DONE 210110 Genesis: Behold the Lamb of God

Introduction

Briefly, by way of an introduction, I might mention my plan for the year which we will begin today. It is a bit ambitious but I think we can pull it off. Pause WAIT UNTIL THEY LOOK UP... My objective is to go over the entirety of the Bible in 2021. Pause… Many believers make new year’s resolutions to read the Bible in a year so this would work well in tandem with this goal. There are 52 weeks in a year and 66 books in the Bible - so out of necessity we will be combining certain books like 1st and 2nd Chronicles and Jeremiah and Lamentations (which were actually one book originally anyway) and we will omit books we are actively studying like Hebrews. However, that will also open up untapped gold mines in the rest of the Bible. Heres the “why.” The reason why I am doing this.

I sense a need to cover the entirety of the Biblical text at a high level this year. To give us a sense of the size and scale of Scripture. To give us an appreciation for the depth and complexity of God’s redemptive plan in the Canon. Perhaps, it is due to the times we are in, when believers will be asked more and more to display their faith in the face of a world that is incredibly post-Christian. We need the ability to rapidly go to any book of the Bible and find Jesus. To give an account for the hope that we have. So, that is what we are going to do and I would highly encourage you to blitz through the Bible as quickly as you can with me in 2021 in your personal devotions.

The Bible is absolutely, positively, without a doubt laser focused on Jesus. He is the point of this (hold up the Bible) and that is what He thought. Jesus said in John 5:39 when He spoke to the Jews, “ “You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; it is these that testify about Me...” The Scriptures attest to and bear witness of Christ. That is what Jesus thought and it is what we should think as well. We are going to snoop out Jesus and hopefully learn some useful things about Him. Things we can share with others. Different aspects of the Son of Man.

So, our goal is two-fold in 2021. Cover the entire Biblical text at a high level while focusing on what these books have to say about the One who has been working, before our world began, to redeem and salvage us. Today we start this process in the beginning. The very beginning, our origin story. Even here our Savior is revealed, but before we do, let us ask God to reveal Himself to us in His Scripture. Let’s pray.

Prayer

Father God, our deepest desire is to know You more. You are our greatest pleasure - to enjoy You forever is what we were made for. Because You are God, we will likely never fully know You, but to the degree that we are able to, we want to. We want to know You more. We want to know the One that loves us to death - literally. We know You more by learning about Your Son. We know You more when Your Holy Spirit shows us Your Christ in this, Your Scripture. We need Him. We need Christ. We need a Messiah, we need a Savior. Someone to pay for our evil deeds because the cost is too high. It is out of our budget, we don’t have the resources or ability to repay You for our crimes against You. But (SMILE) because You love us and because You know everything You knew sin would happen and You provided the Way back to You. We thank You for Your Son, the Way, the Truth and the Life. We depend upon Your Holy Spirit to reveal Him to us in Your Word today. Give us Jesus and help us to show Him to a dying world that desperately needs Him. It is through His shed blood we come to You, amen.

Sermon

Please open your Bibles to Genesis chapter 3. Genesis chapter 3 might be the saddest chapter in the Bible. I think most of us know why. This is humanity’s low point. There is only two humans at this juncture but nonetheless this is where everything goes sideways. The context of our first passage is that God had made all things good. Earthly perfection. That is the setting. Just so you get an idea of where I am headed My thesis for today is this: Genesis displays our dilemma but also shows us the solution and the character of God. Starting in verse 1 of chapter 3.

Genesis 3 Our Situation

Genesis 3:1-5 The Serpent

1 Now the serpent was more crafty than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, “Indeed, has God said, ‘You shall not eat from any tree of the garden’?”

2 The woman said to the serpent, “From the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat;

3 but from the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat from it or touch it, or you will die.’ ”

A fatal error is revealed here. We know that is not what God said. Please write in your margin Genesis 2:16-17. What was Eve’s error? Let’s turn there. Genesis 2:16-17.

