Timeline - Creation To Abram

The first eleven chapters of the book of Genesis. 

This timeline is based on the genealogies in Genesis 5 and 11, calculating years from the point of creation. 

It focuses on major events, births, and deaths. Some events lack precise dates and are approximated based on context. The chronology spans from creation to the birth of Abram (Abraham).

Key omitted events without dates: 

• The Fall (Genesis 3)
• Increasing wickedness leading to the flood (Genesis 6)
• God's covenant with Noah and the rainbow (Genesis 9:8–17)
• The Table of Nations (Genesis 10)

This timeline was created using Grok.com

Creation to Abram:

Year 0: Creation of the world in six days (Genesis 1).

Year 0: Creation of Adam and Eve; placement in the Garden of Eden (Genesis 2).

Year 0: Birth of Adam (Genesis 5).

Year 100–130: Cain and Abel's offerings; Cain kills Abel (Genesis 4).

Year 130: Birth of Seth to Adam (Genesis 4:25; 5:3).

Year 235: Birth of Enosh to Seth (Genesis 5).

Year 325: Birth of Kenan to Enosh (Genesis 5).

Year 395: Birth of Mahalalel to Kenan (Genesis 5).

Year 460: Birth of Jared to Mahalalel (Genesis 5).

Year 622: Birth of Enoch to Jared (Genesis 5).

Year 687: Birth of Methuselah to Enoch (Genesis 5).

Year 874: Birth of Lamech to Methuselah (Genesis 5).

Year 930: Death of Adam (Genesis 5).

Year 987: Death of Enoch (translated to heaven; Genesis 5).

Year 1042: Death of Seth (Genesis 5).

Year 1056: Birth of Noah to Lamech (Genesis 5).

Year 1140: Death of Enosh (Genesis 5).

Year 1235: Death of Kenan (Genesis 5).

Year 1290: Death of Mahalalel (Genesis 5).

Year 1422: Death of Jared (Genesis 5).

Year 1556: Birth of Noah's sons: Shem, Ham, and Japheth (Genesis 5:32).

Year 1558: Birth of Shem (Genesis 11).

Year 1651: Death of Lamech (Genesis 5).

Year 1656: Death of Methuselah (Genesis 5).

Year 1656: The Great Flood begins; Noah, family, and animals enter the ark (Genesis 6–7).

Year 1657: Flood ends; waters recede; ark rests on Ararat (Genesis 8). Noah's drunkenness; Ham's disrespect; Noah curses Canaan (Genesis 9).

Year 1658: Birth of Arphaxad to Shem (Genesis 11:10).

Year 1693: Birth of Shelah to Arphaxad (Genesis 11).

Year 1723: Birth of Eber to Shelah (Genesis 11).

Year 1757: Birth of Peleg to Eber (Genesis 11).

Year 1757–1996: Time of Peleg ("division"); Tower of Babel built and languages confused, scattering people (Genesis 10:25; 11:1–9).

Year 1787: Birth of Reu to Peleg (Genesis 11).

Year 1819: Birth of Serug to Reu (Genesis 11).

Year 1849: Birth of Nahor (the elder) to Serug (Genesis 11).

Year 1878: Birth of Terah to Nahor (Genesis 11).

Year 1948: Birth of Abram (Abraham) to Terah (Genesis 11:26).

Year 1996: Death of Peleg (Genesis 11).

Year 1997: Death of Nahor (Genesis 11).

Year 2006: Death of Noah (Genesis 9:29).

Year 2026: Death of Reu (Genesis 11).

Year 2049: Death of Serug (Genesis 11).

Year 2083: Death of Terah (Genesis 11:32).

Year 2096: Death of Arphaxad (Genesis 11).

Year 2126: Death of Shelah (Genesis 11).

Year 2158: Death of Shem (Genesis 11).

Year 2187: Death of Eber (Genesis 11).

Notes:

This follows the traditional literal interpretation of the ages given in the text (e.g., "Adam lived 130 years and begat Seth"). 

Variations exist in other textual traditions (e.g., Septuagint adds ~600 years to the pre-flood period).

The School Of Faith

God's test are for your own good and he offers retakes.

Genesis 12:7  Then the LORD appeared to Abram and said, “To your offspring I will give this land.” So he built there an altar to the LORD, who had appeared to him.

Genesis 12:10-13 At that time a severe famine struck the land of Canaan, forcing Abram to go down to Egypt, where he lived as a foreigner. 11 As he was approaching the border of Egypt, Abram said to his wife, Sarai, "Look, you are a very beautiful woman. 12 When the Egyptians see you, they will say, 'This is his wife. Let's kill him; then we can have her!' 13 So please tell them you are my sister. Then they will spare my life and treat me well because of their interest in you."

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Abram obeyed God and left home because he believed that God would give him a better place to live even though he did not know where he was going. He didn't have any of the navigation tools that God chooses to use sometimes, no pillar of fire or a star to follow, so I don't know how he knew which direction to go when he left the family property but he did it. If Abram needed the level of proof that we require he would not have left the driveway.

When God said "this is the place" Abram stopped to build the first altar to the one true God in the Promised Land. The land had plenty of altars but all of them were used to worship the gods that man had made out of rebellion.

This altar was an open confession of his religion that must have been an irritation to the people around him. Building the altar and using it to worship God confirms that Abram left his fake gods and truly believed the promise.

But this is not a story where they lived happily ever after in the new land, there are new faith lessons coming up, the life of faith isn't easy street, Abram would have to prove that his faith in God is real despite it's imperfections.

Three ways our faith will be tested:

Circumstances

Genesis 12:10

We all like to help God fix our problems so it is easy to understand why Abram left town when the famine came, he was responsible for the welfare of a lot of people and animals, but I have to wonder if maybe he wasn't supposed to move. Instead of going to Egypt, without a word from God telling him to do so, maybe he was supposed to stay in Canaan and allow God to provide for him there. (Compare what God told Isaac about staying put during a different famine in Genesis 26:1-3)

If he would have stayed in Canaan it would have been a great story about God's love and care during difficult times but Abram changes his circumstances and goes down to Egypt. A move that would prove to be the wrong choice more than once in Israel's history. (Numbers 11, 14, Isaiah 30:1-2)

“God doesn't always change the circumstances, but He can change us to meet the circumstances. That's what it means to live by faith.”

- Warren W. Wiersbe

The protection and promises of God are more important than the circumstances that we face. Abram didn't trust God in Canaan and soon we will see that he didn't trust God in Egypt either.

People

Genesis 12:11-13:4

Abram begins to think about the new circumstances that he would encounter in Egypt and the people that would be there. Abram proves that when we are out of God's will we tend to become self centered, our faith and trust in God gives way to scheming. He began to think about his own safety and thought nothing of the dangerous situation that his wife could be in.

This lack of faith looks like a minor issue of little importance but it jeopardized the promise made to Abram as well as the promise made to Eve back in the garden. (Genesis 3:15) How could the promised Messiah come from Sarai if she stayed in Pharaoh's harem?

Now it is Pharaoh’s turn to tell Abram to go. God said go with a promise of blessing but Pharaoh's demand to go away from Egypt was one of shame and disgrace. What a pitiful sight it is when we see the people of the world behaving better than God's children.

