1 00:00:00,440 --> 00:00:05,760 The year was somewhere around 1996 or 97. 2 00:00:06,800 --> 00:00:10,680 I was sitting there in my humanities class at Diablo 3 00:00:10,680 --> 00:00:12,680 Valley College in the San Francisco East Bay. 4 00:00:14,080 --> 00:00:17,440 I knew the Bible and I would regularly defend it if I needed 5 00:00:17,440 --> 00:00:20,640 to. My humanities teacher asked 6 00:00:20,640 --> 00:00:25,640 something like who in here is a Christian or or if you believe 7 00:00:25,640 --> 00:00:27,200 the Bible was true, something like that. 8 00:00:27,200 --> 00:00:30,640 I don't remember the exact substance of her question. 9 00:00:32,200 --> 00:00:36,880 A few of us brave souls in a class of around 100 students 10 00:00:38,360 --> 00:00:43,320 raised our hands. The teacher then proceeded to 11 00:00:43,320 --> 00:00:48,080 hurl criticisms of the Bible and the Christian faith at us. 12 00:00:49,960 --> 00:00:52,440 Normally I would defend the Bible, but she said something 13 00:00:52,440 --> 00:00:55,160 that I just didn't know what to do with. 14 00:00:56,280 --> 00:01:03,520 She said the Bible's story about the flood was just copying the 15 00:01:03,520 --> 00:01:10,320 Epic of Gilgamesh. I'd heard of the Epic of 16 00:01:10,320 --> 00:01:15,520 Gilgamesh before, but I had no idea what was in it. 17 00:01:16,120 --> 00:01:19,760 I knew there was some dude named Inky Doo and and of course 18 00:01:19,760 --> 00:01:24,520 Gilgamesh, but beyond that I had no idea what it was and when it 19 00:01:24,520 --> 00:01:33,560 was written I was stunned and had nothing to say she had won 20 00:01:35,120 --> 00:01:39,120 because I had no idea what the Epic of Gilgamesh was and and 21 00:01:39,120 --> 00:01:41,960 the notion that that the foundation for the flood 22 00:01:41,960 --> 00:01:48,200 narrative in Genesis seemed blasphemous to me, and rightly 23 00:01:48,200 --> 00:01:51,960 so. Well, in the years since, I've 24 00:01:51,960 --> 00:01:56,920 come to learn a few things. First of all, every ancient 25 00:01:56,920 --> 00:02:01,400 culture has its own creation story and flood narratives are 26 00:02:02,280 --> 00:02:06,280 quite widespread, especially throughout the ancient Near 27 00:02:06,280 --> 00:02:11,160 East. However, Genesis stands apart 28 00:02:11,600 --> 00:02:15,400 from these other narratives and who communicates the creator, 29 00:02:15,400 --> 00:02:19,760 Creator to be and the nature of his relationship with his 30 00:02:20,120 --> 00:02:24,120 creation. And I will talk more about the 31 00:02:24,120 --> 00:02:28,720 flood when we get there in a few weeks, probably more than a few 32 00:02:28,720 --> 00:02:34,440 weeks. So our next series is going to 33 00:02:34,440 --> 00:02:42,320 be in the book of Genesis. So where did this book come from 34 00:02:42,320 --> 00:02:47,640 and what is the purpose of it? Now, of course, the astute Bible 35 00:02:47,640 --> 00:02:51,680 student will natural place Genesis in the Pentateuch, the 36 00:02:51,680 --> 00:02:56,320 first five books of the Bible, which we sometimes refer to as 37 00:02:56,720 --> 00:03:02,400 the Torah or the Law. God gave Moses the Torah when he 38 00:03:02,400 --> 00:03:07,960 was up on Mount Sinai. Genesis was written to Jews who 39 00:03:07,960 --> 00:03:10,720 are likely about to settle the Promised Land. 40 00:03:10,720 --> 00:03:13,240 It's possibly. We don't know for sure whether 41 00:03:13,240 --> 00:03:17,840 it's to those who personally experienced the Exodus or 42 00:03:17,840 --> 00:03:21,160 whether it's to their children, the next generation as they're 43 00:03:21,160 --> 00:03:24,920 about to cross over the Jordan River to conquer the land. 44 00:03:27,040 --> 00:03:33,200 And the text serves both as an encouragement to them in their 45 00:03:33,200 --> 00:03:41,720 faith as well as a reminder of how God had worked not only in 46 00:03:41,720 --> 00:03:45,360 their lives, but in the lives of their ancestors. 47 00:03:47,880 --> 00:03:52,760 The title for this book, Genesis stems from the Septuagint and 48 00:03:53,040 --> 00:04:01,040 and the word Genesis means or or beginnings In Hebrew, it's a 49 00:04:01,040 --> 00:04:05,960 different title. The word is better sheets, which 50 00:04:05,960 --> 00:04:11,200 means in the beginning which is taken from literally the first 3 51 00:04:11,200 --> 00:04:14,320 words that we have in our English Bibles. 52 00:04:15,200 --> 00:04:18,200 So while Genesis serves as the creation account of Yahweh's 53 00:04:18,200 --> 00:04:22,079 people, the Genesis account differs from other accounts in 54 00:04:22,079 --> 00:04:28,640 that one creation isn't a result of cosmic conflict between gods 55 00:04:28,960 --> 00:04:34,760 as is often the case in in other creation accounts and Yahweh. 