Genesis
The Four Events Four Events Four People
First Eleven Chapters Last Thirty-nine Chapters
The Four Events Four Events Four People
First Eleven Chapters Last Thirty-nine Chapters
Creation – Fall – Flood – Babel Abraham – Isaac – Jacob – Joseph
*Important point – God uses 11 chapters to tell us about the most amazing events in human history. However, he uses 39 chapters to tell us about his relationships with individual people. What does this tell us about God's character and purpose?
Creation (Genesis 1 & 2)
● God created the Earth in six days and took a rest.
Man, however, was created on the sixth day and his first day was a day of rest.
This is true of us as well. God is always the initiator. Man reacts to Him and what He has done.
So, just as Adam was designed first to rest in what God has done and then act so we must first rest in the work of Salvation that Christ has done before we are going to be able to accomplish anything for Him.
● The Second Creation account
Some have thought this is a different creation account, however it is really an elaboration. The Hebrew writing style is to tell the whole story first and then tell it again with the details.
The account in Genesis chapter two is about how God made man in His own image, but even though he was not fallen it was not good for him to be alone.
So God, possibly to show Adam the truth of this, had him name all of the animals that God had made to prove that no companion had been found that is suitable for him. Adam agreed with God.
So God put Adam to sleep and took a rib from his side. Not from his head that the woman should rule him, and not from his feet that he should tread on her, but from his side as a suitable companion.
God made marriage and pronounced it good.
The Fall(Genesis 3-5)
● The Serpent came and addressed Eve. Satan's tactic that worked on Eve still is used today:
SATAN: “Did God really say, 'you must not eat from any tree in the garden?”
■ The first lie that Satan told was to make Adam and Eve doubt GOD'S WORD. He asks them a question, knowing that he is not quoting God correctly. But his goal is to shake Eve's (and our) confidence in God's Word.
■ EVE: “We may eat any fruit from the trees in the garden, but God did say, 'You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.'”
■ Eve corrects Satan, but adds something to the original command. Eve was not there when God gave the command so either she added to it by herself or Adam made God's command MORE legalistic. The original command did not include “you must not touch it.” Legalism is a surefire way to misunderstand God's purposes.
SATAN: “You will not surely die.”
■ Now having seen that Eve has not understood God's command exactly and that Adam is not going to have the courage to stand up to him, Satan flatly contradicts God's Word.
SATAN: “For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
■ Having questioned God's Word and then fully denying God's Word, Satan attacks God's character. He tries to make Adam and Eve believe that God is not looking out for their best interests, but rather keeping something good from them.
■ Because they do not remember what God said and who God is, Adam and Eve eat the fruit.
The Point: Eve has taken a bad rap historically, however here is the reality. ADAM was the problem here. Surely, Eve is not innocent. However, Adam was created first. Adam was the one to whom God have the commandment not to eat the fruit. Adam was right there and did not have the courage to say, “Eve we don't have to listen to this garbage. Let's get out of here.” Instead he ate it with her.
● When Adam and Eve sinned God kicked them out of the Garden so that they couldn't eat of the tree of life and live forever.
Was this a mean thing for God to do? What God behaving like a spoiled brat?
No! God created Adam and Eve to be in a relationship with Him. Humans are designed to be complete only when they are right before God. Anything outside of that is misery. If Adam and Eve had been allowed to live forever they would never be able to return to the Lord and have a relationship with Him again. They would be eternally damned from God's love and God's presence. It was His amazing mercy, grace and wisdom that blessed Adam and Eve and all of us by expelling us from eternal life.
● The First Prophecy of Christ :
Genesis 3:14-15: “SO the Lord God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this, Cursed are you above all the livestock and all the wild animals! You will crawl on your belly and you will eat dust all the days of your life. And I will put enmity between you and the woman and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head and you will strike heel.”
■ Before the Fall even happened God had already put His plan in place. His love is the kind of Love that forgives even before the fault is committed. However, God's justice is so true that he knew that a price must be paid for disobedience, that price is death (Gen. 2:17; Rom. 6:23).
Genesis 3:21 – The First Sacrifice
■ When Adam and Eve found out they were naked they tried to cover their sin with plants (no blood shed for the sin). But this was not acceptable to God.
■ God killed animals, and used their hides to cover (atone for) the sin of Adam and Eve. This is the first sacrifice we see in the Bible, God did it to cover the sin of Adam and Eve so that he could still have a relationship with them.
This Pattern was continued with Cain and Able.
■ Cain's grain Sacrifice was not acceptable
■ Abel's blood sacrifice was acceptable
■ So Cain killed Able
The Flood(Genesis 6)
● Man had become so evil, and so far separated from God that He was sad that he ever made man to begin with.
