Essentials Of The Faith / Sunday Morning Sermon Series / Genesis

Introduction 09/16/01

INTRO: Genesis, the 'Book of Beginnings'. If we could  come to this book and sermon series as if we were hearing about it for the very first time, we would come each week with breathless anticipation. We will learn of the origins of all things in a totally different way than you usually hear in school or society. We will begin with a Sovereign God who created the world, places everything in order, and then pronounces it very good! We will find out who we are and why we are here.

     Many people are  in mental institutions because they don't have a true understanding of who they are or why they are here. I know, as a therapist, I have seen and tried to help them. But this lack of understanding of who we are and why we are here has other ways it is demonstrated. At 8:45 Tuesday morning, September 11th life in the US was dramatically changed.

     As I watched the TV, and spoke to many people struck by this horrible tragedy, they all had the same questions...Why did this happen? How can people be so evil and why does God allow this. One answer, I believe, can be found in the study of the Book of Genesis.

     Does anyone remember the 1977 miniseries and book 'Roots'? It was based on the authors study of his families African-American origin, traced back through slavery in the US to his African homeland. with a 66% share, Roots had become the most watched TV show ever. It had also stirred a desire in thousands of Americans to search for their own roots as seen by the flood of requests made yearly to the National Archives in Washington DC. Even colleges and universities began to offer courses on finding ones roots. One reason for the popularity of Roots is that it discovered that a sense of personal dignity can be found by tracing your origins.

     That was then and this is 30yrs later. The reason all this is important is because today our world culture is the NOW generation. Our connection and interest in our 'origins' for the most part  has been lost... 'you only go  around once in life' you should live it to its fullest. If it is true that the search for our origin gives us a heightened sense of dignity, then when we forget or avoid where we came from we look for dignity in ourselves, ideals and causes...and we are misled.

     Let me ask a question. What are your origins? What are your Roots? German American, African American, Irish American, Phillipino American... I want to tell you that your real roots are not found in Germany, Africa, Ireland, or the Phillipines.  That is the shortsightedness of worldliness, the pride of self....that is dependence upon humanity and it can contribute to sin. You see, when we search for our roots, we never go back far enough. Our true roots go back much further than the country of our ancestors, they go back to Genesis, back to the Garden, back to Adam and Eve. We are all one family with the same beginning...but we have forgotten that at best and rejected it at worse. And we saw on Tuesday what the worse can look like.

     The Prime Minister of England on Tuesday afternoon said that this terrorist attack was done by those who have no belief in the sanctity of human life. He was so true. Where there is no understanding of or interest in the origins of humanity,  life ceases to have meaning and can be therefore be tragically taken w/o a sense of guilt. When people think only of their own  nationalist pride, of their own cultural and yes even religious heritage and they think it is the only right and therefor only true way to live, they begin to believe that everyone else is expendable, and must be purged from humanity, if they cant or wont be like them.
 
    But this is not new. (remember the Holocaust) The terrorist attack on Tuesday should not surprise us. It should shock us, but not surprise us because God's Word tells us why this happens. I have received numerous calls this week asking why God allowed this terrorist attack to happen. The pain in their voice was real.  Their questions are not an indication of a lack of trust in God or His plan but an honest bewilderment concerning these events in the big picture.

     My answer to the many heartfelt questions goes first to the book of Romans and then back to Genesis.

Rom. 1:20-32

     This is where terrorism fits in. This is why there are mass murderers, serial killers. This is why there are those who sell killer drugs to children, why young children are kidnapped and murdered.

        ...God gave them over to a depraved mind to do those things which are not proper...

     Where there is no recognition of  the One True God there is no guilt.

Gen. 1:1
     Where there is no recognition of  the one True God, there is no responsibility to His  authority, there is no respect of human life...there is only the individual.  And there is great capacity for sin and evil, even in one individual.

Rom. 2:2  'And we know that the judgment of God rightly falls upon those who practice such things'

     God will judge those responsible for this atrocity, this horrific evil...he has done it in the past, as we will see in the book of Genesis.

Rom. 12:19  'Vengeance Is mine, I will repay, says the Lord'.

     This is not a political statement of whether we should or should not retaliate against those involved. It is meant to say that God has promised....Evil will not go unpunished.

 We need to keep the families of those injured and killed in our prayers.
 We need to pray for the safety and success of the rescue workers.
 We need to give aid where we can.
 And we need to tell people about the truth of Genesis when we are given opportunity...Which is

     We, inhabitants of the world have roots that go back to Genesis..back to the Garden, back to Adam and Eve. We are all related, we are one world family, important to God and therefore to one another. Our dignity and worth is found in our relationship with the God of Creation, not in our religious, ethnic or national heritage.

Trans: Let's take a look at the Book which speaks clearly and loudly about that God.

I. Background of Genesis

     During a halftime pep talk to his discouraged team, Coach Vince Lombardi held up a pigskin and said "This is a football'. Their performance had been so bad that he had to take them back to square one. He knew what all competent people have had to know: if you want to succeed, you have to know and master the basics. Basics are fundamental truths that are the foundation for the decisions we make, the values we cherish and the goals we try to reach.