56 00:04:35,920 --> 00:04:41,080 Yahweh is depicted. Our God is depicted as as 57 00:04:41,080 --> 00:04:44,040 transcended. He not only transcendence, 58 00:04:44,040 --> 00:04:48,320 though, He's loving, He's ordered, and He's purpose 59 00:04:48,400 --> 00:04:55,600 filled. Now it's no secret that I have 60 00:04:55,600 --> 00:04:57,400 an affinity for the Old Testament. 61 00:04:58,720 --> 00:05:01,560 There's so much to be found in the Old Testament and it serves 62 00:05:01,560 --> 00:05:09,000 as a foundation for what you see in the New Testament so often. 63 00:05:10,280 --> 00:05:11,640 I was talking to someone recently. 64 00:05:12,080 --> 00:05:16,560 Oh yeah, her son. He just want, he just wants to 65 00:05:16,560 --> 00:05:19,200 read Paul. Paul is great. 66 00:05:20,320 --> 00:05:24,440 But it's important for us to understand the 1st 3/4 of our 67 00:05:24,440 --> 00:05:28,680 Bible because when we understand what's in the 1st 3/4 of our 68 00:05:28,680 --> 00:05:34,440 Bible, then it makes the last quarter make so much more sense. 69 00:05:35,600 --> 00:05:38,800 Unfortunately, today there are so many people who don't really 70 00:05:38,800 --> 00:05:44,120 know what's in Genesis, or in the rest of the Old Testament 71 00:05:44,120 --> 00:05:47,480 for, for that matter. So it seems fitting for us to 72 00:05:47,480 --> 00:05:51,680 start here at the beginning of it all, in one of my favorite 73 00:05:51,680 --> 00:05:55,040 books, Genesis. So here we go. 74 00:05:55,680 --> 00:06:00,200 I'm going to cover the entire book, Genesis one one through 75 00:06:00,240 --> 00:06:09,160 5026 in the next few minutes. Actually, this may be my 76 00:06:09,160 --> 00:06:14,600 shortest sermon that I've delivered here, and I cut pages 77 00:06:15,400 --> 00:06:19,240 from this message sometimes. What you don't know is sometimes 78 00:06:20,080 --> 00:06:23,840 when we write a sermon, you can have just as much stuff that you 79 00:06:23,840 --> 00:06:30,320 cut out as what you include, and this is no exception. 80 00:06:31,400 --> 00:06:34,280 There's a lot to cover here. Now, it all starts back in the 81 00:06:34,280 --> 00:06:38,440 beginning. Before time began, God spoke 82 00:06:39,960 --> 00:06:42,320 into the nothing and he called nothing. 83 00:06:42,320 --> 00:06:49,560 It's a something and and then he hung that something on nothing, 84 00:06:50,520 --> 00:06:56,240 hung it there in space. It's truly profound to consider 85 00:06:56,240 --> 00:06:59,880 the thoughts of the universe and the Earth hanging there in 86 00:06:59,880 --> 00:07:03,000 place, spinning at the right speed, tilted at the right 87 00:07:03,000 --> 00:07:06,480 angle, covered with the right amounts of oxygen in order to be 88 00:07:06,480 --> 00:07:12,040 able to sustain life. All of this is called the fine 89 00:07:12,040 --> 00:07:19,640 tuning of the universe. Now remember, I'm flying over 90 00:07:19,640 --> 00:07:22,680 this at a high level. I don't even know if it's 30,000 91 00:07:22,680 --> 00:07:24,640 feet. We're almost at like 60,000 feet 92 00:07:24,840 --> 00:07:26,760 Here is what we're doing this morning. 93 00:07:26,760 --> 00:07:29,400 So we're just hitting some some big issues here. 94 00:07:30,000 --> 00:07:33,360 The main topics. Then on the 6th day, God created 95 00:07:34,200 --> 00:07:37,680 his crowning achievement. He'd made the sun, moon, the 96 00:07:37,680 --> 00:07:40,760 stars separated the waters from the land. 97 00:07:41,760 --> 00:07:47,640 He filled the waters, He filled the land, but nothing was as 98 00:07:47,640 --> 00:07:55,080 great as mankind. Previously everything was 99 00:07:55,080 --> 00:08:04,160 declared good, but now after he created mankind, it was very 100 00:08:04,360 --> 00:08:08,680 good. So here we have the first 101 00:08:08,680 --> 00:08:14,560 humans, Adam and Eve. We consider the fact that no 102 00:08:14,560 --> 00:08:19,560 other creation accounts depicts a God creating in his own 103 00:08:19,560 --> 00:08:22,080 likeness, but that's what God did. 104 00:08:22,920 --> 00:08:30,720 He created man and woman in his own image In the garden. 105 00:08:30,760 --> 00:08:34,600 Everything was good. Life was complete. 106 00:08:34,640 --> 00:08:40,960 It was full and it was easy. Man would work the garden, but 107 00:08:40,960 --> 00:08:43,799 it would be easy and and it didn't feel laborious. 108 00:08:43,799 --> 00:08:50,200 It didn't feel like work. There was only one rule, and 109 00:08:50,200 --> 00:08:53,720 that was to not eat from the tree of the knowledge of Good 110 00:08:53,760 --> 00:08:58,080 and Evil. Everything's going along fine 111 00:08:58,080 --> 00:09:02,160 until this sneaky, sly serpent entered the scene. 112 00:09:04,000 --> 00:09:07,520 He was naturally rebellious against God, and he wanted to 113 00:09:07,520 --> 00:09:10,600 lead the humans to rebel against God as well. 114 00:09:12,560 --> 00:09:15,920 The serpent was able to deceive them when he called God's words 115 00:09:16,200 --> 00:09:20,720 into question. Did God actually say you shall 116 00:09:20,720 --> 00:09:23,720 not eat of any tree in the garden? 