Things

Genesis 13:5-18

The carnal man would be pleased with the results of Abram's choice to go to Egypt, surviving the famine was a good thing but the bonus of getting more stuff makes it even better. (Genesis 13:1-5, Proverbs 10:2)

Problem is what looks like a blessing is about to make more trouble than Abram could have ever imagined:

• Disputes arose because of the wealth that caused the two men to separate. (Genesis 13:6-7)
• A handmaid enters the household that would make trouble later when pregnancy issues plague the marriage. (Genesis 16:4)
• The worldliness of Egypt would have a detrimental effect on Lot as he chose his direction in life. (Genesis 13:12-12)

When circumstances and people challenged Abram he was a troublemaker but in the third test he gets it right. When things caused family problems he made the right decision and became a peacemaker.

In contrast, Lot chose to let things get in the way of making good decisions, the appeal of Sodom probably reminded Lot of the good life that he experienced back in Egypt. Lot must have missed that lifestyle and was anxious to go back.

Abram caused trouble in Egypt because he was out of place, Lot caused trouble in Canaan because he was out of place

-Warren Wiersbe Bible Commentary

After their separation, God renews his promise to give Abram the land, even after all of his mistakes in Egypt, God reaffirms his promise that all of the land would still belong to Abram and his descendants even after Abram gave away some of the land to Lot. (Genesis 13:14-18)

Abram pitches his tent and built another altar to the LORD, another place to worship, another place of testimony to the one true God. These altars are a picture of the church today as a place of worship for pilgrims on their way to a better country.

Abram's journey of faith reminds us that Satan wants to:

• Satan wants to use circumstances, people and things against you but God uses them to test and grow your faith.
• Satan wants to define you by your failures but God want to show his grace and mercy through those failures.
• Satan wants to keep you away from your altar so that he can keep you defeated but God wants to meet you there to let you know how much you are loved.

Abram's imperfect journey of faith and obedience should be encouraging to all of us as we struggle with the reality of God's promises. We may not pass God's test on the first try but God is faithful to allow us as many retakes as we need. We need to resist the temptation to change our circumstances because these circumstances are a tool that God uses to grow big faith.

RELATED ARTICLES

9 Ways to Grow in Your Faith (billygraham.org)
What does it mean for a Christian to grow in faith? (gotquestions.org)

God Says Go - Abram Obeys

Abraham received the fame that the people at Babel were trying to have.

Genesis 12:1-4 The LORD had said to Abram, "Leave your native country, your relatives, and your father' family, and go to the land that I will show you. 2 I will make you into a great nation. I will bless you and make you famous, and you will be a blessing to others. 3 I will bless those who bless you and curse those who treat you with contempt. All the families on earth will be blessed through you." 4 So Abram departed as the LORD had instructed, and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he left Haran.

Hebrews 11:8-10 It was by faith that Abraham obeyed when God called him to leave home and go to another land that God would give him as his inheritance. He went without knowing where he was going. 9 And even when he reached the land God promised him, he lived there by faith--for he was like a foreigner, living in tents. And so did Isaac and Jacob, who inherited the same promise. 10 Abraham was confidently looking forward to a city with eternal foundations, a city designed and built by God.

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We saw in the previous post that when God said go the people obeyed but the problem is they all went in one direction instead of spreading out and after a short distance they all stopped.

When someone got the idea to build a city with a great tower it seemed like a great idea so they all stayed together. Don't forget that these people are the grandchildren of the people that survived the flood so they should know better, they knew the commands of God and the severe consequences of disobedience but they just didn't care.

God needed a new people that would not be like everyone else, he needed a people that would be an example to the nations, these people would show the rest of the world how to please God and bring him glory.

God chose to start this new group of people with one ordinary man that didn't do anything at all to have God's favor on his life. He probably didn't even believe in God but when God spoke he was convinced to leave his gods behind.

Joshua 24:2 Joshua said to the people, "This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: Long ago your ancestors, including Terah, the father of Abraham and Nahor, lived beyond the Euphrates River, and they worshiped other gods.

Abram left Ur when he started his faith journey but he allowed his father to take the lead and when Terah stopped traveling the whole family stopped at Haran. Maybe he was following the traditions of his day and remained with his father, the family patriarch, and allowed him to be in charge but that isn't what God told Abram to do. (Genesis 11:27-32)

Abram didn't continue traveling to where God wanted him until after his father died and even then he still wasn't fully obedient because he still took his nephew. On more than one occasion Lot will be a source of trouble for him later.

The group that stopped at Babel in the previous blog post wanted to make a name for themselves and create their own secure environment by their own efforts but with Abram we see a willingness to believe that the prosperity, security and fame that the people of Babel were seeking would come as a result of being obedient to God's plan.

God forced the group at Babel to spread out but Abram was obedient and completed the journey to the land that was promised to him and his descendants. God was patient and merciful to gently get Abram to the place that he wanted him.

Galatians 3:6-7 In the same way, "Abraham believed God, and God counted him as righteous because of his faith." The real children of Abraham, then, are those who put their faith in God. 

Abram's imperfect journey of faith and obedience should be encouraging to all of us that struggle with the reality of God's promises. Sometimes we start with good intentions and we may look obedient but sometimes we aren't paying attention to the details that go into complete obedience.

Abram reminds me that I need to be willing to let go of my security and my desires which hinder my ability to trust God. He didn't have a pillar of fire or a star to follow but somehow he knew which direction and he stepped out. What an amazing contrast, if Abram needed the level of proof that we require he would have never left the farm.

Abram's willingness to live in tents and build altars is a great example for my life as I look forward to my eternal home.

RELATED ARTICLES

What was Abraham’s religion before God called him?" (gotquestions.org)
The Covenant Of Abraham (desiringgod.org)

God Says Go - Don't Stay With The Crowd

The one who scattered us will bring us all back together for his glory.

Genesis 10:4-9 Then they said, "Come, let's build a great city for ourselves with a tower that reaches into the sky. This will make us famous and keep us from being scattered all over the world." 5 But the LORD came down to look at the city and the tower the people were building.

6 "Look!" He said. "The people are united, and they all speak the same language. After this, nothing they set out to do will be impossible for them! 7 Come, let's go down and confuse the people with different languages. Then they won't be able to understand each other." 8 In that way, the LORD scattered them all over the world, and they stopped building the city.

9 That is why the city was called Babel, because that is where the LORD confused the people with different languages. In this way He scattered them all over the world.

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You have probably been warned more than once about the danger of following the crowd. Jesus warned us that his followers would have to choose to stop following the crowds and choose the straight and narrow road that few people were willing to take. (Matthew 7:14) In today's scripture we will see the dangers of unity and how God dispersed a crowd without using any physical effort.

The new beginning that Noah received from God wasn't perfect, the floods washed away sin from the earth but it didn't cleanse the heart of mankind, the eight people that got off the ark still had a sin nature and it didn't take long for it to affect their lives.

Noah's children and grandchildren were supposed to be fruitful, multiply and fill the earth but they didn't want to scatter like the animals did. They chose to move to the East as a group, and when someone decided to stop, they all stopped. Following the crowd was already a popular idea.

It seems like Nimrod was the first man to rise to power after the flood, he was a great hunter and he also became the first to invest in real estate, he took after Cain and built the first great cities that are mentioned after the flood. (Cain, Genesis 4:16-17; Nimrod, Genesis 10:8-12)

No more than a hundred years after the flood, while Noah's children and grandchildren are still alive, the world population is ignoring what happened and doing what they want. Some of the people that got off the boat are still alive, they had all of the facts about God's judgment of sin that caused the flood, but they didn't care.

