[Sermon Archive]

This Week's Sermon SECOND MIDWEEK LENTEN VESPERS 13 February 2008 "A Greater Adam" Genesis 3:1-21 LSB Series A Vicar Heath A. Trampe Soli Deo Gloria!

Most of us are familiar with the events of Genesis three. Adam, who has been made God's representative among all living creatures, is given a helpmate in the woman who would later be named Eve. Satan, who had recently been cast down from heaven, had it in mind to bring God's people down with him. You see, Adam was not to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, and Satan knew this was the best way to tempt him, and tempt him he does. Eve eats the fruit, Adam eats the fruit, and they are expelled from the Garden. Until the day they die, they'll have to work hard for their existence. Whereas they were once immortal and could have enjoyed the pleasures of the Garden for all time, now they would experience death. Satan had accomplished his goal. Man had been separated from the love of God and was capable of disobeying God all the way to hell. However, what Satan could never have understood at the time was that even though Adam introduced death and sin into the world with his defiance, another would come and reverse this horrible situation. You see, even though we Christians were dead in our sins,

I. Through Adam, death was introduced to mankind, and all are affected by this curse.
--This is not God's fault, but is a result of mankind's rebellion in response to Satan's trickery.
II. Through Christ, all who were once dead in their sins are made alive once more. This life is for eternity.
--We are still unworthy of eternal life. Christ's sacrifice, however, affects even us through the miracle of baptism.

If a person is 'dead in his sins,' it means that he has no hope of everlasting life. It's common to talk about the end of this life as being our death, but we know that there is life after we are buried into this earth. The real death is experienced only by those who do not have the hope of everlasting life in Christ Jesus. This is the death that Adam brought into the world through his disobedience. The apostle Paul writes "Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned" (Romans 5:12). You see, we are all affected by Adam's transgression, and the punishment is death, both now and forever.

Throughout history, people have tried to cast the blame upon God for man's fall. They argue that Adam and Eve couldn't have known any better and that it was God's fault for putting that tree there in the first place. This was also Adam's argument. "The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate". Poor Adam, through no fault of his own, was duped by a simple minded woman. At least this is what he wanted God to believe. Was Adam's great sin that he ate of the fruit or that he blamed God for his disobedience? Do we fall into this same situation?

Christians are simultaneously sinner and saint at all times, but we really only think about sin when we are doing something wrong. Actually, whether we intentionally sin or not, our very natures are affected by the condition of sin, which is much more than something we do. Every Sunday in the Divine Service, the first thing we confess is that "we are by nature sinful and unclean" (LSB 151, 167). Our Lutheran forefathers labeled this condition of our flesh as natural concupiscence, meaning that not only our actions, but also the continual tendency of our natures is sinful (Article II, Apology of the AC). Our sinful nature is constantly at work, rebelling against God and His gifts. This enmity with God is a result of the fall, of Adam's sin, and it's as natural and permanent as the skin you're wearing.

We were doomed to hell, according to the Apostle Paul, but God had other plans for us. God says to Satan "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". The original Hebrew can be translated as Offspring or Seed. God here is talking about the coming Messiah, who would come in the person of Jesus Christ. This language of bruising the serpent's head is weak. The Hebrew suggests a crushing or battering. Satan will get his shots in at Christ, both during the temptation in the wilderness and also throughout Jesus' ministry. However, in the event of the cross, Satan's power will truly be crushed. At no time is this more real to us than during this penitential season of Lent when we reflect upon Christ's sacrifice.

Christ's efforts did more than simply reverse the fall of Adam. Paul states "If, because of one man's trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ" (Romans 5:17). Paul says even here that this gift of righteousness is free. But how can we know that the gift is for us?

After Paul preaches to Rome concerning the power of Christ and His glorious work for the sinner, he explains how the sinner can benefit from this gift. "How can we who died to sin still live in it? 3 Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4 We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life" (Romans 6:2-4). This was a major point of contention with Martin Luther, who was grieved by the many attempts of man to turn Christ's work into our own good work.

Even among the Christians there are many who feel that it should be a person's decision to become a baptized member of the church. They feel this way because they see baptism as a commitment to righteousness. This righteousness is manifested in the good works they do for their friends and neighbors. If they don't feel ready to make that commitment, they don't get baptized. Sadly, many die without ever being baptized because of this mindset. Nowhere in Scripture is this erroneous thinking allowed. Luther defends the Bible's view of baptism when he proposes and answers this question: "What benefits does baptism give? It works the forgiveness of sins, rescues from death and devil, and gives eternal salvation to all who believe this, as the words and promises of God declare". And where does this belief come from? The same Holy Spirit who wrote the blessed Scriptures also gives us our faith and allows us to hold fast to the promise of God given in baptism. This is why we baptize our children when they are infants, so that they might be able to enjoy the treasures and promises of everlasting life connected to the miracle of baptism.

Adam's disobedience in the Garden of Eden was a serious offense. So serious, in fact, that because of his sin we were all doomed to hell. However, despite Satan's best attempts, God has provided a Savior. This Seed or Offspring of Eve's womb, who would later crush the head of Satan in His death upon the cross, is our salvation. When Christ died, He died with the sins of the entire world upon His shoulders. He knew what it meant to be completely forsaken by God. When He proclaimed that "it is finished" (John 19:30), Adam's transgression could no longer kill us. As Paul states in Romans, this gift of Christ, the greater Adam, given us freely through baptism, is much more than just a reversal of the first Adam's sin. Christ's death and resurrection are a source of infinite comfort and strength throughout our journey in this valley of sorrow. They continue to protect us until we take our rightful place beside God in life everlasting. Amen.