117 00:09:25,440 --> 00:09:29,120 Well, no, that is not what God said. 118 00:09:29,600 --> 00:09:32,320 And Eve told the serpent that that they would die if they 119 00:09:32,320 --> 00:09:35,360 touched the tree. And of course, you know how it 120 00:09:35,360 --> 00:09:39,680 ends. She saw that the tree was good 121 00:09:39,680 --> 00:09:41,680 for food. It looked good as well. 122 00:09:41,680 --> 00:09:45,200 And, and it would make her wise. She gave in to the lust of the 123 00:09:45,200 --> 00:09:48,400 flesh, to the lust of the eyes and the pride of life. 124 00:09:49,320 --> 00:09:53,640 And she took a bite, and then she gave some to Adam. 125 00:09:56,480 --> 00:10:00,880 Before this moment God had decided what was good and right. 126 00:10:02,920 --> 00:10:09,760 But here humanity was deciding what was right and wrong on 127 00:10:09,760 --> 00:10:16,880 their own terms. Instantly everything changed. 128 00:10:18,280 --> 00:10:21,080 The easy relationship between the man and the woman was now 129 00:10:21,080 --> 00:10:23,480 broken. They couldn't trust each other 130 00:10:23,480 --> 00:10:28,560 and and they were now ashamed of their naked bodies and life 131 00:10:28,840 --> 00:10:33,320 became difficult. Sin had significantly changed 132 00:10:33,320 --> 00:10:38,200 the mindset of these humans, even their very own DNA. 133 00:10:38,200 --> 00:10:45,320 As I talked about last week, sin has consequences and death had 134 00:10:45,320 --> 00:10:49,840 entered the world. The relationship with God had 135 00:10:49,840 --> 00:10:52,480 been broken and they were exiled from the Garden. 136 00:10:54,000 --> 00:10:58,880 But not all was lost as God promised to one day defeat the 137 00:10:58,880 --> 00:11:04,280 serpent. Fast forward hundreds of years, 138 00:11:06,480 --> 00:11:13,240 sin has advanced on the earth and Noah was told to build an 139 00:11:13,240 --> 00:11:18,520 ark. People were evil so God planned 140 00:11:18,520 --> 00:11:24,560 to destroy the earth with a flood, performing a hard reset 141 00:11:24,560 --> 00:11:31,400 on humanity if you will. So for 40 days, water poured 142 00:11:31,400 --> 00:11:34,920 forth from the deep and and the heavens opened up. 143 00:11:36,800 --> 00:11:39,240 OK, this reboot should work, right? 144 00:11:41,800 --> 00:11:46,920 Well, not exactly. Even from the first moments, 145 00:11:46,920 --> 00:11:51,680 Noah gets drunk and his son Ham does something sexual to him, 146 00:11:51,920 --> 00:11:54,360 earning a curse for his son Canaan. 147 00:11:54,360 --> 00:12:01,160 And in spite of the restart, sin continued to run rampant. 148 00:12:02,440 --> 00:12:07,760 Pride was on the upswing. A skilled group of laborers 149 00:12:07,760 --> 00:12:12,360 gathered in Babylon and decided, let's build a tower up to the 150 00:12:12,360 --> 00:12:16,560 heavens. But God intervenes. 151 00:12:16,560 --> 00:12:19,320 He humbles them, gives them different languages, and 152 00:12:19,320 --> 00:12:22,800 scatters them all over the known world. 153 00:12:24,440 --> 00:12:27,280 Remember the command was be fruitful, multiply and fill the 154 00:12:27,320 --> 00:12:33,920 earth. And here humanity is, living in 155 00:12:33,920 --> 00:12:37,560 a city confined to one place when they were supposed to be 156 00:12:38,120 --> 00:12:44,680 filling the earth. Despite humanity's evil, God was 157 00:12:44,680 --> 00:12:47,640 determined to bless and rescue the world. 158 00:12:49,760 --> 00:12:52,840 So what does he do? He calls out to an idol 159 00:12:52,840 --> 00:12:57,840 worshipper who's living in what is now southern Iraq. 160 00:12:58,800 --> 00:13:04,000 He says to to Abraham, he says go to a land that I will show 161 00:13:04,000 --> 00:13:07,280 you. So Abraham doesn't even know 162 00:13:08,000 --> 00:13:14,680 where he's going, but he was obedient and in faith he 163 00:13:14,680 --> 00:13:20,440 responded to God's promise. God had planned to rescue 164 00:13:20,440 --> 00:13:24,360 humanity through Abraham, so he made a covenant with him, and he 165 00:13:24,360 --> 00:13:27,480 said he would give Abraham a land. 166 00:13:29,320 --> 00:13:34,720 And he also says, I'm going to make of you a great nation. 167 00:13:36,320 --> 00:13:41,520 You have many, many, many descendants, and I'm going to 168 00:13:41,520 --> 00:13:48,360 bless the people of the world through you. 169 00:13:48,360 --> 00:13:51,840 Abraham had become the father of our faith, but he, like others 170 00:13:51,840 --> 00:13:58,920 before him, was deeply flawed. Twice he betrays his wife 171 00:13:58,920 --> 00:14:04,840 claiming she was his sister, which was 1/2 truth. 