God
Preaches The Gospel
Purpose Of This
Lesson:
1.
Demonstrate the importance of the Bible and its Author.
2. God
demonstrated His love and preached the Gospel from the very first
page.
3. Show
we can not understand the rest of the Bible without
Genesis.
4. To
better know the Creator.
5. We
can not fully understand the Gospel without Genesis.
6. We
can not effectively evangelize without knowledge of
Genesis.
I. Overview of
Genesis
A. Genesis In Two Parts
1. Part One - Genesis 1:1 - 10:9 - focuses on the origin of the world, man, sin, and salvation, culminating in the great flood in the days of Noah
2. Part Two - Genesis 10:9 - 50:26 - focuses on God's dealings with one man, Abraham.
a. It is through Abraham, God promises to bring salvation and blessing to the world
b. The Abrahamic Covenant is central to all Scripture
B. Literary Structure
1. "The Book Of Generations" - 1.
Introduction to Generations (1;1 - 2:3) -
2. Heaven and Earth (2:4 - 4:26) -
3. Adam (5:1 - 6:8) - 4.
Noah (6:9 - 9:29) - 5. Sons of Noah
(10:1 - 11:9) - 6. Shem (
2. Geographical Stucture - 1. The
C. Time of Genesis - Spans more time than any other book - covers more than all other 65 books combined
1. Genesis 1-11 Covers from 10,000 to 2000 years
a. Creation (somewhere between 10,000 BC and 4,000 BC) Genesis 1:1
b. Death of Terah (2090 BC) - Genesis 11:32
2. Genesis 12-36 - covers 193 years - 2090 BC - 1897 BC
a. Death of Terah (2090 BC) - Genesis 11:32
b. Joseph to
3. Genesis 37 - 50 - covers 93 years - 1897 BC - 1804 BC
a. Joseph to
b. Death of Joseph - (around 1804 BC) - Genesis 50:26)
D. Meaning of the Title
1. Bereshith - Hebrew word meaning - "In the Beginning"
2. Genesis - Greek word meaning - "origin", "source", "generation", or "beginning".
E. The Christ of Genesis
1. Messianic Predictions Christ is seen as: a. The Seed of the Woman
(
2. Christ is seen in people and events as a
“tupos” – Greek for “type”, “figure” – 1. Adam is “a tupos of Him that was
to come” - (Romans
F. Genesis is the first mention of almost
everything:
Adultery |
Exodus
20:14 |
Altar |
Genesis
8:20 |
Angel |
Genesis
6:7 |
Archer |
Genesis
21:20 |
Bird |
Genesis
1:21 |
Camp |
Genesis
32:2 |
Cave
Dweller |
Genesis
19:30 |
Chariot |
Genesis
41:43 |
Child |
Genesis
11:30 |
Child Named Before
Birth |
Genesis16:11 |
City
Builder |
Genesis
4:17 |
Coffin |
Genesis
50:26 |
Command |
Genesis 1:3
|
Congregation |
Exodus
12:3 |
Dancing |
Exodus
15:20 |
Darkness |
Genesis
1:2 |
Death |
Genesis
24:67 |
Dew |
Genesis
27:28 |
Disaster |
Genesis
19:19 |
Dream |
Genesis
20:3 |
Drunk |
Genesis 9:21
|
Dungeon |
Genesis
40:15 |
Earth |
Genesis
1:1 |
Emancipator |
Exodus
3:7-22 |
Embalming |
Genesis
50:2 |
Execution |
Genesis
40:20-22 |
Family |
Genesis
8:19 |
Farmer |
Genesis
4:2 |
Father |
Genesis
2:24 |
Fear |
Genesis
9:2 |
Food |
Genesis
1:29 |
Food
Control |
Genesis
41:25-27 |
Forgiveness |
Genesis 50:17 |
Friend |
Genesis
38:12 |
Game |
Genesis
25:28 |
Gardener |
Genesis
2:15 |
Gift |
Genesis
9:3 |
God |
Genesis
1:1 |
Gold |
Genesis
2:11 |
Grace Of
God |
Ezra
9:8 |
Grave |
Genesis
23:6 |
Guilt |
Genesis
26:10 |
Harlot |
Genesis
34:31 |
Hate |
Genesis
24:60 |
Healing |
Deuteronomy
32:39 |
Heart |
Genesis
6:5 |
Heavens |
Genesis
1:1 |
Heir |
Genesis
15:2 |
Home |
Genesis
27:5 |
Hunter |
