Genesis (Part 4)
Bible Study Time 6-22-08
(From James Roberts 8-25-96)
Bible Study Time 6-22-08
(From James Roberts 8-25-96)
In our previous lessons in our Journey Through the Scripture, we saw how God presents Himself as the creator of all things. Make no mistake about it, the heavens and the earth and man and all of the things that are in God’s creation did not just happen to be. The creation did not just come about through some accidental joining of certain elements. In the book of Genesis, God presents Himself as the creator who by a divine purpose and a divine will created the heavens and the earth.
After the rebellion of Lucifer, who was the highest of all of God’s angelic creation, there was chaos that came into the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and void, and darkness was upon the face of the deep.
Then God began to recreate the heavens and the earth. He created the animal and the plant life, and then He created the highest aspect of the creation, even man himself.
God placed the man and his wife in the Garden of Eden, and He gave them only one prohibition and that was that they were not to eat of the tree which was in the midst of the garden, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. God said:
Genesis 2:17 NKJV
17 . . . in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die."
In Genesis, Chapter 3, we saw that Satan came into the garden and tempted Eve, so that Eve disobeyed God. Then Eve gave the forbidden fruit to her husband, and he also disobeyed God. As a result of this disobedience, all of Adam’s descendants became sinners.
That first rebellion by Lucifer brought sin into the universe, but the sin of Adam brought sin into the human race. The book of Romans tells us that:
Romans 3:23 KJV
23 . . . all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;
Romans 5:12 KJV
12 . . . (for) by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:
This disobedience of Adam brought also a curse upon all of God’s creation. The book of Romans, Chapter 8, tells us that the creation itself groans and travails together under this curse but that God placed the curse in hope. The creation will continue its groaning and travail until the Lord Jesus Christ, Himself, comes back.
In the regeneration, when the Son of Man comes back in His glory, He will set things right, and the curse will be lifted. Instead of briars and thorns, the desert will blossom like a rose, and the myrtle and the fig tree will blossom; paradise will be restored once again.
With the pronouncement of the curse in Genesis, Chapter 3, we also find the promise of the Redeemer. In verse 15, God speaks to the serpent and says, you will bruise the heel of the Seed of the Woman, but the Seed of the Woman will bruise your head.
Throughout the Old Testament scriptures, we find hints and types and shadows of the fact that the Lord Jesus Christ was going to come into the world as the Redeemer of the human race. It was part of God’s plan for the Lord Jesus to bring man out from under the curse of sin and bring him back into a place of fellowship and righteousness with God through His death.
God knew even before the time of the creation about this plan of redemption, but this great truth was hidden in the scriptures. In the book of I Peter, we read that the Lord Jesus came as the Lamb that was slain since the foundation of the world. We read that the prophets could not understand God’s plan for man’s salvation, and in fact, even the angels desired to look into this great truth because they could not understand it.
This truth was in the scripture, but it was covered in such a way that Satan, who is an astute student of the scripture, could not see the fact that it would be the death of the Lord Jesus Christ that would crush the serpent. Satan knew only that the Seed of the Woman was going to destroy him. In other words, He knew that the Seed of the Woman was going to bruise his head and set his work at naught.
All through the Old Testament scriptures, we see Satan trying to do away with the Seed of the Woman so that he can prevent His work of redemption. When Jesus Christ appeared on the scene, Satan thought that the crucifixion of Christ would be the perfect opportunity to put the Seed of the Woman to death. Satan thought that if he could put the Seed of the Woman to death, the Seed of the Woman would not be able to bruise the head of the serpent.
However, Satan did not know the details of God’s perfect plan concerning the work of Christ on the cross. The fact that Christ would come to die on the cross for the sins of man had been carefully hidden in the Old Testament scriptures because this was the very work that was going to bruise the head of Satan.
Jesus Christ came to be made a curse for us by taking our sins upon Himself. The work of Christ on the cross makes it possible for man to be set free from the curse and to be set free from the dominion of Satan. This great promise concerning the coming of the Redeemer was first given in Genesis, Chapter 3 and verse 15.
In all of this I trust that you can see the changes that God makes in His dealings with the creation in different circumstances. God remains the same but His dealings with the creation change as the circumstances change.
This is a pattern that we are going to see many times in our Journey Through the Scripture. God is the same yesterday, today and forever, but He deals with man in different ways in different time periods. In the book of II Timothy, Chapter 2 and verse 15, we are told to:
2 Timothy 2:15
15 Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needs not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.
On aspect of this right division is to see the different ways in which God deals with the human race in accordance with His eternal plan and purpose. So let’s review a few of the changes that we have already seen in our Journey Through the Scripture.
God created the heavens and the earth as a perfect creation which was meant to be inhabited. God also created the angelic beings with Lucifer as the head or the highest of the creation. However, when Lucifer rebelled against God, he was cast out of heaven, and he became Satan, which means adversary.
Instead of guarding the throne of God as Lucifer, the highest of the creation, he became Satan, the adversary of God. God began to deal with Lucifer in a completely different way after Lucifer’s rebellion. God remained the same but His dealings with Lucifer changed.