172 00:14:04,840 --> 00:14:09,120 It wasn't entirely true. Yes, in a way she was his 173 00:14:09,120 --> 00:14:15,400 sister, but she was also his wife, and he didn't want to 174 00:14:15,480 --> 00:14:19,000 acknowledge that for fear of their lives. 175 00:14:19,840 --> 00:14:23,640 He also slept with his wife's maid, Hagar, in order to 176 00:14:23,880 --> 00:14:27,360 conceive the child that was promised to he and Sarah. 177 00:14:29,160 --> 00:14:34,680 Abraham trusted God's promise, and this faith was what made him 178 00:14:34,680 --> 00:14:41,040 righteous. But here he took matters into 179 00:14:41,040 --> 00:14:44,440 his own hands and actually created a separate line of 180 00:14:44,440 --> 00:14:47,280 people. And this separate line of people 181 00:14:47,280 --> 00:14:53,400 was not the people through whom God wanted to pass on His 182 00:14:53,400 --> 00:14:56,440 blessing. It was not the people that God 183 00:14:56,600 --> 00:14:59,560 had sovereignly chosen to be His. 184 00:15:02,760 --> 00:15:07,000 It wasn't until 25 years after God had promised them a child 185 00:15:07,480 --> 00:15:12,880 that Sarah conceived and gave birth to Isaac the child. 186 00:15:13,240 --> 00:15:18,160 A promise. When he was born, Sarah was 19, 187 00:15:18,160 --> 00:15:23,480 Abraham was 100, both well past the age of producing an heir. 188 00:15:23,880 --> 00:15:27,400 But this was God's awesome power at work. 189 00:15:29,560 --> 00:15:32,320 The story about Isaac, which people are most familiar with 190 00:15:32,320 --> 00:15:36,000 happened when he was maybe 17/18/1920. 191 00:15:36,000 --> 00:15:40,040 We don't know exactly, but God told Abraham to take Isaac, the 192 00:15:40,040 --> 00:15:46,920 son of promise, up on the mountain and to offer Isaac as a 193 00:15:46,920 --> 00:15:55,000 sacrifice of worship. It's important to understand 194 00:15:55,000 --> 00:15:58,960 Isaac's age. I think it's easy for us to 195 00:15:58,960 --> 00:16:02,760 think, oh, this, this was a little boy. 196 00:16:02,760 --> 00:16:06,080 He was 567. He was just carrying some sticks 197 00:16:06,080 --> 00:16:11,400 up up the mountain, just trying to help out his daddy, oblivious 198 00:16:11,400 --> 00:16:16,680 to to what was going on and the need for a sacrifice. 199 00:16:18,440 --> 00:16:24,720 Yet this was not the case. Teenage young man Isaac knew 200 00:16:25,080 --> 00:16:28,120 what was happening. He certainly didn't have to lay 201 00:16:28,120 --> 00:16:34,720 down on the altar that this 115 year old man told him to get on. 202 00:16:36,880 --> 00:16:48,200 He could have walked, but he was obedient and an Angel interrupts 203 00:16:48,200 --> 00:16:54,320 the moment and God provides a ram for the sacrifice. 204 00:16:57,840 --> 00:17:04,280 Many years later, Isaac is 60. His wife Rebecca gave birth to 205 00:17:04,280 --> 00:17:11,440 twins Jacob and Esau. Jacob means heel catcher and is 206 00:17:11,440 --> 00:17:15,920 figuratively figuratively interpreted to mean deceiver. 207 00:17:16,880 --> 00:17:21,920 This character trait actually becomes a hallmark of his life. 208 00:17:23,640 --> 00:17:26,839 He stole his older brother brother's birthright by tricking 209 00:17:26,839 --> 00:17:31,200 his old blind father Isaac. The identity of this man in 210 00:17:31,200 --> 00:17:34,880 front of him. Are you sure you're Esau? 211 00:17:38,680 --> 00:17:43,080 Jacob's mother had helped him soul, so he is working to 212 00:17:43,280 --> 00:17:48,320 convince Isaac. Yes, I'm Esau, feel my arms. 213 00:17:50,400 --> 00:17:58,760 I'm Esau your oldest. Sure, Jacob got the birthright, 214 00:17:59,920 --> 00:18:03,280 but he knew it wasn't safe for him to stay, so he fled to his 215 00:18:03,280 --> 00:18:07,000 Uncle Laban's house. It was there that Jacob got a 216 00:18:07,000 --> 00:18:13,520 taste of his own medicine, as he was cheated out of 14 years of 217 00:18:13,520 --> 00:18:19,920 his life. He'd fallen in love with Rachel, 218 00:18:19,920 --> 00:18:24,560 but he was subsequently tricked into marrying her older sister 219 00:18:24,560 --> 00:18:29,200 Leah instead. And Laban also tried to cheat 220 00:18:29,200 --> 00:18:33,920 Jacob out of any prophets. However, God was constantly on 221 00:18:33,920 --> 00:18:37,000 Jacob's side and working to bless him. 222 00:18:40,160 --> 00:18:45,560 Jacob essentially ends up with four wives, 2 actual wives, +2 223 00:18:45,840 --> 00:18:50,200 concubines and there is a competition that ensues to see 224 00:18:50,200 --> 00:18:56,760 who can have the most children. And he's able through these four 225 00:18:56,760 --> 00:19:02,480 women's to four women to produce 12 sons, the favoured 2 of 226 00:19:02,480 --> 00:19:06,800 course coming from his favoured wife Rachel. 