Sermon -- 3rd Sunday after Pentecost (June 13, 2021)

 GENESIS 3:8-15

JESUS OVERCOMES THE FOE WHO HAD OVERCOME US.

 In the name + of Jesus.

     Our Old Testament lesson is a crime scene.  It begins after all the action has taken place.  Adam and Eve are in full blown cover-up mode.  First, they had covered their bodies with fig leaves, hoping that modesty would compensate for shame.  Modesty is certainly appropriate now for people who can no longer control their own sexual urges.  Even clothing does not always help.  So, modesty is necessary, but shame is the norm.  We all have episodes in our lives that we would just assume forget.  While you may bury them in the recesses of your mind for a while, the devil is good at digging them back up.  When God came into the garden, Adam and Eve ran for cover because of their shame.  But the cover-up never takes away the crime. 

     If the Garden of Eden was a crime scene, the investigation was only a formality.  God knew who did what.  Even though God asked the questions, the answers were not for his benefit.  God wanted Adam to demonstrate a contrite heart and to make a confession of sin.  He did not get either.  Instead, cover-up mode.  Adam shifted the blame.  The Lord God said to him, “‘Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?’  The man said, ‘The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate’” (Genesis 3:11-12).  Adam sought to cover his shame by casting blame elsewhere.  “It was her fault for giving me the fruit.  And, God, it is your fault for giving me her.”  If you ever wondered what it looks like when the devil has overcome someone, look at Adam.  He rejects the truth.  He evades responsibility.  He gets angry with God.  He stubbornly insists on his own innocence.  Sin flows freely out of a wicked heart and through perverse lips.  The foe had overcome him.

     Eve was not much better.  “The Lord God said to the woman, ‘What is this that you have done?’  The woman said, ‘The serpent deceived me, and I ate’” (Genesis 3:13).  Again, cover-up mode.  Eve insisted, “It’s not my fault.  I was tricked!”  But that was a lie.  Eve knew full well God’s command about the tree.  She knew the consequences if she disobeyed.  We have her own testimony on that.  (Peek back at verse 3.)  To say she was deceived is to say she did not know any better.  She did.  She sinned.  The foe had overcome her.

     In overcoming Adam and Eve, Satan overcame all mankind.  We all enter this world in Adam’s image, that is, as captives of Satan.  Jesus spoke about this when he said, “No one can enter a strong man's house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man.  Then indeed he may plunder his house” (Mark 3:27).  We are not the strong man.  The strong man is the devil.  We are what he has plundered.  The devil stole us from God, and we have become his.  This is evident by the sins we commit.  Sins are not God’s work, but Satan’s.  As children of the devil, we act like our father and have adopted his rationale that sins bring happiness.  We even have embraced the foolish idea that we can cover up our shame and fool God.

     The foe has plundered us, but like Adam and Eve, we offer silly arguments why we are not to be blamed for our sins.  My friends talked me into it.  I had every right to rebel because the rules were unfair.  If my choices were not so difficult, I would not have done what I did.  If God had blessed me better, it would have been easier to follow his commandments.  I didn’t know any better.  Any excuse is poor, especially for Christians.  We do know better, for we have been taught by God.  God tells us what is right and wrong.  And yet, we still do what is wrong.  The sinful nature clings to us.  As a result, sins continue to flow out of wicked hearts and excused by perverse lips.  The foe has overcome us, and we cannot overcome the strong man.

     If we want to be free from sin and guilt, shame and fear, death and hell, we need a stronger man to overcome the strong one.  We need the stronger man to bind up the strong man so that the foe can be plundered.  This is what Jesus said, “No one can enter a strong man's house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man.  Then indeed he may plunder his house” (Mark 3:27).  In order for us to be free from Satan’s kingdom, the stronger man must come.  And he was promised as soon as he was needed.

     Although God spoke first to Adam and then to Eve, his wrath was aimed at the devil.  He speaks to the devil and to the serpent as if they were one being.  The serpent is cursed above all the other animals since it was used as the devil’s pawn.  Then the Lord addressed Satan directly: “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel” (Genesis 3:15).  The stronger man would come and destroy the devil’s work and undo his kingdom.  Jesus would overcome the foe who had overcome us.