God created the heavens and the earth to be inhabited, but the earth became chaotic as a result of Satan’s sin. Therefore, God began to recreate the heavens and the earth. God made man in the image of God, and man lived in an innocent state. Man was undoubtedly covered with a garment of light which reflected his innocence. At this point, man did not know good and evil; he lived in perfect harmony with the creation and with God.
However, when man disobeyed God, man became conscious of his sin. At that point, man lost the garment of glory which had covered him, and he knew that he was naked. He sewed fig leaves together to make for himself an apron. He ran to hide from God, but God sought him out and placed the curse. What a difference this made in God’s dealings with man.
As we continue on in Genesis, Chapter 3, we read that:
Genesis 3:20-21 KJV
20 . . . Adam called his wife's name Eve; because she was the mother of all living.
21 Unto Adam also and to his wife did the Lord God make coats of skins, and clothed them.
Notice here again a difference in God’s dealings with man. Man is no longer an innocent being who displays the perfect likeness of God. Man has lost the spiritual glory of the image of God so God makes garments made of animal skin for them to wear.
Genesis 3:22-24
22 And the Lord God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever:
23 Therefore the Lord God sent him forth from the Garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken.
24 So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the Garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life.
Once again, notice the change in God’s dealings with mankind. When man became conscious of good and evil, God drove him out of the Garden of Eden. Even though God, Himself, remains the same yesterday, today and forever, God’s method of dealing with man changes according to man’s circumstances.
However, any time God changes His method of dealing with man, these changes are always in accordance with His eternal plan and purpose. God is omniscient. Nothing takes God by surprise. God knows the end from the beginning, and God formulated His plan for the ages even before the foundation of the world.
In Genesis 3:24, we read that God drove man out of the Garden of Eden, and He placed a guard there so that man could not get back into the Garden of Eden. At one time, God placed man in the garden, but now God has to place man outside the garden. At one point, God had fellowship with man in the garden, but now God places a guard at the gate of the garden with a flaming sword which turned every way to keep man from going into the garden.
Personally, I believe that this gate became the appointed place that God gave to Adam and Eve so that they could continue in their fellowship with Him, and by the animal sacrifice God provided the way whereby they could come to that place to have fellowship with God. Next week we are going to see how that two of Adam and Eve’s children represent the two main categories of people that exist outside the Garden of Eden.
I trust that you have been able to see today that even though God is the same yesterday, today and forever, He has changed His method of dealing with man from time to time. At one point, God dealt with man on the basis of man’s innocence, but now God deals with man on the basis of man’s knowledge of good and evil.
I trust today that you know the Lord Jesus Christ as your Savior, as the promised Redeemer who has now come to provide the way for us to have fellowship with God. Well, I see our time is gone. The Lord willing, we’ll be back with you again next week so until that time we bid you goodbye.
Church links:
After the rebellion of Lucifer, who was the highest of all of God’s angelic creation, there was chaos that came into the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and void, and darkness was upon the face of the deep.
Then God began to recreate the heavens and the earth. He created the animal and the plant life, and then He created the highest aspect of the creation, even man himself.
God placed the man and his wife in the Garden of Eden, and He gave them only one prohibition and that was that they were not to eat of the tree which was in the midst of the garden, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. God said:
Genesis 2:17 NKJV
17 . . . in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die."
In Genesis, Chapter 3, we saw that Satan came into the garden and tempted Eve, so that Eve disobeyed God. Then Eve gave the forbidden fruit to her husband, and he also disobeyed God. As a result of this disobedience, all of Adam’s descendants became sinners.
That first rebellion by Lucifer brought sin into the universe, but the sin of Adam brought sin into the human race. The book of Romans tells us that:
Romans 3:23 KJV
23 . . . all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;
Romans 5:12 KJV
12 . . . (for) by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:
This disobedience of Adam brought also a curse upon all of God’s creation. The book of Romans, Chapter 8, tells us that the creation itself groans and travails together under this curse but that God placed the curse in hope. The creation will continue its groaning and travail until the Lord Jesus Christ, Himself, comes back.
In the regeneration, when the Son of Man comes back in His glory, He will set things right, and the curse will be lifted. Instead of briars and thorns, the desert will blossom like a rose, and the myrtle and the fig tree will blossom; paradise will be restored once again.
With the pronouncement of the curse in Genesis, Chapter 3, we also find the promise of the Redeemer. In verse 15, God speaks to the serpent and says, you will bruise the heel of the Seed of the Woman, but the Seed of the Woman will bruise your head.
Throughout the Old Testament scriptures, we find hints and types and shadows of the fact that the Lord Jesus Christ was going to come into the world as the Redeemer of the human race. It was part of God’s plan for the Lord Jesus to bring man out from under the curse of sin and bring him back into a place of fellowship and righteousness with God through His death.
God knew even before the time of the creation about this plan of redemption, but this great truth was hidden in the scriptures. In the book of I Peter, we read that the Lord Jesus came as the Lamb that was slain since the foundation of the world. We read that the prophets could not understand God’s plan for man’s salvation, and in fact, even the angels desired to look into this great truth because they could not understand it.