Genesis
10:8,9 |
Husband |
Genesis
3:6 |
Idol |
Genesis
31:19 |
Jail |
Genesis
39:20 |
Joy |
Genesis 31:27
|
Kill |
Genesis
4:8 |
King |
Genesis
14:1 |
Kiss |
Genesis
27:26 |
Man To Interpret |
Genesis
41:15 |
Man To Wear A
Ring |
Genesis
41:42 |
Oath |
Genesis
21:23,24 |
Pilgrim |
Genesis
12:1-8 |
Prayer |
Genesis
4:26 |
Preacher To Become
Drunk |
Genesis
9:20,21 |
Prophecy |
Genesis
3:15 |
Purchase Of
Land |
Genesis
23:3-20 |
Question |
Genesis
3:1 |
Rain |
Genesis
7:1-12 |
Rainbow |
Genesis
9:13 |
Saddle |
Genesis
22:3 |
Scribe |
Exodus
24:4 |
Shipbuilder |
Genesis
6:14,22 |
Sin |
Genesis
3:1-24 |
Snake |
Genesis
49:17 |
Sword |
Genesis
3:24 |
Temptation |
Genesis
3:1-6 |
Tower |
Genesis
11:4,5 |
Veil |
Genesis
24:65 |
Violence |
Genesis
6:11 |
Wage Contract |
Genesis
29:15-20 |
War |
Genesis
14:2 |
Wealth |
Genesis
31:1 |
Well |
Genesis
16:14 |
Wife |
Genesis
2:24 |
Wind |
Genesis
8:1 |
Wine |
Genesis
9:21 |
Wish |
Genesis
23:8 |
Witness |
Genesis
21:30 |
Woman
Thief |
Genesis
31:19 |
Words Spoken To
Man |
Genesis1:28 |
Worship |
Genesis
4:3-5 |
II. Knowledge
Of Genesis - Needed To Understand The Gospel and For
Evangelism
A. What is the Gospel - gospel’ means
‘good news.’ When Christians talk about the gospel, they are presenting the good
news of Christ’s death and resurrection. As Paul states in I Corinthians
15:1-4:
1 Moreover, brethren, I declare
unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and
wherein ye stand;
2 By which also ye are saved, if
ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain.
{keep…: or, hold fast} {what: Gr. by what speech}
3 For I delivered unto you first
of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according
to the scriptures;
4 And that he was buried, and
that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:
B. Why did Jesus die? - Paul doesn’t end his explanation of the
gospel here. Note very carefully how Paul explains the gospel message later in I
Corinthians 15:
12 Now if Christ be preached
that he rose from the dead, how say some among you that there is no resurrection
of the dead?
13 But if there be no
resurrection of the dead, then is Christ not risen:
14 And if Christ be not risen,
then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain.
15 Yea, and we are found false
witnesses of God; because we have testified of God that he raised up Christ:
whom he raised not up, if so be that the dead rise not.
16 For if the dead rise not,
then is not Christ raised:
17 And if Christ be not raised,
your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins.
18 Then they also which are
fallen asleep in Christ are perished.
19 If in this life only we have
hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable.
20 But now is Christ risen from
the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept.
21 For since by man came death,
by man came also the resurrection of the dead.
22 For as in Adam all die, even
so in Christ shall all be made alive.
23 But every man in his own
order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ’s at his
coming.
24 Then cometh the end, when he shall have
delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have put down
all rule and all authority and power.
25 For he must reign, till he
hath put all enemies under his feet.
