• Depressing result – how can you alter millions of years of evolution in the next few years?

 Genesis 3 offers alternative to Pinker and also to theory of blank slate which is much more hopeful and realistic.

o Three ways in which sin acts:

1) The Scoff: Look at sarcasm in verse 1.

a. Serpent does not make argument but sets up environment of doubt.

i. Evil is a parasite, it does not offer its own truth.

ii. Easy to tear an argument down without offering a better alternative.

2) The Big Lie: Look at verse 4.

a. The “big lie” is an assault in God’s character. It is the belief that God’s character is not good.

i. This is the root of all evil.

b. Serpent convinces Adam and Eve that God is holding them back; God is keeping them down; God does not have their best interest at heart.

c. We all suffer from this.

i. Some do good works to earn their way to heaven – they do not believe God is good enough to simply accept a repentant heart.

ii. Some shirk Christianity because they think it is for prudes. They think they know better than God what is good for them. They think God is holding them back.

3) Temptation: Look at verse 6.

a. The fruit itself was not bad. It was the disobedience to God. Satan tries to get us to misuse good things for evil purposes.

i. The word “crafty” is not a bad thing in verse 1, translated as “prudent” in Proverbs. Its misuse is the bad thing.

ii. We tend to obsess about work and material things. Work is good – God created Adam to world in the Garden of Eden. Over obsession with work is bad.

b. Satan also gets us to focus on what we don’t have rather than what we do have.

i. Despite being in paradise, Adam and Eve focus on the fruit rather than the good things around them.

ii. “A rich person is not the person who has the most, but the person who needs the least.”

 Yet there is hope: verse 8

o God seeks out Adam and Eve in the Garden. Odd because he is omniscient and already knows where they are. The reason is that he is already starting the healing process. He is trying to get Adam to recognize and admit his sin. This is what God wants from all of us.

Sermon Notes by Greg Zehner