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ANATOMY OF A TEMPTATION
First Things, Part 6
October 14, 2007
Pastor Bob Sanders
Genesis 2:15-17; 3:1-9
15 The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. 16 And the LORD God commanded the man, "You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; 17 but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will certainly die."
1 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'?"
2 The woman said to the serpent, "We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, 3 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.' "
4 "You will not certainly die," the serpent said to the woman. 5 "For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil."
6 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. 7 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.
8 Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the LORD God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the LORD God among the trees of the garden. 9 But the LORD God called to the man, "Where are you?"
In His Image?
In 1941 Pierre Van Paassen wrote a book entitled That Day Alone in which he described what happened when the Nazis invaded his native country, the Netherlands. In one scene Nazi storm troopers arrest a rabbi, strip him of his clothes, and then beat him nearly senseless. They cut off his hair and his beard, then step back to laugh at him.
Then their captain orders the rabbi to preach the sermon he’d been preparing. “We’ve already burned down your synagogue,” he says, “so you might as well preach it to us.”
“Everybody quiet!” he shouts, “the rabbi here is going to give us his sermon.” They form a circle around their naked and bleeding victim. Shivering from the cold, the rabbi looks at his tormenters and says, “This was to have been my text for the coming Sabbath. From Genesis 1: The Lord God created man in his image, in his own likeness he created him.”
As it has been our text for the past several weeks in our series on Genesis. We’ve been thinking about what it means to be made in the image of God, and the great dignity that gives us as human beings. But today we come to a new chapter in Genesis, and the focus gets considerably darker. Today Genesis brings us face to face with the problem of evil.
How is it that human beings made in the image of God can do the things Van Paassen wrote about, the terrible things we read about every day in the newspaper, the inhuman things some of us have endured in our own lives? Starting in chapter 3, Genesis gives us an unflinching account of fallen human nature and reveals how sin brings brokenness and shame into every aspect of life.
It’s dark, but it’s not all darkness. Genesis also gives a word of hope, a word of Gospel (as we shall see). But as we watch Adam and Eve today Genesis wants us to see ourselves. Genesis is saying is that the way they ruined things is the way we do it right now. Their disaster is recapitulated in our lives constantly. We keep reliving this story, and the way their lives get broken is the way our lives keep on getting broken. How did it happen? How did they make such a mess of their lives? Let me show you three things from this story. First there’s the sneer. Second there’s the lie. And third there’s the tree. Look at these three ways they lost it and we lose it: the sneer, the lie, and the tree.
The Sneer
First, the sneer. In verse 1 we have the serpent – who represents Satan, the devil, evil itself. He says to Eve, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden?’” The word really is the key to this text, and in Hebrew it means doubtless or certain. But it’s hard to translate because it’s clear the serpent is actually trying cast doubt in Eve’s mind.
The serpent is using a word contrary to its normal meaning. When you do that, when you use a word contrary to its actual meaning, this is the definition of irony or sarcasm. So when someone says, “How are you doing?” and you say, “Great, just great,” it’s clear you mean, “Not great.” Irony, sarcasm, using a word contrary to its normal meaning as a way of mocking, as a way of getting power. It’s what the serpent is doing here: “He really said that?” He’s mocking.
Irony and sarcasm are very effective and legitimate tools to attack falsehoods. Jesus used irony. So did the prophets like Jeremiah and Isaiah. But irony as a way of life, irony as a worldview, irony as a way of mocking everything – that’s something else. Cynical irony that sneers at everything, that tears down everything, that mocks every truth claim and every moral position – that’s devil’s work. And that’s just what we hear from the serpent in verse 1: “God really said that? That you can’t eat from the trees in your own garden? You’re kidding. He really said that?”
And this is the beginning of how everything goes wrong. Not a normal, healthy irony, but a spirit of irony that questions everything, a cynicism that says behind every truth claim is a lie, a rip off. And this is pretty much how you lose God. This is how it starts. The purpose of the serpent’s question is not to provide information, not even to put forward an argument, but to create an atmosphere. A sneer is not an argument. A sneer doesn’t provide information or advance a truth claim. It simply creates an atmosphere of doubt. But because it’s a sneer, it looks so sophisticated, and we buy it.
It’s not like somebody comes up to you and says, “Let me give you three reasons why you can’t believe in God, why the idea of God is untenable in today’s world.” No, what you get is rolled eyes. You get, “You believe in God? Great.” You don’t get someone saying, “Let me tell you why miracles are impossible, why the resurrection of Jesus simply couldn’t have happened.” What you get, “You have more than a third grade education and you really believe in the resurrection?”
Now that is not an argument. It’s a sneer. But because it’s a sneer it seems so smart, so sophisticated. We find ourselves doubting. That exactly what the serpent is doing.
