Old Testament: Genesis 2:15-17, 3:1-7
Gospel: Matthew 4:1-11
Epistle: Romans 5:12-19
This is the first Sunday in Lent. The first Sunday after celebrating the glory
of Jesus revealed in the Transfiguration and our task is to reflect on our own
mortality and sin. Each passage deals
with the sin of the world and humanity. In Genesis we read of the Fall of
humanity when Adam and Eve disobey the Lord and ate the apple. In the Psalm, the Psalmist declares the
blessedness of the one who has been forgiven and had their sins covered by
the Lord. Matthew 4 explores the temptation
of Jesus by the devil. Although Jesus was
tempted, he was able to withstand temptation through the use of Scripture. Finally, in Romans Paul compares the sin and
death Adam brought into the world through his sin, against the life, grace, and
righteousness brought to all through Jesus Christ. Our Scriptures bring us on a journey through
the story of salvation from the Fall up to the salvation wrought by Christ.
There are numerous themes we could explore in these passages and I am particularly interested in the Romans 5 passage. However, I don’t feel yet like I have a sold grasp on this passage. This passage is actual a crucial one for me and one I want to study in depth from an Eastern and Western Perspective and how to reconcile this view with a belief in an “old earth” or "theistic evolution approach” and anywhere in between. I don’t yet have a satisfactory answer for the issues of death, sin entering into the world, and Paul’s understanding of these things. One thing I do know however, is if we think that all orthodox Christians have believed exactly what I, or you, believe and if we don’t agree with each other, one of is doomed to damnation, then we are off-base. A perusal of commentaries and looking throughout Church history will reveal there has never been one answer. I just read that John Calvin of all people, believed that even before the Fall death was in the world but that it wasn’t as painful.[i] Again, this is just one example I read tonight and I wish I could read so much more on the topic. However you don’t want to read that, and I have other things to do. Sorry about the tangent, but the Romans 5 passage is important I think for all the themes it explores and even in Romans it serves to summarizes the first part of the book. But we must press on.[ii]
Let us move on to a more Lenten idea. A few weeks ago in our small group at Church we
were discussing the passage from Philippians 2:5-11, the famous Christological hymn
of Christ leaving glory, humbling himself even unto death, only be raised up
again and be highly exalted and praised by all of creation. In the Temptation of Jesus, he is essentially
tempted to skip all the humbling aspect of his life and move straight to the
exaltation. The devil tempts him to abandon
the Father and use his power to serve himself, to do miraculous things to
entice the people to worship him, and finally to outright worship the devil in
exchange for power and fame. Jesus could
have avoided the cross and humiliation and skipped over to temporary glory and
fame. Yet he didn’t. He knew that the true way to be glorified and
lifted up by the Father, was through the obedient sacrifice and humiliation of
the cross.
This is the temptation we all face as well. Adam and Eve saw a way to gain the knowledge
of good and evil by simpling eating an apple and so become like God. Rather than do the hard and painful work of
being in relationship with creation and Creator, they took the simple route of giving
into temptation and eating the apple. The
examples are endless, and another one might be of the Psalmist in Psalm 32. If it
was David then we know that despite his humility and desire to follow God, even
he messed-up, gave into the temptation of desire for Bathsheba and then committed
adultery, murdered, and then lied to cover up.
The message of Paul in Romans is not to focus on the sin and death which
Adam brought, the key is that Christ has come to provide salvation. Jesus has rectified and made right all that
is and was wrong in the world. In the
death and resurrection of, the seeds and first-fruit of the Kingdom
of God have been planted and sprouted.
Hopefully, the analogy doesn’t break down too much there. But in Christ,
God is doing something new, in the context of the old, to restore all things to
God’s self.
However…the point must be made that like Christ, the way of
salvation is through humility and sacrifice.
Paul begins that Philippians passage by saying “have this attitude in
yourself, which was also in Christ Jesus” (Phil. 2:5) We are to follow Christ in
his humility and not seek the easy, often sinful ways to our goals. That is the struggle and challenge of
Lent. We are to prepare ourselves,
through sacrifice and humility, to better understand and receive Easter. Our sacrifice during Lent doesn’t save us, however it reminds us to take up our
cross daily and follow and receive the one whose sacrifice already did save us.
This week, may we seek to follow Christ, through his Spirit and to
the glory of the Father, and remember the
call to humility and sacrifice displayed in Christ.
Grace and Peace.
[i] http://biologos.org/questions/death-before-the-fall
[ii]
If you are interested in this topic explore this search result here from BioLogos.
(http://biologos.org/search?s=romans+5)
The important thing from perspective is to explore and keep an open mind while
always remembering that to be a Christian means we follow Christ, not that we perfectly
know everything.
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