In math class you learn laws of equations. You learn from algebra that if you know the value of A and C then you can figure out B. It always works the same way, The value of one variable can always be figured out if you know the other two.
In our Epistle reading today, in St. Paul’s letter to the Romans we hear about values as sure as math, related to the effect of sin in the world. Here the equation is as follows, One man’s sin, Adam’s Sin led to the spread of sin to where all men are destined for death. The one affected the many for the worse.
The sin of Adam equates to death. The sin of Adam spreads to us and we sin. Our sin equates to our death. Adam and Eve’s sin separated them from God. It is not good for man to be alone. Adam traded the blessed unity with God for disobedience. No good at all- in fact tragic.
As descendants of Adam we carry this same curse of disobedience from God and as a result we are separated from each other and we are separated from God. Sin plus disobedience plus isolation equates to more disobedience, more aloneness and eventually death. Romans teaches that death spread to all men because all sinned.
“Yet death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those whose sinning was not like the transgression of Adam,”
A closer look at Genesis chapter three shows there is more than just the curse of death caused by sin- but also that as punishment for sin Eve’s pain will be multiplied in child bearing and that her desire will be to resist and fight the leadership of her husband. By these condemnations all families encounter the reality that marriage and family life is harder than what God designed by an exponential factor.
Today we see how devastating dysfunction in marriage and family life is to our society. Conflicts and failed relationships serve as the chief contributor to crime, confusions about gender identity, and statistical trends about future generations attending church less and knowing the faith less and less. The equation for family life looks so futile because of sin.
To Adam God diminished the effectiveness of our labors. God cursed the ground because of Adam’s disobedience to where his labors would bring forth thorns and thistles and much hard work.
We see the equation of futility of labors on a daily basis. If you pay the rent one month, it may prove harder to pay it the next month. If you sleep well one night you may not sleep well the next.
There are so many labors required to keep up with demands of life and health that the equation seems to be all work and no play. Too much sorrow and too little joy.
Genesis chapter three contains a record of not only man’s failure, but also God’s faithfulness. God provided for Adam and Eve a promise in the form of the condemnation of the serpent. God did not leave Adam and Eve into the serpent’s possession. Although death would now reign, Satan and his offspring would not reign over man and control man and own man on account of the deception in the garden of Eden.
Instead the LORD promised to put enmity between the offspring of Satan and the offspring of man. Man would see Satan as the enemy, and rest secure in the promise that one of his offspring would crush Satan’s head. The promise was made, Satan’s defeat was ordained by God.
When this offspring of Adam, our Lord Jesus Christ faced Satan, he was not captures by the same trick of deception. In the wilderness as Jesus was fasting and praying- joined inseparably with the Father and the Holy Spirit, Satan tries what worked against Adam and Eve, he starts misquoting God’s Word. But it is to no avail, Jesus resists temptation.
On the cross Jesus overcame the fiercest temptation of Satan. In perfect obedience to the Father Jesus fulfilled the Father’s will to die on the cross for our salvation- paying the penalty of our sins. Jesus crushed Satan’s head.
The math equation unlike that of our sin and disobedience. The righteousness of Jesus, plus the Father’s perfect love equates to the resurrection of Jesus. The perfect obedience of Jesus and the resurrection of Jesus leads to the gift of life to all.
15 But the free gift is not like the trespass. For if many died through one man’s trespass, much more have the grace of God and the free gift by the grace of that one man Jesus Christ abounded for many.
This is the truth of our salvation, the blessing is far greater than the curse. It is not just the curse of sin and death that Jesus’ obedience lifts, but Jesus also with his righteousness restores us to the image of God, he brings us back to paradise. He changes the direction of our life from condemnation to salvation. The equation has been turned on its head for our benefit.
18 Therefore, as one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men. 19 For as by the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous.
One man’s righteousness makes the many righteous. With the equation of our life changed we live each day in courage and in hope. We face the attacks of Satan knowing that we never need to face these attacks alone.
Although Jesus faced the temptation of Satan alone and prevailed, we cannot do this. We need to have others by our side. As the Hymn “A Mighty Fortress celebrates”… “He’s by our side upon the plain, with His good gifts and Spirit.”
With Jesus by our side the equations of life are changed so that we can resist temptation. With Jesus we can put on the full armor of God. The Lord’s Supper is his armor, Holy Baptism is His Armor, His Word is the armor. The unity we have in the body of Christ is our armor.
We need all of these defenses because our fallen world brings struggles from all sides, and nobody who is alone and exposed can survive these attacks.
When King David conspired to have Uriah the husband of Bathsheeba killed, he commanded his army to go into battle with Uriah in the front line and then have everyone else draw back, leaving him tragically exposed to attack from all sides.
In the same way a man who does not put on the armor of God is vulnerable to attacks from all sides.
Our society plays into Satan’s playbook when it says- seek this and seek that and you will feel better. Consumer choices reinforce the illusion that you can be self sufficient on your own with the right products to brighten your day. As if modern life has somehow learned how to circumvent the curse of strained family life and the futile labors of the ground.
In humbling ourselves we see the addition that comes through subtraction, when I have less wisdom of the world, when I have less distractions, then I have more room for God’s Word. And with God’s Word I have the church, the body of Christ, with God’s Word in my life I am not alone, the comfort and consolation of other believers is with me. Lent is a time to recognize the playbook Satan seeks to use on us, and renewing our commitment to looking to God’s Word.
Jesus deflected the attacks of Satan by quoting God’s Word- the ultimate equation for truth in our life. “Man shall not live by bread alone… but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.”
May the Lord grant us steadfast hope , faith and trust in His design for us in the Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen.