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Home » Genesis

Posts that reference the book of Genesis

Christmas with Paul: The Panacea

By Paula Wiseman

Christmas with Paul The Panacea title graphic

When we think of Christmas, we think of the gospels or maybe the Old Testament prophecies that told of Christ’s coming. This Christmas season let’s dig a little deeper and see what the Apostle Paul said about Christ’s birth. While Paul never wrote at length on the subject, he does tell us some things that are critical to understanding who Christ is and why He came. Galatians is one of Paul’s earliest letters. In it he tackles some major doctrines including Christology (who Christ is) and soteriology (what salvation is). Toward the end of the book, he explains Christ’s birth, His coming in the flesh, was the panacea, the cure-all, the solution, to our greatest problem.

But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.

Galatians 4:4-5

The Problem

Exclusion – Ever since that day in the Garden, when mankind, through Adam, rebelled against God’s most basic command, we have been excluded. It began as Adam and Eve were excluded from His presence in Eden. It continues to eternal exclusion from His presence in hell.

Edict – God decreed that anyone who ate of the tree in the center of the garden would die. (Gen. 2:17) Later, He reiterated the soul that sins, it shall die (Ezek. 18:4, 20). We are under a decree of death.

Enemies – Not only that, but because of our rebellion, we have made ourselves God’s enemies. (Col. 1:24, Romans 5:10).

To put it bluntly, we were hopeless. We can’t undo our sins. We can’t do enough good works to pay for them. Unless God Himself took action we had no way out of the mess we were in.

But God took action. Substitutionary atonement on a breathtaking scale.

The Panacea

Paul says God sent His Son. Better than His personal representative, because of the triune nature of God, He came Himself to do what we could not — to redeem those under the curse because of the law of God.

The punishment wasn’t erased, mind you. God’s justice was satisfied. His holiness and righteousness were maintained. The penalty was paid. We were set free.

And then it gets better.

So complete was God’s solution to our problem, His cure for situation, that He then adopted us into His family. Think of it. When felons are released from prison in our society, they are given the most meager resources to start anew. A few dollars. Perhaps a change of clothes. Maybe a bus ticket.

Not so with God! He opens His arms and welcomes us as lavishly as He welcomes His Son. We can respond like John:  Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God! (1 John 3:1).

Before we were even aware of our desperate state, Jesus worked out our redemption and salvation.

This panacea, though, would not be available if Christ had not been born of a woman, born at Christmas!

Filed Under: Thursday in the Word, Uncategorized Tagged With: 1 John, Christmas, Christmas with Paul series, Colossians, Ezekiel, Galatians, Genesis, Romans

The Antidote to Fear

By Paula

The antidote to fear title graphic

So he said, “I heard Your voice in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked, and I hid myself.” Genesis 3:10

We just passed Halloween, and by this point, we’ve picked through all the good candy and are left stirring around the Laffy Taffy, hoping beyond hope that we overlooked a Snickers in the bottom of the bucket. Or is that just at my house?

We like Halloween, not just because of the chocolate. We like the idea of being scared. Not really scared, but a carefully controlled version of scared that gives us the jolt of adrenaline without any real risk. We control the boundaries and the dosage. It’s the reason we like scary movies, and it’s the reason we like thrill rides.

But real fear is a different story.

Real fear paralyzes us. Psychiatrists have labeled thousands of phobias. Counselors spend hours addressing anxiety in all sorts of forms. Fear interferes with our lives and our relationships. It keeps us from moving forward, from moving on, and sometimes from escaping because we’re afraid of the unknown. It even takes years off our lives.

It’s as old as Eden.

Adam was given dominion over creation. Nothing could touch him. He had never known fear, nor was there anything to be afraid of.  But the very first words out of Adam’s mouth after his transgression were, “I was afraid.” His was the terror of facing a holy God and having his sin exposed.

We’ve never gotten over that. To this day, we hide behind our accomplishments, our good deeds, even our reputations to keep from being exposed. We distance ourselves from anyone who might uncover our weakness. We flee intimacy from God.