Look, some of you are here today because fifteen or twenty years ago you had some idea of faith, some idea of your need for God and a desire to find him. But you went off to college and you were surrounded by the big sneer. And it worked. You lost it. You said, “Smart people, sophisticated people can’t believe that.” And now, twenty years later you’re empty. You’ve got no meaning, because a sneer cannot give you meaning. A sneer is a parasite.
When you sneer at something – when you say, “Oh, you think that’s the meaning of life” – it temporarily gives you a feeling like you’ve got some meaning in life (which is to poke holes in everything). But it never lasts. After while, if you poke holes in everything, you’re left with what? Nothing. And twenty years later you’ve got no meaning in life. And this is how most people tend to lose God. Not through an argument but through this atmosphere of doubt masquerading as sophistication. And according to Genesis, it comes from the serpent. This spirit of utter irony, of mocking and doubting everything – it comes straight from hell. The sneer.
The Lie
But the second thing that happens is the lie. We see it in verse 5 where the serpent says, “For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God.” Allow me to paraphrase what the serpent is saying to Eve. He’s saying, “I’ve been watching you for some time, and I’m sorry to have to tell you this, but God does not want what’s best for you. God wants to keep you down. God does not have your best interest in mind. God knows that you’ll be so much more than you are now if you go off on your own, if you disobey his commands. God wants to have this narrow, confined little life, not reach your fullest potential.”
It’s obviously a lie. As soon as Adam and Eve do what the serpent suggests they don’t become more than they were. They become less than they were. That’s clear. But what is the lie?
Here’s the essence of the lie. Notice the serpent does not attack the existence of God. The messenger from Hell doesn’t come on as an atheist. He doesn’t try to convince them God doesn’t exist. What does he go after? What is it that makes him say, “If I can destroy this, I’ve got them. If I can destroy this, I can destroy their relationship with God and with each other.”? What’s the core, the tap root that he goes after?
He goes after the goodness of God. He says, “You can’t trust that God really loves you, that God wants the best for you. You can’t trust the grace and the good will of God.” And when they believed him, it poisoned everything. Because this is the tap root of it all. This is what’s underneath all our problems, all our misery.
Some of you studied psychology along the way and you might remember the work of Erik Erickson. In his book Childhood and Society Erickson said the first and most important stage of development is for a child to learn a basic sense of trust. Simply put, every little child needs to know he or she will not be dropped, will not be neglected, will not be abandoned. The child has to learn to trust the adult figures in his/her life. And if the child does not learn to trust in the earliest years, it becomes the tap root of all kinds of emotional and psychological disorders that come later.
Which is exactly what the serpent is going for in this story. You can’t trust God, he’s saying. Believe God exists – fine. But you can’t trust he really loves you and means good for you.
Look at yourself. Why are some of you working yourselves into the ground? It’s because deep inside you think that unless you’re successful in your career you’re nobody. It’s because you believe what the serpent wanted you to believe. God doesn’t really love you.
Why are some of you so ready to give up when troubles come into your life? It’s because you’re saying to yourself, “There couldn’t be a loving purpose, not in this. God couldn’t love me and allow me go through this.” You believe what the serpent wants you to believe. And all of our problems come from this. All of our disasters come from this.
The Tree
First, the sneer. Mock everything. Then the lie. Deny God’s goodness. And lastly, the tree. What is this tree about? Verse 6 tells us the woman “saw that the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and…she ate it…and gave some to her husband…and he ate it.” And that’s where it all went wrong, leading a lot of people ever since to wonder what kind of fruit was it. Especially when they’re in the produce section at the grocery story. Was it an apple or an avocado? Was it a peach or a pomegranate? What was it?
We don’t know. Genesis doesn’t tell us.
And the fact is, it doesn’t matter. It could have been any fruit, any tree. Here’s why. What is this tree showing us? Why did God say, “Don’t eat the fruit of that tree?” Why didn’t he say, “Don’t kill each other” or “Don’t lie to each other”? Why didn’t he say something we all know is wrong? Why this?
Here’s the answer. If God said “Don’t do this (don’t lie or kill or commit adultery),” then he’d be telling us the essence of sin is doing bad things, breaking the rules – murder, stealing, adultery, and so on. But instead God chooses a tree – which is a good thing. Not “Don’t lie” (which is a bad thing) but “Don’t eat the tree” (which is a good thing). What does this mean?
There in the Garden Adam and Eve realized there was still more that they could become, more they could grow into. But here’s what they did. They took a good thing and used it so they could be their own god. “You will be like God,” the serpent whispered, and they bought it. They didn’t wait for God to take them. They said, “Let’s do it ourselves.” And this is the essence of sin. The essence, the poison of sin is not primarily doing bad things. It’s taking your good things and using them to make yourself your own savior and lord.
