Category: Saturday Study

Saturday Study

Genesis 21-25 (2-3-18)

Let’s take a quick minute to recap what we have seen with Abraham, as it sets up what we learn about Isaac.

In Genesis 12:1-3, we read the first mention of God’s game-changing covenant with Abraham:

Genesis 12:1-3 The LORD had said to Abram, “Leave your country, your people and your father’s household and go to the land I will show you. “I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.”

The problem was Abraham and his wife, Sarah, were unable to have kids, and they were very old. We are talking 100 years old, old. The name Isaac, which means “he laughs,” was derived from his parents’ reaction when God told Abraham that he would have a son (Genesis 17:17; 18:12).

Isaac was Abraham’s second son; his first, Ishmael, was by Sarah’s maidservant, Hagar, as a result of Sarah’s impatience to give Abraham a family (Genesis 16:1-2).

In Genesis 21, we read that Isaac is finally born, and his arrival was so important Sarah insisted that Abraham send Hagar and her son away, ensuring the family inheritance would go to Isaac (Genesis 21:3-12). Everything would change through him. We must see a lifetime of anticipation for his arrival only heightened by the huge promise of God to bless the nations through him.

Now let’s read Genesis 22 starting with verse 1:

Genesis 22:1 After these things God tested Abraham and said to him, “Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.”

The Hebrew word here for “test” doesn’t mean God didn’t know where Abraham was and so God had to do something to find out. It is God’s way to reveal something that he knows is already there. God knew Abraham was a man of great faith. So, He puts before him a once in a lifetime circumstance that would put his faith on display.

How often are the hardships we face simply divine appointments of God for us to put on display our faith or the gospel of Jesus? This is a great reminder to us.

Let’s see what God says for him to do:

Genesis 22:1-2 After these things God tested Abraham and said to him, “Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” He said, “Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.”

Notice something key here:

In the Hebrew language, this verse powerfully reveals four clauses that build a very emotional impact, “your son, your only son, whom you love, Isaac”!

This is a way to highlight how important Isaac is to Abraham and his lineage.

Genesis 22:3-8 So Abraham rose early in the morning, saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him, and his son Isaac. And he cut the wood for the burnt offering and arose and went to the place of which God had told him. On the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes and saw the place from afar. Then Abraham said to his young men, “Stay here with the donkey; I and the boy will go over there and worship and come again to you.” And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on Isaac his son. And he took in his hand the fire and the knife. So they went both of them together. And Isaac said to his father Abraham, “My father!” And he said, “Here I am, my son.” He said, “Behold, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?” Abraham said, “God will provide for himself the lamb for a burnt offering, my son.” So they went both of them together.

A very important and interesting thing we find here.

Isaac had to carry the wood. He had to labor up the mountain.

Genesis 22:9-10 When they came to the place of which God had told him, Abraham built the altar there and laid the wood in order and bound Isaac his son and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. 10 Then Abraham reached out his hand and took the knife to slaughter his son.

Many people have considered Isaac to be young here, but biblical scholars believe Isaac could be as old as 30 because of when this happens in relationship to when Abraham dies.

This means Isaac had all the power to resist this and flee or never go in the first place, but not only is he going to be faithful to his father and carry the wood up the mountain, he is going to willingly be bound, lie down and watch his father draw the knife of his death over his body without struggle or plea.

Genesis 22:11-12

But the angel of the Lord called to him from heaven and said, “Abraham, Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” He said, “Do not lay your hand on the boy or do anything to him, for now I know that you fear God, seeing you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me.”

Abraham was faithful in the end. He showed great faith in probably one of the hardest tests ever given to man. Many examples we are given of faithful men and women willing to sacrifice themselves for God, but the faith of a father to sacrifice his one and only son is much greater.

Genesis 22:13-14

And Abraham lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, behind him was a ram, caught in a thicket by his horns. And Abraham went and took the ram and offered it up as a burnt offering instead of his son. So Abraham called the name of that place, “The Lord will provide”; as it is said to this day, “On the mount of the Lord it shall be provided.”

God was faithful also! He was faithful to fulfill His promise to Abraham that his heritage of the blessings of the nations would come through Isaac. I believe Abraham’s confidence in God’s faithfulness to fulfill His promises was the foundation by which Abraham built this faith.

What is your faith built on? What you can see and touch and produce yourself?

Often these are the things we build our lives on. But this is not faith. The author of Hebrews defines faith like this:

Hebrews 11:1 Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.