Perfect love casts out fear.

You see, in the midst of our failures and fear of exposure, God seeks us out. He doesn’t wait until we come crawling to Him. He comes to us. He takes the initiative and meets us at the point of our frailty, not to upbraid or shame us, but to deal with our issues. He erases our sins. He restores the relationship and clothes us in His own righteousness.

It’s been replaced.

In 1 John, the apostle talks a lot about God’s love. (A lot.) Consider Chapter 4:16-18 And we have known and believed the love that God has for us. God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him. Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness in the day of judgment; because as He is, so are we in this world. There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love.

God replaces fear with boldness. Boldness. In the day of judgment. If we don’t have to fear the judgment of Almighty God, what is there left to fear, really? The key is in verse 16. We have known and believed the love God has for us.

Love is the antidote to fear. It always has been.

Know His love. Believe His love. Trade in your fear.

Filed Under: Thursday in the Word Tagged With: 1 John, fear, Genesis

How Can I Be Sure?

By Paula

How Can I Be Sure  title graphic

But Abram replied, “O Sovereign LORD, how can I be sure …?” Genesis 15:8 (NLT)

In Genesis chapter 15, God reiterates His covenant with Abram, and in this verse, Abram asks for some reassurance about his inheritance. In the context, he had just led an armed band on very successful mission to rescue Lot from a local warlord. Possessing the land seemed like a pipe dream when just keeping his family safe was such a task.

I love the tension in the question because it reflects where we spend most of our faith journey. Sovereign Lord shows Abram’s confidence that God was in control of all things. How can I be sure shows Abram’s reaction to the very real circumstances in which he lived. Isn’t that where we are? We know God is Lord and King but sometimes the evidence is obscured by the upheavals our daily lives.

God answers Abram’s question but not overtly. In the verses that follow, He instructs Abram to set up an ancient covenant-making ritual and through it, Abram gets his answer, and by extension, so do we. How can I be sure?

Because of the character of God

In the ritual, both parties to the covenant were supposed to walk between the animal part with the idea being that’s what should happen to them if they break the covenant. It was serious business. God alone passes through the pieces. Keeping the covenant rests solely on Him. He made the promise, and He swears to keep it. No matter what Abram did, the covenant was unbreakable and would never be annulled. God’s promises to us are just as sure.

Because of the faithfulness of God

He spells out to Abram the coming events and assures him that no matter what happens, the covenant will stand. Like Abram, we get focused on our current situation and struggles. God has a long-range vision of our lives and events, and He will always accomplish His plan.

Because of the power of God

An inherent reassurance built into every promise God makes is the fact that He has the power to see His promises through. If I promise to pick up my kids at 5:00, it’s contingent on my car functioning, on traffic, on my health, and a host of other things I don’t know about, much less have control over. God is not that way. Egyptian slavery will not stand in the way of His promise. Hostile tribes will not stand in the way. The disobedience of Israel will not. Not even my own wavering faith.

O Sovereign Lord, I can be sure.

Filed Under: Thursday in the Word Tagged With: Abraham, Genesis, promises of God

Journey to Christmas: The Garden

By Paula Wiseman

Journey to Christmas The Garden title graphic

Christmas is far more than the birth of a baby. It is more than a holiday, or a celebration or a season of goodwill. It is the beginning, the beginning of the end, actually. Christmas is the final act in the redemptive story that began long before, far from Jerusalem. Far from Nazareth. The first stop in our journey to Christmas is a lush, beautiful, perfect garden. The Garden of Eden.

Imagine the most perfect outdoor setting you’ve ever been in. The beach. The mountains. Waterfalls. The sweet fragrances of flowers all around you. The colors so vibrant. The animals. The fresh air. The perfect temperature. Do you have the picture? Eden was so much more.

And not only was the physical setting perfect, the relationship between man and woman was perfect. Perfect. No competition. No mistrust. No resentment. No slights or harsh words. No bad days. The harmony God intended.

