The First Sunday of Lent - Invocabit (18 Feb. 2018)

Oh really?

Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, "Did God actually say, 'You shall not eat of any tree in the garden'?" And the woman said to the serpent, "We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, but God said, 'You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.'"  But the serpent said to the woman, "You will not surely 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."  So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate.  Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths.  And they heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden.  But the LORD God called to the man and said to him, "Where are you?"  And he said, "I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself."  He said, "Who told you that you were naked? 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."  Then the LORD God said to the woman, "What is this that you have done?" The woman said, "The serpent deceived me, and I ate."  The LORD God said to the serpent, "Because you have done this, cursed are you above all livestock and above all beasts of the field; on your belly you shall go, and dust you shall eat all the days of your life.  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."  To the woman he said, "I will surely multiply your pain in childbearing; in pain you shall bring forth children. Your desire shall be contrary to your husband, but he shall rule over you."  And to Adam he said, "Because you have listened to the voice of your wife and have eaten of the tree of which I commanded you, 'You shall not eat of it,' cursed is the ground because of you; in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life; thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you; and you shall eat the plants of the field.  By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return."  The man called his wife's name Eve, because she was the mother of all living.  And the LORD God made for Adam and for his wife garments of skins and clothed them.  Genesis 3:1-21

Then he took his staff in his hand and chose five smooth stones from the brook and put them in his shepherd's pouch. His sling was in his hand, and he approached the Philistine.  And the Philistine moved forward and came near to David, with his shield-bearer in front of him.  And when the Philistine looked and saw David, he disdained him, for he was but a youth, ruddy and handsome in appearance.  And the Philistine said to David, "Am I a dog, that you come to me with sticks?" And the Philistine cursed David by his gods.  The Philistine said to David, "Come to me, and I will give your flesh to the birds of the air and to the beasts of the field."  Then David said to the Philistine, "You come to me with a sword and with a spear and with a javelin, but I come to you in the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied.  This day the LORD will deliver you into my hand, and I will strike you down and cut off your head. And I will give the dead bodies of the host of the Philistines this day to the birds of the air and to the wild beasts of the earth, that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel, and that all this assembly may know that the LORD saves not with sword and spear. For the battle is the LORD's, and he will give you into our hand."  When the Philistine arose and came and drew near to meet David, David ran quickly toward the battle line to meet the Philistine.  And David put his hand in his bag and took out a stone and slung it and struck the Philistine on his forehead. The stone sank into his forehead, and he fell on his face to the ground.  So David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and with a stone, and struck the Philistine and killed him. There was no sword in the hand of David.  Then David ran and stood over the Philistine and took his sword and drew it out of its sheath and killed him and cut off his head with it. When the Philistines saw that their champion was dead, they fled.  1 Samuel 17:40-51

A Maskil of David. Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered.  Blessed is the man against whom the LORD counts no iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit.  For when I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long.  For day and night your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was dried up as by the heat of summer. Selah  I acknowledged my sin to you, and I did not cover my iniquity; I said, "I will confess my transgressions to the LORD," and you forgave the iniquity of my sin. Selah  Therefore let everyone who is godly offer prayer to you at a time when you may be found; surely in the rush of great waters, they shall not reach him.  You are a hiding place for me; you preserve me from trouble; you surround me with shouts of deliverance. Selah  I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my eye upon you.  Be not like a horse or a mule, without understanding, which must be curbed with bit and bridle, or it will not stay near you.  Many are the sorrows of the wicked, but steadfast love surrounds the one who trusts in the LORD.  Be glad in the LORD, and rejoice, O righteous, and shout for joy, all you upright in heart!  Psalm 32

Oh give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; for his steadfast love endures forever!  Let Israel say, "His steadfast love endures forever."  Let the house of Aaron say, "His steadfast love endures forever."  Let those who fear the LORD say, "His steadfast love endures forever."  Out of my distress I called on the LORD; the LORD answered me and set me free.  The LORD is on my side; I will not fear. What can man do to me?  The LORD is on my side as my helper; I shall look in triumph on those who hate me.  It is better to take refuge in the LORD than to trust in man.  It is better to take refuge in the LORD than to trust in princes.  All nations surrounded me; in the name of the LORD I cut them off!  They surrounded me, surrounded me on every side; in the name of the LORD I cut them off!  They surrounded me like bees; they went out like a fire among thorns; in the name of the LORD I cut them off!  I was pushed hard, so that I was falling, but the LORD helped me. Psalm 118:1-13

