7/20/12
Genesis
Today we are going to hear
the most amazing promise expounded and see how God is accomplishing it.
I want you to be encouraged
today that God is sovereignly working all things out according to His great
plan. He promised to send a Messiah who will be a blessing to all and we know
He has fulfilled His promise. Put your faith in Him. He is faithful.
I also hope that you see how
the Scriptures are primarily about God and His plan of redemption in Christ.
And we will see today, Nothing can stop this.
Genesis
1 and 2
All things created by God,
for God, All things reflecting His goodness. Perfection
Genesis 3
Mankind rebels, Questions the
goodness of God, desiring to be God and thus mankind falls
-As a result sin spreads to all mankind
A few results specifically mentioned
1.) Their will be enmity
between God’s people “the seed of the Women” and the offspring of Satan
2.) Difficulty
in marriage and great pain and problems in having children.
3.) And to the man,
a.
Death
is promised
b.
Land is cursed,
ground is hard to work.
Though there is great judgment we saw there is great mercy.
God promises judgment on the serpent. He promises that
the seed of the women will crush Satan’s head. God will provide the Messiah.
Take joy the promises God
makes will be accomplished!!!
Genesis 4-11
-
Man looking for the coming seed.
-
Mankind tries to
help God out, Eve thinks she can bring
forth the seed on her doing. This does not work. We saw this when she gives
birth to her first son Cain.
-
Noah, Though
Lamech proclaims that Noah will bring relief, He as well falls into sin and is
not the promised Messiah
-
Tower of Babel,
People attempt to make a great name for
themselves and do not trust and obey God. God thwarts their foolish plan by
scattering their languages and actually using that to make sure they scatter
and fill the earth.
Despite man’s rebellion and
lack of trust in God, We see over and over God is faithful.
God continues to preserve the
Godly line and continues to show He is in control and accomplishing His plan. Man
is dependent on God, he cannot accomplish God’s plan but must trust and rely on
Him.
The story then zooms forward
in time following the line of the Women through Shem till we come to Abraham.
In Genesis 1-11 you are told
about the creation of the whole world and the whole human race.
In Genesis 12-50 -No longer
is the writer Moses trying to give you the History of the whole world but he is
now giving you a close up shot of four generations following the line through
whom the promised messiah will come.
Four
main people who are of the seed of the woman are followed. Abraham, Isaac,
Jacob, and Joseph.
In Genesis 12 we have what
Mark Dever calls, The most crucial event that happens between the fall of Adam
and the coming of Christ.
The Abrahamic Covenant is
given. God’s plan of redemption is expounded even greater than before.
Today we are going to walk through the Highlights
Genesis 12-50 observing the lives of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Joseph and
seeing how they are all tied together pointing us towards Christ.
Abraham
Read Genesis 12:1-3
God’s command to Abram, leave your land and
everything and go to the land I will show you
And as he steps out in faith,
God declares that he is going to make him the Father of His people through whom
the Messiah will come.
He makes a covenant with
Abram,
There are three main parts of
this Covenant. V 2
1.) Make them a great
nation (God’s own people). You see this promise reiterated all throughout
the OT, “I will be your God and you will be my people.”
2.) Give them a great
land.
3.) Bless all
the nations through His seed. – This
is reference to the Messiah, the One who is going to stomp the head of Satan.-
Also notice God’s heart is for all nations, not just Israel in OT.
This Promise is Huge!
James Hamilton- “God’s glory
in Salvation through Judgment”
Where in the curse God
promises that there will be marital conflict and great hardship in childbearing
God promises
1.) I will make you a great nation (Barren Sarah shall
have a seed.)
Where in the Curse God
promises that there will be conflict with working the land God promises
2.) To your offspring I will give this land, and it is a
good land, A land like a new Eden, A land flowing with milk and honey
Where in the curse God
promised there was going to be great conflict between the people of God and the
people of the Serpent. (Satan).
3.) All the Families of the earth will be blessed by you,
ultimately this is through Jesus, the One who crushes the head of the Serpent
that all the earth can be blessed in Christ.
What we see is that though
God has promised sure judgment because of Sin, he has also promised blessing to
those who are His. The ultimate blessing is through the coming Messiah who is
going to be coming through Abraham’s line.