16 The Lord God commanded the man, saying, “From any tree of the garden you may eat freely; 17 but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you will surely die.”

It sounds like something got lost in translation. God, didn’t say “don’t look at it or touch it” although that sounds like wisdom. He said, “in the day that you eat from it you will surely die” not “don’t look at it or touch it.” The fatal error is that Eve does not know cold what God had instructed. She doesn’t know God’s Word. This is a critical lesson and that is exactly where the serpent attacks.

4 The serpent said to the woman, “You surely will not die!

5 “For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

The serpent manipulates the emotions, intellect and desires. He calls into question what is known about the character of God. “God, who had made all things good, is hiding good from me?” The failure here is not knowing God’s Word and not understanding the character of God. That is the whole point of our sermon series in 2021. Know God’s Word and understand His character as revealed in His Son.

As an aside do you recall how Jesus dealt with Satan when He was tempted? With God’s Word, with Scripture. He knew it cold and when Satan came at Him, He was ready. Please write in your margin Matthew 4 for your future study.

Genesis 3:6 The Sin

6 When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise, she took from its fruit and ate; and she gave also to her husband with her, and he ate.

Sin is misplaced desire. Sin is seeking pleasure in anything other than God. Sin looks good, it looks pretty, it promises satisifaction and it kills. Please write in your margin Romans 5:12 and Romans 6:23 for your future study.

Genesis 3:7-8 The Sneaking & Scapegoating

7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loin coverings.

8 They heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden.

Genesis 3:9-13 The Seeking

9 Then the Lord God called to the man, and said to him, “Where are you?”

Where are you? God was not surprised at their sin as I have mentioned in past sermons. He seeks out the sinner. He seeks reconciliation. Ephesians 2 tells us that God chose believers in Christ before the foundations of the world. Are you a believer? (SMILE) You have been considered of God from before the beginning of time. You have been and are intensely loved and He wants you, redeemed, holy and whole with Him throughout eternity. Verse 10. This is Adam speaking.

10 He said, “I heard the sound of You in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid myself.”

11 And He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?”

12 The man said, “The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me from the tree, and I ate.”

Hmmm… Adam is blaming God and Eve for this failure. Please write next to verse 12 this cross reference (James 1:13-15) God cannot be tempted and doesn’t tempt anyone. He’s not to blame here.

13 Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?” And the woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”

I don’t want to beat on Adam and Eve any longer. It’s not good to speak evil of others and so I won’t. It’s simply tragic. But God acts immediately initiating the rescue mission that proves His kind intention. He doesn’t ignore the sin. He doesn’t excuse the failure. He begins to overcome it.

Genesis 3:14-20 The Sentence and the Solution

14 The Lord God said to the serpent,

“Because you have done this, Cursed are you more than all cattle, And more than every beast of the field; On your belly you will go, And dust you will eat All the days of your life;

15 And I will put enmity Between you and the woman, And between your seed and her seed; He shall bruise you on the head, And you shall bruise him on the heel.”

Verse 15 is called a Messianic Prophecy and a Protoevangelium or first gospel. A very unique prophecy because it certainly appears that it is the Son of God Himself making it. Perhaps you will recall in John 4:24, you might write that in your margin John 4:24 that Jesus said that God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth. He is not physical. God the Father doesn’t have a physical body but who does? The Son of God does. So, it certainly appears that the Christ is prophecying here about how He is going to personally deal with sin. Believers, I want you to write in your margin a very special promise given in Romans 16:20. Write that in your margin. If you are in Christ this is for you. Moving on to verse 16 through 20, God outlines the remainder of the curse....

16 To the woman He said, “I will greatly multiply Your pain in childbirth, In pain you will bring forth children; Yet your desire will be for your husband, And he will rule over you.”

17 Then to Adam He said, “Because you have listened to the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree about which I commanded you, saying, ‘You shall not eat from it’; Cursed is the ground because of you; In toil you will eat of it All the days of your life.

