Wrapping it all up.

Last week we took a whirlwind trip through the final chapters in Genesis. Over the last 32 weeks we have taken an in depth look at this incredible book . Genesis really is foundational to our faith. So now that we know what is in the book. I want us to step back and look at it from a thousand feet up. Today I want us to see the Hope of Genesis.

I. Our Foundational Hope

Genesis 1:1 CSB

1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

This statement is simple yet profound. There was no beginning except for the one God created. All things belong to him. You and I are subject to him because we are his creatio.

So why should that bring us hope?

The next two chapters describe for us a God of extreme power and yet beauty. Beauty that stems from perfection perfect goodness. There can be no such beauty outside of a perfect being.

When we look at a flower alongside of sandy beach.

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,or a mtn. vista, we are amazed at its beauty and often echo in our hearts the same pronouncement that God made at the end of each creation day. “It is good”.

All of creation echos that we have a good God. A God full of beauty, power, and precision. He isnt just any God. He is a good God.

James 1:17 CSB

17 Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.

Yes Genesis 1:1 is one of the most hope-filled scriptures in all of the Bible. You were created by and belong to an all-powerful God full of Goodness and beauty. A God who does not change. The same Good God that created all things, is the same Good God we have today.

Then we saw that God creates man as a special creation to steward all the good things he has made.

Genesis 1:27–28 CSB

27 So God created man in his own image; he created him in the image of God; he created them male and female. 28 God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth, and subdue it. Rule the fish of the sea, the birds of the sky, and every creature that crawls on the earth.”

Genesis 1:31 CSB

31 God saw all that he had made, and it was very good indeed. Evening came and then morning: the sixth day.

So then why is there so much ugly in the world today?

Well Genesis tells us of a great corruption that occured.

Genesis 3:1–7 CSB

1 Now the serpent was the most cunning of all the wild animals that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You can’t eat from any tree in the garden’?” 2 The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat the fruit from the trees in the garden. 3 But about the fruit of the tree in the middle of the garden, God said, ‘You must not eat it or touch it, or you will die.’ ” 4 “No! You will certainly not die,” the serpent said to the woman. 5 “In fact, God knows that when you eat it your eyes will be opened and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” 6 The woman saw that the tree was good for food and delightful to look at, and that it was desirable for obtaining wisdom. So she took some of its fruit and ate it; she also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. 7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.

Here in this account, we see that the serpent tempted man to sin. We talked about how the word “serpent” Nahash is most likely a descriptive word of one that was serpent like. Lucifer was known as a Serephim a serpent like angelic being. So most likely this was not simply a talking snake but Lucifer himself. Most likely the fall of man and the fall of Satan took place simultaneously. This would explain why the serpent had access to the garden of eden. Once the fall took place man was kicked out of it and from that point on death and corruption spread to the entire earth.

We see the scripture gives us the answer for why there is both beauty and corruption on the earth.

For the rest of Genesis we see the effects of sin and death in every account. From The Flood to Joseph, we see all the same sins that we have today . These sins that are destroy families and bring death and suffering. Genesis not only outlines the Goodness of God it also contrast the goodness of God with the sinful destructive actions of man. Genesis shows us what life is like for man, when we choose to live outside of God’s Goodness. Moral bankruptcy resulting in every type of sin. No heinous action is outside the boundries of sin.

In Genesis we saw deceit, envy, murder, incest, rape, greed. Sin allows for every destructive act.

But in the midst of of all of the sin and destruction the beauty and goodness of God shines through.

2. A Promise is Given

A glimpse of hope is given. Our good God has a very good plan.

There will one day come a savior that will deal the final blow to the rebel.

A promise is given to Adam.

Genesis 3:15 CSB

15 I will put hostility between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring. He will strike your head, and you will strike his heel.

Yet he won’t come in conventional ways.

A Promise is continued and more is revealed through Abraham.

Genesis 12:1–3 CSB

1 The Lord said to Abram: Go from your land, your relatives, and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. 2 I will make you into a great nation, I will bless you, I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, I will curse anyone who treats you with contempt, and all the peoples on earth will be blessed through you.

Genesis 22:13–18 CSB

13 Abraham looked up and saw a ram caught in the thicket by its horns. So Abraham went and took the ram and offered it as a burnt offering in place of his son. 14 And Abraham named that place The Lord Will Provide, so today it is said, “It will be provided on the Lord’s mountain.” 15 Then the angel of the Lord called to Abraham a second time from heaven 16 and said, “By myself I have sworn,” this is the Lord’s declaration: “Because you have done this thing and have not withheld your only son, 17 I will indeed bless you and make your offspring as numerous as the stars of the sky and the sand on the seashore. Your offspring will possess the city gates of their enemies. 18 And all the nations of the earth will be blessed by your offspring because you have obeyed my command.”