What an amazing Promise.
And the people of God are
looking for Him, Hoping for Him, Longing for Him.
Just this past week Monica
received a text message from target (??) saying we had won 500 dollars through
the drawing we had entered. At first, I was pumped when I saw her text. Then
Monica informed me, No you idiot, I didn’t sign up for any drawing or chance to
win 500 dollars this is a scam. Later that night I got the same text. This
promise that I had received from whoever this was, was completely unreliable.
It would never happen. It was a scam.
You see though, This promise
Abraham receives will come about.
It is more sure than sex on
the honeymoon.
More sure than losing money when a women goes
to look at clothes at Target.
More sure than traffic on the Holidays.
More sure than ECU having a bad basketball
team.
Abram hears God’s call and
obeys, He demonstrates Faith in God.
Great Land – Genesis 12:7
As Abram goes God reveals the
land will be the land of Canaan.
It looks unsure though if
they will really own this land because it is already inhabited by the
canaanites, and then shortly after getting their a famine comes and they go to
Egypt.
Sure enough though they come
back and settle there.
But
The main focus we will see
in Genesis today is how God is forming this great nation and seeing fit that
the promised Messiah comes through Abraham.
Really cool.
God’s promise is so sure, God even changes his name from Abram to Abraham.
Gen 17:5 Abraham – meaning Father of a multitude. The man with
no children is named the Father of a multitude.
This promise God makes will
be accomplished. He will make sure of it.
Stop and think about the first part of this covenant.
“I will make you a great nation”
Abraham is 75 at the time. He
is your grandparents age. Not only that though. His wife is Barren and has
never been able to conceive and now she is like 65.
How is a great nation going
to come from him???
This seems impossible.
Almost immediately we see the
promise looks like it is in question
How is he going to be a great
nation if he can’t even have a son.
Flip to Genesis 15
Apparently Abram is starting
to doubt. He is getting even older and still no son.
All throughout Genesis when
the people start doubting God’s command he reminds them of the Covenant.
Genesis 15:2-3
How about Eliezer of
Damascus?.
Genesis 15: 4-5
Nope, Your very own son will
be your heir,
In the Hebrew the phrase
would read like “The one who comes out of
your loins”
Not gonna explain that one.
Your offspring are going to
be as numerous as the Stars.
Abram is hitting a wall, then this is going to have to
be an act of God.
He is completely incapable of
bringing about these promises.
Just like Tim said last week,
the fulfilment of God’s promises are dependant on Him. We cannot force His
hand. He is sovereign over all.
How are yall doing? Is life
crazy now? School coming up, bills due, having a hard time in relationships,
struggling with Sin. Let me encourage you tonight. God is faithful. If you are
a child of his run to Him, Rest in His promises. Saturate yourself in his
Gospel promises. Does that mean things will be easy, No. but you can rest he is
in control and working all things out according to his plan.
Gen 15:6 –Against all human
reason Abraham Believes God, and it is counted to him as righteousness.
In the same way mankind is
incapable of saving Himself today. The way we are saved is by faith in Christ.
Abraham was saved as he had faith in God that he would send the promised
Messiah. He was saved in Christ too, Not by works or upholding the Law. The Law
had not even been put in place by Moses yet.
Our only hope of Salvation,
Faith in Jesus, The Messiah who has now been revealed.
Take Note,
something interesting
happens. God is restating his covenant with Abram in chapter 15
and then look at Genesis 15:13,
Your going to be soujerners, servants and afflicted
for 400 years. But I will bring you out, and you will come out with great
possessions.
What is this a prophecy of????
The Exodus.
God’s people will go through affliction and hardships.
This is part of His plan. But note he was with them and for his children there
is deliverance if not now surely when we die.
Genesis 16:3-4
Abraham has now waited 10
years, and still no son. His wife is Barren. And Abraham and his wife try to
force God’s plan into coming about. Sarai tells Abraham to have sex with their
servant Hagar and He does and she conceives. But God makes clear. This is not
my plan.
