25-1228a - Detailed Summary

Scott begins the sermon titled "Beginnings: The Temptation and the Fall," focusing on Genesis chapter 3 in the ongoing study of Genesis 1–11. He describes chapter 3 as a pivotal moment in the historical account of creation. Chapters 1 and 2 present a perfect creation and provide answers to life’s big questions: where we come from, why we are here, our purpose, and the meaning of life. In contrast, the atheistic, naturalistic, or evolutionary worldview, exemplified by Carl Sagan’s statement that the cosmos is all that is, ever was, or ever will be, offers no meaningful answers to these questions, viewing humanity as the product of mindless chaos and chance.

The Bible, however, reveals that we are created by an all-powerful God, tasked with managing His creation—tending, protecting, and being fruitful and multiplying. Being fruitful extends beyond reproduction to productivity in all areas of life: jobs, relationships, church, neighborhood, and everything we do. Chapters 1 and 2 depict a perfect beginning, a utopia declared "very good" by God Himself.

Today, however, the world is marked by pain, suffering, conflict, disease, and decay rather than perfection. Genesis chapter 3 explains what went wrong by introducing lying, deceit, manipulation, mind games, and evil. Along with the flood account in chapters 6–9, chapter 3 better explains the current state of the world than any other worldview.

Scott recaps chapters 1 and 2. Chapter 1 provides the panoramic view of creation week, beginning with the heavens and earth, where "heavens" includes the heaven of heavens where God resides, as supported by Nehemiah 9:6. Angels, created with the heaven of heavens, witnessed the creation of the physical realm, as described in Job 38:4-7 where the morning stars sang and sons of God shouted for joy.

The six literal days of creation do not align with modern cosmology: Earth exists covered in water before light on day 1; light on day 1 is not from sun, moon, or stars (created on day 4); atmosphere on day 2; dry land and vegetation on day 3 (life begins with plants); marine life and birds on day 5; land creatures and humans on day 6; rest on day 7. No good biblical case exists for theistic evolution or macroevolution, which contradict the plain text.

Chapter 2 is not a contradictory account but a detailed focus on day 6, including pre-flood geography, the Garden of Eden, man’s creation and job as gardener, his aloneness, the creation of woman from his rib, and the institution of marriage. Chapters 1–2 show a pristine, very good creation in both spiritual and natural realms.

Yet history, even the oldest Mesopotamian writings from about 5,500 years ago, shows no such utopia. Evil entered the scene. Scott reads Genesis 3:1-7: the crafty serpent questions God’s command, denies death as consequence, claims eating will make them like God knowing good and evil; Eve sees the fruit as good for food, delightful, and desirable for wisdom, eats, gives to Adam who eats; their eyes open, they realize nakedness, and make loin coverings from fig leaves.

The serpent appears after day 7, with unknown time elapsed. The study draws from Robert Milligan’s 1869 work on the origin of evil and fall of man. Milligan notes the philosophical difficulty of evil’s origin; ancient philosophers denied it or saw it as eternal necessity. For Christians, it is a matter of biblical fact: Adam and Eve were created happy and holy; they fell by disobedience (time unknown); seduced by the serpent, about which nothing is said of form or habits; and the serpent had the gift of speech at the time of temptation. The sermon begins examining what this gift of speech implies about the serpent’s identity.

Scott explores whether the serpent’s speech was natural or if it served as an instrument for a more cunning agent. While Scripture records Balaam’s donkey speaking through God’s empowerment, a naturally speaking serpent would make it superior to Eve, contradicting man’s dominion over creation in Genesis 1:28. Demon possession is another biblical possibility, as seen with Legion in Mark 5. However, the principal agent here is identified as Satan, because Genesis 3:4 records the first lie—"you shall not surely die"—which led to immediate spiritual death and eventual physical death for Adam and Eve.

Jesus calls Satan a murderer from the beginning and the father of lies in John 8:44, while Revelation 12:9 and 20:2 name him the ancient serpent, the devil. Thus, the exchange in Genesis 3 is viewed as between Satan and Eve. Chapter 3 records evil’s first appearance in the human realm, though not its origin—Satan had already sinned and fallen sometime after day 7, as indicated by war in heaven (Revelation 12:8-9) and Jesus witnessing Satan fall like lightning (Luke 10:18). Angels likely observed both Satan’s fall and this temptation intently.

The sermon examines the temptation beginning in Genesis 3:1, where the serpent, more crafty than any beast, deliberately misquotes God’s command: "Indeed, has God said you shall not eat from any tree of the garden?" This misinformation allows Satan to control the conversation. Eve corrects it, stating they may eat from the trees but not from the one in the middle, adding "or touch it" lest they die—an addition not in God’s original command (Genesis 2:17), revealing she viewed the fruit as inherently dangerous or poisonous.

Satan responds with direct contradiction: "You surely will not die," accuses God of lying, and projects motive—that God fears them becoming like Him, knowing good and evil. His argument hinges on denying death. Verse 6 states that Eve saw the tree was good for food, a delight to the eyes, and desirable to make one wise—visual observations that convinced her. The first and third directly counter her fear and support Satan’s claims. The straightforward explanation is that Satan provided visual proof contradicting her belief that the fruit was poisonous.

The repeated emphasis on what Eve "saw" indicates she was presented with empirical evidence, likely the fruit itself being displayed or demonstrated as safe.

Eve saw the tree as good for food despite believing it poisonous, suggesting she witnessed something that proved it harmless. It was also a delight to the eyes, reinforcing visual evidence—likely the fruit shown close up. Finally, she saw it desirable for wisdom, implying a demonstration of imparted intelligence. Verse 7 confirms the fruit’s effect: after eating, their eyes were opened; they knew they were naked, felt shame (new to them despite being alone and married), and covered themselves with fig leaves.

This gained knowledge was unwanted but verified Satan’s promise. A proposed scenario fitting the text’s emphasis on sight: Eve sees a normally mute serpent eating the forbidden fruit without dying, then suddenly speaking articulately to her with the misquoted question. This would startle her, provide visual proof of no death, demonstrate opened eyes and new wisdom (speech), and make the opening question contextually sensible. This interpretation relies solely on the text’s details without added speculation.

Satan’s strategy is described as masterful and multi-layered: beginning with doubt via misquoted question; exploiting Eve’s misunderstanding (fruit as poisonous) with apparent empirical evidence; flatly denying consequences; slandering God’s character as jealous and dishonest; appealing to pride with promise of being like God (mirroring Satan’s own fall in Isaiah 14:12-14 and Ezekiel 28:12-17); and using staged visual demonstration to bypass reason.

Applications follow: Be aware of Satan’s schemes (Ephesians 6:11)—he still uses deceit and misinformation, as worldviews misrepresent Scripture or deny the spiritual. Compare claims against full Scripture; scoffers forget supernatural creation (2 Peter 3:5). Do not view clashes between Genesis and naturalistic cosmology as flaws in the Bible—the latter ignores the spiritual realm. Know Scripture deeply to recognize slander against God. Guard against prideful autonomy to define good and evil. Trust God’s word over apparent evidence, which can be staged—their spiritual death was immediate, physical eventual. Husbands must lead spiritually, not remain passive like Adam.

Genesis 3:1-7 reveals evil’s origin in humanity and the pattern of all temptation, but also foreshadows the seed crushing the serpent’s head (Genesis 3:15)—Jesus, who resisted Satan perfectly with Scripture ("it is written"). Believers should do likewise. The sermon concludes with an invitation to respond, urging those subject to come forward while the congregation stands and sings.