And then there’s God. God is physically present in that garden. He is freely accessible, and it is an easy communion. The intimacy. The joy. The openness.

It seems we can never enjoy the wonder of Eden because the reality of what happened next hangs over us. We look past the beauty to the shadow. To the serpent. And things go horribly wrong.

Everything in creation is ruined. Defiled. Cursed. And when it seems there is no hope … God speaks a word of mercy, of grace, of promise.

I will put hostility between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring. He will strike your head, and you will strike his heel. Genesis 3:15

Unless and until we understand the magnitude of the loss, the utter hopelessness and powerlessness that we own, both individually and as members of the human family, then the promise is not so extraordinary. It is mundane. Ordinary. Common. That, my friends, is sacrilegious.

The Garden shows us that we are NOT what God meant for us. We are fallen. We are depraved. And I am fallen. I am depraved. I want what I want. I am self-absorbed. I am profane. I deserve the curse of a holy God. That is just and right. There is no appeal.

But there is a Savior.

And in the Garden we receive the first promise of His coming.

Because of that promise, we can come to the Garden, and while we might mourn what was lost or hold regret for what transpired, we have a promise of restoration. The Saviour whose coming was promised will not only deliver us from the curse, He will deliver all of creation from the curse. Everything will be as it was.

Linger here in the Garden. Seek God. Confess the sin that so readily takes up residence in your heart. Experience the longing for the Saviour to come.

Next stop: Nazareth

Filed Under: Thursday in the Word Tagged With: Christmas, Genesis, Journey to Christmas series

To Canaan

By Paula

To Canaan title graphic

Now the LORD had said to Abram: “Get out of your country, From your family And from your father’s house, To a land that I will show you. Genesis 12:1

Abram did an amazing thing, leaving his culture, his support network, everything that he was familiar with all for the sake of the call of God. That’s the short version. Let’s take a few moments and look at Abram’s journey a little more closely.

Notice that Genesis 12:1 begins with “the LORD had said.” Had said. God had already told Abram and it wasn’t done yet. You see, chapter 11 ends with:
And Terah took his son Abram and his grandson Lot, the son of Haran, and his daughter-in-law Sarai, his son Abram’s wife, and they went out with them from Ur of the Chaldeans to go to the land of Canaan; and they came to Haran and dwelt there. Genesis 11:31

Haran, Not Canaan
If you look at a map, Haran is about halfway between Ur and Canaan. Haran was an important crossroads on the ancient trade routes, and so it was a nice, comfortable, logical place to stop. Except God didn’t say to stop in Haran. Furthermore, God had said for Abram to leave his family, not let his father lead the expedition.

How many times have we stopped at Haran rather than Canaan? Have we ever stopped short of where God wanted us, where God called us, because it was a little more comfortable, a little easier, and little less intimidating? Have we ever been content to let someone else do the work or the ministry when we knew deep down that it was ours?

Abram’s story doesn’t stop in Haran. God renews His call to Abram after his father’s death and Abram resumes his journey.

Canaan
“Abram passed through the land to the place of Shechem, … Then the LORD appeared to Abram and said, “To your descendants I will give this land.” And there he built an altar to the LORD…” Genesis 12:6-7

“Abram! Stop! This is exactly where I want you.” As soon as Abram gets to Shechem, God appears and assures him this is the place. Abram, undoubtedly moved by a deep sense of thanksgiving, of wonder, of devotion, worships God.

When have that confident reassurance from God that we are where He has called us, we worship. Then our worship drives us to deeper obedience which results in more worship. It’s a good cycle to be in.

Abram didn’t stay there, though.

Beyond Canaan
Now there was a famine in the land, and Abram went down to Egypt to dwell there, for the famine was severe in the land. Genesis 12:10

There is no mention in Scripture that God told Abram to go to Egypt, so we are left to assume it was his idea. If you continue to read chapter 12, you’ll see that Abram got into trouble during his stay in Egypt.

