Beginnings- God’s Grand Story #1

Leader’s Notes for Discussion Guides

Creation and Fall

Book: Read Genesis 1:27-28

Genesis 1:27–28 (ESV)

27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. 28 And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”

Book: Nature includes some pretty amazing creatures, but only human beings are said to be made in the very image of God.

What does that mean?

What are the implications of the fact that humans bear this designation, but other creatures don’t?

Theologians have long debated the importance of the phrase the image of God.

At the very least we can say this: In His triune nature (one God, existing eternally in three persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit), God is fundamentally relational.

That we are made in the image of God means that

we were created for relationship.

We were created to know and love God in an intimate way;

we were also designed to enjoy relationships with one another.

We further reflect the image of God to the world in our ability to think and feel and choose.

Like God we have a mind, emotions, and will. No other creatures have all those capacities to the degree that humans have them.

Finally, God rules and reigns over all He has made; as His image-bearers we were intended by Him to carry out His purposes and exercise wisdom and creativity in our care of His creation.

Book: After the temptation and Adam and Eve’s disobedience, God spoke to the serpent, the man, and the woman about the consequences of their decisions.

God declared that there would be hostility between the woman and the serpent, promising that the woman’s offspring would crush the serpent’s head (see Genesis 3:15).

What does this pronouncement say about God’s heart?

Do you think this prophecy was a predesigned purpose or back-up plan? Why?

Because God is omniscient (i.e., He knows all things, actual and possible), and because God is sovereign (i.e., in control of all things), Adam and Eve’s sin did not catch Him off guard or cause Him to wring His hands.

In Genesis, the book of “beginnings,”

we see the beginning of sin and its consequences,

but we also see the beginning of God’s eternal plan to rescue and restore rebellious creatures and a broken world.

We see the pain that sin causes.

We also see the hope that God promises: things will not always be the way they are.

Revelation 21 and 22 give a marvelous glimpse of reality when God’s restoration is complete.

Judgment and Division

Read Genesis 6:5-8

Genesis 6:5–8 ESV

5 The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. 6 And the Lord regretted that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart. 7 So the Lord said, “I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the land, man and animals and creeping things and birds of the heavens, for I am sorry that I have made them.” 8 But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord.

Book: What does this passage tell us about the heart of man?

The biblical doctrine of sin says that as sons and daughters of Adam and Eve, we all have hearts that naturally turn away from God and push God away. “Total depravity” (the phrase often used by theologians to describe sinful human nature) doesn’t mean that we are each as evil as we could possibly be. It does mean that every part of our being—our minds, emotions, and wills—is tainted by sin.

What does it reveal about God’s righteousness?

God Hates sin-

Only God can forgive us and give us new hearts (Jeremiah 31:31-34) and make us new creatures (2 Corinthians 5:17) with new desires.

What’s your response to the fact that this passage says God was grieved/sorry/sad that He had made man?

God has emotions, He responds emotionally to mans actions.

Note:Some participants may resist the idea that God has emotions or can be grieved, but this theme will come up again and again throughout Scripture. Some may also have difficulty with a God of love exercising such harsh judgment. Romans 11:22 about the “kindness and severity” of God may provide helpful support.

Romans 11:22 ESV

22 Note then the kindness and the severity of God: severity toward those who have fallen, but God’s kindness to you, provided you continue in his kindness. Otherwise you too will be cut off.

Book: The people of Babel wanted to build a city and a tower reaching into the heavens in order to make a name for themselves and avoid being scattered throughout the earth (Genesis 11:

Genesis 11:4 ESV

4 Then they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be dispersed over the face of the whole earth.”

What attitudes and insecurities does this reflect?

Pride, independent from God, resistant to gods commands….

Why would God oppose this plan?

Because they wanted the glory

In what ways did this plan conflict with His character?

God’s soverignty, His authority

How did it conflict with His purposes?

God said be fruitful and fill the earth. instead they hovered together to become great…

The Tower of Babel (Genesis 11) incident is intended to show the heart of man: prideful, independent, resistant to the purposes and plan of God. It also serves as a backdrop for the introduction of Abraham (Genesis 12).

Note the contrast between these two passages.

In the first, the builders at Babel embark on the epic project of building a great tower that will reach up to heaven. Why? “So that we can make a name for ourselves.”

Contrast this attitude with the next chapter, in which God comes down, so to speak, selects Abram, and tells him, “I will make your name great.”

Abraham and Isaac

Book:God called Abraham to leave his home and go to a land that he would be shown later.

Abraham was 75 when he heard the call of God. His father was an idolatrous pagan (Joshua 24:2). Nothing in the text suggests that Abraham (or Abram as he was then known) was seeking the one true God. Everything about this story screams “grace!”: God graciously choosing Abraham and Abraham responding in faith and obedience.

