Tag: Genesis

Ancestors

Re:Verse reading–Genesis 11:10-32 (day six)

Did you know that Shem is one of our spiritual forefathers? It’s true. The line of Shem runs straight to Jesus, and then extends to His church. This genealogy is a reminder that God is at work fulfilling what He has promised- the destruction of sin and death, and the restoration of humanity. We are the recipients of that fulfilled promise through Jesus, while God is also completing His Kingdom work through us . We are the light of the world, salt of the earth, image bearers of the glory of God displayed in us through the Gospel.

We share in a rich heritage of Kingdom fulfillment! Here is the exciting news, the church by the power of the Gospel will conclude what God started so long ago!

Own your spiritual heritage! Continue the Gospel work!

Invitation into Bigness

Re:Verse reading–Genesis 10 (day six)

God is engaged in both the big and small of history. Genesis 10 is a keen reminder of that truth. He is always advancing the bigness of His Kingdom, while “walking” with the small, i.e. Enoch. But it is the bigness that God wants us to see here; that He is a God of nations not only the individual. This is an important reminder for us. In a culture that epitomizes the individual (even Church culture), God reminds us not to lose sight of what he is doing in the world by being enamored by the self. Even more he invites us, indeed commands us, out of our enamored-self into the bigness of his Kingdom work. It’s a blessing! It is there where we realize the Old Testament words that Jesus quoted, “Love your neighbor as your self.”

Knowledge

Re:Verse reading–Genesis 3:8-24  (day six) 

Maybe the hardest kind of knowledge is self-knowledge; seeing yourself for who you really are. Their eyes had been opened, but they still couldn’t see; they had become wise in their own eyes. Rather than come clean, they both thought it wise to hide, and then even wiser still to cast blame. The consequences came, they were just, and they were devastating-heartache, pain, sweat, and death. But that is not the end of the story, God doesn’t walk away, he draws close, covers their shame. He loves them despite it all. He wants them to see Him, and then themselves, in that order. Only then can they know the truth, and the truth will set them free.

All Our Being

Re: Verse reading–Genesis 2:4-17 (day six)

“For in him we live and move and have our being…” Acts 17:28

Those are the words Paul used to introduce the creator of the universe to Athenian philosophers; they were an echo of Genesis 2:17. We are not wound up clocks, all spinning gears and steel springs. Our very essence, all our being, is sustained by the breath of God. This is not figurative, or poetic, but is our reality, and it is good. The clock once complete exists on its own accord, separate from the clock maker. The clock maker looks at it, uses it, but no more. We are far different; our humanity is bound to our creator, even our next breath we owe to Him. Perhaps this is what Paul meant when he wrote to the Romans, “For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be glory forever. Amen.” (Romans 11:36)

This is precisely why it is unfathomable that those whose “being” is dependent upon Him for every living moment would think so little of Him; choosing to “worship and serve the creature rather than the Creator.” (Romans 1:25) All our being bent against Him, but “while we were still weak, Christ died for the ungodly.” (Romans 5:6)

He died for all our being.

Good

Re: Verse reading–Genesis 1:14-25; 2:1-3 (day six)

“God saw that it was good.”

The creation narratives remind of us God’s goodness! As He gives shape to the land He intends for it to be a good place for us to live in fellowship with Him and one another. It is also a reminder that God knows what is best for us; that self-determination is not the loftiest goal, but a vibrant relationship with God who knows our good!

Mind you this is no American dream philosophy; nor is it a prosperity Gospel, but a solemn trust that God alone knows and provides for our good. At the beginning this good was disrupted by sin, but we taste His goodness even now in the Gospel, and in its fullness when God completes His work in a new heaven and new Earth. His goodness comes full circle.

First Things

Re: Verse reading–Genesis 1:1-13 (day six)

We can’t help but marvel at origin stories; we are just fascinated by them. Even every child delights in hearing mom and dad tell of their earliest days when they were born, or how they met for the first time. Perhaps it is because we all know our own origins shape who we are and profoundly affect where we are going. Origins are not just amusing, they are a need; we must know.

That is the aim of Genesis 1 and 2. God is fulfilling a desperate need by revealing the origin of all creation. This beautiful cosmic revelation gives us purpose and meaning by providing the truest perspective, that we cannot really know our truest self without seeing Him first if all.