Our faith is placing our assurance, our confidence on the things hoped for. In other words, it is the promised things of God that we place our living hope in. There is an assurance because of Who has promised those things: God Himself. It is sure, because God is sure. He cannot and will not be thwarted or swayed or lazy. He will deliver on His promises. It is a conviction of things not seen- the things of God; God Himself.

While we can’t see God, Romans 1:19-20 makes it clear that He can be seen through what He has made: His general revelation. Romans 1:19-20 For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.

God is faithful. This is what Abraham’s faith was built on.

Also, “Yahweh will provide!”

This is Abraham’s proclamation and name for this place.

What is interesting is most of the time Jewish names were based on what had happened, not what would happen. The name that makes more sense is Yahweh did provide!

But Abraham sees something powerful. He sees that God is working up something much bigger. I’ll come back to this in a moment.

Can you imagine the celebration between father and son at the news that he need not die?

Let’s consider this for a moment.

Turn with me back to the New Testament. Look with me at:

Matthew 3:17 And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.”

All through Scripture, we see God the Father’s beautiful affection and cherished love for His Son.

John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

One of the tools used to interpret Scripture deeper is The Principle of First Mention.

This means the first place something is mentioned gives us a base to understand it elsewhere.

Did you know the first mention of the word “love” in the entire Bible is found in Genesis 22 verse 2? “Then God said, ‘Take your son, your only son, Isaac, whom you love’…”

Because the Jewish people knew this word so well, they valued that a high form of love is found in the love of a father for his son.

What this also points to is a love that is rooted in a son’s willingness to be bound and placed on the altar of death to be sacrificed to please the father.

It is an obedience that is NOT rooted in obligation or rule-keeping, like we so often find ourselves in trying to be obedient. Instead, this is rooted in sacrificial love.

A sacrificial love that echoes all the way back to the source of true love, found in the Trinity, the ongoing relationship of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

Now, let’s look at how Isaac and Jesus are connected:

Isaac’s birth is miraculous. Jesus’ birth is miraculous.

We see Abraham’s deep love for his son.

We see God’s deep love for His Son.

Isaac carries the wood of his own sacrifice up the mountain.

Jesus carries the wood of His own sacrifice up the hill of Golgotha.

Isaac willingly climbs up into the altar to be slain.

Jesus willingly allows Himself to be arrested, falsely accused, beaten, and placed on his erect altar to be sacrificed.

The place that Isaac was to be sacrificed is called Yahweh will provide.

The place that Jesus was laid bare for the sins of His people was where Yahweh did provide.

God is carrying out His promise to Satan that He made in Genesis 3:15 where He promised to defeat Satan and death through the seed of the woman. God is carrying out His promise to Abraham by giving him Isaac and enduring Isaac, so the line to Jesus can continue.

Next, God re-affirms the covenant He made with Abraham in:

Genesis 26:3-5 “Sojourn in this land, and I will be with you and will bless you, for to you and to your offspring I will give all these lands, and I will establish the oath that I swore to Abraham your father. I will multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven and will give to your offspring all these lands. And in your offspring all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because Abraham obeyed my voice and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws.”

Though there are no overwhelming achievements to speak of concerning Isaac’s life, it was Isaac that God chose to continue the covenant line, the same line that would produce our Messiah, Jesus.

And for many generations the Jewish nation described their God as the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

May our hearts be full of worship for God, as we see His hand on all these details pointing ultimately to Christ and our redemption.

By His grace and for His glory,

Pastor Joshua Kirstine

Disciples Church

Saturday Study

Genesis 16-20 (1-27-18)

Read: Genesis 16

Here we read about Sarai’s lack of patience for God’s perfect timing to deliver on His promises; she sinfully and hastily gives her slave girl to her husband and tells him to sleep with her to get this promise lineage started. Like a flesh driven man, Abram doesn’t stand fast for the Lord’s promise and sleeps with Hagar the slave and impregnates her with a son named Ishmael. Even Sarai’s lack of selfless love for Hagar after she realizes her mistake is another testimony of sin at work in us.

We are so impatient, even when God is so faithful to fulfill all His promises.

We must also remember that our time is not God’s time. Peter says in 2 Peter 3:8, “But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.”

Here, Peter is quoting Psalm 90:4. This is a great reminder to us, the Church!

He is saying that from our viewpoint, the last days can feel like a long time. It doesn’t feel very “last” when it’s a couple thousand years. But from God’s point of view, it is very, very short.

We can’t confine God to our schedule.

Isaiah 55:8-9 “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord.

For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.”