God’s will for human beings is not that we find our joy in being praised, but that we find our joy in knowing and praising him. His will is not that we find our security in cities but in God whom we gladly obey.

-John Piper

A great city with a famous landmark has been the dream of many people throughout history. The love of praise and the love of security are great motivations for the masses to stick together but this tower was also an attempt by Satan to get man to worship anything besides God.

This tower was probably a ziggurat, these towers were the center of religious activity that can still be seen around that area today. We saw that right after Noah got off the ark that he worshiped God properly but most his grandchildren followed the way of Cain and chose to do worship their way.

It may seem like a curse that we are all scattered around the world into so many different people groups with so many different languages and cultures but this diversity is actually a great tool that God created to prevent evil from going unchecked. One evil man is not likely to make much trouble but that can change quickly in the company of like minded friends.

The plans of evil world leaders are restrained through diversity, uniting the nations sounds like a great idea but think about all of the united efforts in world history that prove that human unity can also be extremely evil.

The unity of other countries was the only reason the Nazis were not successful at ruling the world with their evil schemes. The plans of the United Nations is right in line with Satan's desires for a one world, one government system under one ruler. The one who scattered us is the only one that has the authority to bring us all back together again and he is the only one that will bring us together without any evil intentions.

The next time the world is united it will be under the rule of the Antichrist, the world population will think it is an awesome idea to unite together but they won't realize that his unity will be for evil just the same as he did it at the tower that was built in Babylon.

Revelation 7:9 After this I saw a vast crowd, too great to count, from every nation and tribe and people and language, standing in front of the throne and before the Lamb. 

Someday God's people will enjoy unity again, the effects of sin will be washed away permanently and the one who scattered us will bring us all back together for his glory. Until that day comes we must strive while we are still here on Earth to bring glory to God through the unity that we have as followers of Jesus.

Following the crowd doesn't have to be a bad thing if you are careful to follow the crowd that will bring glory to God for eternity.

In the next post we will see that the fame that the people sought to have at Babel was realized in Abram because of his obedience and willingness to go in faith to a place he didn't know.

RELATED ARTICLES

Why Did God Create The World (desiringgod.org)
What Is Christian Unity (desiringgod.org)

The God Of New Beginnings

God offers a fresh start for his people that will never end.

Genesis 8:1-4 But God remembered Noah and all the wild animals and livestock with him in the boat. He sent a wind to blow across the earth, and the floodwaters began to recede. 2 The underground waters stopped flowing, and the torrential rains from the sky were stopped. 3 So the floodwaters gradually receded from the earth. After 150 days, 4 exactly five months from the time the flood began, the boat came to rest on the mountains of Ararat.

Genesis 8:15-20 Then God said to Noah, 16 "Leave the boat, all of you--you and your wife, and your sons and their wives. 17 Release all the animals--the birds, the livestock, and the small animals that scurry along the ground--so they can be fruitful and multiply throughout the earth." 18 So Noah, his wife, and his sons and their wives left the boat. 19 And all of the large and small animals and birds came out of the boat, pair by pair. 20 Then Noah built an altar to the LORD, and there he sacrificed as burnt offerings the animals and birds that had been approved for that purpose.

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Ever wish for a new start? Imagine living in a world without another family that goes to church, where nobody else agrees with your views of morality or politics, a world that is so full of evil that even God wants to start over.

It is easy to read through Genesis real quick and fail to realize the difficult circumstances that Noah lived under. This one man's faith stands out in in a world where no one else has any concern for God or about having his favor.

We don't know how God's favor was displayed or whether his neighbors knew that Noah had favor but I imagine there was a lot of peer pressure for Noah and his family to join in and live like everybody else. When Cain knew that God's favor was on his brother Abel it made him furious so I imagine that Noah's neighbors probably didn't like him or his family.

Just to make things really interesting God asked Noah to do crazy things that would test his faith. To put his faith into action Noah had to build something that has never been built for an event that has never happened before. (Hebrews 11:7)

Noah Teaches Us:

We should be obedient even if nobody else is. The pressure to be like everybody else must have been intense. Their sons must have wondered "why can't we do what our friends do?" We should have faith that can be seen and heard by our neighbors. Noah's faith in what was unseen caused him to be obedient in ways that can be clearly seen by his neighbors but they were also warned by Noah as he told them why he was building something so crazy. We should wait on God despite the circumstances. It looked good outside after the flood, the birds proved that there was dry ground, but they didn't leave until God told them to. We should worship God because he has given us favor. How can you not worship when you realize how many people were killed and the fact that you are just as sinful as they and deserving of the same judgement yet God spared you? We should be aware that things are going to get much worse. The wickedness on earth was probably greater than it is today. There is a greater percentage of people that have God's favor on the earth today than there was in Noah's day. We should not forget how prone we are to do wrong. Even the best of men are weak and liable to fall, when those eight people got off the boat sin came along with them, Noah got drunk and one of his sons disrespected him and made fun of his shameful behavior. We should look to the sky for only one sign. Many people look to the stars and planets for information but the rainbow is the only thing that God put in the sky that we need to look to. We should be ready for the day of final judgement. Noah was protected from God's wrath as a reminder to us that God's people will be out of here before the final judgement that will be by fire.

Noah and his family would get to live in a fresh environment that had been cleansed from man's wickedness, it sounds like a dream come true but these eight people knew that while they escaped punishment there were millions of lives that were lost outside of the ark.

Their fresh start wasn't perfect, the floods washed away sin from the earth but it didn't cleanse the heart of mankind, the eight people that got off the ark still had a sin nature that would continue to challenge them as they tried to live to please God.

2 Corinthians 5:15, 17 He died for everyone so that those who receive His new life will no longer live for themselves. Instead, they will live for Christ, who died and was raised for them.

This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!

Jesus left the glory of Heaven to have a new beginning with us, this was certainly not a fresh start, he endured life in this broken world so that we could have a new beginning in this life and in the next.

My first new beginning is in this life. It is very much like Noah's do over, he experienced God's mercy and grace because he had favor with God. God's grace and mercy have given me favor with him through my belief in Jesus as my only way to get to Heaven.

If God's purpose was to fill the earth with the glory of his righteousness, then we must conclude one of two things: God is a failure or God is preparing for something greater in the future.

-John Piper

My next new beginning will be the last. Unlike the other new beginning in the Bible, this one will be final and the changes that it brings will last forever. God's purpose for creating man will finally come to pass, man will fill the earth with God's glory and worship him with pure hearts for eternity.

God will take up his bow and judge the world. We need to share the good news that God has given us a season of mercy, he has put his bow in the sky pointed away from us, but this season will come to an end without warning.

God's people will be taken away to a new beginning in a glorious kingdom and Satan and his children will begin a new existence separated forever from God. Are you ready?

RELATED ARTICLES

Life and Death in the New World (gty.org)
God's Covenant With Noah (desiringgod.org)

One Man's Faith

Noah's faith affected his family but the rest of mankind missed the boat.

Genesis 6:5-8 The LORD observed the extent of human wickedness on the earth, and He saw that everything they thought or imagined was consistently and totally evil. 6 So the LORD was sorry He had ever made them and put them on the earth. It broke His heart.

7 And the LORD said, "I will wipe this human race I have created from the face of the earth. Yes, and I will destroy every living thing--all the people, the large animals, the small animals that scurry along the ground, and even the birds of the sky. I am sorry I ever made them." 8 But Noah found favor with the LORD.