18 “Both thorns and thistles it shall grow for you; And you will eat the plants of the field;

19 By the sweat of your face You will eat bread, Till you return to the ground, Because from it you were taken; For you are dust, And to dust you shall return.”

20 Now the man called his wife’s name Eve, because she was the mother of all the living.

In verse 21 we see God’s first example, the first sign, the first illustration of what this recovery mission will cost.

Genesis 3:21 The Skins

21 The Lord God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife, and clothed them.

The text doesn’t say what these skins were made of, it probably doesn’t matter. The point that matters is that something had to die to cover the nakedness, the bareness, the fragility of humanity. Humanities best efforts at patching together a makeshift solution, fig leaves, wasn’t wanted or needed, and as such the fig leaves were discarded for garments made of skin. This protection doesn’t end there. God institutes a safeguard.

Genesis 3:22-24 The Safeguard

22 Then the Lord God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of Us, knowing good and evil; and now, he might stretch out his hand, and take also from the tree of life, and eat, and live forever”—

23 therefore the Lord God sent him out from the garden of Eden, to cultivate the ground from which he was taken.

24 So He drove the man out; and at the east of the garden of Eden He stationed the cherubim and the flaming sword which turned every direction to guard the way to the tree of life...

God didn’t allow humanity access to the tree of life thus preventing humanity from living forever in a perpetually decaying state. Now humanity is spiritually dead but won’t be physically alive in perpetual decay. I think we can all give thanks to God that suffering in this life eventually ends and He graciously has only permitted one way to eternal life. It is through His Son Jesus. That is what Jesus said in John 14:6.

Let’s move on to the next passage in our examination of Christ in Genesis. We read about the dilemna in chapter 3. Now we are going to see an illustration of the solution which is going to show us something of the character of God.

That’s the thesis of the sermon. That’s the point that I am trying to get across. My thesis for today is this: Genesis displays our dilemma but also shows us the solution and the character of God

Some 20 generations after Adam was made, Abraham was born. God called him out of the land of his birth and led him throughout the land of Canaan (Joshua 24:3). James 2:23 says that these two are friends. Turn with me to Genesis chapter 12. We are bypassing, Cain and Abel, Noah and the flood, Babel etc. Moving right on to the next peak in our mission to see Jesus in our text.

Genesis 12:1-3 The Beginning of Fulfillment

1 Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go forth from your country, And from your relatives And from your father’s house, To the land which I will show you;

2 And I will make you a great nation, And I will bless you, And make your name great; And so you shall be a blessing;

3 And I will bless those who bless you, And the one who curses you I will curse. And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed.”

God makes a covenant with Abram here and it is comprised of three elements. But God requires obedience to His commands. “Go, Abram, go until I tell you to stop.” It will require faith and obedience but when Abram does obey God is going to bless him, with land, nation and blessings. There are actually seven blessings listed here - so effectually, in the numeric sense this covenant is perfect. This area, Israel, that Abram is going to sojourn God is going to give to his descendents. They will be so plentiful that they will comprise an entire nation. And through his descendents blessing will come - the blessing, the promised One. As an aside Abram probably has no idea that this thing that is going to be so good for him is going to cost God His only begotten Son. What is going to be so good for Abram is going to cost God everything. Please write in your margin next to verse three this reference: Galatians 3:8-9 to see an affirmation that the good news is included in this blessing.

But there is a problem. Abram doesn’t have any children and he is old. It will take a miracle to have a kiddo. So Sarai and Abram seem take a play out of Adam and Eve’s handbook. You remember how Adam and Eve tried to cover up with fig leaves when they realized they were naked. It didn’t work did it? Adam and Eve knew there was a problem and they tried to fix it in their own strength. Abram and Sarai have a problem, they are childless so they attempt to fix the problem using human ingenuity. They are going to force the fulfillment of prophecy. Sarai gives her maid, Hagar, to Abram to have children through. Bad mistake. Ishmael right. He was not God’s intended solution. God doesn’t need or want humanity’s ham handed approach to doing what He has already committed to do. In Genesis chapter 17 God explicitly tells Abram, now called Abraham and Sarah what His plan is. They will have a son, they will name him, Isaac - which means laughter.