Genesis 17:15-16.- around 15
years later
Your son will come- Not through Hagar but
Sarai
Abraham Laughs, Im 99, This
sounds crazy, Sarah is 90,
Lord how about Ishmael. No,
God says Verse 19- It will be through Sarah and you will name Him Isaac. In a
years time you will have a Son.
Sure enough it happens just as God promised.
We will skip ch 19-20, I just want to point out you are seeing enmity b/w the people of God and the People
of Satan. This was just as promised.
Genesis 21 – The son of
Promise is born: Isaac –
Abram finally has a son
through his wife Sarai. This is truly an act of God. Abraham is 100 at the time
and His wife is 90. Isaac is not the
Messiah but he is the one through whom the covenant will continue. This is huge
as we see God is miraculously doing what he promised.
Isaac is finally here!!!!
Rejoicing.
Genesis 22 We see God test
Abraham - V 2- We are then told after Isaac Had grown up a little God
commands Him to sacrifice His son.
Stop and think about what
faith this takes.
This is my only son, Im 100,
You said your covenant would come through Isaac, and now you want me to
sacrifice him. Ok Im banking on your faithfulness. I trust you. I have faith in
you.
God give us this kind of
faith in You!
Hebrews 11:17-19. He believes God will even raise Him from the dead if he has too
Abraham obeys and God at the
last moment stops him and provides a ram as a substitute.
What a beautiful Glimpse of
the Gospel here
We now see the picture of a
substitute dying in the place of another. As God provides a sacrifice that
Isaac might be saved so He will provides a sacrifice for us, His only son that
we might be saved.
Sinclair Ferguson
Jesus is the true and better Isaac who was not just offered up
by his father on the mount but was truly sacrificed for us. And when God said
to Abraham, “Now I know you love me because you did not withhold your son, your
only son whom you love from me,” now we can look at God taking his son up the
mountain and sacrificing him and say, “Now we know that you love us because you
did not withhold your son, your only son, whom you love from us.”
Application- Do you trust in
God even when you don’t understand???
You are going through a
difficulty in a relationship, Having a hard time in school, maybe struggling to
know God’s will for you. Brothers and sisters, Do not lose hope. Trust in God.
Seek Him to know His will and rest in Him.
Isaiac
As the Scriptures continue we
see that Abraham dies and the Scriptures focus on His son Isaac. Isaac marries
Rebekah. She is clearly the one whom god would have for Him.
Remember that Isaac is not
the promised one. The promise is contingent on Isaac continuing to have
children. They are looking for the Messiah who will come through his line.
Problem.- Rebekah was Barren too
Genesis 25:21.
Isn’t this interesting that one
of the results of the fall is pain and hardship in childbearing and this is the
second time we have seen the people of God not able to have children. But we
see God triumphing over this curse and bringing about His promises.
God is revealing that truly
He is the one who is accomplishing his plan.
Genesis 25:21
-Isaac prays for Her and sure enough God heals her and she conceives.
and they have two sons, Jacob
and Esau who are twins.
Genesis 25:23
Jacob and Esau Born
Interesting, Esau is the
first born, He is the one we would think would be the one who would be blessed,
but God chooses Jacob to be the one who continues the line through which Christ
will come.
Genesis 25:23
Jacob does not seem like a likely choice, He is extremely deceitful. He tricks his father into
blessing him not Esau. And persuades Esau to sell Him his birthright.
This is how God works, His
choice is not based of our goodness, or none would be chosen.
Look at these guys so far.
-Noah – drunkenness right after being saved
from the flood.
This is the Case with all of
the Patriarchs,
Abraham did not earn God’s favor, He tried to force the hand
of God by having children through Hagar, twice he tried to save his life by
saying his wife was his sister.
Isaac is by
no means perfect either, He like his father lies about who his wife Sarah is to
try to save his life.
Jacob- Deceiver
Joseph- Arrogant, cocky.
These men are not perfect and they are not meant to be
seen as Hero’s. They are ordinary men who are sinful. Yet they are chosen by
God because of His sovereign plan.
God shows grace on them and each one has faith in Him
and His promise.
What do we learn from This?
“God does not choose people based on their goodness or works.” He chooses based
on His sovereign good will and desire.
