(02) Genesis: Beginnings and Blessings
Sermon • Submitted • Presented • 1:00:48
0 ratings
· 33 viewsFiles
Notes
Transcript
Handout
Author: Moses
Author: Moses
The book of Genesis was written to provide encouragement to the Israelites as they faced the many challenges coming out of Egypt and moving toward the promised land.
Genesis is the second longest book second only to Jeremiah.
Audience: Jews
Audience: Jews
Most likely during their forty-year wilderness adventure.
Key Words/Themes
Beginnings — of the world, humanity, and nations.
Beginnings — of the world, humanity, and nations.
Genesis is a collection of origin stories.
To the original readers of Genesis, the book was valued as a history of their people.
It told them the story of how God created the world and dealt with all humanity until He chose a relationship with Abraham.
It provided comfort and hope for the downtrodden Hebrews as they waited to return to their “promised land.”
For today’s readers, Genesis is a foundation for the rest of the Bible.
Chapters 1-11 are foundational for our world view.
It is foundational for understanding the gospel.
15 I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.”
Genesis lays the foundation for God’s plan for gender and marriage.
Here we learn ancient history and geography and are introduced to significant people.
We begin to lean about God’s nature through His dealings with people.
We learn of the origin of sin, of its destructive effect on the human race, and of God’s plan of redemption.
The Book of Genesis has sometimes been called the "seed-plot" of the entire Bible.
Most of the major doctrines in the Bible are introduced in "seed" form in the Book of Genesis.
Blessing — appears over 80 times; God’s intent is to bless His creation.
Blessing — appears over 80 times; God’s intent is to bless His creation.
From the beginning to end God blesses humanity.
22 And God blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth.”
Blessing is often given as a command.
Blessing is the bestowing of privilege, right, responsibility, or favor upon some portion of the creation, by God or by one whom he has blessed.
In the twelfth chapter, God promises to bless Abraham,
bless his allies
curse his enemies,
and eventually, bless the world through him (12:1–3).
From this point on, God has a special relationship with Abraham and his family.
The rest of Genesis watches this promise unfold.
In contrast to blessing - God’s curse signifies the ruin or destruction of a relationship.
31 And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.
By chapter 3 everything changed.
20 For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope
The relationship was destroyed.
The redemptive plan was put in motion.
Covenant — God’s chosen means to restore blessing through promise.
Covenant — God’s chosen means to restore blessing through promise.
A covenant is a solemn, binding agreement that makes two or more parties one
Covenants usually involve promises, conditions, blessings for keeping the covenant, and curses for breaking it.
Genesis has a lot of these agreements, including God’s covenant with the post-flood world (Genesis 9:1–17) and his covenants with Abraham (Genesis 15, 17).
Genesis revealed to the original readers the promises God made to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob—promises which extended to their descendants.
Covenant is what moves the story forward in Genesis.
God promises the childless Abraham that he will be the father of nations,
that his descendants will have a land, and that the world will be blessed through them.
For 38 of Genesis’ 50 chapters, the story follows Abraham’s family as God begins fulfilling the first part of that promise:
Abraham has eight children, who have children of their own, and so on and so forth.
The next four books tell the story of how these descendants become a nation and make their move toward claiming their promised land.
Genesis is divided into two major sections:
Chapters 1-11: Universal History
Chapters 1-11: Universal History
Creation
Fall
Flood
Nations
Theme: The ruin of the human race and creation through sin.
This part tells the story of the entire world or universe
The first eleven chapters of Genesis paint the early history of the human race in broad strokes.
Chapters 12-50: Patriarchal History
Chapters 12-50: Patriarchal History
Abraham
Isaac
Jacob
Joseph
Theme: God’s redemption through covenant.
This part tells the story of one man and hid decedents.
Chapter 12 serves as the hinge the changes the direction of the book.
From the tower of Babel to…
1 Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you.
The genealogies:
The ESV bible translates these as “These are the generations of…”
This phrase occurs in ten places and forms a natural outline for the book.
4 These are the generations of the heavens and the earth when they were created, in the day that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens.
1 This is the book of the generations of Adam. When God created man, he made him in the likeness of God.
9 These are the generations of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his generation. Noah walked with God.
1 These are the generations of the sons of Noah, Shem, Ham, and Japheth. Sons were born to them after the flood.
10 These are the generations of Shem. When Shem was 100 years old, he fathered Arpachshad two years after the flood.
27 Now these are the generations of Terah. Terah fathered Abram, Nahor, and Haran; and Haran fathered Lot.
12 These are the generations of Ishmael, Abraham’s son, whom Hagar the Egyptian, Sarah’s servant, bore to Abraham.
19 These are the generations of Isaac, Abraham’s son: Abraham fathered Isaac,
1 These are the generations of Esau (that is, Edom).
2 These are the generations of Jacob. Joseph, being seventeen years old, was pasturing the flock with his brothers. He was a boy with the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah, his father’s wives. And Joseph brought a bad report of them to their father.
