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2026 02 22 Lent 1 year A |
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Genesis 2:15-17; 3:1-7 Romans 5:12-21 Matthew 4:1-11 Psalm 32
I’m often amused at how many non-church going people will
tell you that they are pretty good because they are law-abiding people who keep
the Ten Commandments. What amuses me
about this is that they have no idea of the first and most important
command. To love God and have no other
God’s before him. I mention this
because it is central to our readings today.
Speaking of laws, did you notice the extent of freedom
enjoyed by Adam and Eve in our first reading? Adam was free to eat of every tree in the
garden, but one. We may have the Ten
Commandments, but Adam and Eve only had one! Also, perhaps of note, just to balance the
blame that woman gets for the fall, this command was given to the Man before
there WAS any woman. However, have you
ever considered the freedom enjoyed by Adam and Eve?
From the very beginning, Adam and Eve were free. God created us to be free, and He gave us
free will. Death was not initially part
of our reality, and you might have missed the fact that in the garden of Eden,
Adam and Eve could freely eat from the tree of life. That all changed when they followed the
advice of the serpent and God exiled them from the garden of Eden.
Adam and Eve disobeyed God, but why….? What could have been so tantalizing that they
would risk death? Firstly, the fruit
looked good for food. Notice how this is
echoed in the temptation of Jesus in the desert. He was first tempted with food… this was at a
time when Jesus was hungry – very hungry and a very real temptation. But Jesus does not sin. He answers by quoting spiritual truth that
emphasizes the will of God and trust in God.
We are told that Eve considered the fruit desirable for
making her wise. Many scripture verses
encourage us to aspire to be wise but also advise that the fear of the LORD is
the beginning of wisdom. God is first
and foremost and His ways are truth and life.
Was it wise to eat from a tree that God said would cause your
death? To accept that the fear of the
Lord is the beginning of wisdom, means to have a humility towards God. It means we defer to God’s wisdom, rather
than our own and we trust in what HE says….. God says, “Don’t eat that fruit”,
we accept that God knows what is best for us and we don’t. We might think this was simple and foolish of
Adam and Eve, but do we still do the same?
Are there aspects of our life, where God’s direction is different from
our actions?
The second and third temptations of Jesus in the desert
have been suggested to be about pride and about authority and power. Jesus knew he was the Son of God – THE son of
God. He knew his importance, but he
humbly submitted to the will of the father - always– even to the cross.
The third temptation of Christ was where Jesus was
offered all power and authority by bowing down to Satan, to which Christ
answers with our familiar commandment to worship God alone and serve him only.
Although there were three temptations described as
happening to Jesus in the desert, they are all essentially about the same thing….
They are all about that first commandment – Love the Lord your God with all
your heart, mind, soul and strength. It
is about allegiance. Which side would
Jesus choose? God or the Devil? Jesus was faithful to God – three times –
therefore the matter is well and truly settled.
The serpent had told Eve that God lied to them. They wouldn’t really die but would be like
God. All they had to do was eat the
fruit…. All they had to do was not obey God…. All they had to do was to obey
the serpent.
Adam and Eve took a side.
There was Satan on one side and God on the other. In eating that fruit, they took the side of
Satan.
Many people in the world around us today, don’t trust in
God. They might hear about God or read
parts of the Bible and decide that God is lying to them. And we all know those people – we’ve come
across these people. But here is where
the rubber hits the road…. Sometimes those people are us. When we know what God wants us to do, but we
don’t do it, or anytime we put ourselves before God and anytime we make a
judgement about what is good or bad, rather than deferring to what God tells
us, then we are eating that fruit all over again…. We are taking a side – and
it isn’t the side of faith. And we ALL
do this. Even with our best intentions….
Sadly. Sin entered the world through
Adam, but we all bear his image, and sin is passed on as though part of our DNA. Now, we need a saviour!
In the desert Jesus faced the same temptation as Adam and
Eve, but he didn’t fall, he continues to reverence God the father and submit to
his will – three times he was tested – which means the matter was confirmed and
absolute. Jesus, standing true to God
the father in this time of testing, demonstrates his role in reversing the
disobedience in the Garden of Eden.
The temptation was ultimately about being “God” – having
the power and authority and wisdom of God and being our own God and therefore,
not needing God. Therefore, choosing the
way of Satan. Adam and Eve were enticed
to doubt God. They were enticed to be
their own God. They were enticed to
disobey God. The consequence was
death. Without God’s spirit and presence,
and without access to the tree of life, they began to die physically. Death entered the world and reigned ever
after – Then Jesus rose from the dead, proving that he had power over the
grave, and he brought about something new…
the opportunity for redemption.
We, like God, are triune beings. We have a body, soul and spirit. The consequence of sin was death… physical
death eventually, but spiritual death through being separated from God’s
spirit. Often people see this time of
Lent as being the big build up and preparation time for Easter, with it’s
culmination being resurrection Sunday.
But those apostles, after experiencing the resurrection, did very little,
even after seeing the risen Christ, until they received the Holy Spirit.
Jesus promised to send the Holy Spirit. It wasn’t an optional extra. The Holy Spirit is vital. The story of the salvation we have through
Christ is not finished until we have experienced Pentecost. Someone once said it this way, “Jesus did not
come to die for your sin” – and that sounded like heresy – because Jesus did die
to atone for sin– he died as the perfect Lamb of God to take away the sin of
the world… but the speaker went on to
explain. “Jesus came to bring you
life!”
Yes, Jesus brings us eternal life through dying to atone for
the sins of the world, but that life – the abundant God type life - is what comes through the Holy Spirit. God desires for us to be truly alive. His desire is to be in communion with us… to
have us walk with him just as Adam and Eve did in the beginning, but better,
because we have already chosen a side… through our baptism into Christ we are
considered to have chosen the side of faith.
Our journey today begins with understanding that Adam and
Eve fell, and we all do the same. We
come before God in humility knowing that we have also questioned God, not
followed His call and by doubting God, we’ve unwittingly given allegiance to
one who tempts and lies to us. In
acknowledging this, we turn back to God.
Romans tells us; “If, because of the one man's trespass,
death exercised dominion through that one, much more surely will those who
receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness exercise
dominion in life through the one man, Jesus Christ.” This is the Good News. Our unity with Jesus, who didn’t fall for the
temptation, means that we have life – abundant, spirit-filled life! Grace, eternal life and unity with God is the
free gift of God, which is ours through Christ Jesus.
Lent is a time of consecration, where we commit our lives
to God. We know our weaknesses, but we
don’t rely on our own resolve and efforts. …. Instead, we know that our life is
assured through our unity with Christ.
However, we take this time to focus on prayer and fasting, as we acknowledge
the reality that we are not as law abiding as we wish we were…. We do fall…
often... but in this time, we remind ourselves that we continue to choose
God. We, through the gift of Jesus, are
absolutely the people of God. It is who
we are and who we always choose to be.
We choose the way of faith.