227 00:19:09,080 --> 00:19:12,920 When Jacob finally returned back to Canaan, he had an interesting 228 00:19:12,920 --> 00:19:18,760 encounter with an Angel. It seems this was likely a pre 229 00:19:18,760 --> 00:19:22,240 Incarnate version of Jesus says the words used to describe this 230 00:19:22,240 --> 00:19:30,560 being are ish, which is the word for a man, and L which is a word 231 00:19:30,560 --> 00:19:35,960 for God. This was the God man that Jacob 232 00:19:35,960 --> 00:19:39,680 wrestled with it and he was adamant about being blessed. 233 00:19:41,720 --> 00:19:45,280 He won and he received his blessing, but not until his hip 234 00:19:45,480 --> 00:19:51,680 had been taken out of socket by the God man and his name is 235 00:19:51,680 --> 00:19:54,400 changed on the spot. And Jacob would no longer be 236 00:19:54,400 --> 00:20:00,520 called a deceiver, but rather he would now be called Israel, one 237 00:20:00,520 --> 00:20:03,360 who struggles or strives with God. 238 00:20:04,760 --> 00:20:10,120 And in this moment, God's people receive a name. 239 00:20:10,960 --> 00:20:13,760 They are now the people of Israel. 240 00:20:16,760 --> 00:20:21,840 While Jacob had twelve sons, it was one in particular who was 241 00:20:21,840 --> 00:20:26,080 most special to him. The oldest son of his favored 242 00:20:26,080 --> 00:20:30,280 wife, Rachel. This was Joseph, and you're all 243 00:20:30,280 --> 00:20:33,640 familiar with his Technicolor dreamcoats. 244 00:20:36,800 --> 00:20:40,480 He was a bit presumptuous and and proud as a young teen. 245 00:20:41,720 --> 00:20:45,160 He even had the audacity to tell his older brothers that one day 246 00:20:45,160 --> 00:20:49,720 they would bow down to him. I don't know of any brothers who 247 00:20:49,720 --> 00:20:53,200 want to hear, oh, you're going to bow down to me someday. 248 00:20:56,360 --> 00:21:02,480 So they concocted a plan to kill their father's favorite son, the 249 00:21:02,480 --> 00:21:05,240 oldest brother. Ruben, though, felt a little 250 00:21:05,240 --> 00:21:08,880 guilty about the plan, so he thought it would be better to 251 00:21:08,880 --> 00:21:12,040 just sell Joseph off into slavery. 252 00:21:12,320 --> 00:21:19,520 You see, this would get Joseph out of their lives, and they 253 00:21:19,520 --> 00:21:22,400 wouldn't have to live with the guilt of actually having killed 254 00:21:22,400 --> 00:21:26,520 him. So they sold Joseph into 255 00:21:26,520 --> 00:21:30,800 slavery. They took his coats, put an 256 00:21:30,800 --> 00:21:35,680 animal's blood on it, and sent it back to their father, Jacob. 257 00:21:38,760 --> 00:21:41,360 There are many ups and downs in Joseph's life. 258 00:21:43,360 --> 00:21:48,840 God's hand was clearly on him, and everything he touched turned 259 00:21:49,000 --> 00:21:52,600 to gold. Potiphar was captain of 260 00:21:52,600 --> 00:21:55,720 Pharaoh's garden. Joseph became his slave, leading 261 00:21:55,720 --> 00:21:59,320 to Potiphar's prosperity under the virtuous Joseph. 262 00:22:00,360 --> 00:22:03,760 Unfortunately, Potiphar's wife was not so virtuous, and when 263 00:22:03,760 --> 00:22:06,640 she tried to seduce Joseph, he ran. 264 00:22:07,760 --> 00:22:11,080 She wasn't pleased with this, so she claimed he tried to rape 265 00:22:11,080 --> 00:22:14,240 her, leading to Joseph's imprisonment. 266 00:22:16,600 --> 00:22:22,600 A lot transpires in prison, but it all culminated in his ability 267 00:22:22,600 --> 00:22:29,080 to interpret Pharaoh's dreams. God was active and working in 268 00:22:29,080 --> 00:22:35,040 Joseph's life, causing him to be elevated to #2 in the nation of 269 00:22:35,040 --> 00:22:40,720 Egypt. God had used Joseph's gift to 270 00:22:40,720 --> 00:22:44,840 save the Egyptians from famine, as well as Joseph's own family 271 00:22:44,840 --> 00:22:47,040 who came to Egypt in search of food. 272 00:22:48,720 --> 00:22:55,440 And Joseph's story is powerful. Pride, betrayal, death, 273 00:22:56,240 --> 00:23:01,120 injustice, reward, reconciliation and restoration. 274 00:23:03,880 --> 00:23:06,960 The great grandchildren of Abraham have performed this 275 00:23:06,960 --> 00:23:12,560 heinous act of selling their brother into slavery, but God 276 00:23:13,280 --> 00:23:17,280 transforms their evil act into something good. 277 00:23:20,080 --> 00:23:22,720 We see this all through the Genesis narrative. 278 00:23:23,480 --> 00:23:30,200 Humans doing something evil and God turning it for good. 279 00:23:34,240 --> 00:23:36,000 So what's the importance of all this? 280 00:23:36,760 --> 00:23:41,320 Is it even relevant to us today, these things that happened 281 00:23:41,600 --> 00:23:49,720 thousands of years ago? Well, obviously, yes, it is very 282 00:23:49,720 --> 00:23:54,160 relevant. That is why I have chosen this 283 00:23:54,160 --> 00:23:59,240 book for our first book study. The first thing we learn from 284 00:23:59,240 --> 00:24:03,040 Genesis has to do with cosmology. 