There was once a man who was so sure of his faith that He believed God would do anything he asked for.  One day he decided with God's help he would fly.  So he climbed up a 50 story building, held out his hands and jumped off.  He was heard saying as he fell, "So far, so good!"

          Today is the start of Lent and tomorrow is Valentine's Day, and for the first time I'm preaching on one of the most well-known texts of the Bible, Genesis 3:1-7.  "So far, so good!"

          Today's theme covers two very difficult subjects that are no strangers to those in love: sin and temptation.  The Gospel Lesson for today from Matthew 4 is the usual one for the first Sunday in Lent, on the temptation of Jesus.  Satan and Jesus collide head on in the wilderness, and Jesus wins the battle using a two-edged sword called the Word of God.  The Bible says Jesus was tempted in every way, just as we are, yet He avoided sinning.  It's not wrong to be tempted - we all are.  It's what you do with temptation that matters.  "So far, so good!"

          The New Testament Lesson from Romans 5 has St. Paul showing us that Christ has overcome the sin of our first parents in the Garden of Eden.  He tells us that if eternal death came into the world through the sin of the first Adam, then eternal life comes into the world through the second Adam, Jesus Christ.  "So far, so good!"

          Now we come to the Old Testament Lesson, that ancient story of Adam and Eve being deceived by Satan and falling into sin.  This story has become so commonplace that most of us know it by heart:  Satan tempted Eve to eat the apple and she tempted Adam to join her.  Both were tempted and both followed the tempter.  So many jokes have been made about this biblical account that it has become hard for us to listen and hear the real story.  "So far, not so good!"

          But that's what I hope we will do today - hear and listen.  If we hear and listen to the Word of God, then we are well on the way to a better understanding of Christian life.  In the Bible to know something is to experience it and live it.  Today I hope we will know the Word of God, and then also be able to experience and live it.

          Adam is in the garden of Eden because God put him there.  Like all the creation stories of the Bible, it's God who's in charge!  Genesis 2 tells us "The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to till it and keep it."  The only reason there is an earth with a man in it is because God has made it that way.

          Adam was given a specific job to do.  He was to till the garden and keep it.  He was the gardener, the groundskeeper, the steward.  Humans were created to work!  That ought to trim our visions of being so smart!  Adam wasn't in the garden for fun but to look after it.  To be a creature of God is to have responsibilities.  Of course at that time work was not a problem.  It was just the normal life, and all creatures worshipped God with their work.  Work was a source of joy and fulfillment.  This surely isn't the case today!

          Today work is considered an enemy.  Carol and I enjoyed 10 days away from "work" down south.  We parked our trailer amid a whole lot of old retired folks and nary a one of them I talked to longed to be back in the office.  True, work can be a source of fulfillment for people.  Our lives can even be defined by what we do.  But as soon as we are able, we people want to retire from work, and choose what we'd like to do, rather than must do.

          But work itself is not the curse, sin is the curse.  After God caught Adam and Eve in sin, He cursed the earth for what they had done.  Now sin makes the work tedious.  Now sin makes it unfullfilling.  Now that mankind has sinned, work will always be resented in some way.

          In the garden there was security and freedom.  Adam and Eve were safe - there was no threat to their existence.  They were free to work and serve God however they pleased - with one exception.  One tree must not be touched, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.  "In the day you eat of it," said God, "you shall die."  Adam and Eve as well were faced with a choice.  There was God and his Garden, or there was death.  Human beings are under God's command.  He sets the limits.  There's no question about that until we get to the next chapter.

          Genesis 3 says the serpent, another word for Satan, was a wild and crafty animal.  When man and woman confronted Satan, they had a choice to make, but they thought they could have it both ways.  It wasn't either the Garden or the fruit - they wanted both.  The serpent was a smart talker and asked the woman, "Did God say, 'You shall not eat from any tree in the garden?'"  It was a general question, but it begged the woman to defend the Lord.  The woman had never been tempted before, and so walked straight into a trap.  She didn't just listen to the serpent, she corrected it, "Not only can't we eat of the tree, we can't even touch it."

          Then the serpent threw suspicion back on God.  It claimed to know God better than she did, and understand His motives in a way better than she.  "You will not die; for God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil."  Satan tempted her to believe that there was more to this matter than God is letting on.  She would be better off deciding for herself what is good or bad, rather than letting God decide.  Satan was telling her that obeying God limits us too much.  We should be able to set our own limits.  Thanks, God, but butt out - we can handle it!

          I hope you see what this action did.  God had provided what was good for people, but sin now means that we must decide for ourselves.  People will now know what is good and bad for us, and we will choose mostly the bad.  Some think God was hiding something from us - the idea of good and evil.  They also think it's better to know both good and evil so they can show their wisdom.  Trouble is, we will choose more evil than good.  This is not about right and wrong.  The "knowledge of good and evil" is all about us.  It's a selfish thing we want, it's what you and I think good and evil should be.

          What follows seems perfectly natural, and it's written in quite an ordinary way.  Eve picks the fruit and eats it.  She makes sure, however, that she has a good look at it in the process, and then her reasoning for succumbing to the temptation is recorded in an ascending series:

          (1) It was good for food.  This is a purely sensual temptation.  It appealed to her senses, made her mouth water, and therefore must be good.  (2) It was a delight to the eyes.  Some of us consider aesthetics a higher good than the physical.  It appealed to her higher values of beauty and meaning.  This fruit will be "good" for her.  (3) It would make her wise.  This is the highest temptation.  It's what we all secretly want - knowledge, understanding - to be like God!  This fruit will be good for her soul!

          So the deed was done.  Adam immediately got into the action.  He was there, although he had been silent, and some say this was his greater sin - he should have kept her from sinning.  But there have always been those who think others are to blame for what they have done.  Sin is personal - we ourselves are responsible.  No one forces us to sin - we do it willingly.

          From that moment on, humanity no longer accepted the wisdom of God.  It no longer accepted the goodness of God as truly good.  It no longer accepted the freedom God gave it as true freedom.  From that moment humanity bore the responsibility for its own choices, whatever they may be.  We wanted this experience of good and evil, and it became apparent what a terrible experience it would be.

          We have read this ancient story again, and it would be terrible if it stopped there.  True, sin pervades the whole Bible and the whole of human history, and that's why God had to send a Savior.  Immediately after cursing the sin, God sets the blessing into motion.  He said He would put a barrier between.  He said to Satan, "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."  Jesus Christ came into the world to defeat Satan.  Satan would one day tempt Jesus by misquoting God.  But unlike Eve, Jesus gets it right.  What the first Adam did all wrong, Jesus is the Way, the Truth and the Life; no one comes to the Father except through Jesus Christ.

          Jesus is the new Adam who lets us begin again, who lets us back into the garden of eternal life.  He rewrites our stories by His life, death, and resurrection.  That's why God has gathered us here once again to hear His Word and receive forgiveness for all our sin, so we can be born again and made children of God.  Thank you Jesus!  So far, so good!  Amen

Copyright © 2005 by Pastor Bob Tasler.  All rights reserved.