Why do you think God chose Abraham out of all the other people in the world?

Why do you think God didn’t tell him up front where he would go?

What would have been your response if God had told you to pack your stuff, leave everything familiar, and launch out on a journey without giving you an itinerary or detailed plan?

It’s worth noting that Abraham’s faith was far from perfect; however, as Abraham obeyed, God revealed more and more to him. Only after he arrived in Canaan did God reveal that this was the promised land (Genesis 12:7).

The point is that because of Faith Abraham blindly followed and trusted in God.

Abraham and Sarah were already old and childless, yet God promised they would have many descendants.

How would you feel if you had been given this promise in their situation?

Very happy, and excited to see it happen

What if God made you wait 25 years before making good on His promise?

`I would struggle with why and if i did something bad enough that God chose to take away that promise from my life

Abraham and Sarah waited some 10 years after God’s initial promise of offspring.

By then Abraham was 85, and Sarah 75. It was then that they hatched the plan to try to bring about the promise of God through Sarah’s maid Hagar.

When Abraham was 86, Ishmael was born (Genesis 16:16).

This caused great conflict in the household of Abraham.

Another 13 years passed before God began the process of giving this elderly couple their own biological, miracle baby (Genesis 17:1).

Have you ever noticed that The theme of promise-then-delay is repeated often in Scripture?

What other times in Scripture do we see God Wait to fulfill his promises?

the messiah

David as king

Job

At this point, the discussion should help the participants who are I experiencing delays and trials understand that this is normal in a l relationship with God.

Book : Genesis 22 is one of those chapters we have a hard time reading.

There, God tells Abraham to sacrifice Isaac, his long-awaited beloved son.

Why would God ask such a thing? and What does Abraham’s response reveal about his faith and priorities?

This incident, more than most others in the Bible, is difficult to understand or accept (especially for those who are parents).

What kind of God would ask such a thing—kill your own child? Isn’t that what the pagan gods asked?

And what kind of callous parent would agree to do such a thing?

We put people in jail or in mental institutions for exactly these kinds of behaviors! RIGHT?

This grim request was a test—an agonizing test—of Abraham’s faith, and of his love for God.

Was God foremost in his heart? Or, as is often the case in our lives, did he value other things or people more than he treasured God?

God was testing Abrahams faith, He wanted to see if Abraham truly loved him more than all else.

Remember, God stopped Abraham from harming his son, He did not require that human sacrifice. but instead had already provided the very sacrifice He was demanding.

In this story, we see one fo the first clear pictures of the gospel—the one condemned to die was spared by the provision of a substitute.

Character #3 Jacob

Jacob’s family would make a great case study in dysfunction:

deceptive family members (and also deceptive himself);

a brother who wanted to kill him;

a marriage under false pretenses;

12 sons born from two wives and two servants engaged in competitive childbearing;

and a long night of wrestling with God Himself.

See note below

Yet God gave him a new name and established him as the father of a nation.

What does this show us about the kind of people God chooses?

God uses broken people!

How does it encourage you about any obstacles in your life?

There is nothing that has been forgiven In my past that could disqualify me from serving God

Have you ever really stoped to think about Jacobs wrestling match with God?

Genesis 32 records the mysterious story of Jacob’s nighttime “wrestling match with God.” Some believe this was an angel. Others believe Jacob wrestled with Jesus Christ, in His pre-incarnate state. The text simply refers to Jacob’s shadowy opponent as a “man” (vs. 24-27). The “man” then declared that Jacob had “struggled with God.” When asked His name, the man was evasive. When Jacob reported the incident, he said, “I saw God face to face.”

None of us have ever literally wrestled with God, but have you ever done so figuratively? Ask for someone to share.

Character #4 Joseph

Book: God gave Joseph dreams about his glorious future, and Joseph, perhaps in youthful immaturity, told his brothers, who already hated him for being his father’s favorite son.

When the brothers betrayed him and sent him in the opposite direction of his dreams, what questions might Joseph have had about his actions?

about God’s faithfulness?

about his future?

Years later, when Joseph was second in command in Egypt, he told his long-lost brothers that what they intended for evil, God had meant for good (Genesis

50:20).

What does this tell us about the relationship between adversity and God’s purpose for our lives?

God uses bad things and Bad people to mold us into who he wants us to be

Example: some of my greatest spiritual growth came from when I went through some very hard times with other believers in my life….

How does the truth that God is in control of all things, that He is able to orchestrate even bad things for greater good, help us in dealing with hard things or hurtful people?

The life of Joseph is a both a great challenge and an amazing encouragement to us. He endured so much, but he clung to God, and in the end was vindicated.

© 2015 by Walk Thru the Bible Ministries.