It is for our good that God doesn’t govern the world’s affairs or our lives by our timing or our will.

There is a parable I used to tell my students that I think illustrates this well. It goes like this:

When Jimmy was a little boy, he wanted to be a cowboy. He spent countless hours in front of the television, watching reruns of “Gun smoke” and “Bonanza.” He just knew that someday he would live on a ranch, wear a big cowboy hat, and ride the range, just like all his cowboy heroes.

When he was seven years old, Jimmy said, “Dad, I want to be a cowboy when I grow up. Will you help me be a cowboy?”

“Sure, son,” said his dad, smiling down at his little cowpoke. As the years went by, Jimmy grew into a fine young man. As you might expect, he outgrew his childhood fantasy of becoming a cowboy, and turned instead to girls, sports, studying, and preparing himself for a career in the business world.

One day, Jimmy went to his dad again and said, “Dad, I want to go to medical school and become a doctor. Will you help me?”  His dad said, “Medical school? Son, I can’t afford to send you to medical school. When you were seven, you said you wanted to be a cowboy. So, I saved and bought you a ranch in Texas with 50 head of cattle! There’s no money for you to go to medical school. Besides, you need to take care of that ranch. It’s all yours.”

“But Dad!” said Jimmy, “I was just a child when I said that! I didn’t know then what I know now! I don’t want to heard cattle! I want to save lives.”

Can you imagine what our lives would be like if God gave us all what we asked for?

When I was young, there were so many rules my parents had for me, and so many decisions they made that I totally disagreed with. Now, looking back, I can see without a doubt in my mind how good those rules and decisions were for me. The truth is I simply couldn’t see what they could. I didn’t know what they knew.

I didn’t know how to make patient decisions that would be formative for who I needed to become.

My sin wanted what I wanted and when I wanted it.

Praise God that He is wise and rules our lives in His infinite wisdom!

Praise God that He is God and we are not.

Praise God that He knows best and governs all things according to His perfect will and not mine!

In Genesis 17:1-8, God gave Abraham the rite of physical circumcision as the specific sign of the natural (or ethnic) layer of the Abrahamic Covenant.

Read: Genesis 17:9-14 

Under the Old Covenant, all males in Abraham’s line were to be circumcised and thus carry with them a lifelong mark in their flesh that they were part of God’s Old Covenant people. Any descendant of Abraham who refused circumcision was declaring himself to be outside of God’s covenant. This was a sign for the chosen people of God, just as baptism is a sign of the chosen and redeemed people of God in the New Covenant.

Abraham’s faith is finally rewarded in Genesis 21 with the birth of Isaac. We will get to that next week.

But don’t forget: Abraham did some amazing acts of faith, but he struggled in this area too.

Not only did Abraham show a lack of faith when in hostile lands a couple times, but we also know that the frustration of not having a child got to Abraham and Sarah as they carried out their man-made plan–a plan to have a child through Sarah’s servant, Hagar (Genesis 16:1-15). The birth of Ishmael not only demonstrates the futility of Abraham’s folly and lack of faith but also the grace of God (in allowing the birth to take place and even blessing Ishmael).

So, Abraham, who is considered the “father of the faithful,” surely had his moments of doubt and disbelief, yet he still is exalted among men as an example of the faithful life. No matter how you have failed in faith, know that God will give true perseverance for His saved ones. If He gave you true saving faith, then in faith you will finish this race called life.

We are marked as saved by God in baptism, and we will be His forever, for Christ will lose none of His true sheep.

John 10:27-29 “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father’s hand.”

If you died to self and truly trust your life to Jesus Christ, you will finish in faith, for you are hidden with Christ in God.

Colossians 3:1-4 Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.       

If you have struggled to make things happen in your time or have walked by sight and not by faith, then repent from these practices of old and turn to Jesus, and commit to trusting in His timing and His ways for your life. For He is your Lord, and He will raise you up on the last day. Praise be to God.

By His grace and for His glory,

Pastor Joshua Kirstine

Disciples Church

Saturday Study

Genesis 11-15 (1-20-18)

In Genesis 11-15, we move out of the Creation Era and into the Patriarch Era. Here we are introduced to one of the true fathers of our faith: Abraham! Abraham takes up a good portion of the Genesis narrative from his first mention in Genesis 11:26 all the way to his death in Genesis 25:8. But in Genesis 11-15, we are introduced to God’s covenant with Abraham that is truly so critical to us and the work of God in redemption through Jesus Christ.

Abraham’s story picks up in Genesis 12.

