1. Sin originated with Adam and Eve's disobedience in the garden, but it grew and intensified as humanity multiplied, to the point where "every inclination of the thoughts of [people's] heart was only evil all the time." 2. We are born with a "double image" - made in God's image but also in the fallen likeness of our earthly parents. We inherit a sinful nature and are naturally alienated from God. 3. Sin is a powerful and destructive force that is present in all people by nature and actively works to control them. It can only be overcome through spiritual rebirth by the Holy Spirit.

1. The Enigma of the Double Image
2/5: The Inside Story of Human Life
Genesis 5:3; 6:5
September 10th / 11th 2011
by Pastor Colin S. Smith
“When Adam had lived 130 years, he had a son in his own
likeness, in his own image; and he named him Seth.” Genesis 5:3
The theme of our series, “The Inside Story” is especially poignant this
weekend as we mark the tenth anniversary of September 11th 2001. For
many people that day brought pain, sorrow and irrecoverable loss. Many
things were shaken, far beyond the twin towers, on that day.
In a PBS special this week, a thoughtful woman described the comfortable
view of life she had adopted before 9/11: “Some people do bad things” she
said. “But to me, evil was an adjective, not a noun.” Then she said, “I can
no longer live with that explanation. I don’t know what I believe now, but
on 9/11 I lost my easy answers.”
For some years now, secular education has been teaching our children and
young people the postmodern myth that there is no such thing as good or
evil, that everything is relative… What people call “good” and what
people call “evil” is just culturally defined.
But on September 11th we saw the face of evil. This was too awful and
too dark for a social or cultural explanation. People reared in relativism
began searching for language and for categories that could describe what
had happened. They found themselves saying, “This is evil.”
The foundations of relativism and postmodernism itself shook. Once you
admit that there is evil, and that it is in human beings, you have to ask the
question, “How did it get there?”
The inside story of sin’s development
That’s what we are looking at in this series—the inside story of human
life. The book of Genesis tells us the story not only of sin’s origin, but
also of its development. After Adam and Eve were expelled from God’s
garden, sin grew.
The first family soon fractured. Adam and Eve had two sons, Cain and
Abel (You can read their story in Genesis 4). Cain became angry towards

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Abel and murdered his own brother. The man who declined to offer a
blood sacrifice ended up shedding the blood of his own brother.
It was an early sign of the devastation and destruction that sin would bring
to the human family. Adam and Eve had other sons and daughters, and
God’s grace allowed the growth and development of the human race. In
Genesis 5, God gives an account of the generations that came from Adam.
Then we have an extraordinary statement of how sin multiplied and
intensified as the human family grew, “The LORD saw how great man's
wickedness on the earth had become, and that every inclination of the
thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time” (Genesis 6:5).
It is an extraordinary statement. God is telling us about the growth of evil
in the human family. How great man’s wickedness had “become.” Evil
became pervasive in society, and for this reason God sent the flood.
Genesis 6:5 is not saying that the world is always as bad as this. This
world is not heaven, but it is not hell either. In the time of Noah, the
world became so dark that “every inclination of people’s hearts was only
evil all the time.”
How in the world did that happen? How did we get from one sin that
Adam and Eve committed in the garden, to a world where every thought in
the hearts of men was only evil all the time?
The difference between Adam and Seth
Today, we take the next step in following the inside story of the human
race. I want to begin by drawing your attention to two verses in the early
chapters of Genesis. The first is in Genesis 1:26. Last week, we saw from
Ecclesiastes that “God made adam upright” (Ecclesiastes 7:29).
“Then God said, ‘Let us make man in our image, in our likeness…’ God
created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male
and female he created them” (Genesis 1:26-27). Adam and Eve were
made in the image and likeness of God. God made “adam” upright.
Then Adam and Eve listened to the tempter. They sinned, setting their
hearts on being their own god, and now they have children: “When Adam
had lived 130 years, he had a son in his own likeness, in his own image;
and he named him Seth” (Genesis 5:3).
Do you see the difference? Adam is created in the image of God, and his
son still bears that image.1 But Adam’s son also bears the image of his
father, who is a sinner. God made Adam upright, but Adam became a