Christ in Genesis:
What was begun in Genesis is fulfilled in Christ.
The genealogy begun in Genesis 5 is completed with the birth of Jesus Christ
23 Jesus, when he began his ministry, was about thirty years of age, being the son (as was supposed) of Joseph, the son of Heli, 24 the son of Matthat, the son of Levi, the son of Melchi, the son of Jannai, the son of Joseph, 25 the son of Mattathias, the son of Amos, the son of Nahum, the son of Esli, the son of Naggai, 26 the son of Maath, the son of Mattathias, the son of Semein, the son of Josech, the son of Joda, 27 the son of Joanan, the son of Rhesa, the son of Zerubbabel, the son of Shealtiel, the son of Neri, 28 the son of Melchi, the son of Addi, the son of Cosam, the son of Elmadam, the son of Er, 29 the son of Joshua, the son of Eliezer, the son of Jorim, the son of Matthat, the son of Levi, 30 the son of Simeon, the son of Judah, the son of Joseph, the son of Jonam, the son of Eliakim, 31 the son of Melea, the son of Menna, the son of Mattatha, the son of Nathan, the son of David, 32 the son of Jesse, the son of Obed, the son of Boaz, the son of Sala, the son of Nahshon, 33 the son of Amminadab, the son of Admin, the son of Arni, the son of Hezron, the son of Perez, the son of Judah, 34 the son of Jacob, the son of Isaac, the son of Abraham, the son of Terah, the son of Nahor, 35 the son of Serug, the son of Reu, the son of Peleg, the son of Eber, the son of Shelah, 36 the son of Cainan, the son of Arphaxad, the son of Shem, the son of Noah, the son of Lamech, 37 the son of Methuselah, the son of Enoch, the son of Jared, the son of Mahalaleel, the son of Cainan, 38 the son of Enos, the son of Seth, the son of Adam, the son of God.
He is the offspring promised to Abraham
15 And God said to Abraham, “As for Sarai your wife, you shall not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall be her name. 16 I will bless her, and moreover, I will give you a son by her. I will bless her, and she shall become nations; kings of peoples shall come from her.”
16 Now the promises were made to Abraham and to his offspring. It does not say, “And to offsprings,” referring to many, but referring to one, “And to your offspring,” who is Christ.
We blessed in him because he alone by his active obedience satisfied the law's demands.
13 And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, 14 by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross.
All who are baptized into him are Abraham's descendants.
26 for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith. 27 For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. 28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. 29 And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise.
God himself proclaimed that the woman's offspring would destroy Satan.
15 I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.”
20 The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.
The gift of the bride to Adam prefigured the gift of the church to Christ
18 Then the Lord God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him.”
What if we didn’t liken God to what we know, but He gave us things to seem and understand Him?
(Eph. 5:22-32) - The church is the bride of Christ.
Melchizedek's priesthood is like that of the Christ (Gen. 14:18-20; Heb 7).
The paradise lost by the first Adam is restored by the last Adam (Christ).
This incredibly unified history shows that the focus of Genesis is ultimately Christ.
How do I apply this?
It’s easy to get lost in the genealogies and accounts in Genesis without seeing the big picture.
Keep God, not just the people, in mind as you read through the book. Consider His character qualities.
If you were an Israelite just released from slavery and reading this for the first time, would you marvel at God’s power over creation?
Or His anger over sin?
Or the way He fulfilled His promises to everyone?
Look for Jesus - find God’s redemptive plan already unfolding.
Our salvation was not reactionary.
4 even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love 5 he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will,
When we think of Genesis, where in the timeline did God choose us?
Your salvation was planned before “in the beginning God created” why would we be surprised that Genesis so clearly points to Christ?
4 But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, 5 to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.
Time had to begin.
Genesis began setting the stage for Christ to come.
Some major moves were made to set up the exact right time.
Though I was chosen before the foundation of the world, salvation is not about me!
Salvation was not simply - man messed up so now I need to save him.
Or man messed up but I’m lonely and really want fellowship with him.
From eternity past through eternity future it is all about God’s glory. I am simply a peripheral or a benefactor of that.