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If you think our world is bad, consider what Genesis says about the world before the flood, in just a short time the way of Cain had increased to the point that "everything they thought or imagined was consistently and totally evil."

When you read the genealogy in Genesis chapter five it is easy to not realize that the world population could have been a few billion people before the flood came. That would make the ratio of self pleasers to God pleasing people a few billion to eight.

We think we have it so bad but it is very possible that evil may have been far worse than it is in our day. Today we still have thousands of God's people on the planet compared to only eight out of billions of people back in Noah's day. You probably know hundreds of people that do not fit the description of "everything they thought or imagined was consistently and totally evil."

God chooses one family to be a part of his plan to start over, God knew that Noah and his family had the faith to build the ark, a special boat without sails, oars or a rudder. The occupants of the boat didn't have any control, their faith in God made it possible to trust him for the direction, the speed and their final destination.

Noah Was A God Pleaser
Noah was a righteous and blameless man. (Genesis 6:9-13) Noah believed that events that never happened before would take place. Noah trusted God's design specifications for the ark. (Genesis 6:22) Noah dedicated a large amount of time and resources to build the massive ark. Noah warned the people around him (1 Peter 3:20 / 2 Peter 2:5) Noah waited on God before leaving the Ark (Genesis 7:1-24)

Imagine the ridicule as the Ark project got started, when people asked what he was building and why, they had never seen rain and there wasn't a large body of water around. It seemed like Noah was just a crazy man wasting his life and resources away.

Besides the neighbors, Noah must have also been mocked by the suppliers and the laborers that contributed to the project. There were men that made good money in the lumber business, there were laborers, carpenters and people that applied the waterproofing.

After the Ark was completed there were the suppliers for the food and supplies that they would need to set-up household on the boat. There were probably people that visited the project maybe some that went inside and took a tour of the Ark. They saw it, they touched it and heard the message from Noah but at the end of the day they shared crazy Noah stories with their family and friends.

Think about the reactions when the animals started showing up in pairs. It seems to me that the animals would validate Noah's warning and prove that he wasn't just a crazy old man but this was another missed opportunity to receive grace and avoid the coming judgment.

God could have supernaturally provided the Ark and flooded the Earth immediately or he could have wiped out man in some other way but instead there was a season of grace, a delay of justice that allowed the message of salvation and repentance to spread.

The good news was ignored by everyone, all of Noah's friends, his extended family and his business associates that helped build the Ark, they were physically so close to the truth but spiritually they were so far. Noah's faith didn't make any difference to the culture, their wickedness was so great that they were blind to the truth of Noah's faith and obedience.

Blinded By Sin
2 Corinthians 4:3-4 If the Good News we preach is hidden behind a veil, it is hidden only from people who are perishing. Satan, who is the god of this world, has blinded the minds of those who don’t believe. They are unable to see the glorious light of the Good News. They don’t understand this message about the glory of Christ, who is the exact likeness of God.

The letter that Paul wrote to the Corinthian church makes it clear that people are blind to the truth. The glorious light of the good news is right in front of them but they can't see it, grace and mercy is available but it makes no sense to them, the same stubbornness that we see in Cain still exist today.

Sadly, the rebellion continues, the flood put a temporary end to the injustice in the world but it did not change the human heart. Mankind keeps on rebelling against God and his glorious standards, we stubbornly redefine marriage, distort sexual relationships, we think one man is better than another because of pigment, and we kill our babies everyday without any sign of remorse.

We are so wrong for thinking that God doesn't really care about morality and injustice or he would have already intervened. Don't be fooled, the day is coming when God will judge mankind, just as he did in Noah's day, he will protect his people and then he will judge the earth. But this time his people will be taken away to their forever home so that the earth can be destroyed by fire.

Just like the days before the flood, it will seem like God is okay with how things are going, all of the everyday things that happen will keep on happening, plans will be made to marry, have a family, change jobs and go to parties, it will be business as usual for the planet right up to the end. (Matthew 24:36-39)

We all belong to Adam, we all have the craving to go the way of Cain, but we can choose to belong to Jesus and get caught up to live with him for eternity.

RELATED ARTICLES

Thinking Outside The Box (answersingenesis.org)
Timeline For The Flood (answersingenesis.org)
The Global Flood Of Noah's Day (icr.org)

Caught Up

Death is not an issue for God's children... some of them won't even do it.

Genesis 5:21-24 When Enoch was 65 years old, he became the father of Methuselah. 22 After the birth of Methuselah, Enoch lived in close fellowship with God for another 300 years, and he had other sons and daughters. 23 Enoch lived 365 years, 24 walking in close fellowship with God. Then one day he disappeared, because God took him.

2 Kings 2:11 As they were walking along and talking, suddenly a chariot of fire appeared, drawn by horses of fire. It drove between the two men, separating them, and Elijah was carried by a whirlwind into heaven.

Mark 16:19 When the Lord Jesus had finished talking with them, He was taken up into heaven and sat down in the place of honor at God's right hand.

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God loves us so much that he gave us a very important warning way back at the beginning of his love story to us, he warned us that the penalty for our sin would be death, and since Adam sinned we all sin and we all will die.

But that's not completely true, God changed the rules for a couple of privileged men that had a special relationship with him, these two were promoted to Heaven without going through the formality of dying. (Hebrews 11:5)

The first one was Enoch, the exception to a long list of men that begot a son and then died at a very old age. (Genesis 4:17-5:32) Enoch had a short life for people back in those days, after only 365 years God walked him right up into Heaven. I don't know how his family felt about this but what a way to go!

Jude 1:14-15 Enoch, who lived in the seventh generation after Adam, prophesied about these people. He said, "Listen! The Lord is coming with countless thousands of His holy ones 15 to execute judgment on the people of the world. He will convict every person of all the ungodly things they have done and for all the insults that ungodly sinners have spoken against Him."

Think you have it bad as a follower of Christ? Enoch lived a godly life in a culture that was so bad that God wanted to destroy it with a flood. There were far more people that followed the way of Cain that brought the culture down spiritually, but there is good news for God's people.

Enoch is a picture of the rapture before the judgment that was on the way. God will take up his church just as sure as he took up Enoch, this is a picture of the rapture of the bride of Christ before the tribulation.

Matthew 24:36-39 "However, no one knows the day or hour when these things will happen, not even the angels in heaven or the Son Himself. Only the Father knows. 37 "When the Son of Man returns, it will be like it was in Noah's day. 38 In those days before the flood, the people were enjoying banquets and parties and weddings right up to the time Noah entered his boat. 39 People didn't realize what was going to happen until the flood came and swept them all away. That is the way it will be when the Son of Man comes.

The days before Jesus’ return will be similar to the days before the Flood. All of the everyday things that happen will keep on happening, plans will be made to marry, have a family, change jobs and go to parties, it will be business as usual for the planet right up to the end.

God could have provided the Ark and flooded the Earth immediately but instead there was a season of grace that allowed people to change their minds and call upon God to save them. God's grace saved eight people from the flood while everyone else lived for themselves.

They had plenty of warning during the time that it took for Noah and his construction crews to finish building and stocking the Ark with supplies. Imagine being one of the laborers or a supplier of the materials that got stuck outside the Ark when the waters started getting high. Surely Noah and his family let you know what you were building and why.