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sinner and his son is born in the father’s likeness. This is true down
through the generations of human history.
Sons and daughters of Adam live with the enigma of the double image:
Made in the image of God; born in the likeness of Adam. You need to
know this double truth about yourself. You’re made in the image of
God—that gives your life meaning, dignity and worth. You’re born in the
likeness of Adam—you’re a sinner, alienated from God by nature. C. S.
Lewis catches the enigma of the double image well…
“To come from the Lord Adam and the Lady Eve is both honor enough to
erect the head of the poorest beggar, and shame enough to bow the
shoulders of the greatest emperor on earth”2
This doctrine of the double image is foundational to the Christian faith,
and it is of huge importance to our understanding of the world.
1. Why is it wrong to fly a plane into the twin towers taking the lives of
thousands of people?
If we are only developed animals who evolve by the survival of the fittest,
how is that different from snuffing out a hornet’s nest? The answer is that
men and women are made in the image of God. That is what gives every
human being value and dignity and worth.
2. Why do men made in the image of God perpetrate deeds of evil in the
world?
We are born in the likeness of Adam, and we’re sinners by nature and by
practice. We live in a dark and dangerous world. Nothing in this world is
as it should be, and never will be this side of heaven.
Sin Is In Us By Nature
Adam came out of the hand of God upright, but Seth came out of the
womb as you and I did. He was born in the likeness of his father and his
mother, a sinner.
Poor Seth… and we are in the same position as he was. Sin was in his
father and mother by their own choice. Sin was in him by nature and by
birth, even before he started!
Not only was sin in him, but he was born into a fallen world. It’s effects
were all around him. God placed Adam in a garden paradise. Seth was
born outside paradise, in a world under the curse of sin, a world that would
be marked by pain and suffering, a world in which the creation itself was
groaning in frustration (Romans 8: 20).

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Can you imagine Adam sitting down with little Seth, trying to come to
terms with what is in the world, and with what is in him. Adam makes a
fire and sits down, putting his arm around his son, “You ought to know
son, that you have two brothers.”
“Really? Where are they?”
“One of them is dead.”
“How did he die?”
“Your other brother killed him. Your mother and I haven’t seen him since
that day. He has become a restless wanderer on the earth.”
Sin is in all of us by nature. This is the truth about all of us, even the best
of us. This was true even of King David, who was described as “a man
after God’s own heart” (ref?).
He says, “Surely I was sinful at birth; sinful from the time my mother
conceived me” (Psalm 51:5). He doesn’t mean that his mother conceived
him through a sinful act. He means the new life conceived by David’s
father and mother was the life of a sinner.
Sin runs in the blood; grace does not
We are all born alienated from God. I’ve often had a conversation that
goes something like this, “Tell me, how did you become a Christian?”
Answer: “I was born that way.” Maybe you’ve said something like this.
Friend, hear me: That is not possible! Nobody is born a Christian. You
can be born a Jew. You can be born a Muslim. You can be born a Hindu.
But you cannot be born a Christian. It’s impossible. Christianity does not
run in the blood, sin does.
Jesus said, “Flesh gives birth to flesh. The Spirit gives birth to spirit….
You must be born again” (John 3:6-7). You may say, “I come from a
good family. I was born to Christian parents.” Friends, that’s my story. I
come from a good family. I was born to Christian parents. But that did
not make me a Christian. I was born a sinner.
Sin runs in the blood; grace does not. Some of us may have this the wrong
way round. If you’ve been working on the assumption that grace runs in
the blood, and sin does not, I plead with you to listen to the Bible today.
You can’t ride into heaven on the faith of your parents or your friends, or
simply by being connected in some way to the church. That’s why Jesus
said, “You must be born again” (John 3:7).

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Actually this is good news. If grace ran in the blood, then those who came
from faithless families would have no hope. Sin is the great leveler. We
are all sinners by nature and practice. We all stand on a level playing field
before God, who offers grace to all in Jesus Christ—sinners—to whom
God offers His grace in Jesus Christ.
No doctrine is more repugnant to the natural mind and heart than this. The
sinful mind will never receive this. If you believe it, it is only because
God has given you light. I pray, even as I speak, that God will give you
grace to embrace this truth.
Many churches are actively erasing this truth. Confession of sin is quietly
dropped from worship services. Massive tracts of Scripture that repeat
this foundational truth are silently glossed over. There is an active
movement today to rewrite the great hymns and erase this truth, because
some believe that it is not positive enough for Sunday morning.
I plead with you to take this truth seriously today. If you cannot see the
truth about yourself, you will not receive the great salvation that God
offers to you in Christ.
Sin Is a Vicious Enemy
“Then the LORD said to Cain, ‘Why are you angry? Why is your face
downcast? If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do
not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you,
but you must master it.’" Genesis 4:7
Sin is like a wild animal, a predator, crouching at the door. God says to
Cain, “It desires to have you.” Not only is sin present in every one of us
by nature, but sin is a destructive power. It is an active enemy. It desires
to have you.
This weekend, the homeland security forces with be on the highest alert
because we have powerful enemies who would like to destroy us. They
will always be hatching some new destructive scheme. The work of
watching and intercepting these schemes is never done. That’s how it is
with sin. But Cain didn’t listen, that’s why his life was destroyed by sin.
The crayon and the mold
Suppose you put fresh paint on a wall in your house, and a child marks a
line of crayon over it. You can wash the wall and get rid of the crayon. If
it’s really bad, you can paint over the wall—not that big a deal.