285 00:24:04,880 --> 00:24:09,720 Genesis teaches us about the origins of the universe. 286 00:24:10,120 --> 00:24:19,890 This is cosmology. How did this world get here? 287 00:24:21,320 --> 00:24:24,920 There's a lot of there's a lot of debate about this even in 288 00:24:25,000 --> 00:24:28,360 Christian circles, and we'll talk about this some later. 289 00:24:29,240 --> 00:24:33,000 Did God create the world in six literal 24 hour time periods? 290 00:24:33,240 --> 00:24:37,680 6 literal days, or or are the days analogous to ages of time? 291 00:24:38,640 --> 00:24:42,720 Christians have been debating this for a long time. 292 00:24:44,400 --> 00:24:47,960 What we can absolutely, unequivocally state without a 293 00:24:47,960 --> 00:24:51,080 doubt is that God created it all. 294 00:24:52,480 --> 00:24:57,400 No amount of time can account for the onset of the universe 295 00:24:59,160 --> 00:25:06,080 without something to 'cause it. How did it all come to be? 296 00:25:08,040 --> 00:25:12,840 The origins of the cosmos came about by God's very own words. 297 00:25:13,120 --> 00:25:18,120 He spoke. God spoke and created it all. 298 00:25:20,040 --> 00:25:23,840 The opening lines of Genesis tell us there was no order in 299 00:25:23,840 --> 00:25:27,680 the world. Everything was wild and waste. 300 00:25:27,680 --> 00:25:31,320 But our Creator God spoke into the void and and he ordered it 301 00:25:31,480 --> 00:25:36,400 appropriately. In theology terms, we say that 302 00:25:36,720 --> 00:25:42,560 God created X Niallo, that is, he created out of nothing. 303 00:25:44,760 --> 00:25:50,040 So God spoke and created it all. Then Genesis also teaches us 304 00:25:51,480 --> 00:25:55,320 about anthropology. We're we're going to school this 305 00:25:55,320 --> 00:25:58,760 morning, in case you didn't already realize, it teaches us 306 00:25:58,760 --> 00:26:01,840 about anthropology, about humanity. 307 00:26:04,440 --> 00:26:06,480 There are two main categories of anthropology. 308 00:26:06,480 --> 00:26:10,800 There's the biological aspect of anthropology as well as the 309 00:26:10,800 --> 00:26:15,800 cultural aspects. Anthropology that means that is 310 00:26:15,800 --> 00:26:19,960 our archaeology, things that humans build and make, as well 311 00:26:19,960 --> 00:26:24,520 as their language. But more than simply answering 312 00:26:24,520 --> 00:26:28,120 the question of where life came from, Genesis also answers the 313 00:26:28,120 --> 00:26:32,600 three big questions of life that I mentioned early this summer. 314 00:26:33,640 --> 00:26:36,240 You may recall. Where did I come from? 315 00:26:36,600 --> 00:26:39,840 The meaning of human origins is a bit more personal when it's 316 00:26:39,840 --> 00:26:42,880 viewed through the lens of Genesis. 317 00:26:43,120 --> 00:26:49,120 Why am I here? What's what's my purpose, and 318 00:26:49,120 --> 00:26:55,920 where am I going? Is there an afterlife or is this 319 00:26:57,120 --> 00:27:00,200 all there is? Because if this is all there is, 320 00:27:02,120 --> 00:27:03,840 throw the chains off. Do whatever you want. 321 00:27:04,920 --> 00:27:12,840 Live life without restraints. Genesis provides the answers the 322 00:27:12,840 --> 00:27:17,160 world needs. Secular humanism answers that 323 00:27:17,160 --> 00:27:19,120 question with Darwinian evolution. 324 00:27:19,120 --> 00:27:22,240 If your answer to the question of origins is evolutionary 325 00:27:22,240 --> 00:27:27,680 processes, then the answer to the second question, why am I 326 00:27:27,680 --> 00:27:30,560 here? Will leave you wanting. 327 00:27:32,920 --> 00:27:36,920 Our purpose is derived from our origins. 328 00:27:37,280 --> 00:27:42,760 If humanity is simply an exalted ape, then humanity has no 329 00:27:43,040 --> 00:27:48,080 intrinsic value or purpose. Where am I going? 330 00:27:49,680 --> 00:27:53,080 Genesis points to the answer to that question as well. 331 00:27:54,160 --> 00:27:59,360 On page three, we get a glimmer of hope for humanity, knowing 332 00:27:59,360 --> 00:28:02,160 the serpent will receive a mortal blow and things will be 333 00:28:02,160 --> 00:28:08,600 made right. As Christians, we also believe 334 00:28:08,600 --> 00:28:12,160 that humanity is more than just what we do. 335 00:28:12,160 --> 00:28:16,040 The things we make, people, we marry, the language we use. 336 00:28:17,520 --> 00:28:23,280 We also believe that humans have greater value than the rest of 337 00:28:23,280 --> 00:28:25,640 creation. And the reason for this is 338 00:28:25,640 --> 00:28:29,480 because we were created in God's image. 