Noah's predictions were too incredible, even the people that helped build the boat didn't care that Noah could be correct. Life goes on for most people without any serious consideration of where they came from or where they are going.

1 Corinthians 15:22-23 Just as everyone dies because we all belong to Adam, everyone who belongs to Christ will be given new life. 23 But there is an order to this resurrection: Christ was raised as the first of the harvest; then all who belong to Christ will be raised when He comes back. 

God's grace will be seen by his children that are alive when he comes back to take them to the home he has prepared. I want to walk in close fellowship with God and be a part of the multitude that God will take up without dying.

We all belong to Adam, we all have the craving to go the way of Cain, but we can choose to belong to Jesus and live a new life that will not end or be marred with sin.

Are you ready to be caught up?

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The Way Of Cain

There are two kinds of people in this world and they rarely get along. 

Genesis 4:3-7 When it was time for the harvest, Cain presented some of his crops as a gift to the LORD. 4 Abel also brought a gift--the best of the firstborn lambs from his flock. The LORD accepted Abel and his gift, 5 but He did not accept Cain and his gift. This made Cain very angry, and he looked dejected.

6 "Why are you so angry?" the LORD asked Cain. "Why do you look so dejected? 7 You will be accepted if you do what is right. But if you refuse to do what is right, then watch out! Sin is crouching at the door, eager to control you. But you must subdue it and be its master."

Jude 1:11 What sorrow awaits them! For they follow in the footsteps of Cain.

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If you are following my study through Genesis you should know by now that sin is the root cause of every breakdown on this planet. We like to think that the issues are very complex but God has made it crystal clear that every breakdown, every unrighteousness and every injustice is a direct result of sin.

The only reason the issues are complicated is because man is too arrogant to admit the problem and seek the help that we need from the only person that has the cure. We prefer to ignore God's rules and do things our own way.

When Adam and Eve sinned we see the shame and remorse that they had, they admitted their sin and they willingly accepted their punishment without arguing with God. But that is not true of every sinner. Their first born son wasn't concerned at all about what God thought about his sin.

Cain's attitude toward sin was self centered and indifferent to the ways of God. Cain was obsessed with what he thought was fair and just and he thought he should be able to be his own god and make his own rules. Cain may have thought: Why should Abel get God's favor? Doesn't God know what Abel did to me?

Cain was probably warned by his parents, surely the boys heard stories about the good old days back in the garden, the devastating consequences of their sin must have been talked about at home, especially when the boys were misbehaving.

Psalms 51:17 The sacrifice You desire is a broken spirit. You will not reject a broken and repentant heart, O God.

God warned Cain that sin is powerful, it desires to have you, and it crouches down low so you won't know how big it is. Sin will stalk you and if you give it an opportunity it will not let you go without a struggle. The smallest little grudge wants to be murder if it isn't controlled.

God showed grace to Cain and let him know why he wasn't pleased with him, God could have been a harsh judge but he came in love. Cain hated God and he couldn't bear the thought that his brother had God's approval.

Cain deserved death but he didn't worry about God killing him, he was pretty sure that one of his relatives would try to get revenge for God, so God protected him from physical death but it was up to Cain to decide his spiritual condition.

Most of the sermons preached on Genesis four focus on murder, fake worship and the power of sin in Cain's life. All of those are great points but if you look at chapter four through seven as a whole there is a message that is even more important.

1 John 3:12 We must not be like Cain, who belonged to the evil one and killed his brother. 

Cain and Abel show us that there are only two kinds of people in our world, there are people that belong to God and all of the rest of mankind belong to Satan. We all decide for ourselves: Will I try to be God or will I be happy to be under God?

Cain is the prototype for everybody that does not belong to God, just look at his family tree in the next few chapters of Genesis. The list includes a lot of accomplished men that achieved great things and contributed to society and to culture but there isn't anything spiritual mentioned about the people in Cain's lineage.

1 John 3:12-13 We must not be like Cain, who belonged to the evil one and killed his brother. And why did he kill him? Because Cain had been doing what was evil, and his brother had been doing what was righteous. 13 So don’t be surprised, dear brothers and sisters, if the world hates you.

It's only the beginning of God's book and already the ungodly seem to be in control, as quick as sin ruined Cain it also ruined the culture, we can see today very clearly where the mess all around us came from.

Cain and his ungodly offspring would defy God's definition of marriage and take more than one wife. They would be known as unforgiving and violent people. Sure, they were religious but they would like to make the rules and decide how God should be worshiped.

Man has made a quick mess of God's perfect creation, it looks bad, much like it does today but the promise remains. The promise that someone from the woman's offspring will strike the head of Satan. The plan to kill Abel was Satan's first attempt to prohibit the fulfillment of the promised Messiah.

God has a remnant in Seth's lineage, in the midst of a world full of ungodly people there are only eight people, Noah, his sons and their wives that God can use to fulfill his promise. Take note that the lineage of Seth doesn't have any cultural acclaim like Cain's offspring, the people of Seth were famous for what really mattered, they worshiped God correctly. (Genesis 4:26)

The Bible is quick to show us that there are two kinds of people in this world and they will have a hard time accepting each other. It seems like the problem is getting worse everyday as various groups of people attempt to change our values and force us to accept their deviation from God's original design.

The world will always be angry because God's children are favored, we must be careful that we don't join them and give them our anger, we need to be known for our amazing ability to show love to people that do not love us.

The most important message to learn from Cain is that he belonged to the evil one, Cain and his descendants never did love God and they all died in the flood. You can find favor with God and avoid judgement if you accept his offer of salvation.

The Growing Sin Problem

We keep denying the source of and the solution to the sin problem.

Genesis 3:1 The serpent was the shrewdest of all the wild animals the LORD God had made. One day he asked the woman, "Did God really say you must not eat the fruit from any of the trees in the garden?"

James 1:14-15 Temptation comes from our own desires, which entice us and drag us away. 15 These desires give birth to sinful actions. And when sin is allowed to grow, it gives birth to death.

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So far in my study of the book of Genesis I have learned that In the beginning God created us to rule over creation and to fill the earth with the knowledge of the glory of God. Since God created us and made us in his image he must be by far the most qualified expert on what is best for us but we are arrogant enough to think that we know a better way. (Isaiah 43:7)

In our arrogance we think we are allowed to decide absolutely everything, things that we once thought were obvious facts that could not be denied are now up for debate, we are foolish enough to believe that we get to ignore God without any side effects.

It wasn't too long ago that our gender was something that was an absolute fact but thanks to science and technology we can be something we were not designed to be. I have to wonder how much of this perversion is being fueled by the desire to make a lot of money without regard for the lives that are being devastated.

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Man has deceived himself and believed that the issues are very complicated but God has made it crystal clear that all of this confusion goes back to man's departure from God's design to seek our own way. Every breakdown, every unrighteousness and every injustice is a direct result of sin.

All breakdowns are because of sin: 

• The first effect of sin happened before God even confronted Adam and Eve, before they even knew that their relationship with God was broken, it became clear to them that their relationship with each other was very different.
• Sin made them ashamed to be fully known by God or by each other, they needed clothing to hide their most intimate parts from each other. Transparency is a rare trait in the best of relationships.
• Sin distorted God's created gender roles, it wouldn't take too long for man and woman to start mistreating each other. God predicted that man will tend to make an idol out of power. and that woman will tend to make an idol out of the relationship.
• Work is not a curse but thanks to sin it is cursed, thorns and weeds always get in the way of our ambitions.
• Nature works against us, instead of being in control and ruling over the earth, in many ways it is controlling us.