In the first three verses, we see the call of Abraham by God and one of the greatest and most critical promises of God in all of Scripture.

The Abrahamic Covenant

Genesis 12:1-3 Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”

In this passage, we see the foundations for God’s covenant with Abraham (then named Abram).

The two primary promises to Abraham are:

1)          The promised land (of Canaan) and temporal blessings for those in the covenant.

2)          The spiritual promise of the seed/offspring to come–being the Redeemer, the Messiah, Jesus Christ.

These promises lay the foundation for what will later be called the Abrahamic Covenant (established in Genesis 15 and ratified in Genesis 17).

What really makes Abraham special is that he obeyed God.

Genesis 12:4 records that after God called Abraham, and he went “as the LORD had told him.”

For his faith, the author of Hebrews “enshrines” Abraham in the Faith Hall of Fame in Hebrews 11.

Hebrews 11:8 (NIV) By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going.

Surely, we have all had moments in our lives when we have had to trust in God despite not knowing what was ahead of us. This was life-changing and big for Abraham, and yet he knew and recognized the call of Yahweh, the LORD, and obeyed willingly, not hesitantly.

Now, Abraham was a fallen man and didn’t always do what was right.

Read again Genesis 12:10-20.

It is easy for us to look out only for ourselves–to ask others to lie or cheat or steal for our good.

In this moment, Abraham was not walking in accordance with his faith. Instead, he feared the hand of man and manipulated his situation for his own benefit. By the grace of God, this did not ultimately cause him or his wife harm, for God had bigger plans for them.

Abraham and Sarah were without a child of their own. This was a real source of shame in that culture and time, and yet God promised that Abraham would have a son.

Read again Genesis 15:1-6.

Abraham believed the promise of God, and it was credited to him as righteousness (Genesis 15:6).

It is important to see the work of imputation here again. We’ve seen that Adam’s sin was credited to the human race as our federal head, and, for the elect, Jesus was later credited with our sin and we were credited with His righteousness. Paul speaks of this in Romans 4.

Read Romans 4:1-8.

It is so important to see that we are not saved or credited with righteousness by God for anything we do on our own. The righteousness laid upon Abraham and us is God’s righteousness. It is not something Abraham produced. The Bible says that even the faith we have in God is a gift from God (cf. Philippians 1:29; Ephesians 2:8-9).

Therefore, Paul says we have nothing to boast about, for God’s righteousness and renewal is a gift of grace.

Romans 4:7-8 “Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven, and whose sins are covered; blessed is the man against whom the Lord will not count his sin.”

Abraham, who is considered the “father of the faithful,” surely had his moments of doubt and disbelief, yet he still is exalted among men as an example of the faithful life. There are a few significant things we can learn from Abraham.

1. Faithful

Abraham’s faith wasn’t an ignorant faith; his faith was a settled assurance and trust in the One who had proven Himself faithful and true: God Himself.

If we were to look back on our own lives, we would see the hand of God’s providence all over it. God doesn’t have to speak from burning bushes or part the sea waters to be active in our lives. God is orchestrating the events of our lives. Sometimes it may not seem that way, but Abraham’s life is evidence of this. Even Abraham’s failures demonstrate that God, while not removing us from the earthly consequences of our sin, graciously works His will in us and through us; nothing we do will thwart His plan.

2. Obedient

Abraham’s life also shows us the blessing of simple obedience. When asked to leave his family, Abraham left. When asked to sacrifice Isaac, Abraham “rose up early the next morning” to do so. From what we can discern from the Biblical narrative, there was no hesitation in Abraham’s obedience. Abraham, like most of us, may have agonized over these decisions, but when it was time to act, he acted. When we discern a true call from God, or we read His instructions in His Word, we must act. Obedience is not optional when God commands something.

Romans 3:28 says, “For we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law.”

Theologically speaking, Abraham’s life is a living example of the doctrine of sola fide, “justification by faith alone.” Abraham’s faith in the promises of God was sufficient for God to declare him righteous in His sight. Abraham did nothing to earn justification. God’s grace is enough. The faith God gives His people is enough to set us free because of the perfect work of the redeemer, Jesus.

We see the workings in this of God’s grace very early in the Old Testament. The gospel didn’t start with the life and death of Jesus, but rather it was promised all the way back to Genesis. In Genesis 3:15, God made a promise that the “seed of the woman” would crush the head of the serpent.

The rest of the Old Testament chronicles the outworking of the gospel of God’s grace through the line of promise beginning with Seth (Genesis 4:26). The calling of Abraham and the familiar promise of Seed was just another piece in the story of redemption (cf. Galatians 3:16).

