Lesson 19 Part 2
ST. PAUL SCHOOL OF LEADERSHIP
“Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ”
(I Corinthians 11:1)
(With Frank Eiklor and Walter Contreras)
WINNERS AND LOSERS - THE BOOK OF GENESIS
Lesson 19 (Part 2)
INTRODUCTION
When Jesus and the apostles pointed out the Scriptures, they were referring to the 39 books of the Hebrew Scriptures that we call the Old Testament. As the New Testament was being written, its writers affirmed the importance of the Old Testament examples—good and bad—and the wisdom in learning from them. Twice Paul repeats God’s warning to pay attention to those examples (I Corinthians 10:6, 11).
The invisible conflict of the ages has always involved God’s revelation versus man’s religion. When revelation is rejected, it is replaced by a facade of religion. Scripture in total equals the revelation of God; His works, character, demands, promises, warnings, rewards and punishments. A familiar cycle repeats itself throughout the Bible: God reveals His goodness—man rejoices in God’s goodness—man rejects God’s goodness. And the result: 1) If Man repents of his bad choices, God reclaims Man, or 2) If Man refuses God’s mercy, God rejects Man in finality.
We will now view examples of nations and individuals in the Old Testament—and apply their lessons to our lives today. Our first study will take in the foundational book of the entire Bible—the Book of Genesis. Enjoy—and learn!
A WORLD WITHOUT JEWS
Genesis Chapters 1-11 offer a picture of the pre-Hebraic world—a “world without Jews” (as Nazis planned). And look at the hideous results!
|
1:1-25 |
Creation of cosmos, earth and all non-human life. |
|
1:26 |
Creation of man. |
|
1:27-2:4a |
Man crowned with God’s best: God’s image, spiritual authority, full material provision, a special day as a foretaste of an inner rest (Hebrews 4:10)… |
|
2:8 |
plus perfect surroundings, |
|
2:15 |
privileged partnership, |
| 2:18 |
perfect human companion, |
| 2:19,20 |
massive intellectual capacity, |
| 2:25 |
innocence of sinlessness… |
| 3:1-3 |
plus freedom to make choices, |
| 3:6 |
freedom to sin, |
| 3:12 |
freedom to blame others. |
RESULTS OF WRONG CHOICES
| 2:17 |
Spiritual death |
| 3:1,3,4 & 13 |
Became a tool of Satan |
| 3:7-10 |
Guilt complex |
| 3:11,12 |
Stress in human relationships |
| 3:16 |
Physical suffering |
| 3:16 |
Loss of positional equality |
| 3:17-19 |
Cursed ground, sweat-covered man |
| 3:19 |
Physical death |
| 3:22-24 |
Loss of intimacy with God (4:14,16 like father, like son) |
| 3:24 |
Eviction from the garden of God |
| 4:3 |
Deadly presumptuousness (offered fruits from “cursed” ground—3:17) |
| 4:5 |
Blaming God |
| 4:8,9 |
Loss of brotherly love (God’s first question to man: “Where are you?” 3:9 Second question: “Where is your brother?” 4:9) |
| 4:11 |
Cursed by God |
| 4:23 |
Cursed ground plus cursed man equals cursed and violent world (see 6:11,12) |
| 6:12,13 |
Destruction of all earthly life |
| 11:6-9 |
Loss of a single language to confusion of speech |
| 11:30 |
Physical imperfection | Jesus said many would come in His name and deceive the hearts of the simple, sinful and proud. Eastern mysticism and meditation is a big thing in the gullible West. And one day a “world leader” will appear on the scene with the persuasion of a god and the heart of a devil. Jesus warns His children to know the Scriptures, live in obedience to the Father’s will, and stay alert to the signs of the times. They laugh no more. Now God’s description of how He will destroy the old earth and create a
new one makes perfect sense. The splitting of the atom turned many skeptics into believers.
After all, look what man himself is capable of doing with the atom and hydrogen bombs. Now
the fear is that nuclear weapons are being placed in the hands of madmen who wish to annihilate
their enemies. God has blessed man with incredible genius. We stand in awe as we watch men and women in a room full of computers and high-tech instruments guiding and landing spacecraft on distant planets. At that moment, we appear invincible. But then a mammoth tornado comes—or a terrifying hurricane—or rains that flood whole regions and never listen to our shouts to “Stop!”—or the shake that removes from under our feet any confidence or pride we carry, and leaves us numb with hardly enough breath to even utter the paralyzing word “EARTHQUAKE!”. And man is helpless in the face of it all! |
|