     If you are wondering why there's so much confusion and destruction in today's world, one reason might be is because people are ignoring or rejecting the basics.

Trans: Franklin Graham, interview on Friday by NBC said that we as a nation, as a world, must go back to the foundation, the basics of our relationship with God. What are some of the basics?
 

   A. Author
     The author of the Book of Genesis is Moses. How do we know? Jewish tradition has always said Moses wrote it. But even more important that that, Jesus in the Gospels said on numerous occasions that Moses wrote it. (lk. 24:27; Jn 1:45, 5:46)

    B. Date
     It is believed that Moses wrote Genesis by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit during Israel's Wilderness experience.

   C. Title
     The Hebrew word 'Bereshith'  translated by the Greek word  'Genesis' in English it means origin, basics...beginings.
    Beginnings of what?...Overhead

Trans: Genesis is the Book of Beginnings. But how are those Beginnings laid out? What is the structure of the Book?

II. Structure of Genesis
    A. Outline
     There are numerous outlines for the Book of Genesis. Here are just a few.

Over Head

Genesis 1:1-11:29      'The Sovereign Call of God'
Genesis 11:30-25:18  'The Embraced Call of God'
Genesis 25:19-36:43  'The Conflicted Call of God'
Genesis 37:1-50:26    'The Hidden Call of God'

     These 4 calls must be understood together. They affirm that God has formed the world to be His world and a special community of people to be His people as witnesses to His world.  These calls are central to our understanding of the book of Genesis. It announces to all the special character of God as the one who calls...and it is humanity who must answer His call and follow.

    B. Relationship to the Bible
     Genesis is the fundamental  book of the Bible and the rest of Scripture is built upon it. Genesis is referred to over 200 times in the NT which shows it's importance to the Christian. There is the reappearing of some of the very scenes and figures of the earliest chapters of Genesis in the book of Revelation.

Overhead.

Trans:  A final introductory question to the Book of Genesis is, why was it written? What is it's purpose. Well we already said it is to give us the basics, the foundational ideals and truths of life. But there is also Historical, Practical and theological reasons for the writing of this most important book.

III. Purpose of Genesis
    A. Historical
     Historically,  Genesis was written to strengthen Israel's faith and trust in God. Israel had just come out of 430 yrs of slavery in Egypt and they were suffering through the wilderness journey. Genesis reassured them that they were God's chosen people.
But, Genesis doesn't tell us everything we want to know about creation and the history of mankind. Genesis is history from God's perspective. It focuses on His acts as they bear on His plan to redeem mankind from their sin. Make no doubt, Genesis is history. It is not myth or legend or made up stories with inspired morals. That is why there is all those genealogies. It is proof that these people and events really happened.

    B. Practical
     Practically, Genesis was written to show us our common roots, our common heritage. We are connected to one another through the creation account.  Through the very real people of Adam and Eve. It is in Genesis that we lay the foundation for our lifestyles as Christians. Why Genesis? Because if you  throw out Genesis then we don't know where the world came from.

    Throw out Genesis and there is no God.
    Throw out Genesis and there is no sin. No sin, no guilt and we get tragedies like the terrorist attacks on NY and Washing DC.
    No sin, no need for salvation. No salvation, no need for Jesus. No Jesus and there is no need to live like Him....and every man does what is right in his own eyes.
     Remove Genesis and Satan can breath a sigh of relief because he has nothing else to worry about. Our lives and lifestyles will be his and not Christs.

    C. Theological
    To know Genesis is to know the fundamental truths, the theological basics about...
         -God
         -Mankind
         -the human family
         -the Covenant or God's wonderful promises to mankind
         -Sin and the origins of evil
         -death
         -mercy and grace seen in redemption
         -justification by faith
         -Sovereign Election
         -Divine Judgment

 All written in narrative form so we can understand them. All found in the Book of Genesis.

Conclusion
 The late, Dr. James  Boice in his commentary on Genesis says this...

 Dr. D.A. Carson wrote a book called 'The Gagging of God: Christianity Confronts Pluralism' It is an examination of our modern culture and explores how Christians can speak of the grace of God in Christ to a generation that has rejected the very categories that we speak.

     This generation has no place for the truth claims of Scripture and if we tell them that God loves them and has a wonderful plan for their lives...well why not? They are worth loving and are entitled to a wonderful plan. And they have a wonderful plan for their lives as well. As far as Jesus being the savior of the world is concerned, that's OK too. As long as we do not deny there are other equally valid saviors.

     What Carson and Boice are saying is that we speak a different language today. The world is becoming increasingly more pagan and ignorant of even the  most basic Christian terms and ideals. We need to speak a language that they can understand if we are going to win them to the kingdom. That language is found in Genesis.

     God, man, sin, death, grace, salvation, life...are all clearly presented in Genesis.
To speak the  language of Genesis...we need to study the Book. I believe by studying this book your faith in God will grow and your ability to talk about Him to others who don't believe will be enlarged.

 Next week, we go Back to Genesis.