26 The last enemy that shall be
destroyed is death.
27 For he hath put all things
under his feet. But when he saith all things are put under him, it is manifest
that he is excepted, which did put all things under him.
28 And when all things shall be
subdued unto him, then shall the Son also himself be subject unto him that put
all things under him, that God may be all in all.
To explain, “Why Jesus died”, Paul went to
the Book of Genesis and its account of Adam and the Fall. In other words, one
cannot really understand the good-news in the New Testament of Jesus’ death and
resurrection, and thus payment for sin, until one understands the bad news in
Genesis of the Fall of man, and thus the origin of sin and its penalty of death.
D. Is the account in Genesis a myth or
interpreted literally?
1. As Christians, we need to
answer this question: Is it essential to believe in a literal Fall?
2. Absolutely! If there was no
literal Fall, then what is sin? Who defines it? What then is Paul talking about
in I Corinthians 15, or even Romans
5:12 where he states: ‘Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and
death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have
sinned’?
So, in explaining the gospel, Paul
discusses the foundations of the Gospel in Genesis and the bad news: the origin
of sin and its penalty of death. He then tells us the good news of salvation in
Christ.
E. Jesus is The Creator - In Colossians, in explaining the
gospel, Paul also points out
13 Who hath delivered us from
the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son:
{his…: Gr. the Son of his love}
14 In whom we have redemption
through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins:
15 Who is the image of the
invisible God, the firstborn of every creature:
16 For by him were all things created, that
are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be
thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by
him, and for him:
17 And he is before all things,
and by him all things consist.
18 And he is the head of the
body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all
things he might have the preeminence. {in…: or, among all}
19 For it pleased the Father
that in him should all fulness dwell;
20 And, having made peace
through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by
him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven. {having…: or,
making}
And so, in Revelation we are told
concerning Jesus Christ:
Revelation
Revelation 5:9 And they sung a
new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals
thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of
every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation;
F. Our Creator became our Redeemer! The
reason this was necessary is because all humans are sinners. Therefore a sinful
person could not die for sin. We needed a perfect man to die for sin. The only
solution was for the perfect, sinless Creator to become a man so He could be our
Savior! Thus, the doctrine of creation is vital to an understanding of the
gospel.
G. The Final Victory over sin -
1. Paul also goes on - Consummation of All
Things:
I Corinthians
47 The first man is of the
earth, earthy: the second man is the Lord from heaven.
48 As is the earthy, such are
they also that are earthy: and as is the heavenly, such are they also that are
heavenly.
49 And as we have borne the
image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the
heavenly.
50 Now this I say, brethren,
that flesh and blood cannot inherit the
51 Behold, I shew you a mystery;
We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed,
52 In a moment, in the twinkling
of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be
raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.
53 For this corruptible must put
on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.
54 So when this corruptible
shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality,
then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up
in victory.
55 O death, where is thy sting?
O grave, where is thy victory? {grave: or, hell}
56 The sting of death is sin;
and the strength of sin is the law.
57 But thanks be to God, which
giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
2. In II Peter 3 and Revelation
chapters 21-22, we are told more -
there will be a new heaven and
earth. There will be no more crying, no more death, no more
curse
4 And God shall wipe away all
tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor
crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed
away.
5 And he that sat upon the
throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for
these words are true and faithful.
6 And he said unto me, It is
done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that
is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely.
7 He that overcometh shall
inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son. {all things:
or, these things}
Revelation 22:3 And there shall be no more curse: but
the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it; and his servants shall serve
him:
II Peter
H. All this as background explains that an
understanding of the following three elements of the Gospel is a prerequisite to
an understanding of how to present the gospel to different people within a
culture, or to different cultures:
1. If we preach the Gospel without the
message of the Creator, and the origin of sin and death, then one preaches it
without the foundational knowledge that is necessary to understand the rest of
the gospel. Without this information, who then is Jesus Christ? Why did He
need to die? Why could He, and not someone else, die for sin? What is special
about Christ? Where did sin come from?