This truth was in the scripture, but it was covered in such a way that Satan, who is an astute student of the scripture, could not see the fact that it would be the death of the Lord Jesus Christ that would crush the serpent. Satan knew only that the Seed of the Woman was going to destroy him. In other words, He knew that the Seed of the Woman was going to bruise his head and set his work at naught.
All through the Old Testament scriptures, we see Satan trying to do away with the Seed of the Woman so that he can prevent His work of redemption. When Jesus Christ appeared on the scene, Satan thought that the crucifixion of Christ would be the perfect opportunity to put the Seed of the Woman to death. Satan thought that if he could put the Seed of the Woman to death, the Seed of the Woman would not be able to bruise the head of the serpent.
However, Satan did not know the details of God’s perfect plan concerning the work of Christ on the cross. The fact that Christ would come to die on the cross for the sins of man had been carefully hidden in the Old Testament scriptures because this was the very work that was going to bruise the head of Satan.
Jesus Christ came to be made a curse for us by taking our sins upon Himself. The work of Christ on the cross makes it possible for man to be set free from the curse and to be set free from the dominion of Satan. This great promise concerning the coming of the Redeemer was first given in Genesis, Chapter 3 and verse 15.
In all of this I trust that you can see the changes that God makes in His dealings with the creation in different circumstances. God remains the same but His dealings with the creation change as the circumstances change.
This is a pattern that we are going to see many times in our Journey Through the Scripture. God is the same yesterday, today and forever, but He deals with man in different ways in different time periods. In the book of II Timothy, Chapter 2 and verse 15, we are told to:
2 Timothy 2:15
15 Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needs not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.
On aspect of this right division is to see the different ways in which God deals with the human race in accordance with His eternal plan and purpose. So let’s review a few of the changes that we have already seen in our Journey Through the Scripture.
God created the heavens and the earth as a perfect creation which was meant to be inhabited. God also created the angelic beings with Lucifer as the head or the highest of the creation. However, when Lucifer rebelled against God, he was cast out of heaven, and he became Satan, which means adversary.
Instead of guarding the throne of God as Lucifer, the highest of the creation, he became Satan, the adversary of God. God began to deal with Lucifer in a completely different way after Lucifer’s rebellion. God remained the same but His dealings with Lucifer changed.
God created the heavens and the earth to be inhabited, but the earth became chaotic as a result of Satan’s sin. Therefore, God began to recreate the heavens and the earth. God made man in the image of God, and man lived in an innocent state. Man was undoubtedly covered with a garment of light which reflected his innocence. At this point, man did not know good and evil; he lived in perfect harmony with the creation and with God.
However, when man disobeyed God, man became conscious of his sin. At that point, man lost the garment of glory which had covered him, and he knew that he was naked. He sewed fig leaves together to make for himself an apron. He ran to hide from God, but God sought him out and placed the curse. What a difference this made in God’s dealings with man.
As we continue on in Genesis, Chapter 3, we read that:
Genesis 3:20-21 KJV
20 . . . Adam called his wife's name Eve; because she was the mother of all living.
21 Unto Adam also and to his wife did the Lord God make coats of skins, and clothed them.
Notice here again a difference in God’s dealings with man. Man is no longer an innocent being who displays the perfect likeness of God. Man has lost the spiritual glory of the image of God so God makes garments made of animal skin for them to wear.
Genesis 3:22-24
22 And the Lord God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever:
23 Therefore the Lord God sent him forth from the Garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken.
24 So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the Garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life.
Once again, notice the change in God’s dealings with mankind. When man became conscious of good and evil, God drove him out of the Garden of Eden. Even though God, Himself, remains the same yesterday, today and forever, God’s method of dealing with man changes according to man’s circumstances.
However, any time God changes His method of dealing with man, these changes are always in accordance with His eternal plan and purpose. God is omniscient. Nothing takes God by surprise. God knows the end from the beginning, and God formulated His plan for the ages even before the foundation of the world.
In Genesis 3:24, we read that God drove man out of the Garden of Eden, and He placed a guard there so that man could not get back into the Garden of Eden. At one time, God placed man in the garden, but now God has to place man outside the garden. At one point, God had fellowship with man in the garden, but now God places a guard at the gate of the garden with a flaming sword which turned every way to keep man from going into the garden.
Personally, I believe that this gate became the appointed place that God gave to Adam and Eve so that they could continue in their fellowship with Him, and by the animal sacrifice God provided the way whereby they could come to that place to have fellowship with God. Next week we are going to see how that two of Adam and Eve’s children represent the two main categories of people that exist outside the Garden of Eden.
I trust that you have been able to see today that even though God is the same yesterday, today and forever, He has changed His method of dealing with man from time to time. At one point, God dealt with man on the basis of man’s innocence, but now God deals with man on the basis of man’s knowledge of good and evil.
I trust today that you know the Lord Jesus Christ as your Savior, as the promised Redeemer who has now come to provide the way for us to have fellowship with God. Well, I see our time is gone. The Lord willing, we’ll be back with you again next week so until that time we bid you goodbye.
Church links:
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