Until Finally…

If we take a look back at the Pixar story structure, we’ve spent a lot of time on the “because of that” section. Our sin against God has caused countless problems, and humanity was searching for the one who could save the day. Many people seemed like great options, but they proved to be sinful too.

And this happens again and again and again. Until finally…

The Turning Point (or Climax) of the Story of the Bible

A man named Joseph and his pregnant fiancé, Mary, arrive in a small town called Bethlehem. Mary was feeling contractions, her baby was coming. They had no reservations, and there were no rooms available in any Inn or Hotel or Bed and Breakfast. Hospitals didn’t exist. And so they spent the night in a barn, and there Mary gave birth to a son. She named him Jesus.

He was the descendant of King David and then of King Solomon, and although he was born into nothing, he would inherit an eternal throne. He was the offspring of Abraham, and through this boy God would bless the nations. And of course, he was the offspring of Eve, and this boy Jesus, was finally the one who would crush the head of the serpent.

Before Jesus goes into full-time ministry, he spends 40 days out in the wilderness. This story has some striking parallels to Genesis 3 and the Eden narrative.

Let’s take a look at the story in Matthew 4:1-11

Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. 2 And after fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. 3 And the tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.” 4 But he answered, “It is written,

“‘Man shall not live by bread alone,
but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”

5 Then the devil took him to the holy city and set him on the pinnacle of the temple 6 and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written,

“‘He will command his angels concerning you,’

and

“‘On their hands they will bear you up,
lest you strike your foot against a stone.’”

7 Jesus said to him, “Again it is written, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’” 8 Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. 9 And he said to him, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.” 10 Then Jesus said to him, “Be gone, Satan! For it is written,

“‘You shall worship the Lord your God
and him only shall you serve.’”

11 Then the devil left him, and behold, angels came and were ministering to him.

Like I said earlier, there are some striking parallels in this story to the fall, but there are also some very different outcomes.

The Garden of Eden vs Jesus Temptation in the Wilderness

Like Adam and Eve, Jesus has been invited into something glorious. He has been sent to Earth to save God’s people and then be glorified to be the name that is above all other names.

But before he can do that, he’s going to have to suffer. It’s not going to be an easy job and we’ll talk about his sacrifice in the next lesson.

Like Adam and Eve, the serpent comes to visit and tempt Jesus using the same methods he used in the Garden of Eden. He twists the promises of God and tries to trick Jesus into disobedience. It doesn’t work. He promises Jesus a shortcut to glory and power and dominion, all Jesus needs to do is reject God and pursue the glory the easy way.

But finally, the Eden narrative goes a different direction. Jesus rejects Satan and chooses to do things His Father’s way. He doesn’t cut corners or pursue glory on his own terms.

Instead of being cast out into the wilderness, Jesus goes into the wilderness on our behalf. Instead of causing pain and sorrow, he takes the pain and sorrow upon himself. He would later die on the cross, and in so doing, crush the head of the serpent.

And because of that, we have hope.

This Story Does Not End in Tragedy

In the next lesson, we’re going to dive into this topic of Redemption a lot more. We will look at who Jesus is, how he actually saves us, and what makes him the perfect person to crush the head of the serpent.

We’ve spent a lot of time this lesson exploring the sinful nature of man and I want to make sure I send you guys out on a high note.

The story of the Bible does not end in tragedy. Yes, things get pretty bad. Yes, we reject God. Yes, mankind is capable of great and horrible evil. But despite our sin, God chose to send his son to do the work that no one else could do.

God, being rich in love for His Creation, for you and for me, made a way that we could be reconciled.

So congratulations, you have finished lesson number 1. I’m excited to jump into lesson number 2 next, where we will look at how he reconciles us. So see you there.