● He resolved to wipe man out altogether. However he did not want to wipe out Noah and his family. Why? Noah walked with God.(6:9)
Noah knew God and had a relationship with God just like Adam, Abel, Seth and Enoch.
God wants you to know Him, He knows and love you and longs for that relationship to be mutually felt affection, love, loyalty and faithfulness.
God wants you to behold Him and know him through His word and through his Son.
● So he told Noah to build an Ark.
Very large, and probably in the shape of a box.
The Ark is a powerful picture. God's judgment was going to come on the Earth, however, anyone who was in the Ark would be saved.
Jesus and Peter both tell us that in the same way that God judged the Earth then, he will judge the Earth again and the judgment will come equally as rapidly. Except at that judgment there will be no physical ark that will keep people safe, but Christ is the One whom we must be in in order to be saved from that day of Judgement.
● Several things changed after Noah and his family left the Ark:
God made a one sided Covenant (promise) that:
■ People were to multiply and cover the Earth
■ People could eat meat, but not meat with blood in it.
■ Anyone who murders someone else must be put to death.
■ God promised it would NEVER flood the whole earth again.
■ The Sign of the Covenant was the Rainbow.
The Tower of Babel(Genesis 11)
● After a few generations the people again rebelled against God's commands:
Genesis 11:3: “They said to each other, 'Come, let's make bricks and back them thoroughly.' They used brick instead of stone, and tar for mortar. Then they said, 'Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves and not be scattered over the face of the whole earth.'”
This was in defiance of God's command that they should, “Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the earth.” (Gen. 9:1)
God saw that with all men speaking the same language they would be tempted to come together and unite against Him. This would mean that they would forever be kept from fellowship, and frienship with Him.
Mankind can never fulfill God's purpose for him if he is working for his own glory. God made us to glorify God and the only way we can know him is to be in a right relationship with Him.
So God fulfills His own command and scatters the people all over the earth and confuses their languages. This is where the different languages were made. God made language, it was his creation, not ours. It was also not something that simply evolved out of human society. God put it in, created it so that he could communicate Himself to Mankind.
Take Home
God has a Plan that is as big as including the great dance of planets and stars that goes on perfectly almost without our knowing it, and extends down to your life. The One that created the Heavens and the Earth, the mountains and the Waters wants to have a relationship with you! He wants to walk with you in a loving relationship just like he walked with Adam, Abel, Seth, Enoch, Noah, and others. The way we can walk with Him is through our relationship with Jesus Christ.
“For He chose us in Him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will-to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One He loves.”
Ephesians 1:4-6
*Important point – God uses 11 chapters to tell us about the most amazing events in human history. However, he uses 39 chapters to tell us about his relationships with individual people. What does this tell us about God's character and purpose?
Creation (Genesis 1 & 2)
● God created the Earth in six days and took a rest.
Man, however, was created on the sixth day and his first day was a day of rest.
This is true of us as well. God is always the initiator. Man reacts to Him and what He has done.
So, just as Adam was designed first to rest in what God has done and then act so we must first rest in the work of Salvation that Christ has done before we are going to be able to accomplish anything for Him.
● The Second Creation account
Some have thought this is a different creation account, however it is really an elaboration. The Hebrew writing style is to tell the whole story first and then tell it again with the details.
The account in Genesis chapter two is about how God made man in His own image, but even though he was not fallen it was not good for him to be alone.
So God, possibly to show Adam the truth of this, had him name all of the animals that God had made to prove that no companion had been found that is suitable for him. Adam agreed with God.
So God put Adam to sleep and took a rib from his side. Not from his head that the woman should rule him, and not from his feet that he should tread on her, but from his side as a suitable companion.
God made marriage and pronounced it good.
The Fall(Genesis 3-5)
● The Serpent came and addressed Eve. Satan's tactic that worked on Eve still is used today:
SATAN: “Did God really say, 'you must not eat from any tree in the garden?”
■ The first lie that Satan told was to make Adam and Eve doubt GOD'S WORD. He asks them a question, knowing that he is not quoting God correctly. But his goal is to shake Eve's (and our) confidence in God's Word.
■ EVE: “We may eat any fruit from the trees in the garden, but God did say, 'You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.'”
■ Eve corrects Satan, but adds something to the original command. Eve was not there when God gave the command so either she added to it by herself or Adam made God's command MORE legalistic. The original command did not include “you must not touch it.” Legalism is a surefire way to misunderstand God's purposes.
SATAN: “You will not surely die.”
■ Now having seen that Eve has not understood God's command exactly and that Adam is not going to have the courage to stand up to him, Satan flatly contradicts God's Word.
SATAN: “For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
■ Having questioned God's Word and then fully denying God's Word, Satan attacks God's character. He tries to make Adam and Eve believe that God is not looking out for their best interests, but rather keeping something good from them.