339 00:28:31,120 --> 00:28:39,520 We were created in God's image, where unique representations of 340 00:28:39,680 --> 00:28:43,400 God's nature and and to be created in God's image means 341 00:28:43,560 --> 00:28:47,120 that we reflect both his character and his authority on 342 00:28:47,120 --> 00:28:50,880 earth. So those next blanks are to 343 00:28:50,880 --> 00:28:56,360 reflect God's character and to be representatives of God's 344 00:28:56,680 --> 00:29:00,280 rule. It's our task to to harness 345 00:29:00,280 --> 00:29:05,400 creation's potential and to use it for God's good and God's 346 00:29:05,680 --> 00:29:10,760 purposes. Now, it's natural for us to 347 00:29:10,760 --> 00:29:15,840 think of Genesis as as telling our story, telling humanity's 348 00:29:15,840 --> 00:29:21,520 story. But it's not telling our story. 349 00:29:23,080 --> 00:29:30,040 Genesis is history. Generous Genesis is his story. 350 00:29:31,040 --> 00:29:36,440 Genesis teaches us theology. It teaches us about God. 351 00:29:38,640 --> 00:29:43,120 He's the focal point of this book, not us. 352 00:29:44,800 --> 00:29:47,880 It's important to learn about God and who he actually is. 353 00:29:49,480 --> 00:29:54,200 You see, today there's a tendency to redefine God. 354 00:29:55,840 --> 00:30:03,880 And when people describe God, God actually sounds a lot like 355 00:30:04,400 --> 00:30:07,640 them. He acts like them, he thinks 356 00:30:07,640 --> 00:30:10,560 like them. He he's a God fashion basically 357 00:30:10,560 --> 00:30:15,080 in their own image and consequently that God doesn't 358 00:30:15,080 --> 00:30:23,560 ask anything of them. But in the pages of Genesis and 359 00:30:23,800 --> 00:30:29,240 and scripture you see who God really is. 360 00:30:31,880 --> 00:30:38,080 Genesis reveals God to be pre existence all powerful creator. 361 00:30:38,880 --> 00:30:43,560 He is the pre-existing all powerful creator and scripture 362 00:30:43,720 --> 00:30:46,200 is the revelation of God himself. 363 00:30:46,360 --> 00:30:48,680 It's not only God disclosing truth to us. 364 00:30:48,680 --> 00:30:55,080 Yes, scripture is truth, but it's God actually revealing 365 00:30:55,200 --> 00:31:01,480 himself to us. Genesis 11 says in the 366 00:31:01,480 --> 00:31:06,880 beginning, God. If we're not careful, we'll only 367 00:31:06,880 --> 00:31:11,000 catch the latter part of that verse, which is God created the 368 00:31:11,000 --> 00:31:14,840 heavens and the earth. While it's important to know 369 00:31:14,840 --> 00:31:18,200 that God is the source of all creation, this verse also tells 370 00:31:18,200 --> 00:31:24,080 us the Creator God. He was around before it all 371 00:31:24,800 --> 00:31:28,840 began. He's the unmoved mover that 372 00:31:28,840 --> 00:31:33,440 Aristotle speaks of, the one who caused all to function and move 373 00:31:33,520 --> 00:31:38,000 as intended without himself being moved. 374 00:31:38,120 --> 00:31:41,520 He is consistent. He is unchanging. 375 00:31:44,600 --> 00:31:47,480 As we further look at what Genesis teaches us about God, we 376 00:31:47,480 --> 00:31:53,480 see his justice. We learned that God is just. 377 00:31:55,400 --> 00:31:59,960 This means that he's concerned for the marginalized as well As 378 00:31:59,960 --> 00:32:05,280 for the need to punish sin. Those who walk in disobedience 379 00:32:05,280 --> 00:32:08,080 receive what they deserve. Adam and Eve were kicked out of 380 00:32:08,080 --> 00:32:11,000 the garden after they sinned. Cain, after killing his brother 381 00:32:11,000 --> 00:32:14,320 Abel, was exiled in the ground, cursed for farming. 382 00:32:14,560 --> 00:32:17,480 Noah's generation lost their lives when they lived in open 383 00:32:17,480 --> 00:32:21,440 rebellion against God and mocked the man who was obedient to 384 00:32:21,440 --> 00:32:28,920 God's commands. But there's a positive side to 385 00:32:28,920 --> 00:32:34,200 justice as well. The good are rewarded. 386 00:32:34,960 --> 00:32:39,520 Abel's sacrifice was accepted, Enoch walked with God, Noah was 387 00:32:39,520 --> 00:32:44,000 chosen to relaunch humanity, and Abraham's obedience was rewarded 388 00:32:44,120 --> 00:32:47,760 with being declared righteous when he followed God's call and 389 00:32:47,760 --> 00:32:56,360 became the father to a nation. We also see that God is 390 00:32:56,360 --> 00:33:01,080 faithful. God is faithful. 391 00:33:01,400 --> 00:33:04,840 He's faithful to keep his promises, and we see him making 392 00:33:04,840 --> 00:33:09,080 covenants with his flawed followers, Noah and Abraham. 393 00:33:12,000 --> 00:33:16,440 His people will sin, but he remains committed to them 394 00:33:17,080 --> 00:33:23,880 through it all. Lastly, the last area of study 395 00:33:23,880 --> 00:33:28,520 that we see is soteriology. Soteriology. 396 00:33:29,200 --> 00:33:33,360 Genesis teaches us about salvation. 397 00:33:36,760 --> 00:33:40,440 The Greek word for salvation is sotair, so we call the study of 398 00:33:40,440 --> 00:33:45,760 salvation soteriology. What's the basis for salvation? 