Why can we say that all have sinned? Why do we die?
2. If we preach a Gospel without the
message of Christ crucified and raised from the dead, then the Gospel is
preached without power of the Holy Ghost. After all, as Paul said: And if
Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins .{I
Corinthians
3. If we preach the gospel without the message of the new heaven and earth is a message preached without hope. What point is there to a gospel with no future sinless state? Because of sin and the judgment of the curse, the creation is ‘groaning’. {Romans 8:22} There is death, sickness, and suffering all around us. However, we need to understand that death is an intrusion in our world. In I Corinthians 15:26, Paul states it this way: ‘The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.’
III. The Story
Of Creation – Word Pictures – God Preaching
A. The Bible - Picture book with descriptive
portraits on almost every page.
1. Two Types of pictures.
a.
Visual - Those drawn by pen, pencil, or brush, or by photography.
b.
Mental - Images drawn on the canvas of the mind - word pictures either seen or
heard.
B. Contains the outline of the central person
of the book.
1. It has been said: "Son, you
have never found the true interpretation of any passage until you have found in
it somewhere a reference to the Lord Jesus Christ."
2. Jesus made this claim when
people questioned His authority"
John
Continuing on in John 5:
3. Jesus once more asserted this after the
resurrection. On the road to Emmaus
He said:
Luke 24:25 Then he said unto
them, O fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have
spoken:....
Luke 24:27 And beginning at Moses and all the prophets,
he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning
himself.
C. The word pictures of Christ are etched upon
every page of Scripture - Only need spiritual perception to recognize the
outline.
1. The first mention of Jesus - very first
verse:
Genesis 1:1 In the
beginning, God created the heaven and the earth.
2. We would never recognize the outline if we
read no further. But:
John 1:1 In the beginning was
the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 1:2 The same was in
the beginning with God.
John 1:3 All things were made by
him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.
3. That great Creator was Jesus Christ -
reading on we find this concept without a shadow of doubt:
John
4. Jesus is the Creator and the Word of
God. No less than 10 times in
Genesis do we read "and God said" - It was by the Word of God that all was
created.
5. Paul says of Jesus in
Colossians:
Colossians1:16 For by him were
all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and
invisible, whether [they be] thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or
powers: all things were created by him, and for him:
6. David says in Psalms
Psalms 33:6 By the word of the
LORD were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath of his
mouth.
Without the rest of the Bible we would not
be able to identify Jesus in Genesis - they illuminate the faint outline so
there is no doubt.
D. Second word picture
Genesis 1:3 And God said, Let
there be light: and there was light.
4 And God saw the light, that it
was good: and God divided the light from the darkness. {the light from…: Heb.
between the light and between the darkness}
1. John says:
John 1:4 In him was life; and the life
was the light of men.
2. And Jesus Himself declares, at the healing
of the blind man:
John 9:5 As long as I am in the world, I
am the light of the world.
3. Again Jesus declares:
John
4. And again Jesus
declares:
John
5. The second day of creation, God separated
the waters of the earth from those of the heavens
Jesus, the Light of the World, is
the great Separator between things of the earth and heaven. The presence of of light attracts and
awakes some, but repels others.
(Ex. Birds wake in the morning with a song, but bats and other blood
thirsty animals seek cover under darkness.)
6. In the separation of the
waters, we see a picture of the work of Christ.
John
E. The Trinity –
Back to the First Verse
Genesis 1:1 In the beginning
God created the heaven and the earth.
2 And the earth was without
form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of
God moved upon the face of the waters
0430 Myhla ‘elohiym
el-o-heem’
plural of 0433; TWOT-93c; n m
p
AV-God 2346, god 244, judge 5, GOD
1, goddess 2, great 2, mighty 2,
angels 1, exceeding 1,
God-ward + 04136 1, godly 1; 2606
1) (plural)
1a) rulers, judges
1b) divine ones
1c) angels
1d) gods
2) (plural intensive-singular
meaning)
2a) god, goddess
2b) godlike one
2c) works or special possessions
of God
2d) the (true) God
2e) God
1.