3. Faith is not hereditary

Another big take away we must see in Abraham is that faith is not hereditary. All through the Gospels (cf. Matthew 3:9; Luke 3:8; John 8:39), we learn that it is not sufficient to be physically descended from Abraham to be saved. The application for us is that it is not sufficient to be raised in a Christian home; we cannot ride into heaven on the coattails of someone else’s faith.

God is not obligated to save us simply because we have been raised in a godly family. Paul uses Abraham to illustrate this in Romans 9, where he says not all who descended from Abraham were elected unto salvation (Romans 9:7). God sovereignly chooses those who will receive salvation, but that salvation comes by grace through the same faith that Abraham exercised in his life. Each of us must have our own saving faith in Jesus and not lean on someone else’s.

4. Faith that does not show fruit in righteous works is not real saving faith

Finally, we see that James uses the life of Abraham as an illustration that faith without works is dead (James 2:21). The example he uses is the story of Abraham and Isaac on Mount Moriah. Mere assent to the truths of the gospel is not enough to save. True saving faith will result in good works of obedience that show a living faith. This is not perfection; rather, it is a growing in obedience to the revealed will of God. The faith that was enough to justify Abraham and count him as righteous in God’s eyes (Genesis 15) was the very same faith that moved him into action as he obeyed God’s command to sacrifice his son, Isaac. Abraham was justified by his faith, and his faith was proved by his works.

5. God fulfills His promises

Finally, God called Abraham out of the millions of people on the earth to be the object of His blessings. God used Abraham to play a pivotal role in the outworking of the story of redemption, culminating in the birth of Jesus. In Matthew 1, we read about Jesus’ genealogy and in its opening, we read the critical understanding that Christ was a son of Abraham:

Matthew 1:1-2 The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.

The redeemed in all generations are called the “children of Abraham” (Galatians 3:7). The work that God set out to do for us all in Christ came through Abraham. Aside from Moses, no Old Testament character is mentioned more in the New Testament than Abraham. Abraham is a living example of faith and hope in the promises of God. Our lives should be so lived that when we reach the end of our days, our faith, like Abraham’s, will remain as an enduring legacy to others.

By grace, through faith in Jesus, may we, too, be a part of the legacy of blessing that comes through God’s covenant with Abraham and is fulfilled in Jesus Christ–that we, too, would not only be blessed but be a blessing to others.

Genesis 12:1-3 Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”

By His grace and for His glory,

Pastor Joshua Kirstine

Disciples Church

Saturday Study

Genesis 6-10 (1-13-18)

Grab your Bible, and let’s dive into the testimony of Noah and God’s judgment as we review Genesis 6-10.

In Genesis 6, we read about God’s declaration about the hearts of mankind after the fall, and then His righteous judgment to bring His wrath on the wickedness of man.

Genesis 6:5-8 The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And the Lord regretted that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart. So the Lord said, “I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the land, man and animals and creeping things and birds of the heavens, for I am sorry that I have made them.” But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord.

Then in Genesis 6:9-22, we see that God saves Noah and his family alone. In obedience to God, Noah built a very large boat, and notice how the chapter ends. Noah did this; he did all that God commanded him.

Verse 9 tells us that Noah was a righteous man. Verse 22 gives us the evidence of this fact.

Here is a fun fact that people often get wrong: How many of each kind of animal did Noah take on the ark with him?

Read Genesis 7:1-5.

Noah took seven pairs of the clean animals, one pair of the unclean animals, and seven pairs of the birds.

Isn’t it funny how we believe what we’ve heard over the years, and in the end, it is not actually biblically accurate? Most people believe Noah only took two of each kind of animal. This is a great reminder that much of what many people say or believe about God, His ways, or His word is simply not true. We must resist the temptation to read the Bible through our worldview or traditions. We need to form our worldview through the authority of the holy Bible.

Notice something that is becoming a pattern in verse 5. It reads, “And Noah did all that the Lord had commanded him.”

When we jump ahead to verse 16, we see the floods start, and on the same day Noah takes himself and his family into the ark, and God shuts him in. Notice Noah did what he was commanded again, and God sealed him safely in the ark and away from the flood.

Read Genesis 7:21-24.