399 00:33:48,080 --> 00:33:52,120 How is it that God would even seek to save us? 400 00:33:53,440 --> 00:34:00,320 Genesis provides the answer for these questions and before we 401 00:34:00,320 --> 00:34:03,280 fully close out the message, I'm going to ask the worship team to 402 00:34:03,280 --> 00:34:10,400 come on up. I know this is different, but 403 00:34:10,400 --> 00:34:13,080 you see, it's only appropriate when we're talking about 404 00:34:13,080 --> 00:34:21,040 salvation naturally takes us to sitting at the Lord's table. 405 00:34:22,920 --> 00:34:28,280 So if you haven't received grabbed the communion elements, 406 00:34:30,760 --> 00:34:33,360 we have them available. Raise your hand if you would 407 00:34:33,360 --> 00:34:37,840 like to receive have not already received, we have Brendan, 408 00:34:38,159 --> 00:34:44,880 Brendan in the booth there. Anyone else? 409 00:34:44,920 --> 00:34:49,000 Just raise your hand and Anita will get those for you. 410 00:34:57,760 --> 00:35:16,750 Anybody else? So God's grace and mercy are on 411 00:35:16,750 --> 00:35:21,790 full display all throughout this book as we routinely see broken, 412 00:35:21,790 --> 00:35:26,990 flawed, sinful people being used for His purposes. 413 00:35:29,190 --> 00:35:32,510 The Sinner isn't automatically cast off, but rather is offered 414 00:35:32,510 --> 00:35:35,590 a second chance of third chance, and so on. 415 00:35:38,560 --> 00:35:42,760 God's grace was on Cain when he when he received a mark in order 416 00:35:42,760 --> 00:35:44,960 to prevent him from being killed. 417 00:35:46,880 --> 00:35:50,800 God's grace was on Sarah when, in her old age, she doubted 418 00:35:50,800 --> 00:35:54,920 God's provision of a child. God's grace pours through the 419 00:35:54,920 --> 00:36:02,160 pages of this book. In fact, God's grace shows up 420 00:36:02,200 --> 00:36:09,000 just as quickly as sin does. In Genesis 36, the woman sinned, 421 00:36:09,200 --> 00:36:16,480 and in a mere 9 verses later in verse 15, a foreshadowing of 422 00:36:16,480 --> 00:36:24,400 God's grace is revealed. God says to the serpent, I will 423 00:36:24,400 --> 00:36:28,240 put enmity between you and the woman and between your offspring 424 00:36:28,560 --> 00:36:31,720 and her offspring. He shall bruise your head, and 425 00:36:31,720 --> 00:36:37,880 you shall bruise his heel. The serpent Satan bruised the 426 00:36:37,880 --> 00:36:42,240 heel of humanity, striking A superficial blow to Jesus on the 427 00:36:42,240 --> 00:36:46,200 cross. But Satan didn't get the last 428 00:36:46,200 --> 00:36:49,560 word. It's God who got the last word 429 00:36:49,560 --> 00:36:52,360 when Jesus conquered sin and the grave. 430 00:36:53,800 --> 00:36:56,960 We call this the proto evangelion. 431 00:36:57,360 --> 00:37:02,160 This is the first gospel, or the first good news. 432 00:37:05,560 --> 00:37:10,000 God longs to redeem humanity from the penalty of sin, to make 433 00:37:10,000 --> 00:37:16,760 things right, and in fact, the blood of Jesus is pouring 434 00:37:16,760 --> 00:37:22,520 through this book. When Adam and Eve sinned, an 435 00:37:22,520 --> 00:37:25,920 animal paid the price and was killed to provide covering for 436 00:37:25,920 --> 00:37:29,400 these sinners whose relationship with God had just been broken. 437 00:37:30,680 --> 00:37:34,760 When Abraham took the teenage teenager Isaac up on the 438 00:37:34,760 --> 00:37:39,760 mountain to offer him as a sacrifice, God provided a ram, a 439 00:37:39,760 --> 00:37:42,840 way out. Joseph, who seemed to live a 440 00:37:42,840 --> 00:37:50,040 very virtuous life, suffered but proved to be the physical savior 441 00:37:50,040 --> 00:37:58,600 of his family and the Egyptians. God's grace, Mercy and salvation 442 00:37:58,600 --> 00:38:02,720 are demonstrated over and over again in this book. 443 00:38:04,680 --> 00:38:09,240 Without this book we miss the meaning of what happens in Jesus 444 00:38:09,240 --> 00:38:12,680 life later in the New Testaments. 445 00:38:14,920 --> 00:38:27,240 The prototype is here set. Sin has a cost, and the cost has 446 00:38:27,240 --> 00:38:32,720 to be paid. This morning we can approach 447 00:38:32,720 --> 00:38:39,960 this time at the Lord's table because Jesus paid that cost. 448 00:38:42,440 --> 00:38:45,720 God's justice doles out a penalty for our sin. 449 00:38:46,200 --> 00:38:51,920 Jesus stepped up to pay the price we couldn't pay. 450 00:38:53,240 --> 00:39:00,160 He bore our sin in Himself on the cross, and because He paid 451 00:39:00,160 --> 00:39:06,320 the price, we are now made new in Him. 452 00:39:10,080 --> 00:39:15,080 This is the glorious, marvellous truth that because Jesus Christ 453 00:39:17,240 --> 00:39:25,920 paid all of our debt, we are now made new. 454 00:39:28,720 --> 00:39:32,280 We're not the same old thing that we were, but we have been 455 00:39:32,280 --> 00:39:37,440 completely transformed by Jesus Christ.