The New Testament sheds light
on this
Romans 9:10-13
V 11- Before they were born, before
they could do good or bad, in order that God’s purpose of election might
continue, this was not based on works.
The reason he chosen Him was
because it was his Sovereign plan and choice.
Throughout the Old Testament
you will see the doctrine of election.
The Reason any of us have
come to faith in Christ is because of His Sovereign Choice.
This is great News, You see
we all are heading straight towards destruction. We have nothing to earn God’s
favor. We are incapable of coming to Him. We are under wrath and in God’s mercy
he comes to His children and rescues them. And yet he chooses to draw his
children to Himself.
We don’t have time to expound
on this theme of election but it is seen all throughout the OT.
We are going to pick up the
pace now.
Jacob Chapter 27
So Jacob is the chosen one
whom the line will continue through.
He deceives His father and He receives the blessing of
the covenant.
Ironically the one who had
deceived his Father is later deceived by His uncle Laban and marries the sister
of the girl he intended to marry Rachel.
The deceiver is deceived.
Romantic Verse- Genesis 29:20
Again, So Jacob himself is
not the promised Messiah, We see His sinfulness very clearly. It will be
through his line that these promises will come about.
Guess what the Problem with
His wife Rachel is???
Genesis 29:31 -She is barren as well.
Genesis 29:31 -She is barren as well.
Genesis 30 -This is like the soap opera of Genesis.
We won’t read it but these
two sisters Rachel and leah, Both have female servants as well. And they have
this rivalry to see who can bear Jacob the most sons.
Finally we see that poor Rachel
who is Barren gives birth to a son, Joseph.
At this point we are beginning to see Abraham’s
decendents multiply and start to become a great nation.
Jacob has 12 sons in all which make up the twelve tribes of Israel. Jacob is actually
renamed Israel and this is where the Israelite nation comes from. Jacobs 12
sons.
Joseph
Interestingly now
Genesis 37-50 follows Joseph.
Is their a reason that this much time is devoted to tracing Joseph’s life other
than a cool story!!!
Yes, We are seeing how God
chose to preserve His people despite a terrible famine. In God’s sovereignty he
was working all these things out exactly as he desired.
Joseph, was sold by brothers
into slavery to a man named Potipher who was in Egypt. Then he prospered as the
servant of Potipher till His wife lied about Him trying to sleep with her and
he was sent to prison. From prison we learn that God gives Joseph the
interpretation of dreams. And through the interpretation of dreams Joseph
interprets pharoah’s dream that a Huge famine is coming. Pharoah believes
Joseph, and stores up tons of food.
Sure enough the famine comes it slams canaan,
The land where his family is still living. They are all going to die, there is
no food.
The nation through whom the messiah is going to come is about to all die. But wait, they have an idea. Lets go to Egypt for some reason they have food. And their in Egypt Joseph provides food for the whole family.
The nation through whom the messiah is going to come is about to all die. But wait, they have an idea. Lets go to Egypt for some reason they have food. And their in Egypt Joseph provides food for the whole family.
His brothers are fearful of
Joseph, They had sold him into slavery and now Jacob is dead, but listen to
Joseph’s response,
Genesis 50:15-21
V- 20- “As for you, you meant
evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many a
numerous people should be kept alive, as they are today.”
Not just were thousands of
people spared. God’s chosen people were saved.
So Joseph is the Hero?? No not at all. We see God is the one who has
orchestrated all of this, Even Joseph saw this.
Yes, but Joseph has saved his
people. But only temporarily, you see Joseph dies, And Exodus 1 tells us that he
is forgotten by the next pharaoh and the people go into a 400 year slavery and
affliction just as God had promised in Gen 15. The people need a true Savior.
They need the Messiah. And be sure God is working and he is surely going to
come.
Sinclair Ferguson
Jesus is the true and better Joseph
who, at the right hand of the king, forgives those who betrayed and sold him
and uses his new power to save them.
You see God is unfolding his
plan just as he had promised. Through the seed of the women the messiah is
coming, Through the Abrahamic covenant we gain new understandings of God’s
plan. He is forming a people of his own, giving them a great land and through
this people he is sending a promised Messiah, who will be a blessing to all the
nations.