So, God saw the wickedness of man, and He set forward to pour out His wrath. He found favor in Noah and commanded him to build an ark and take in animals and his family. God followed through with His plan to flood the earth and cleanse it from its sin. God blotted out all the living creatures and mankind, except for those in the ark with Noah. The judgment of God is right and good. The wrath of God is right and good. Sometimes we are guilty of thinking that His love and mercy are more important than the attributes of His wrath or justice, but they are not. All of God’s attributes are good and perfect. We must see God’s worldwide extermination as righteous and good, not because the death of many is to be celebrated, but because God did it. William Perkins once wisely said, “We must not think that God does a thing because it’s good and right, but rather the thing is good and right because God does it.”  

In Genesis chapter 8, we read that God pulled back the waters and unveiled the land. And the storm was over. Noah built an altar and worshiped the Lord.

The Lord’s response is the key I want us to see today.

Genesis 8:21-22 And when the Lord smelled the pleasing aroma, the Lord said in his heart, “I will never again curse the ground because of man, for the intention of man’s heart is evil from his youth. Neither will I ever again strike down every living creature as I have done. While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night, shall not cease.”

In the beginning of Chapter 9, God gives Noah instruction similar to one we’ve heard before. God blesses Noah and says, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth.” Sound familiar?

God then tells Noah that the plants and animals are his to rule over and cultivate. Sound familiar?

God is rebooting this creation with Noah and his family.

Then God makes a covenant with Noah and all who will come after him.

Read Genesis 9:8-17.

God commits to never flood the earth again, even though the intention of a man’s heart is evil from his youth.

This is His promise of common grace. Common grace is the idea that God extends some of His grace over all men, even though they are wicked in sin and deserving immediate judgment and wrath for their rebellion against Him.

Matthew 5:45 “For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.”

Common grace is different than saving grace in that common grace is for all mankind, but saving grace is just for God’s elect.

The sobering reality is man is still wicked and deserving of God’s perfect and just wrath. Every man will be judged.

We will stand before the great Judge and either be condemned for our wickedness because we stand on our own merit and pride, or we will be pardoned for our wickedness because Christ stands in our place. He is our perfect advocate and mediator who took on our sin, and as a result, takes on our wrath. He then gives us His righteousness, allowing us to be accepted by God and brought into His holy presence forever. 2 Corinthians 5:21 (NASB) says, “He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”

Oh, how desperate we are for Jesus alone. 

Here is the thing: We truly are a wicked people when we take God’s promised symbol (the rainbow) that He has graciously given us as a promise of His common grace to not send His swift judgment on our sin, and we then, in the very sin for which this grace is promised, use His symbol to represent homosexuality, which He has made clear in His word is sin.

Here is the truth: God will righteously judge, and those who rebel against Him will be condemned.

Let me show you an interesting passage in 2 Peter that brings light to God’s judgment:

2 Peter 3:5-7 For they deliberately overlook this fact, that the heavens existed long ago, and the earth was formed out of water and through water by the word of God, and that by means of these the world that then existed was deluged with water and perished. But by the same word the heavens and earth that now exist are stored up for fire, being kept until the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly.

“For they deliberately overlook this fact.” In other words, “They shut their eyes to the facts.”

The old King James version says, “They are willingly ignorant of …” This is speaking of the false teachers who are not of God’s people and are deserving judgment and wrath.

Heretics and false teachers choose to ignore the truth to form lies that suit their needs. It might be right in front of them, but they don’t want to see the truth!

Why do they do this? They love their evil. They love their sin. They love their lust. They don’t desire truth. They don’t want a judgment, and they don’t want Christ to return, so they develop a system that says He won’t.

Peter speaks of two great, historic, game-changing events here:

The first is creation! He says they willingly shut their eyes to the fact that by the word of God, the heavens existed long ago, and the earth was formed out of water and by water. Peter is saying creation was a cataclysmic act of God.

The false teachers who don’t want a God, who don’t want a God who is going to judge their sin, they teach a big bang theory and a system of evolution that is absent of the need for God.

Peter says they forget willingly. Now look at this detail he adds in 2 Peter 3:5: “For they deliberately overlook this fact, that the heavens existed long ago, and the earth was formed out of water and through water by the word of God.”

You might we saying, “That sounds off.”

So, to jog your memory, let’s read Genesis 1:1-2: “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.”

In God’s original creative action, the earth was without form. The darkness was over something God has made. What was it?  “The face of the deep.” What is “the deep?”

Look next: The Spirit of God was hovering over what? The face of the waters! Ahhhhh…

So, it wasn’t nothing and then light. The darkness hung above a watery, formless mass that God made first.

In Proverbs 8:27, God says He inscribed a circle on the face of the deep.