Even from the very center of God’s will for us, heady with blessings, we often decide we know what’s best. God’s timing seems especially slow. We began to rely on our own judgment, on our own assessments and our own plans. We get caught up in numbers, in metrics and optics and pour our energy into making things bigger, and taking things farther, sometimes over things God never asked us to do in the first place.

There is no mention of any worship going on while Abram was in Egypt. Likewise, we find it hard to worship God when we take it on ourselves to do all the work, and bear all the burdens or when we make ourselves responsible for the outcomes.

Egypt was draining, frustrating, unsatisfying and even dangerous. It’s not much better for us when we strike out on our own. The great thing about God in His great grace is that we can’t void His promises or His call, and He won’t void them. Abram returned to Canaan. And so can we.

Back to Canaan
And he went on his journey from the South as far as Bethel, to the place where his tent had been at the beginning, between Bethel and Ai, to the place of the altar which he had made there at first. And there Abram called on the name of the LORD. Genesis 13:1-2

We can always go back. We can always renew, rediscover, and rekindle what we once had, both in our passion for our calling and for the God who counted us worthy of it.

Consider where you are on your journey. Haran? Canaan? Egypt? Or back in Canaan?
Do you need to move? Which direction?
What’s holding you back or what spurs you on?

Filed Under: Thursday in the Word Tagged With: Abraham, Genesis

Change

By Paula

Change title graphic

One summer Sunday, instead of spending the afternoon celebrating the fact that my husband was home after a week away at seminary, or even taking a nap, we spent it replacing our refrigerator. After having a few days to absorb that adventure, I started thinking about change.

Change often comes at the most inopportune times. It was Sunday afternoon. We already had parts on order for one of the cars for a repair set for this week.

Sometimes there are warning signs. Sometimes not. We knew something was up with the refrigerator when it started freezing the tea. However, the timing of the final slide to failure was a disappointing surprise.

Change is usually a multi-step process, rather than a single event. Fridge dies. Pack everything into coolers. Shop for a new refrigerator. Purchase. Load into truck. Bring home. Unload. Take doors off old fridge. Take doors off new fridge. Take doors off house. Bring old fridge out. New fridge in. Replace all doors. Load old fridge into truck. Unpack coolers and fill new fridge… And those are just the highlights.

Change is rarely easy or smoothly accomplished so it’s no wonder we resist it. Even if God is the one instigating it. Or more honestly, especially if God is behind it.

Change is a key part of our salvation experience, though. We are changed from dead to alive. We are changed from being God’s enemies to being part of His family. Those instantaneous changes open the door for a long process of change called sanctification, setting us apart making us more Christlike. Through this arduous, difficult transformation we are changed from wanting to serve ourselves to wanting to serve Him.

This requires that God intervene in our comfortable lives. Sometimes at what we would call inopportune moments. Sometimes without warning. We will be required to leave the shelter of our lists and plans. And 99 times out of 100 we will resist that change. For example:

Now the Lord had said to Abram: “Get out of your country, from your family and from your father’s house, to a land that I will show you.” Genesis 12:1

When God is nudging us toward change, it may help to consider these questions.

  • Does God love me?
  • Does He see a bigger picture than I do?
  • Is He God (and therefore does He have the right to tell me what to do)?
  • Will I obey Him in this?

Still having trouble? Then here’s one more — What if Abram had stayed in Ur?

If I make it sound too easy … be assured, I’ve been there. I quit my job to raise a family. We moved 400 miles from home. Then we moved back twenty years later. Then the pandemic. My oldest just married. I’ve had one graduate college, one currently in and the youngest will be there the next time I blink. Jon’s in a new pastorate … I don’t like change, either, even minor ones like new refrigerators, but through each change, I’m learning how faithful God is, how trustworthy and how dependable He is.

What has God taught you through change?

Filed Under: Thursday in the Word Tagged With: Abraham, Genesis

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