Genesis 17:15-19 The birth of Isaac foretold

15 Then 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 indeed I will give you a son by her. Then I will bless her, and she shall be a mother of nations; kings of peoples will come from her.”

17 Then Abraham fell on his face and laughed, and said in his heart, “Will a child be born to a man one hundred years old? And will Sarah, who is ninety years old, bear a child?”

18 And Abraham said to God, “Oh that Ishmael might live before You!”

19 But God said, “No, but Sarah your wife will bear you a son, and you shall call his name Isaac; and I will establish My covenant with him for an everlasting covenant for his descendants after him.

God is telling His friend Abraham, that He will make an everlasting covenant with Abraham’s son. After this Isaac is born, and some years later God tells His friend Abraham to do something unspeakable. Turn to Genesis 22.

Genesis 22:1-14 The Cost

1 Now it came about after these things, that God tested Abraham, and said to him, “Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.”

2 He said, “Take now your son, your only son, whom you love, Isaac, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I will tell you.”

Horrifying. Disturbing. But there doesn’t seem to be any indication that Abraham does anything except obey, to the letter, these instructions. There is no equivocating. There are no half measures. No fig leaves and no substitute solution. There is obedience to God’s Word.

3 So Abraham rose early in the morning and saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him and Isaac his son; and he split wood for the burnt offering, and arose and went to the place of which God had told him.

4 On the third day Abraham raised his eyes and saw the place from a distance.

5 Abraham said to his young men, “Stay here with the donkey, and I and the lad will go over there; and we will worship and return to you.”

6 Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on Isaac his son, and he took in his hand the fire and the knife. So the two of them walked on together.

Father and Son, going up to the place of sacrifice. The Son carrying the wood on his back. The Father there ready to sever relationship. Sounds a lot like Calvary doesn’t it? We saw the dilemna in Genesis 3 and now we are going to see a picture of the solution.

7 Isaac spoke to Abraham his father and said, “My father!” And he said, “Here I am, my son.” And he said, “Behold, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?”

8 Abraham said, “God will provide for Himself the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.” …....So the two of them walked on together.

9 Then they came to the place of which God had told him; and Abraham built the altar there and arranged the wood, and bound his son Isaac and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood.

10 Abraham stretched out his hand and took the knife to slay his son.

Stop the tape… What is going on in Abraham’s mind at this moment? Turn with me to Hebrews 11:17

17 By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises was offering up his only begotten son; 18 it was he to whom it was said, “In Isaac your descendants shall be called.” 19 He considered that God is able to raise people even from the dead, from which he also received him back as a type.)

That is what is going on in Abraham’s mind. He believed God when God said through Isaac he would have descendants. He believed God’s Word. His faith in God is absolute. Next to verse 9 please write in your margin James 2:21-24. Roll tape...

11 But the angel of the Lord called to him from heaven and said, “Abraham, Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.”

12 He said, “Do not stretch out your hand against the lad, and do nothing to him; for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from Me.”

13 Then Abraham raised his eyes and looked, and behold, behind him a ram caught in the thicket by his horns; and Abraham went and took the ram and offered him up for a burnt offering in the place of his son. A SUBSTITUTION

14 Abraham called the name of that place The Lord Will Provide, as it is said to this day, “In the mount of the Lord it will be provided.”

