Gems In Genesis: Garden Theology 9 - What Gives Sin Life?: "Minimizing God's Lordship"

There is a hymn that speaks to the essence of what is true for all of us as we long to live and love the Lord with the whole of our lives. The hymn says, "Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it; prone to leave the God I love." This is what our hearts feel when the enemy tempts us to follow his revised narrative of what is right and good. Yet, the temptation has little to do with us and it is when we miss this fact that we are easily deceived.

The temptation of the devil towards us is his direct opposition to the purposes of God in the world but, specifically, in our lives. Temptation must attract us, or it would not be temptation but this attraction, itself, is not the sin. The sin takes place when our lives go after our distorted affections. The enemy does not want us. He wants God's position, as odd and ridiculous as that may sound. This is what he is after and we see it clearly in his words to Eve: "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’” (Genesis 3:1)?

Notice the shift in language from the writer of the account, Moses, to the words used by the serpent. Moses refers to God as Lord ("the Lord God") but the serpent merely refers to God as God ("Did God actually say"). It may appear to be a small shift, but it is an infinite (eternal) shift. The enemy eliminates the term Lord because in doing so he changes the way Eve sees and understands her relationship to God. The term Lord represents God control, authority, and presence. John Frame lays this out beautifully in what he calls Triperspectivalism (Tr-perspec-tivalism) in his book "Theology In Three Dimensions: A Guide to Triperspectivalim and Its Significance" In essence, the serpent's first approach was to get Eve to minimize God's Lordship and so to operate outside of his control, authority, and presence.

Can Jesus be your Savior and not Lord? This represents what was known as the Lordship Controversy. In other words, could a professing Christian have the privilege of being saved even though they lived a life of carnality or that of practicing sin. As you see from Genesis 3 this controversy is as old as the garden! The devil understood that the only way he could ever, truly, entice Eve was dependent on her being her own lord. As long as Eve understood that her position with the God demanded that her life be surrendered to His Lordship she would be guarded and protected. When the serpent enticed her to see a reality in which she, herself, was lord, she would be done. He had her at "Hello."

It is no different for us today. Every temptation is an attack on the Lord's Lordship over our lives: our time, talents, and treasure. Anytime we act in ways that defy His rule over us we are easy picking for the enemy. When we act as if we are in control and have authority over our lives we reject and defy His presence. The scripture is clear that those who practice sin are of the devil and, therefore, this notion that one could have Jesus as Savior and not Lord is ludicrous at best. John provides for us a clear and most indicting word on this in his first epistle. Ponder these words:

8 Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the

beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil. 9 No one

born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God’s seed abides in him; and he cannot keep on

sinning, because he has been born of God. 10 By this it is evident who are the children of God,

and who are the children of the devil: whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor

is the one who does not love his brother (1 John 3:8–10).

In a phrase: sinners act independently from the Lord as their own lord and, therefore, cannot be born of God (saved). Walking the aisle, being baptized - all these things are fine and good, but a life that does not reflect a surrender to the Lord is not a life transformed by the Lord. It is not that we will not sin. The Bible is clear that to say such a thing is foolish (1 John 1:8-10). However, the writer of Hebrews is clear that if we make a habit of sinning and continue to spurn the grace of God, we are indicating an eternal reality about ourselves:

26 For if we go on sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no

longer remains a sacrifice for sins, 29 How much worse punishment, do you think, will be

deserved by the one who has trampled underfoot the Son of God, and has profaned the blood of

the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has outraged the Spirit of grace? 30 For we know

him who said, “Vengeance is mine; I will repay.” And again, “The Lord will judge his people.”

31 It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. (Hebrews 10:26, 29-31).

We may live on the dangerous side and reject His Lordship, but the Apostle Paul teaches us that surrender to such Christ's control, authority and presence is inevitable:

10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the

earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.