Working together with him, then, we appeal to you not to receive the grace of God in vain.  For he says, "In a favorable time I listened to you, and in a day of salvation I have helped you." Behold, now is the favorable time; behold, now is the day of salvation.  We put no obstacle in anyone's way, so that no fault may be found with our ministry, but as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way: by great endurance, in afflictions, hardships, calamities, beatings, imprisonments, riots, labors, sleepless nights, hunger; by purity, knowledge, patience, kindness, the Holy Spirit, genuine love; by truthful speech, and the power of God; with the weapons of righteousness for the right hand and for the left; through honor and dishonor, through slander and praise. We are treated as impostors, and yet are true; as unknown, and yet well known; as dying, and behold, we live; as punished, and yet not killed; as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, yet possessing everything.  2 Corinthians 6:1-10

Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession.  For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.  Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.  Hebrews 4:14-16

Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.  And after fasting forty days and forty nights, He was hungry.  And the tempter came and said to Him, "If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread."  But He answered, "It is written, "'Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.'"  Then the devil took Him to the holy city and set Him on the pinnacle of the temple and said to Him, "If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written, "'He will command his angels concerning you,' and "'On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.'"  Jesus said to him, "Again it is written, 'You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.'"  Again, the devil took Him to a very high mountain and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory.  And he said to Him, "All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me."  Then Jesus said to him, "Be gone, Satan! For it is written, "'You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve.'"  Then the devil left Him, and behold, angels came and were ministering to Him.  Matthew 4:1-11

There's that old saying: "curiosity killed the cat."

Curiosity, and questioning in general, can be a beneficial thing.  It is the inquisitive nature of humans that brought about the Age of Discovery and the Space Race.  School is about learning something new and the most direct way is to ask "why."  Even as Christians we ask "what does this mean."

However, there are some things that are not to be questioned.  God is at the top of that list.

God made a rule.  It was a simple rule, too.  "Don't touch."  And He even told us the consequence of breaking the rule.  Death.

But Satan knew how easy it was to misdirect our curiosity and innocence and use them to bring about the destruction of the pinnacle of God's creation.

"Did God really say..."

What follows is thousands of years of people thinking they can be smarter than God.  That they can be more reasonable than God.  That they can be more fair than God.  Because, clearly, God didn't say something that spiteful/mean/cruel/bigoted/etc, and what He said obviously doesn't mean whatever you think it means.  We can even find a verse or even just a part of a verse that "proves" whatever idea we have about God/right and wrong/life/etc is true.  Especially if its the opposite of what the Bible says.

"Follow your heart."  "Trust your feelings."  "Do what makes you happy."

Satan knew that he just had to target the naive Eve with a simple, even honest, question.  "Did God really say 'you shall not...'"  Such a question led to the truth, from a certain point of view.  It is true that eyes were opened, and people finally experienced not only the good, but also the evil.  Death came, becoming a constant companion of every human from the moment of their conception.

Tricking humans was easy.  Derailing the Son of God?  Satan didn't try to tempt Jesus with anything He didn't already desire or need.

Jesus was hungry, so being offered food wasn't wrong.  But to acquire food by wantonly using His powers as God?  That would be irresponsible, which God cannot be.

Jesus trusted God.  But testing God's protection by placing Himself in danger?  That would be inappropriate and contrary to God's desires.

Jesus was born to take back dominion of all creation.  But to worship the Devil to gain something Christ already possessed?  That would be the exact same mistake that Adam and Eve made in the first place.

God speaks, we are to listen without question.  While we are compelled, even at times required, to ask the "why" and "what does this mean," we are not allowed to ask "what gives You, God, the right to do this thing?"

Who are we to question God like that?  We are nothing but slaves under possession by a most cruel master.

Which is why when God is delivering the punishment for disobeying His Law that provisions are made for a Redeemer.  It was always the plan.  The consequence of breaking the Law is Death.  And who died?

Jesus Christ.

"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."

God's condemnation of Satan is also the first proclamation of the Gospel.  That Man, the Son of God, would come and defeat Sin, Death, and the Devil himself through a most terrible death on a cross.  But He would return from Death, so that we too may one day live even though we are dead.