The Tri-unity of God
a. The doctrine of the Trinity- that God the
Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost are equally and eternally one true
God, is difficult for the human finite mind to comprehend, and yet it is
foundational to understanding the God's plan
Mathematically 1 + 1 + 1 = 3 not 1
2. In the Old and New Testament both teach the
Unity and the Trinity of the Godhead.
Isaiah45:18 For thus saith the
LORD that created the heavens; God
himself that formed the earth
and made it; he hath established
it, he created it not in vain, he formed it
to be inhabited: I
[am] the LORD; and [there is] none
else.
3. A New Testament example is found in
James:
James
devils also believe, and
tremble.
4. The three persons of the Godhead are at the
same time noted in such Scriptures as Isaiah 48 again:
Isaiah 48:16 Come ye near unto
me, hear ye this; I have not spoken in
secret from the beginning; from the time
that it was, there [am]
I: and now the Lord GOD, and his Spirit, hath sent me.
5. The speaker in this verse is obviously God,
and yet here is God saying that He
has been sent by both the Lord GOD,(the Father) and His Spirit (the Holy Spirit). In the New Testament, the Doctrine of
the Trinity is given in such verses as the Gospel of John:
John15:26 But when the Comforter is come,
whom I will send unto you
from the Father, [even] the Spirit of
truth, which proceedeth
from the Father, he shall testify of
me:
6. Then we have the Great
Commission:
Matthew 28:19 Go ye therefore, and teach
all nations, baptizing them in
the name of the Father, and of the Son,
and of the Holy Ghost:
7. We have one name (God)-yet three
names! That Jesus as the only
begotten Son of God, actually claimed to be God, equal with the Father, is very
clear in Scripture - for example in the book of Revelation:
Revelation 1:8 I am Alpha and Omega, the
beginning and the ending, saith
the Lord, which is, and which was, and
which is to come, the Almighty.
The Doctrine of the Trinity could be
stated, "God is a tri-unity, with each Person of the Godhead equally and fully
and eternally God. Each Person is
necessary and each is distinct, and yet all three are One. The Father can be viewed as the unseen,
omnipresent source of all being, manifested by the Son, and the believer
experiences Him by the Holy Spirit.
The Son proceeds from the Father, and the Holy Spirit proceeds from the
Son.
1 x 1 x 1 = 1 * One God-Three
Names
8. Then we have the Power to
Witness for Christ:
Acts 2:8 But ye shall receive
power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses
unto me both in
9. A Sign of the
Godhead – Natural Theology
a. To the unsaved this would seem
nonsense, but in Romans 1, we learn that even the unsaved have no
excuse:
Even the ungodly, can see God's eternal
power, and even His Godhead in His creation! In other words, there is a scientific
model, by which the saved or the
unsaved can understand the difficult parts of the Doctrine of the
Trinity.
b. Space, Mass, and Time
1. The universe is a
space-matter-time universe- and no other - physical identities.
2. The universe is actually a
"continuum" of space, matter, and time, no one can have a meaningful existence
without the other two
3. What we observe being humans
would be meaningless without all three
a. space and time is
unintelligible to us without matter. Space appears like "nothing" unless there
is some event of matter that we can see.
(like a planet or comet, etc.)
b. In order for matter to
exist,it must take up space, and the event must happen through time. - Time is "invisible", but its job is to
interpret its other two entities, in the name of matter, so that they can be
understood or experienced by the human senses.
c. We could say that the universe
exists in space, is manifested by matter, and understood or experienced through
time.
c. The Son is the physical embodiment of
the invisible Father. This is why
Jesus said, "If you have seen me, you have also seen the Father."
d. The Holy Spirit takes on the
responsibility of interpreting the Father in the name of the Son, thereby
"comforting" us.
e. This is why the Baptism of the Holy
Spirit enables a child of God to experience God, or actually "feel" His
Spirit.
f. This is also why the Holy Spirit does "lead us into all truth". We cannot have space without matter and time, they
are three but yet only one universe – not a polyverse.