■ Because they do not remember what God said and who God is, Adam and Eve eat the fruit.
The Point: Eve has taken a bad rap historically, however here is the reality. ADAM was the problem here. Surely, Eve is not innocent. However, Adam was created first. Adam was the one to whom God have the commandment not to eat the fruit. Adam was right there and did not have the courage to say, “Eve we don't have to listen to this garbage. Let's get out of here.” Instead he ate it with her.
● When Adam and Eve sinned God kicked them out of the Garden so that they couldn't eat of the tree of life and live forever.
Was this a mean thing for God to do? What God behaving like a spoiled brat?
No! God created Adam and Eve to be in a relationship with Him. Humans are designed to be complete only when they are right before God. Anything outside of that is misery. If Adam and Eve had been allowed to live forever they would never be able to return to the Lord and have a relationship with Him again. They would be eternally damned from God's love and God's presence. It was His amazing mercy, grace and wisdom that blessed Adam and Eve and all of us by expelling us from eternal life.
● The First Prophecy of Christ :
Genesis 3:14-15: “SO the Lord God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this, Cursed are you above all the livestock and all the wild animals! You will crawl on your belly and you will eat dust all the days of your life. And I will put enmity between you and the woman and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head and you will strike heel.”
■ Before the Fall even happened God had already put His plan in place. His love is the kind of Love that forgives even before the fault is committed. However, God's justice is so true that he knew that a price must be paid for disobedience, that price is death (Gen. 2:17; Rom. 6:23).
Genesis 3:21 – The First Sacrifice
■ When Adam and Eve found out they were naked they tried to cover their sin with plants (no blood shed for the sin). But this was not acceptable to God.
■ God killed animals, and used their hides to cover (atone for) the sin of Adam and Eve. This is the first sacrifice we see in the Bible, God did it to cover the sin of Adam and Eve so that he could still have a relationship with them.
This Pattern was continued with Cain and Able.
■ Cain's grain Sacrifice was not acceptable
■ Abel's blood sacrifice was acceptable
■ So Cain killed Able
The Flood(Genesis 6)
● Man had become so evil, and so far separated from God that He was sad that he ever made man to begin with.
● He resolved to wipe man out altogether. However he did not want to wipe out Noah and his family. Why? Noah walked with God.(6:9)
Noah knew God and had a relationship with God just like Adam, Abel, Seth and Enoch.
God wants you to know Him, He knows and love you and longs for that relationship to be mutually felt affection, love, loyalty and faithfulness.
God wants you to behold Him and know him through His word and through his Son.
● So he told Noah to build an Ark.
Very large, and probably in the shape of a box.
The Ark is a powerful picture. God's judgment was going to come on the Earth, however, anyone who was in the Ark would be saved.
Jesus and Peter both tell us that in the same way that God judged the Earth then, he will judge the Earth again and the judgment will come equally as rapidly. Except at that judgment there will be no physical ark that will keep people safe, but Christ is the One whom we must be in in order to be saved from that day of Judgement.
● Several things changed after Noah and his family left the Ark:
God made a one sided Covenant (promise) that:
■ People were to multiply and cover the Earth
■ People could eat meat, but not meat with blood in it.
■ Anyone who murders someone else must be put to death.
■ God promised it would NEVER flood the whole earth again.
■ The Sign of the Covenant was the Rainbow.
The Tower of Babel(Genesis 11)
● After a few generations the people again rebelled against God's commands:
Genesis 11:3: “They said to each other, 'Come, let's make bricks and back them thoroughly.' They used brick instead of stone, and tar for mortar. Then they said, 'Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves and not be scattered over the face of the whole earth.'”
This was in defiance of God's command that they should, “Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the earth.” (Gen. 9:1)
God saw that with all men speaking the same language they would be tempted to come together and unite against Him. This would mean that they would forever be kept from fellowship, and frienship with Him.
Mankind can never fulfill God's purpose for him if he is working for his own glory. God made us to glorify God and the only way we can know him is to be in a right relationship with Him.
So God fulfills His own command and scatters the people all over the earth and confuses their languages. This is where the different languages were made. God made language, it was his creation, not ours. It was also not something that simply evolved out of human society. God put it in, created it so that he could communicate Himself to Mankind.
Take Home
God has a Plan that is as big as including the great dance of planets and stars that goes on perfectly almost without our knowing it, and extends down to your life. The One that created the Heavens and the Earth, the mountains and the Waters wants to have a relationship with you! He wants to walk with you in a loving relationship just like he walked with Adam, Abel, Seth, Enoch, Noah, and others. The way we can walk with Him is through our relationship with Jesus Christ.
“For He chose us in Him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will-to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One He loves.”
Ephesians 1:4-6
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