This list is compiled from a podcast by Tim Keller - "A Promise of Hope"

Our sin is the source of every breakdown, from our broken bodies to the difficulty in your relationships to catastrophic weather events.  It is easy to look horizontal at what is wrong in this world and point your finger at many different causes but the root cause of our problem is the fact that the vertical relationship with God is broken. Horizontal sins happen because of our vertical sins.

Our rebellious arrogance and pride got us into this situation and it is the reason we are still dealing with the problem. Everybody is looking for world peace but we cannot fix our deepest problems and make a better society on our own without returning to God and his design and his rules.  If we keep denying the source of our problems we will never be able to solve our problems.

Psalms 2:1-4 Why are the nations so angry? Why do they waste their time with futile plans? 2 The kings of the earth prepare for battle; the rulers plot together against the LORD and against His anointed one. 3 "Let us break their chains," they cry, "and free ourselves from slavery to God." 4 But the One who rules in heaven laughs. The Lord scoffs at them.

We are all kings, ruling our little empires, we make our choices about our lives that prove who is in control. We all plot against God to do what we want to do, he is the source of our wisdom but we think that we are wiser than he is, it is no wonder that he laughs at our crazy notions.

It is a real breakthrough when we realize and submit to the reality that God's ways are the ultimate. We will begin to heal when we get to the point that we realize that our best is so corrupt and falls short of what God intended.

Psalms 51:7-8 Purify me from my sins, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow. 8 Oh, give me back my joy again; You have broken me--now let me rejoice. 

God is waiting for my will to break so that I will give up on my rebellion and give him control. When I get off of my throne and let the ruler of the universe be the ruler of my life then I will find my greatest satisfaction and joy.

When this happens the world around me will see that there is a better way, they will see a little bit of heaven on earth, my life will be a witness of the future when Jesus comes back to rule with justice.

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The Problem Of Sin

There is vice in every virtuous thing that I do.

Genesis 3:9-13 Then the LORD God called to the man, "Where are you?" 10 He replied, "I heard You walking in the garden, so I hid. I was afraid because I was naked." 11 "Who told you that you were naked?" the LORD God asked. "Have you eaten from the tree whose fruit I commanded you not to eat?"

12 The man replied, "It was the woman You gave me who gave me the fruit, and I ate it." 13 Then the LORD God asked the woman, "What have you done?" "The serpent deceived me," she replied. "That's why I ate it."

1 John 2:16 For the world offers only a craving for physical pleasure, a craving for everything we see, and pride in our achievements and possessions. These are not from the Father, but are from this world.

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Nobody likes to talk about sin these days, even pastors and Sunday School teachers are less likely to talk about it, the response from society can be so severe these days that many people are unwilling to mention sin. God’s rules about creation, marriage, sexuality, morality are being replaced by the individual. Reality is optional. Truth is always changing.

You may think it isn't nice to mention sin, you may not want to make someone feel bad, but if you don't lovingly point out their sin then you are not doing them any favors, if nobody ever helps them see where they fall short then they may never be right with God.

Thankfully somebody started pointing out my sin to me from an early age but even with the most favorable circumstances I still played around with sin and wasted too much of my life doing what I thought was right.

Sin is doing anything for your own glory, even if it means good things. And righteousness is doing things for the glory of God, out of a sense of beauty for who he is.

-Timothy Keller

The assumption that there is sin implies the possibility and obligation for intervention but without sin you do not have the ability or the right to intervene when you see injustice, without sin we are powerless to make change.

Man always finds inadequate ways to deal with sin.

Denial has always been one of our most popular responses to sin, no fault theology is very popular, society says don't define sin for me, I can decide what is right for me.

Another popular response has always been to hide our sin. God came to visit man in the garden and all of a sudden hide and seek is a new game that has been created. First they hid from each other by making the first clothing and and then they hid from God.

As soon as they were confronted with sin they invent the blame game. Adam pointed his finger at God and reminded him that Eve was his idea and then Eve tries to put the blame on the snake.

Even in the most favorable circumstances, such a lovely place to live, creation wasn't marred by sin yet, they could interact with all of the animals without fear, their only neighbor was God yet they still could not be content.

What is your motivation to be good?

Most of us don't like to follow the rules if they don't make good sense, if you don’t give me a good logical reason then I won’t obey, but God doesn't need to give us a reason. If he did there is a good chance that we wouldn't comprehend it anyway. God says do it for his glory, his happiness and his agenda whether it makes sense to us or not.

Satan's biggest trick was to sell us on the idea that we would be like God, he didn't want us to realize that because we were already created in God's image, we were already like God. Instead of becoming like God we actually became less like God and more like Satan.

Theologian, author and pastor Jonathan Edwards first introduced the concept of common virtue and true (saving) virtue in his book "The Nature of True Virtue" back in 1755. Edwards says that common virtue is doing the right thing out of fear or pride and true virtue is doing the right thing simply because God is worthy of our total trust and obedience.

Common virtue says:

1. FEAR - be honest because it pays or be honest because God will get you.
2. PRIDE - be honest because you don’t want to be one of those people, those sinners.

Did you notice that our incentive to be good can also be our motive for sin? Fear and pride may be good incentives to not sin but they can also be the catalyst that creates in us the desire to sin. Think about it, fear and pride are the main reason for all of the evil in this world and yet my virtue is full of fear and pride.

Common virtue is rotten at the core, there is vice in all of my virtue, because of this my efforts to be good will never be good enough and they won't last for very long. Fear and pride will help me develop better filters but real change comes from the heart.

True virtue says:

1. Do the right thing because of who God is.
2. Because of what Jesus has done.

True virtue comes from a desire to honor and please God for his glory and because of his beauty and worth. I want to be generous, humble and loving because I love him and want to please him and be like him. God will be your greatest desire and the source of satisfaction above everything else.

If you realize how bad your goodness is then your point of view will change, Jesus won't be just a good example to follow, he will be your Savior that you cannot be without. You won't run to him when you need him to get you through something rather you will stay at his side because you need him always.

The Gospel: I am so flawed that Jesus had to die for me yet I’m so loved and valued that Jesus was glad to die for me.

-Timothy Keller

The gospel changes everything, your pride will disappear as you realize that you are so bad the he had to die to reverse the effects of sin. But at the same time you don’t have to live in fear because God loves you so much that he was willing to come and die for you.

These realities should change your worldview, generosity, racial reconciliation and love will be what you are known for. Let's pray that this reality will come alive for every follower of Jesus so that we will be known for our love.

Did God Really Say

The conflict begins when we question God's love for us.

Genesis 3:1 The serpent was the shrewdest of all the wild animals the LORD God had made. One day he asked the woman, "Did God really say you must not eat the fruit from any of the trees in the garden?"

Genesis 3:5-6 "God knows that your eyes will be opened as soon as you eat it, and you will be like God, knowing both good and evil." 6 The woman was convinced. She saw that the tree was beautiful and its fruit looked delicious, and she wanted the wisdom it would give her. So she took some of the fruit and ate it. Then she gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it, too."

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When I think about how large the Garden of Eden must have been, I have to wonder about Adam and Eve's choice of location, it seems like they must have set up household in close proximity to the tree with the forbidden fruit.

