LCMS Convention Workbook St. Louis, Missouri — 2010, Page 308

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THEOLOGICAL DOCUMENTS­­—COMMISSION ON THEOLOGY AND CHURCH RELATIONS

SECOND ARTICLE:
GOD REDEEMS MAN AND WOMAN
“I believe that Jesus Christ … has redeemed me,
a lost and condemned person. …”
Luther’s Small Catechism

Genesis 3 and the Fall
The creation narrative in Genesis closes with the seemingly
insignificant fact that man and woman were both naked and not
ashamed (Gen 2:25). The first couple lived together in a state of
holiness and innocence. As a consequence, they lived in complete
harmony with God and each other. As Luther reminds us, God uses
this “little statement” to show “how much evil followed after the
sin of Adam.”21 The sudden and ominous intrusion of the serpent
into the picture immediately following this perfect scene signals a
horrific tragedy about to happen. The unraveling and shredding of
the Creator’s tapestry is about to begin.
The serpent’s deception
The serpent’s demonic spin on the Lord God’s original command is introduced: “Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every
tree of the garden?” (Gen 3:1 KJV).22 God had indeed generously
provided for food by saying “You may surely eat of every tree of
the garden” except one tree (Gen 2:16). The serpent, however, perversely twists God’s general permission and single prohibition into
a general prohibition: “Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden.”
He insinuates, “If there is an exception, then in fact you may not
eat of every tree”—as if the one exception cancels out God’s lavish
generosity and permission. By this subterfuge, the serpent frames
the question to instill doubt in God’s Word and His generous provision.
The Lord God had given the prohibition to the man before the
woman was created (Gen 2:17). After creating the woman, both
are to live in accord with God’s Word and will. The woman’s response, however, goes beyond God’s Word and will:
We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden,
but God said, “You [plural] shall not eat of the fruit
of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither
shall you [plural] touch it, lest you [plural] die” (Gen
2:2–3).
The deadly slippage has begun. The Tempter, camouflaged in
a snake, has the woman’s ear. She tries to correct the serpent but
adds to, and subtracts from, God’s Word. From her lips, “the Lord
God” becomes the distant and impersonal “God.” She diminishes
God’s generosity by omitting “every” from the original permission
(God had said “you may eat of every tree”; Gen 2:16). And she
makes God look overly rigid by adding “neither shall you touch it”
to the original prohibition.
And now comes the demonic spin in its most deadly form,
loaded with ambiguity and saturated with half-truths: “You [plural]
will not surely die. For God knows that when you [plural] eat of it
your [plural] eyes will be opened, and you [plural] will be like God,
knowing good and evil” (Gen 3:4–5).
We note carefully the subtleties and half-truths. The devil hints
(plural of “you” again!) that the woman should make sure they both
eat of it. Then the first half-truth (the clever art of telling a lie by
telling part of the truth): “You will not surely die.” Well, of course,
they did not physically die—not that day. Adam lived 930 years.
And, another half-truth: “Your eyes will be opened, and you will
be like God, knowing good and evil.” Well, yes, their eyes were
indeed opened (3:7), and they did become like God in knowing
good and evil, as God admits in 3:22. Conspicuous by its absence,

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however, was any hint of the sudden and precipitous descent into
sin and its consequent separation from the Lord God who had been
so good to them.
Failed in their callings to each other and to God
The sad account continues:
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 (Gen 3:6–8).
Caught in the satanic web of deceit, the woman and her husband failed in their responsibilities toward each other and rebelled
against their Creator. By listening to the voice of the serpent instead of God’s Word, the woman ate the forbidden fruit and became the first to sin. She then gave the fruit to Adam and, without
protest, he also ate.
Though Eve’s sin is apparent, Adam’s should not be minimized. Rather than warning his wife not to eat, or interceding for her with the Lord after she had eaten, he ate willingly,
in clear defiance against God, without protest. In the end, neither Eve nor Adam can be excused. Their hands reached for
what their hearts truly desired—the only thing God had denied them. Created in “God’s likeness,” they desired to wrest
from God a prerogative belonging only to Him: to decide what
is good and what is evil. In wanting to become “like God”
ironically they were no longer like Him. Having thoroughly
corrupted God’s image, they fled from Him in fear and hid
in shame.
The original harmony lost
The first indication of “how much evil” followed Adam’s sin
was the torn relationship between the man and his wife.23 When the
Lord sought out His rebellious and fleeing creatures, He spoke first
with the man, to whom the responsibility for obedience was originally given. Adam tried to excuse himself by shifting the blame
to the woman (in whom was his earlier delight), and even to God
Himself: “The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave
me fruit of the tree, and I ate” (Gen 3:12). When the Lord held the
woman to account, she cast blame on the serpent, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate” (Gen 3:13). And so, creatures who covet divinity and reject accountability to God begin the blame game—an
insidious trend that has wreaked havoc on the man-woman relationship ever since. God’s splendid tapestry had now become tattered
and unsightly.
God’s righteous judgment
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 for your husband,
2010 Convention Workbook

2010 Convention.indb 308

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