1 x 1 x 1 = 1 * One God-Three Names
F. Adam A Type
of Christ
1. Creation of woman - Adam is a picture of
Christ. This will be expounded on
later. Christ is called the "Second
Man" (I Corinthians
2. A superlatively beautiful
picture
Genesis
3. Adam slept - God created from
his wounded side a wife - part of
himself - He paid for her by the shedding of blood. When Adam woke up he
said:
Genesis
4. A dim picture - Let Paul shed
some light. Speaking of the union
of believers in Christ he says in the book of Ephesians:
Ephesians
5. Now all is clear - Adam is a
picture of Christ, who left His Father's house to gain His bride, at the price
of His own life. Jesus, the Last Adam, like the first, must be put to sleep to
purchase His bride, the church, and Jesus died on the cross and slept for three
days in the tomb. His side too, was
opened after He had fallen asleep, and from that wounded side redemption
flowed.
6. The church - His body also
purchased. The church, like Eve,
was a new creation, not by a natural birth, but by a supernatural operation by
God.
7. This is the picture of our great
Redeemer, as seen on page one of God's picture album. Jesus died on the cross, His side was
opened, and by the Holy Spirit today a
bride is being prepared, and when the last member has been added, He will
bring her unto the man Jesus.
Paul said in the book of
Ephesians:
Ephesians
such thing; but that it should be
holy and without blemish.
G. The
Virgin Birth – (Protevangelium) – Sin Enters
1. Attack on the Virgin Birth
a. It takes a miracle of God
b. Non-negotiable part of God’s plan to show His love to His people by saving lost men
c. Immediately after sin entered, God:
1. Placed a curse on Satan, Woman, and Man and the earth in which he lived
2. Gave the first promise of the coming Redeemer
d. Satan began by quoting the Word of
God
Genesis 3:1 Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden? {Yea…: Heb. Yea, because, etc.}
e. Eve quoted back what she had heard from Adam:
Genesis 3:2 And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden:
3 But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.
f. Satan finished by denying the Word of God
Genesis 3:4 And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die:
5 For God doth know that in the
day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods,
knowing good and evil.
g. It was giving into the lust of the flesh,
the lust of the eye, and the pride of life that got Eve
Genesis 3:6 And when the woman saw that the tree was
good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to
make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto
her husband with her; and he did eat. {pleasant: Heb. a desire}
h. God is telling the snake two
very important aspects of the result of sin:
Genesis
1. There was to be two distinct
"seeds"
a. seed of the
serpent
b. Seed of the
Woman
2. There was going to be a "battle of the
seeds"
a. seed of the
serpent will bruise the Seed of the woman's
heel.
b. The
triumphant Seed of the Woman will
crush (literally)
the head of the seed of the serpent.
i. This "
1. is seen all through the Old Testament such as Cain killing Abel, Moses saved out of the Nile, etc., but none so obviously portrayed in Scripture as the time when all of the Jewish boys sentenced to death at the time of Christ's birth, and Joseph had to take his family to Egypt to save the baby Jesus' life.
2. This verse also promises that this Redeemer, who would gain the victory over Satan, would be of the woman's seed.
3. All through the Bible and all through history, everybody else has been the seed of some man, never of the seed of the woman.
4. Jesus did not have a sinful father, but was born of a Virgin.
5. He was God in a man's body – a biological miracle.
6. This prophecy was made crystal
clear in the book of Isaiah:
Isaiah
The Virgin obviously points to the "woman"
of Genesis
upon the throne
of the house of
1:6-16 and that
of Luke 3:23-31 seem to disagree.
The solution to this is in the fact that Matthew gives the legal and royal lineage from David through Solomon and
Conias, also called Jechonias,
through Joseph, the foster father of Jesus. Luke gives the true biological line from
David through Nathan to
Heli, the father
of Mary. To have the legal right to
the throne of David, Jesus must be the legal son of Joseph, but He could not be the true son of Joseph because
God's judgement on Coniah.