Then through Isaac

Genesis 26:24 CSB

24 and the Lord appeared to him that night and said, “I am the God of your father Abraham. Do not be afraid, for I am with you. I will bless you and multiply your offspring because of my servant Abraham.”

Then to Jacob

Genesis 28:13–15 CSB

13 The Lord was standing there beside him, saying, “I am the Lord, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac. I will give you and your offspring the land on which you are lying. 14 Your offspring will be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out toward the west, the east, the north, and the south. All the peoples on earth will be blessed through you and your offspring. 15 Look, I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go. I will bring you back to this land, for I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.”

Even through the brokenness of these families, We see that our Good God has a good plan that cannot be thwarted by evil. We see that his power and his goodness is not limited in anyway by the decisions of man. Yes our God’s plan is good.

But because we have trouble trusting in what we cannot see. God give us a glimpse of what was to come. To the nation of Isreal this was a look into the future. For us today, it is a proof that scripture is true.

In the life of Joseph we saw

3. The Promise Personified

We saw a favored son.

Genesis 37:3 CSB

3 Now Israel loved Joseph more than his other sons because Joseph was a son born to him in his old age, and he made a long-sleeved robe for him.

despised and rejected by his own.

Genesis 37:4 CSB

4 When his brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers, they hated him and could not bring themselves to speak peaceably to him.

Sold for silver

28 When Midianite traders passed by, his brothers pulled Joseph out of the pit and sold him for twenty pieces of silver to the Ishmaelites, who took Joseph to Egypt.

A suffering servant who not only forgave his brother but served them and gave them protection and a better home.

Now lets look at the comparison to Jesus

He is the special Son of God

John 3:16 CSB

16 For God loved the world in this way: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.

despised and rejected by his own. A suffering servant

Isaiah 53:3 CSB

3 He was despised and rejected by men, a man of suffering who knew what sickness was. He was like someone people turned away from; he was despised, and we didn’t value him.

Sold for silver

Matthew 26:15 CSB

15 and said, “What are you willing to give me if I hand him over to you?” So they weighed out thirty pieces of silver for him.

Forgives sins and those who would sin against him

John 1:29 CSB

29 The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!

Luke 23:34 CSB

34 Then Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, because they do not know what they are doing.” And they divided his clothes and cast lots.

Promises us a better future home.

John 14:2–6 CSB

2 In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you? 3 If I go away and prepare a place for you, I will come again and take you to myself, so that where I am you may be also. 4 You know the way to where I am going.” 5 “Lord,” Thomas said, “we don’t know where you’re going. How can we know the way?” 6 Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

But one of the most important comparisons that we can make is this

The Story of Joseph ends with him embalmed in his tomb.

Genesis 50:26 CSB

26 Joseph died at the age of 110. They embalmed him and placed him in a coffin in Egypt.

The Story of Jesus with him coming out of the tomb.

John 20:1–18 CSB

1 On the first day of the week Mary Magdalene came to the tomb early, while it was still dark. She saw that the stone had been removed from the tomb. 2 So she went running to Simon Peter and to the other disciple, the one Jesus loved, and said to them, “They’ve taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they’ve put him!” 3 At that, Peter and the other disciple went out, heading for the tomb. 4 The two were running together, but the other disciple outran Peter and got to the tomb first. 5 Stooping down, he saw the linen cloths lying there, but he did not go in. 6 Then, following him, Simon Peter also came. He entered the tomb and saw the linen cloths lying there. 7 The wrapping that had been on his head was not lying with the linen cloths but was folded up in a separate place by itself. 8 The other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, then also went in, saw, and believed. 9 For they did not yet understand the Scripture that he must rise from the dead. 10 Then the disciples returned to the place where they were staying. 11 But Mary stood outside the tomb, crying. As she was crying, she stooped to look into the tomb. 12 She saw two angels in white sitting where Jesus’s body had been lying, one at the head and the other at the feet. 13 They said to her, “Woman, why are you crying?” “Because they’ve taken away my Lord,” she told them, “and I don’t know where they’ve put him.” 14 Having said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not know it was Jesus. 15 “Woman,” Jesus said to her, “why are you crying? Who is it that you’re seeking?” Supposing he was the gardener, she replied, “Sir, if you’ve carried him away, tell me where you’ve put him, and I will take him away.” 16 Jesus said to her, “Mary.” Turning around, she said to him in Aramaic, “Rabboni!”—which means “Teacher.” 17 “Don’t cling to me,” Jesus told her, “since I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to my brothers and tell them that I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.” 18 Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord!” And she told them what he had said to her.

You see a Good God had a good plan to forgive sinners and defeat the curse of sin and death forever. The book of Genesis, written 2000 years before Christ is not just a collection of neat stories it is the infolding plan of a good God to save you and me.

Genesis 50:20 CSB

20 You planned evil against me; God planned it for good to bring about the present result—the survival of many people.

Won’t you trust in God’s good plan today?