Think about this, if you had the most awesome garden in the world to live in and if it was large enough for so many animals to live in then would you hang out next to the tree full of forbidden fruit? Yes you would!

We are always attracted to what we are told that we cannot have, none of us should think that we would have chose a different neighborhood or handled the talking snake any differently. Satan used the same tools on Adam and Eve that he has used on everybody else that has ever lived.

Satan's has a short list of tricks to appeal to us:

• The lust of the flesh - it tastes good
• The lust of the eyes - it’s nice to look at
• The pride of life - it’ll make you wise 

Satan even used these same things to try to get Jesus to rebel against God. He tries to appeal to our senses and gets us to doubt God's love for us and question the rules that were given to protect us. Any loving parent that is concerned for their child's safety does the same thing that God did.

God's love for us is already obvious in the first few chapters of Genesis. It can be seen in his willingness to meet our needs. God created a friendly atmosphere to live in, he met our need for relationships with God and with other humans, and he gave us boundaries that any good parent would give for their child's safety.

God's love continues to be seen as he meets another need, it's a new need that had never existed before, a need that man would try to fulfill on his own but it certainly didn't measure up to God's standards.

They knew they were naked and they sought to fix the problem with their own wisdom by making clothes out of fig leaves but how long is produce going to last after it has been picked?

God's response to man's sin reveals some more about the character of God and his love for the human race. God meets another need for us, one that we couldn't adequately meet on our own, God sets the standard and then he fulfilled the standard as an example to us.

Later on there would be men that were set aside for the job but for now the first high priest is God. He would offer the first blood sacrifice and teach us how to receive forgiveness long before the law was ever given. Sin brought death into the world, first the death of the first animal, then the way of Cain brought death to his brother.

Man becomes his own executioner, and takes part with Satan, the murderer from the beginning.

-Expositor's Bible Commentary

God wasn't inventing something new, the old system of animal sacrifices and imperfect priest was a picture of the heavenly system that was on the way, a perfect high priest would come that would also be the perfect sacrifice and he would minister in the perfect tabernacle. (Leviticus 4:31, Numbers 15:25–27, Hebrews 8:1-7)

Hebrews 9:10-12 For that old system deals only with food and drink and various cleansing ceremonies— physical regulations that were in effect only until a better system could be established.

11 So Christ has now become the High Priest over all the good things that have come. He has entered that greater, more perfect Tabernacle in heaven, which was not made by human hands and is not part of this created world.

12 With his own blood—not the blood of goats and calves—he entered the Most Holy Place once for all time and secured our redemption forever.

The new covenant that God promised in Genesis was fulfilled in Jesus, the offspring of the woman became the bruised servant that has fatally wounded Satan and destroyed his plans, his sacrifice is perfect and final.

It is so easy to believe the lie that you are worthless to God and that he is holding back something good from you but in light of what Jesus did for you on the cross why do we listen to that snake?

Do you know what God said? The Bible is God's message to you that was preserved through the ages to show you how much you are loved and what you must do to restore your relationship.

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Satisfying Relationships

God's word reveals to us the importance of relationships.

Genesis 2:21-25 So the LORD God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep. While the man slept, the LORD God took out one of the man's ribs and closed up the opening. 22 Then the LORD God made a woman from the rib, and He brought her to the man.

23 "At last!" the man exclaimed. "This one is bone from my bone, and flesh from my flesh! She will be called 'woman,' because she was taken from 'man.'"

24 This explains why a man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife, and the two are united into one. 25 Now the man and his wife were both naked, but they felt no shame.

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In The Beginning when God created the world he didn't set out to give us the details of how his work was accomplished. All that we really need to know is that God spoke everything into existence from out of nothing. The story of the Bible is so much bigger than knowing any more details about our world than what God told us.

The creation story ends and from this point on the focus of the Bible is about God's favorite subject, it's all about relationships, the relationship between God and man and also the need for mankind to have human relationships.

We cannot imagine how it must have been to be able to relate to God before sin. It must have been amazing to have him walk in the garden and have him talk directly to you, we don't know how long it lasted but I am sure Adam always longed for the good old days.

We cannot imagine how amazing it was to have a marriage that wasn't affected by sin. Have you ever been in a fight with someone and stopped to wonder if the thing that you think is important isn't really what you are fighting about? Probably not. I think that we are clueless about how far reaching the effects of sin are on our world and how much it has damaged our relationships.

Adam had a special relationship with God that the animals couldn't have but God knew that Adam needed more. It is difficult to understand that some religions believe that their clergy should be without a wife because it is supposed to be a more excellent way to live when God makes it clear that it isn't good for man to be alone. If God says that about sinless man living in the most awesome neighborhood ever then it must be way more true now that we are living outside of Eden.

God gave the first bride away to Adam to fulfill his need for a companion, Eve wasn't a subordinate or a slave, she was created in the image of God with equal status and she would have the same work and the same commands to follow.

Many people decide that God's design isn't good enough, some want to make slaves of the woman, make her a lesser being or they want to disregard God's original design by taking a partner for themselves of the same sex.

Ephesians 5:25-27 For husbands, this means love your wives, just as Christ loved the church. He gave up his life for her to make her holy and clean, washed by the cleansing of God’s word. He did this to present her to himself as a glorious church without a spot or wrinkle or any other blemish. Instead, she will be holy and without fault.

Throughout scripture marriage is a metaphor for the relationship of God with his chosen people and for Jesus relationship with the church. Marriage is supposed to be a picture of his covenant love for his people. Adam's bride and the bride of Christ both came from their side, from Adam's open side came Eve and from the side of Christ came the church.

The metaphor doesn't work with same sex marriages, two Adam's or two Eve's can never illustrate the holy union and symbolism that God intended earthly marriage to be. If the marriage has two husbands or two wives then who is the head of the marriage that lays down their life for the other? Which one is going to be submissive as to the Lord?

Revelation 19:7-9 Let us be glad and rejoice, and let us give honor to Him. For the time has come for the wedding feast of the Lamb, and His bride has prepared herself. 8 She has been given the finest of pure white linen to wear." For the fine linen represents the good deeds of God's holy people. 9 And the angel said to me, "Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding feast of the Lamb." And he added, "These are true words that come from God."

The promised future restoration of our relationship with God is beautifully demonstrated in marriage. We will enjoy his presence again as we are united with him in a pure relationship that will never again be influenced by sin.

I have a peaceful relationship with God as his child because of Jesus but our relationship is still a struggle because I am still bound to this sinful world. Because of sin I cannot fully know him and relate to him as intimately as I will some day. I cannot love him or worship him as I will some day when all of the distractions of my carnal nature has been removed.

A husband and wife pursuing the gospel as their goal will grow closer than a husband and wife focused solely on their own happiness.

-Richard Coekin, Ephesians For You

Until that day, I need to show the world the love of God through my marriage, I need to pursue my relationship with my wife just as God pursued me and I need to love her sacrificially just as God has done for me.

My appreciation and gratitude for the grace that has been shown to me through the gospel needs to be lived out daily in a covenant relationship so that the world can see the love of God on display.

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Satisfying Rest

Do you suffer from the lack of a Sabbath?

Genesis 2:1-3 So the creation of the heavens and the earth and everything in them was completed. 2 On the seventh day God had finished His work of creation, so He rested from all His work. 3 And God blessed the seventh day and declared it holy, because it was the day when He rested from all His work of creation.