He also had to be of the actual "seed of David" to occupy the throne. How could this problem be resolved? The only answer to this problem is the Virgin Birth or as stated in Genesis the Seed of the Woman!
Not only is the Virgin Birth true because it is clearly
taught in the Bible, but also because it is the only
type of
birth that fits Jesus mission here
on earth about 2,000 years ago, and God's eternal plan of salvation for His people.
Luke 1:35 And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy
Ghost shall come upon thee, and the
power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which
shall be born of thee shall be
called the Son of God.
H. God
Preaching with a Double Type of Christ.
1. We have already found out that
Adam is a "Type of Christ":
A. Adam gained his bride with shed blood from
his side as God put him to sleep, and so did Jesus purchase His Bride with shed
blood from His side, and at the expense of His life, on the cross. - But
Christ did die and also resurrected from the dead.
B. Adam was not deceived, like Eve was. (I
Timothy 2:14) Adam sinned out of
love for his bride, because her only salvation could come from her own seed,
and Adam, being separated from his sinful bride, had to join her in order to be
the father of the seed.
C. Adam's sin was different that most other's
sin. He sinned out of love for his
bride, and Biblically is called a "figure of Him to come".(Romans
D. The big difference is that Christ did not
become a sinner, but became sin for His Bride, so that His Bride might know
righteousness. (II Corinthians
5:21)
E. This is the mystery that Paul
speaks about in Ephesians 5:31-32 as he almost word-for-word quotes Genesis
2:24. The mystery is revealed that the spotless
Christ would be willing to leave
His Father's house, to save His filthy, fallen, and unfaithful Bride, by dying
on the cross for her, so that He could present her as spotless. (Ephesians
5:25-27)
2. The Message - First Clear Gospel Message Preached by God Himself. Explains how the Redeemer will accomplish His purpose.
Genesis
This verse is the first totally clear
revelation of
3. Setting: - Man had disobeyed God and
was under sentence of death. Adam and Eve were conscious of their
predicament, but sin had so blinded
their eyes, that instead of fleeing to God for help, they frantically tried to
effect their own salvation. They
imagined that they could do something to make them more presentable to God.
Before man fell, he was clothed in the garments of innocence, but no sooner had
he sinned, than he had lost this covering and discovered that he was shamefully
naked.
Genesis 3:7 And the eyes of them
both were opened, and they knew that they [were] naked; and they sewed fig
leaves together, and made themselves aprons.
The fig leaf aprons, however, were wholly
inadequate, and might as well been poison oak. Now Adam and Eve knew deep down in their
hearts that their aprons were totally inadequate, because if they had believed
that they were adequate, they would not have continued to hide from
God.
4. The Lord to the rescue. - While they
were hiding, God was looking for them with a demonstration of grace. The Lord rejected their vain attempts to
cover their guilt, and we read of His marvelous message of redemption and
grace:
Genesis
5. Double type. The moment that God killed the animal in the garden, Adam stopped being the type of Christ, and became the sinner that needed atonement. The innocent lamb, that God killed to produce the coats of skins then became the type of Christ dying on the cross for His people.
6. Pattern for all salvation. - As God
took a sacrificial animal, (probably a lamb) and slew it before Adam's eyes -
and wrapped the bloody skins around his naked body, God laid down an eternal,
divine principal, from which there is no deviation. With this action, God laid down the tree
eternal rules acceptable for atonement for sin.
1. It must be God's gift and His work
alone. The animal was God's
gift and not the work of man. A
beautiful type of Christ - the Perfect Lamb of God. It was the Lord alone who furnished the
skins to cover Adam and Eve. They
did nothing. The only sacrifice God
would accept must be God's work and God's free gift. Our first parents didn't even have to
put the coats of skins on themselves.
Even this was done by God.