     In crushing the head of the serpent, Jesus would render the serpent powerless.  The power of a venomous snake is in its mouth.  And the power of the devil is in his mouth.  The devil spits out lies.  He wants to convince you that despising God’s word is entertaining or profitable or beneficial to you.  Adam and Eve did not eat the forbidden fruit out of ignorance or curiosity.  They were convinced that there was something to be gained by it.  The devil’s mouth continues to spit out such lies today, and our sinful nature is willing to buy them.  Like Adam and Eve, we also think that there is something to be gained by ignoring God’s word, even if it is just a moment’s pleasure.  Therefore, Jesus was sent to crush the serpent’s head and to kick in his mouth.  In this way, he puts an end to his power over us.  Jesus overcomes the foe who has overcome us.

     Of course, it is not as easy as just crushing Satan underfoot.  That would put an end to Satan.  But the damage was done before Jesus came.  It is like Cain’s murder of his brother Abel.  The Lord banished Cain for his unrepentant crime.  You can argue that justice was carried out, but that did not bring Abel back to his parents.  So also, crushing Satan does not undo man’s sinfulness.  There is no going back to holiness even if Satan were snuffed out of existence.  Sin still corrupts all mankind, and so all mankind is marked for death.

     Therefore, Jesus acted not just to destroy the devil’s kingdom, but also to restore us to God.  To restore us to God, he would need to remove all sin and guilt from us.  God had promised that would happen.  He declared: “He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel” (Genesis 3:15).  The serpent would strike Jesus and would inject the deadly venom of sin and death into him.  In fact, Jesus would take all the sin of every person of every nation of every era and absorb it into himself.  The Son of God would suffer for us.  For, Jesus is not just another man.  He is the Seed of the Woman.  He definitely has a mother, having been born into the world.  But he is not the seed of any man.  He was conceived by God the Holy Spirit.  Therefore, he did not inherit the sin of Adam which infects us all.  He was born in purity and innocence.  Nevertheless, he was made sin for us so that he would die for our rebellion.  He took in all the venom of the devil and died for all sin.

     By dying for us, Jesus overcame the foe for us.  Jesus’ death paid the ransom price for our freedom from sin and Satan.  And then, Jesus rose from the dead.  Now, Jesus has authority over death.  Jesus has authority to forgive sins.  Jesus has overcome the devil.  The stronger man has bound up the strong man and has plundered him; and you are the plunder Jesus has taken back.  Jesus has stripped the devil of any claims on you.  Your place is in God’s gracious kingdom where you are free from having to invent excuses, from needing to cover your tracks, and from finding someone else to blame.  Instead, you confess your sins and they are pardoned.  All Satan’s accusations against you have been tossed out of God’s court.  For Jesus has overcome the foe who had overcome us.

     When God promised that Jesus would overcome the devil, he was letting Adam and Eve know that he was going to restore all things.  A different kind of cover-up now takes place.  Shame is covered over by Jesus’ innocence.  The curse is covered up by God’s gracious blessings.  You who are baptized have been covered up in the blood of Christ which cleanses you of all sin.  And if God undoes the work of the devil, it also means that he changes the hearts and minds of sinners.  Adam and Eve and all who are converted no longer believe that the devil’s ideas are good.  Rather, we uphold God’s word as good and right and true.  Even when God’s word exposes our sins, we acknowledge that God is right.  He works repentance in our hearts.  We confess our sins to be forgiven of them, and we put off our sins so that they will not ensnare us.

     We know that we cannot let sin have a place in our lives.  To embrace sin is to tell God that his word is wrong and that we are better off ignoring him.  If sin takes root, it leads to despising God’s word entirely.  This is the sin Jesus spoke of in our Gospel lesson.  “Truly, I say to you, all sins will be forgiven the children of man, and whatever blasphemies they utter, but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin” (Mark 3:28-29).  The Holy Spirit enlightens us to see God’s truth.  If we put on blinders and refuse to look at what God says, we reject the Holy Spirit’s work.  The Holy Spirit plants faith in our hearts.  If we let sin take root, it can choke out the Spirit’s work.  Blasphemy against the Holy Spirit is the rejection of God’s word.  It is unbelief and the death of faith.  “Whoever does not believe will be condemned” (Mark 16:16).  Sins can be forgiven; unbelief cannot.  To reject God’s word is to be overcome by the serpent again. 

     But hope and help, pardon and peace, comfort and confidence, salvation and safety remain with Jesus Christ.  He remains the stronger man.  Faith in his word will guard and keep you from the devil’s grasp.  Those whom Jesus has ransomed are free from sin, death, and the devil.  For Jesus has overcome the foe who had overcome us. 

In the name of the Father and of the Son + and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.