are heirs – heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.[14] What privilege is ours as God’s children? The inheritance of glory. We don’t have to fear punishment. That’s been taken care of by Jesus. We don’t have to fear eternal separation from the Maker of heaven and earth. We get to live with him forever in heaven and on earth.
“Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!”[15] Because God is your Father, what can you expect from him? To listen. To answer your prayers. To give you the good gifts he knows you need.
Because the Father has adopted you into his family, you can have the certainty of knowing that he loves you – not just because he created you, but because he chose you. Because the Father has adopted you into his family, you can have the confidence to approach him in prayer for anything and everything. Because the Father has adopted you into his family, you can live with a gratitude and appreciation for every good thing you receive from his hand.
We don’t live in a perfect world anymore. St. Albert is not the Garden of Eden. But the Maker of heaven and earth is still our Father. He still loves us. He has saved us by sending his Son. And he will take us to live with him forever in the perfection of heaven. That’s why, as Luther says, there’s little left to do but to thank, praise, serve and obey him.
This is most certainly true. Amen.
[1] Genesis 1:12,18,25
[2] Genesis 1:31
[3] Genesis 3:1
[4] Genesis 2:16,17
[5] Genesis 3:2,3
[6] Genesis 3:4,5
[7] Genesis 3:6,7
[8] 1 Peter 5:8
[9] Genesis 3:1
[10] Genesis 3:4,5
[11] Genesis 3:9
[12] Genesis 3:14,15
[13] Galatians 4:4,5
[14] Romans 8:17
[15] Matthew 7:9-12