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Observing the Sabbath must have been so easy at first but as time went by the list of rules kept growing longer and longer. Each new rule was probably easy to justify and well accepted in the beginning but as the list kept growing it became too difficult to know what they were allowed to do.

Knowing how to please God is such an awesome goal but when you try to make a rule to apply to every single situation that you can think of then it gradually becomes less clear and too difficult to know what you are allowed to do.

It was obvious that you couldn't go to your field and harvest your crops but what should you do it your basket full of produce topples over onto the kitchen floor? Were you allowed to pick it up and clean up the mess or did you have to leave your food on the kitchen floor until the next day?

I can't be sure what the religious leaders in the Old Testament would say about the mess on the floor but I think that God is pleased when we remember and celebrate these two things:

My Stuff Didn't Come From Me

Leviticus 23:3 "You have six days each week for your ordinary work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath day of complete rest, an official day for holy assembly. It is the LORD's Sabbath day, and it must be observed wherever you live.

The nation of Israel was instructed to work six days and then rest from their worldly worries and difficulties and focus on the source of everything that they have. Instead of continuing to push on to be more successful they were told that God's blessing would be more abundant if they trusted in him enough to quit pushing to get ahead.

This scripture in Leviticus is a reminder to the Israelites that when they setup household in the Promised Land they need to keep the Sabbath for their benefit as well as the benefit of their household servants and their livestock.

Time spent with God should be more valuable to us than another day of work trying to provide for our needs. Blessings are sure to come our direction when we honor God by acknowledging that he alone is the source of our prosperity and happiness. Whatever I am allowed to produce in six days is all that I need to have.

My Salvation Didn't Come From Me

Matthew 11:28-30 Then Jesus said, "Come to Me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. 29 Take My yoke upon you. Let Me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For My yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light."

Not only is God the source of my prosperity and happiness but he is also the source of my eternal salvation. The most important need that I have is the last thing that I could ever provide for by my own effort. Instead of being burdened down with a huge list of rules that nobody could keep, Jesus tells us about a better way that is truly the only way.

You might expect Jesus to tell the people to throw off their yoke and be free of any yokes but instead he tells them to put on a yoke that is far better than the old one. People that have never worn this yoke think that it must be a burden but those of us that are wearing it know that it is very liberating.

The old yoke of the law was all about your own effort at following the rules but the new yoke that Jesus offers is a shared burden. As we walk with him, at his speed and in the same direction, we won't hardly notice the new yoke that he offers.

Because of the huge list of rules God's children suffered from the Sabbath in the Old Testament but in our day we tend to suffer from lack of a Sabbath. Our society is seldom content with what they have and it keeps working to get more.

Physical rest is good but soul rest is our greatest need, without a peaceful relationship with my creator I will never have rest for my soul, I will never feel like I am good enough or that I will be okay when this life is over. I celebrate the Lord's day because his work on the cross is the only way to enter into his rest.

Have you found the satisfaction and contentment that you long for? You will only find peace with God by trusting in Jesus work instead of your own.

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A Yoke For Rest (faithgateway.com)

In The Beginning

Our most important questions are answered in the Bible.

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

Isaiah 45:18 For the LORD is God, and He created the heavens and earth and put everything in place. He made the world to be lived in, not to be a place of empty chaos. "I am the LORD," He says, "and there is no other.

Hebrews 11:3 By faith we understand that the entire universe was formed at God's command, that what we now see did not come from anything that can be seen.

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There is a lot of fascination these days with the beginning of the family tree, there is a whole new industry that caters to the desire to know more about where you came from, and for a price you can learn about your roots.

The fascination with the beginning of things goes even further back in time. The oldest ancient civilizations had crazy theories about the start of human history. There where all kinds of stories about multiple gods, most of the theories that the ancient cultures had involved chaos, in fact most of their gods spent their time fighting each other.

Some people say that there isn’t any way that they can believe the Genesis account, there isn’t enough scientific evidence to satisfy them. Imagine how overwhelming it would be for the original readers of this book if it gave enough scientific information to satisfy modern man.

Elementary school students can understand more about science than they could back then but there is still so much that we cannot comprehend about God and how he can make something from nothing.

I am thankful that the Bible gives us information that is so much more essential for us to understand, the facts about creation are not as essential as the real message and purpose of God's word.

The Most Important Message Of The Bible

There is a higher power

There is a God that created everything around us without any raw material, without God the raw material wouldn't exist and they would never be able to come together to make such an organized, complex and intelligent end product.

Our existence would be so miserable if mankind were the highest level of intelligence and if everything was just an accident without any purpose. The big bang cannot answer many questions such as:

• Where did the emotions come from? 
• How did humans and the animal kingdom get instincts? 
• How did the laws of physics come about? 
• How could an opposite sex evolve in time for the original creature to reproduce before it died?

The higher power isn't impersonal

If the Bible stopped at just informing us about God and his ability to create then we would be stuck in a very delicate situation. We would have every reason to fear this all powerful force that made all things but God didn't create us and walk away and stay at a distance from us.

Thankfully he chose to relate to us even though he didn't need to have a relationship with us because he doesn't have any unmet needs.

The higher power's most important creation

God didn't make us the same as the rest of creation, if he had then Satan wouldn't have any reason to hate us so much, no other part of creation disgust him the way that mankind does.

Man is dear to God because he is like Him. Vast and glorious as it is, the sun cannot think God’s thoughts; can fulfil but cannot intelligently sympathise with God’s purpose. Man, alone among God’s works, can enter into and approve of God’s purpose in the world and can intelligently fulfill it.

-Expositor's Bible Commentary

Rather than speaking us into existence, God's personal touch was used as he made us from the dust and breathed life into us. Since we were born as a direct result of God's creative activity the Bible says that Adam is the son of God. This truth makes evolution impossible. God didn't create us as a lower life form and then evolve us into his masterpiece that would rule over the rest of creation.

The higher power we need

God made us special with desires that only he can fulfill, there isn't any other source of peace and joy that can fulfill and satisfy our intellectual desires, our desire for purpose and our desire to worship. The qualities that separate us from the rest of creation would be the cause of great distress if God didn't reveal himself and minister to our needs.

There are four fundamental questions of life. You've asked them, I've asked them, every thinking person asks them. They boil down to this: origin, meaning, morality and destiny. 'How did I come into being? What brings life meaning? How do I know right from wrong? Where am I headed after I die?'

-Ravi Zacharias

None of the other theories of the beginning of the world and our relationship with the creator can give a satisfactory answer to those questions. Only in God's story that he has graciously revealed to us can we find purpose, hope and meaning for this life and for eternity.

Thankfully God didn't just put "in the beginning" in the Bible but he also included what would be at the ending. He revealed to us our position before sin, the effects of our sin, and he told us how we can overcome our sin so that we can spend eternity with him.

Revelation 21:1-3 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the old heaven and the old earth had disappeared. And the sea was also gone. 2 And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven like a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. 3 I heard a loud shout from the throne, saying, "Look, God's home is now among His people! He will live with them, and they will be His people. God Himself will be with them.

As glorious as the first creation is, after only seven days of work, it is nothing compared to what we will see after all of the preparations that have been going on for thousands of years.

Are you ready for the end of the story? Do you have an adequate answer for the four fundamental questions of life?

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What does it mean that humanity is made in the image of God? (gotquestions.org)
Six reasons you should embrace six day creation. (challies.com)