Look, most of the disappointments, most of the devastations in your life have not been because you did bad things. They’re because you looked to good things to be for you what only God should be for you: your significance and your security. Why are some of you killing yourself to succeed in your career? Is there something wrong with work? No. Work is a good thing. But the essence of sin is when you use it to be your significance, your security, instead of God. That will poison you. That will enslave you. That’s the essence of sin.
What Genesis is saying here is so brilliant and so accurate. This is what devastates the world. Is there anything wrong with being proud of your ethnic background or your national heritage? No. But when you turn it into racial idolatry then it creates genocide: Hutus versus Tutsis, Sunnis versus Shiites, and so on.
Is there anything wrong with work and making money? No. But when it becomes the ultimate thing it morphs into this malignant, destructive consumerism.
Is there anything wrong with loving your spouse? No. But if you look at your spouse and say, “If you love me and think I’m great, then I know I’m somebody. And if not, then I’m worthless, I’m nobody” – then you’re looking to be your own savior through your spouse. You’re not looking to God.
Is there anything wrong with sex? No, God made sex, and he made it to be very good. But if you twist it into something you have to have to make you feel complete (no matter who it hurts or what it costs), something you dream about and fantasize over, it’s become your savior, your reason for living. You’re in bondage, and that’s what sin does.
Most of the devastations and disappointments of your life, most of the things that have created misery and poisoned you are not from doing bad things. It’s how you’ve used your good things. The essence of sin is being your own savior, your own master, calling the shots in your own life. It’s saying, “I’m going to find my own significance, my own security.” It’s when you take a good thing like the tree and say, “That’s how I know I’m going to be OK. That’s how I’ll finally be sure.”
Jesus on the Tree
Do you not see how all our problems come from this? It begins with the sneer – when you mock everything, poke holes in every truth claim. And then you start believing the lie that God is not loving, not gracious, not working for good in your life. And then it’s taking good things and using them as ways to be for yourself what only God should be for you – Savior and Lord. This is where all the breakdowns come from – all the international breakdowns and ecological breakdowns and family breakdowns and personal breakdowns. This is why some of you are so unhappy right now.
What can we do about it? Well, you can come back next week and we’ll say more about it. But for now, notice it’s all there in verses 7 through 9. When Adam and Eve sinned, their eyes were opened and they realized they were naked, and they sewed fig leaves, and when God showed up they ran away. It’s all there: alienation from God (they hide), alienation from their true selves (they’re filled with shame), alienation from each other (they cover up). The breakdown is total, comprehensive. And what does God do about it? Verse 9: “But the Lord God called to [them], ‘Where are you?’”
God knew they were lost. God knew what had happened. But he comes to look for them. And please understand this: right here at the beginning God knows what finding them is going to cost. Right here in the Garden he knows it’s going to cost him Jesus. His beloved Son will come and die on the cross, because that’s what it will take to find us and save us.
Jesus went to a garden – it’s called the Garden of Gethsemane. And there Jesus heard God say to him the same thing he said to Adam and Eve: “Obey me about the tree.” Only in this case it was, “Go to the tree, climb up on the tree, be crucified on the tree.”
And that’s what he did. Adam and Eve didn’t obey God. But Jesus did. Jesus went to the tree to save us from the awful penalty of sin. He obeyed God and was crucified for us.
No one put it better than the great English mystical poet, George Herbert. In his poem “The Sacrifice” he has Jesus looking down from the cross and speaking, and this is what he says:
O all ye who passe by, behold and see;
Man stole the fruit, but I must climbe the tree;
The tree of life to all, but onely me:
Was ever grief like mine?
The cross became a tree of life for us because it became a tree of death for him. That’s what George Herbert is saying. Jesus dealt with the tree by dying on a tree.
And that’s not all. Jesus also dealt with the lie. What do you need to get over the poisons in your life? The workaholism and addictions and tragedies in your life? You need to know God loves you. You need to know that God can be trusted. You need to know that if you go to him, this God will never cast you out. How do you know that? Look at the cross. He did that for you – why? Because he loves you. He loves you enough to come and die for you. This how you deal with the lie: look at him on the tree.
And finally Jesus dealt with the sneer. If you believe Jesus loves you and died for you on the cross, if you rest in that and rejoice in that, then you can say, “I know the lie is a lie. And I know that there is a truth that will save me. I know I’m fallen and flawed, yes. But no matter what anybody else says, no matter what anybody else sneers at, I know I’m loved. Because Jesus Christ went to the tree for me.”
Dear ones, only Jesus deals with the sneer, the lie, and the tree. As we close this morning, bow your head with me and close your eyes. Try to see Jesus Christ on the cross, and hear him say,
O all ye who passe by, behold and see;
Man stole the fruit, but I must climbe the tree;
The tree of life to all, but onely me.
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