Who provided the skins for Adam and Eve? Who provided the heir to Abraham, through whom “the Blessing” would come? Who intervened on Mount Moriah? The lover of our souls. That’s who. The Christ did this for us. He has provided a picture of the cost, the horrible debt that we could not pay. Turn with me to John 1:29. We saw a picture of the covering that would be provided by God in the skins and the promise of redemption in the seed of the woman. We saw a picture of the promised heir provided and offered up as a sacrifice. We see a ram substituted. These are pictures, these are illustrations, these are examples to whet our appetite in anticipation of its fulfillment. My thesis for today is this: Genesis displays our dilemma but also shows us the solution and the character of God. Turn with me to John 1:29.

John 1:29 The Arrival

29 The next day he saw Jesus coming to him and *said, “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!

The last Old Testament prophet, John the Baptizer identifies Jesus. John, indwelt by the power of the Holy Spirit sees Jesus and cannot help but cry out. “This this the One, this is the One we have been waiting thousands of years for! He is here!” The Jews knew what lambs were for. They were for sacrifice, they were for atonement. They were for the payment of sins. John calls out and he doesn’t stop. Look down at verse 35.

35 Again the next day John was standing with two of his disciples,

36 and he looked at Jesus as He walked, and *said, “Behold, the Lamb of God!”

37 The two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus.

Believer... indwelt by the Holy Spirit, empowered by Him to shine a light on Christ… follow Jesus. He is the One we have been waiting for. Make no mistake He is the One and we will see Him. You will set your eyes on Him. Your deepest desire, you will see some day. You will be joined with millions and millions of others that have believed on Him. That have trusted God to provide the way to be right with Him. Turn to Revelation 7 as we close.

Revelation 7:9-17 The Future

9 After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one could count, from every nation and all tribes and peoples and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, and palm branches were in their hands;

10 and they cry out with a loud voice, saying,

“Salvation to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.”

11 And all the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures; and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God,

12 saying, “Amen, blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might, be to our God forever and ever. Amen.”

13 Then one of the elders answered, saying to me, “These who are clothed in the white robes, who are they, and where have they come from?”

14 I said to him, “My lord, you know.” And he said to me, “These are the ones who come out of the great tribulation, and they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.

15 “For this reason, they are before the throne of God; and they serve Him day and night in His temple; and He who sits on the throne will spread His tabernacle over them.

16 “They will hunger no longer, nor thirst anymore; nor will the sun beat down on them, nor any heat; A COMPLETE REVERSAL OF ADAMS CURSE

17 for the Lamb in the center of the throne will be their shepherd, and will guide them to springs of the water of life; and God will wipe every tear from their eyes.” LONG PAUSE.... TIDY UP THE PULPIT

What’s the point?

So what’s the point of this sermon. We have a sin nature and we need a Savior. A Savior has been provided. God doesn’t want our shabby good works. He doesn’t want our fig leaves or poor interpretations of His will. He wants us to listen to Him, know His word, and obey to the nth degree what He has revealed in sacred Scripture.

The thesis that I have attempted to prove with these texts out of Genesis is as follows:

Genesis displays our dilemma but also shows us the coming solution and the character of God.

Let’s close in prayer

Closing Prayer

God, You are worthy of worship and honor and yet You are humble! You have bent over backwards to explain Your plan, to invite us to You believe You. You have explained Yourself in exhaustive detail. You have provided the way through Your Son. You planned with Him and the Holy Spirit to save broken and lost humanity. We praise You God. We glorify You God. We long to cry out to You, “blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might, be to our God forever and ever.” Maranatha! Come Lord Jesus, amen. SHORT PAUSE

FINAL SONG

Just a quick reminder that next week we will be studying Exodus. Please read through it this week. That is less than seven chapters a day. Get a Bible phone app, get your written text and read it looking for Jesus this week. Also, if you have questions, comments, or concerns I would love to hear from you. The green bucket in the back is perfect for that. God bless you all this week.

Behold, the Lamb of God 16:20 SERMON IS APPX 40 Min 5 Runs in NEED A FINAL RUN SATURDAY 01/09/2021