Read Genesis 1:3-10.

Then God made light, then separation between waters below and waters above, and then separation of the water below to determine ground from rivers or oceans.

And you know what He said about it? God said about it, in verse 10, “It’s gooooood.”

But it isn’t very long before man sins and multiplies, and the multiplication of that sin equals mass judgment.

God looks at the world and Genesis 6:5 says, “The Lord saw that wickedness of man was great on the earth and every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually, and He was sorry that He made the whole thing. And He said, ‘I’m going to destroy it.’”

How’s He going to destroy it? With water!

Now, go back to 2 Peter 3:

2 Peter 3:5-6 For they deliberately overlook this fact, that the heavens existed long ago, and the earth was formed out of water and through water by the word of God, and that by means of these the world that then existed was deluged with water and perished.

Now, let’s go back to Genesis 7:11-12:

In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, on the seventeenth day of the month, on that day all the fountains of the great deep burst forth, and the windows of the heavens were opened. And rain fell upon the earth forty days and forty nights.

Read Genesis 7:19-24 again.

So, you can’t say, “All things continue as they have from the very beginning.” No, they haven’t.

There was devastating, total judgment on the whole world, and there will be in the future.

Look at 2 Peter 3:7: But by the same word the heavens and earth that now exist …

This means the world was different after the flood. No one lived 900 years after the flood.

Things were different. A new kind of judgment was at work in the post-flood earth.

God’s symbol of promise (the rainbow) was given as a symbol that He will never destroy the world again by water.

But we know worldwide judgment is coming again. Why? Because God’s word tells us so!

But it won’t be by water, because God promised not to flood the earth again.

So, what will the judgment be by if not water? Fire!

2 Peter 3:7 But by the same word the heavens and earth that now exist are stored up for fire, being kept until the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly.

 “Kept for the judgment, the day of judgment, and the destruction of ungodly men.”

God is the Creator, and He is the Destroyer. Only the next time He brings global judgment, He’ll do it by fire. It is reserved for fire. The word “reserved” in the Greek is where we get the word “treasury.” It means “to store up.”

Isaiah 13 says, “When the final Babylon is destroyed it will be destroyed as were Sodom and Gomorrah.”    

How were they destroyed? By fire and brimstone.

The promise of God’s judgment coming in fire is all over the word of God:

Malachi 4:1 fire; Micah 1:4 fire; Daniel 7:9 and 10 fire; and in Matthew 3:11 and 12, John the Baptist said He’s coming, and He’s coming with fire.

2 Thessalonians 1 verses 7 and 8 (NASB) is so graphic. it says when Jesus comes He’ll “be revealed from heaven with His mighty angels in flaming fire.”

And in our passage today in 2 Peter 3:12: “waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be set on fire and dissolved, and the heavenly bodies will melt as they burn!”

Wow… this is a sobering reality. Jesus is coming! And God will judge and execute His wrath.

And the Bible tells us that this is good and right for God to do.

Romans 2:5 because of your hard and impenitent heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed.

This is why we take full advantage of the common grace that God has given to those who are unrepentant and wicked and deserving death. God has sent us into a sea of darkness to testify of the only One who can save condemned guilty people from the fire of God’s wrath: JESUS! This is why we ride, why we testify, and why we serve in Jesus’ name!

Come, Lord Jesus, and in the meantime, help us be bold in our testimony of Your saving grace in this season of patience that You show for all those under Your common grace.

By His grace and for His glory,

Pastor Joshua Kirstine

Disciples Church

Saturday Study

Genesis 1-5 (1-6-18)

The Trinity Creates

As we open our Bibles to begin our new Bible Reading Plan, we are immediately introduced to the Triune God and His unmatched power and will.

There is only one true God. God exists eternally as one God, three persons: God the Father, God the Son (Jesus), and God the Holy Spirit. God is eternal, self-existent, and self-sufficient. He is the almighty Creator, Sustainer, and Ruler of everything.

Look with me and see the Triune Godhead at work in the beginning of all that He ordained to create:

Genesis 1:1-3 (NIV) In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.

The very first three verses of Genesis reveal something far greater to us than the simple fact that God created the heavens and the earth. They reveal to us that God is a community of three persons in one being!

Genesis 1:1 (NIV) In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

Here we are introduced to God as the grand designer of all creation.

God’s creative hand swings out and drips all the integral parts of the universe into being. The backdrop is set, and creation has its stage. God is the Father of all creation, and all things find their origin and definition in Him.

Genesis 1:2 (NIV) Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.