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But suppose you have mold in your house. Painting over the mold won’t
help. Our home took on some water, as many of yours did, during the
heavy rains a few weeks ago. So, I am having fun cutting out dry wall.
A crayon leaves a mark that is easily dealt with. But mold is a living
thing. It spreads—it will take your health. It will destroy your house.
Some folks think that sin is like the crayon. When you mess up, cover it
over, clean up the mess and move on.
But sin is not like a crayon—it is like the mold. The crayon is static; the
mold is on the move—it spreads. It needs to be cut out or it’ll destroy
your house. Sin is more than a list of things you’ve done wrong. If this is
your notion of sin, you have not understood it from the Bible. It’s a living
power, a vicious enemy, and it is at work in you and it is at work in me.
Are you taking the power of sin seriously in your life? This power is
bigger, greater and stronger than you. Some years ago John Stott, who is
now with the Lord, spoke at our church. He was a godly and gracious
man marked by integrity, one of the most highly respected Christian
leaders around the world.
His visit here was before my time, but several folks have told me about it
and they all remember the same words that he said…
“There is no sin that my flesh is not capable of committing within 30
minutes of leaving this church.”
Sin Leaves Us Needing the Intervention of God
“At that time, men began to call on the name of the Lord.” Genesis 4:26
This is the first mention of prayer in the entire Bible, “At that time…”
What time? What was it that caused men to pray for the first time? When
the destructive effects of sin became obvious in the world—broken
families, violence, murder. Men saw evil in its ugly colors, and they
began to ask God for help.
It doesn’t say that all men did this. All men will not ask God for help.
But some did. They saw what sin was doing, and they knew that they
needed to pray, “God we need your help. We’re facing incredible
darkness. This is bigger than me.”
What does God do? Two things…
1. God restrains sin

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This world is not as bad as it could be. God restrains sin. If God took His
hand away, it would be hell itself. As a matter of fact, that’s what hell is.
How does God do that?
i. God restrains sin through law
If there were no laws our streets would not be safe. The law restrains sin.
It is a good gift from God. Thank a policeman. Tell him or her they are a
gift of God in a fallen world.
ii. Conscience
Adam was a law to himself. He did not need the law because God wrote it
in his heart. Even among those who do not acknowledge God, there is
some residue of that impression. We call it “conscience.” So Paul says,
“Their consciences bear witness” (Romans 2:15).
iii. Common grace
This is not the same thing as saving grace. Common grace is the kindness
of God to all people, just as He causes the sun to rise on all people, not
just on those who love Him.
When you see a woman who has no time for God, but she is a good
mother, you should thank God. Or when you see an atheist who shows
kindness to an elderly neighbor, thank God for him.
Where does that come from? It is an echo, an evidence of the image of
God. Every act of kindness ought to result in thanksgiving to God, even
when it comes from an unbeliever.
iv. Judgment
Sin is like a massive weed that would destroy the world except that God,
in His kindness, cuts it back. He doesn’t destroy it, but He cuts it back.
That is what happened in the flood. When nations become intolerably
evil, God sends revival or He causes that nation to fall. That is why the
Bible says, “righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to a
people” (Proverbs 14:34).
2. God redeems sinners
God cuts back the weed of sin. But the day is coming when He will pull it
up by the root and cast the whole thing into the fire. Sin will be no more.
There will be a new heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness.
Suffering came into the world on the coat tails of sin. And when sin is
excluded from the planet, suffering will go out on its coat tails too. There
will be no death, mourning, crying or pain (Revelation 21:4). God will
wipe away all tears from the eyes of His people.

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How can sinners be in the home of righteousness? There’s only one way.
When John the baptist began his ministry, he pointed to Jesus and he said,
“Behold the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.” (John
1:29). The hope of the world lies in Jesus Christ, the Redeemer.
A woman spoke to me after the service on the Sunday after September 11th
10 years ago. She was very distressed. I had never seen her in the church
before and I don’t recall seeing her since.
She rushed up to me and she said “Pastor, pastor… How can I tell my
children that they are safe?” I said to her, “You can’t. The world isn’t
safe.” She looked completely stunned.
We need to learn to live in this world in such a way as to be prepared for
the next. That’s what I need to do. That’s what you need to do. And
that’s what we need to tell our children.
1
Genesis 9:6 affirms that the image of God is still in fallen man.
2
Cited by Phil Ryken: “Ecclesiastes: Why Everything Matters,” p. 178, Crossway, 2010