Our Sermons
A list of our latest Sermons
Bible Passage: Genesis 3:15
Pastor: Pastor Schlicht
Sermon Date: March 3, 2021
Our theme tonight is from Garden to Garden, specifically looking at the Garden of Eden and the Garden of Gethsemane. The closer you look, an incredible symmetry is revealed between Eden and Gethsemane. Listen to how God reverses things, how Jesus redeems the past from Garden to Garden.
In Eden, humans sinned and blamed each other. In Gethsemane, Jesus took the blame for sin he had not committed. In Eden, humans hid from God. In Gethsemane, Jesus sought God in prayer. In Eden, the angel’s sword was drawn after sin. In Gethsemane, Jesus sheathed Peter’s sword to prevent sin. In Eden, humans placed their own will over God’s command. In Gethsemane, Jesus submitted his will to God’s command. In Eden, turning away from God yielded blood, sweat, and tears. In Gethsemane God is the one who bleeds, sweats, and grieves. In Eden, humanity was cast out by God. In Gethsemane, God was dragged out by humans. In Eden, humans brought death into life. In Gethsemane, Christ prepared to bring life out of death.
These are just a few of the many amazing reversals between Eden and Gethsemane, many more could be cited. But there was one thing which did not change from Garden to Garden. In both Eden and Gethsemane, Satan was the same. In each garden, he approached in the guise of a friend in order to betray someone. The same serpent which tempted Eve in the Garden of Eden was in possession of Judas Iscariot in the Garden of Gethsemane. But where Adam and Even fell for the lie of the Serpent and believed he had their best in mind, Christ knew his disciple had been corrupted. Jesus knew the false mask of a friend who betrayed him with a kiss. Our sermon text tonight is just one verse, spoken by God to the Devil, that ancient serpent, after he tempted Adam and Eve. Genesis 3:15: “I will put hostility between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed. He will crush your head, and you will crush his heel.” Did you know that this is the first promise of a Savior in the entire Bible? And who is it spoken to? The Devil himself. God promises a Savior in words that speak of hostility. God promises that one day, a seed of the woman will come who would be correctly hostile toward the Devil and his lies.
The Devil is great at dressing up. He never looks like something bad. He looks like a friend. He appears like the very thing we should embrace. He approaches with a kiss. A French Poet, Charles Baudelaire once wrote, “The greatest trick the Devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn’t exist.” The Devil doesn’t want you to think about him. He wants you to think that he is a figment of an outdated religious paradigm, the harmless kid with face-paint and a trident on Halloween, a cartoon character that stands on someone’s shoulder. He wears the mask of a friend, just like he did with Eve. This was the root of sin which infected humanity and still pervades today: Our hostility has been misplaced.
One way I see this today is when Christians engage with others online. Many of God’s people express outrage over every new infraction we see in the news or on social media—forgetting that we are neither to give in so easily to anger nor to imitate the evils of those who are so quick to cancel others or stand over people in self-righteousness. Our hostility is misplaced. We fight and quarrel with other humans, souls for whom Christ died. Such skirmishes often stem from our own pride, not our love. God’s Word tells us that “the Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone” (2 Tim 2:24).
We sometimes mock those in opposition to us, using the popular rhetoric of sarcastic memes, name-calling, and condescending language, often spoken or written behind the buffered comfort of a computer screen. Let’s not forget that we are to communicate “with gentleness and respect” (1 Pet. 3:15), and to “walk in wisdom toward outsiders” by letting our “speech always be gracious” (Col. 4:5–6). Or how many times do we think, like Adam and Eve, that our husband or wife is to blame for all our problems? Instead of contending together as one flesh for God’s glory, so many houses become battlefields where spouses square off against each other. Children line up against their parents. Siblings grow hostile to one another.
We have been hoodwinked into directing our hostility toward each other and even worse, towards God himself. Remember, the human heart was created in a perfect Garden and that longing for perfection is still etched into the DNA of our souls. And yet, because of the sin in our nature and in this world, we will never get back to that perfect Garden in this life. And so the Devil comes with the same temptation as he used on Eve. “Don’t you think God is holding out on you? Couldn’t he do more for you? How could he allow this disappointment? Does he even care about you? If he were really on your side, he’d let you enjoy the fruit.” The Devil wants to rewrite the story of God’s love throughout your life as a negative narrative, leaving you more than slightly suspicious of your Creator. Just like Adam and Eve, he wants you to become discontent and disappointed. He wants to foster hostility in your heart and turn it towards God.
My friends, realize who the real enemy is. The apostle Paul tells us “For we do not struggle against flesh and blood… but against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places” (Eph. 6:12). Or, as Jesus himself put it, “If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would have been fighting… But my kingdom is not from the world” (John 18:36). Ours is a spiritual war. We take our marching orders from Jesus who reconciled us to himself by the shedding of blood—not ours, which would have been just retribution, but his blood, pure grace.
From the Devil’s desert of deception, Jesus reminds us of what is actually true in the Garden Gethsemane. As we see our Savior, God himself sweating, exhausted, weak, and worn. As we see him betrayed and dragged away into the darkness, we realize the truth. There is a devil and he is evil. And most importantly, we realize that the God, who was willing to endure this for our sake, must truly be on our side. And we realize that the perfection we long for is not an example of God’s treachery, but a promise of the eternity he has prepared for us through Christ.
There is a Garden which he is preparing for you and me. A perfect place, where there is no sin, so pain, no disappointment. A place where every expectation is met and exceeded with surpassing joy. A garden city of heaven, where the tree of life overlooks the throne of God himself. You see the man that once was hauled away as a lowly criminal and crucified has now been raised from the dead and exalted to the highest place. He crushed the serpent’s head and reoriented hostility where it belongs, between the seed of woman and Satan. Jesus has torn off the mask and defeated the Devil.
My friends, realize that while you may be hurt by the sinful nature and sinful choices of others, in Christ, we are all on the same team. Crucify your own sinful nature in confession and repentance. Drown it in your baptismal grace and place your crosshairs on the real enemy. Focus on your Savior, and go to war, like he did, with selfless love and kindness. Revel in the love of God which he demonstrates from Garden to Garden.
Amen.