The Holy Spirit is also in play. Now, this is still God, but a distinction is made here that is different than the action of the Father in the previous verse. The Spirit does not imagine or construct the created world, but instead He is described as “hovering over it” after the universe hung in place. This is the first insight we have into the personality or role of the Holy Spirit as one of protector or overseer.

Genesis 1:3 (NIV) And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.

In verse 3, we see the Word of God. The Word is found in His verbal command of “Let there be,” and whatever He commands comes into existence through the power of that WORD. The active agent of God’s will, the Word, we know to be the Son of God, Jesus!

So, we only need to go three verses deep into the divine revelation of God to discover what is abundantly taught in the rest of the Scriptures:

God is one God as a Tri-Unity of divine persons (Father, Son and Holy Spirit). This is the eternal community from whom all other communities derive life and meaning and purpose for life!

We see this later in chapter 2 as God creates man:

Genesis 2:18-20 (NIV) The LORD God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.” Now the LORD God had formed out of the ground all the beasts of the field and all the birds of the air. He brought them to the man to see what he would name them; and whatever the man called each living creature, that was its name. So the man gave names to all the livestock, the birds of the air and all the beasts of the field. But for Adam no suitable helper was found.

Adam was sharing and loving and enjoying God and His creation, but the animals, mountains, waves, and sky were not suitable for Adam to understand and experience what real deep community is.

We are not meant to do life alone!

See that God is communal in the eternal relationship of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and He ordained that we would be communal, too. In that it was not good for man to be alone.

Genesis 1:26-27 Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.

The community that is the Godhead created the community of mankind. We are not meant to do this life alone but in community. It is only when sin came into play that mankind separated from God and each other. Let’s see that unfold.

Sin Equals Death and Separation

Genesis 3 & 4

In Genesis 2:16-17, we read that God was clear about what would bring death and separation:

And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”

Then in Genesis 3, we read that man sinfully disobeyed God and was rightly cursed for it.

Genesis 3:6-13 says the following:

So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate. Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths.

And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. But the Lord God called to the man and said to him, “Where are you?” And he said, “I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself.” He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?” The man said, “The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate.” Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this that you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”

They gave into temptation and chose sin over God. They chose to betray the glory and honor due God and to serve their own desires and glory. See the immediate consequences of their sin. They are caught up in judgment of each other and themselves, and they cover themselves. They separated themselves. They hid themselves.

See the consequences of our sin that breaks down community and causes fear, judgment, and hate for each other. It separates us. This is in full opposition to the beautiful community God created us to have and to enjoy.

Then Adam and Eve hid from God in shame and fear. God goes on to make it clear that they will reap real consequences for their sin. We see the fallout of their sin in chapter 4 as one of their sons murders the other. But the worst of their consequences is their separation from God.

It says in Genesis 3:24, “He drove out the man, and at the east of the garden of Eden he placed the cherubim and a flaming sword that turned every way to guard the way to the tree of life.”

This was the symbolism of being separated from God in His holiness and from the tree of life.

A Redeemer Is Promised

If we would ever be restored to God and to each other apart from our sin, we would need someone to go through the sword to make a way for us. Not just anyone, but someone perfect and eternal. Someone who could represent mankind and redeem us from all unrighteousness.

That royal redeemer is promised by God in Genesis 3:15:

“I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring;

he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.”

Here, God declared war and victory on Satan, sin, and death with what is known as the proto-evangelium–the first gospel pronouncement–in Genesis 3:15. God proclaims that He will bring forth a man (a royal Redeemer) who would come from the line of the woman, and this Redeemer would crush and defeat sin and death.

This is Jesus. The rest of the Old Testament points us to Jesus–the promised Redeemer. He is the only hope for mankind.

The Gospels are the story of Jesus’ birth, life, death, and resurrection.

This is our only hope for true restoration into lasting and life-giving community with God and each other.

Jesus came, lived perfectly, died in the place of undeserving sinners, and rose to conquer death as the forerunner of a chosen people’s redemption.

The Bible is clear that there is not greater news or hope mankind has.

Each person is utterly desperate for Jesus alone.

Confess your sin, turn from it, and trust your life completely to Jesus as Savior and Lord.

Die to yourself and your sin, and live to Christ and for His glory and the making much of His name.

Praise God He created us, but praise Him all the more that He chose in His grace to save an undeserving people to be restored into the beautiful community of the Triune Godhead and His redeemed family.

By His grace and for His glory,

Pastor Joshua Kirstine

Disciples Church