2. It must be by the death of an innocent substitute. The animal that God slew to provide the skins had no part in Adam's sin. It was an innocent victim. Man could not atone for his own sin, because it's penalty had been declared in the book of Genesis:
Genesis
If one single day had passed without this
provision of a substitute, they would have died on the very day that they
fell. So before that first day was
ended, God came to them with the message of redemption. On the evening of the very day Adam
sinned, God came with His substitutionary lamb. The record clearly suggests this,
because we can read that after Adam and
his wife had hid themselves, and were busy making the flimsy aprons, God
came in the evening of the same day to deliver them. It was at the end of the day - or "cool
of the day". (Genesis 3:8)
3. It must be by the shedding of
blood. While blood is not
mentioned in the record, it is clearly implied. God could not procure the skins without
shedding the blood of the animal.
Also notice the difference in God's covering for nakedness and sin are
called "coats of skins"
7. Illustration of the sermon - Cain and
Able.
a. These boys must have received their
instruction about the coats of skins from their parents. (where else?) This told them of God's requirements of
sacrifice.
b. Both of these boys were very religious, and
believed in God. Cain seems to be the most religious of the two, because he
was the first to come up with the idea of bringing an offering unto the Lord.
c. The religion of Cain is briefly
stated in the book of Genesis: - works
Genesis 4:3 ... Cain brought of
the fruit of the ground an offering unto the LORD.
d. Cain was very sincere, as well
as very religious, and thought that he must do something to atone for his
sin. Remember Cain brought an
offering unto the Lord. But God
would have nothing to do with it, and we read:
Genesis 4:5 But unto Cain and to
his offering he had not respect. And Cain was very wroth, and his countenance
fell.
e. Why did God reject Cain's
offering? Because he ignored
God's rules, taught by God himself with the coats of skins.
1. Cain's first mistake was that he brought
of the fruit of the ground, the result of his own labors, and the works of
his own hands. - instead of a gift from God.
2. Cain's second mistake was that his
offering did not involve the death of an innocent substitute.
3. Cain's third mistake was that it did not
involve the shedding of blood, and in the book of Hebrews we
read:
Hebrews
4. God rejected Cain's sincere, earnest
religion of works.
5. God accepted Abel's offering
however.
Genesis 4:4 And Abel, he also
brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof. And the LORD had
respect unto Abel and to his offering:
6. Why did God respect Abel's offering?
A. He brought a lamb. (a firstling of the flock)
B. He put it to death on the altar.
C. It was by the shedding of blood.
7. These conditions were laid down in the
Garden of Eden. Wherever these
conditions are met, God accepts the sacrifice; were they are violated, God
rejects them.
8. The shadows disappear - The One to
whom all this is pointed appears on the scene. In the fullness of time, God sent His
Son, and He was proclaimed as the Lamb of God that taketh away the sins of the
world. He met all the
requirements:
1. He was a free gift - The "fig leafs
of the works of the law would not work"
The Gospel message is so plainly spoken in the Gospel of
John:
John
2. He must die as a substitute for sinners,
and He did. Paul says in I Peter:
I Peter 1:18 Forasmuch as ye know
that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, [as] silver and gold, from
your vain conversation [received] by tradition from your fathers;
3. It must be by the shedding of blood. Continuing in I Peter:
I Peter
All of this was foreshadowed and promised
in the first acceptable sacrifice recorded in the book of Genesis way back in
the dawn of history:
Genesis
There is truly blindness in unbelief! How can anyone fail to see in this act
of God the whole story of redemption?
In the light of the New Testament, this picture of Christ in Genesis
Days of Creation – Is the word day in Genesis 1 a literal 24 hour day? The Hebrew word YOM –meaning “day”– has two meanings:
1. A literal 24 hour day
2. A long period of time – (The Day of the Lord)
To find the meaning, we look for a passage
with the same context, defining the word.
Exodus 20:9 Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work:
Exodus
Exodus 20:11 For in six days the LORD made heaven and
earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore
the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed
it.