Bible Story: Genesis

Introduction

Greetings, friends. This is Johnny Ramsey bringing you the story of the Bible. As you open your Bible, you see the word Genesis. That word means the beginning. And the very first verse says, In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. Verse 26 of that opening chapter in the book of the beginning says, And God said, Let us make man in our image. God made man, Adam, placed him in the beautiful garden of Eden. And the word garden is the same as paradise, found three times in the Bible. The Orientals had as the most serene place on earth a beautiful garden. Here was harmony and bliss and perfection. Nothing dark to enter the picture. God placed man in the garden of Eden, and he saw there was not good for man to dwell alone, and so he made for him a help meet.

1. The Seed of Woman Destroys the Devil

And Adam and Eve were in the Garden of Eden in perfect harmony with God. God said, Multiply and replenish the earth. He forbade them to eat of the certain fruit of a certain tree. But you remember that sin entered the world and death by sin, as Paul will write in Romans 5.12. Man succumbed to the temptation of the devil. Eve was tempted, and Adam was persuaded, as 1 Timothy 2 tells us, and sin entered the world. But the very moment that sin entered the world, God Almighty had a plan to counteract it. And in Genesis 3 15, we have the first messianic promise of the Bible. Sin had entered the world, and God promises a Savior, a remedy for sin. He says to the devil, I will put enmity between thee and the woman, between thy seed and her seed.

It shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel. Here we read of the offspring of woman, the seed of woman. That’s unique. Because elsewhere in the Bible and in secular history, offspring is referred to as the seed of man. But here, quaintly, powerfully, biblically, God promises the seed of woman, one born of a virgin, to destroy the power of the devil. Have you ever read Isaiah 7.14? Centuries later, the prophet inspired by God said, Jehovah Himself shall give you a sign. Behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and thou shalt call his name Emmanuel. In Micah 5, 1 and 2, the place of the virgin birth was predicted, Bethlehem of Judea. As we open the New Testament, the Virgin Mary in Bethlehem of Judea gives birth to the Savior.

Thou shalt call his name Jesus, for he shall save his people from their sins. His name will be Emmanuel, meaning God with us, Matthew 1 23. In the fullness of time, God sent forth his son, born of a woman born under the law, Galatians 4 4. And way over in the New Testament book of 1 John, 1 John 3, verse 8, we read of the fruition, the culmination of the Messianic promise of Genesis 3.15, the seed of woman, destroying the power of the devil. For this cause was the Son of God made known that he might bring to naught the power of the devil. In Romans 16 20, we read, God shall crush Satan under your feet shortly. We’re always led in triumph in Christ. 2 Corinthians 2.14.

2. In Thy Seed All Nations Blessed

A strange thing had happened in the land. A woman had compassed a man to bring a child into the world. Jeremiah 22. And so the virgin birth of our Lord is predicted in the book of beginnings, Genesis 3.15. Do you know the real theme and gist and thrust of the Old Testament? Christ is coming. On every page, directly or indirectly, this anthem rings out. Christ is coming. But not only does the book of beginnings tell us of the virgin birth of the Savior who would destroy the power of the devil, but we also read in Genesis 22.18 of the family out of all the earth that God would preserve so that this promise could be fulfilled. In Genesis 22.18, the second plank in the platform in the book of beginnings concerning the Messiah, God promised Abraham, In thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed, because thou hast obeyed my voice.

3. The Scepter Shall Not Depart From Judah

Have you ever read Galatians 3 16 in the heart of the New Testament? Centuries later, Paul will quote verbatim, Genesis 22.18, and say, And to Abraham’s seed, which is Christ. And if you be Christ’s, then are you Abraham’s seed and heirs according to the promise? Galatians 3.29. So the book of beginnings tells us that Christ is coming. He’ll be born of a virgin. He’ll come from Abraham’s seed. And friends, from Genesis 22, 18 to the end of the Old Testament, the thrust of those 39 Old Testament books is simply the preservation of Abraham’s seed so the Savior can come. And then the third, and perhaps most beautiful of all the Messianic promises in the book of beginnings, the book of Genesis. In Genesis 49 10, we read of Jacob pronouncing a blessing upon the twelve tribes of Israel, upon his sons.

He gives it orally, and we have it in writing in Genesis chapter 49. He has been spared by the providence of God and the goodness and cooperative spirit of Joseph, who says to his brethren who have mistreated him, Fear not, for God sent me before you to preserve you. Genesis 45 5. But now Jacob, as he is dying, pronounces his last will and testament orally upon his sons, and we would think he would give the choice blessing to Joseph, but instead, in Genesis 49 10, he says, The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet until Shiloh comes. Shiloh means bringer of peace or prince of peace. And so the rule, the sovereignty, the power, the authority will reside in the tribe of Judah.

So we have the seed of woman, the family of Abraham, and now the tribe of Judah. Specifically, minutely, God chronicles his oracles. He makes it clear that this Savior who is coming will be born of a virgin. He’ll be from Abraham’s seed, specifically from the tribe of Judah, and he’ll be the Prince of Peace. In Isaiah 9 6, for unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given. The government shall be upon his shoulders, and he shall be called Prince of Peace.

Jesus said in John 14 27, My peace I give unto you, not as the world giveth, give unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. In Mark 6 50, he said, Be of good cheer at his eye, be not afraid. Jesus came as the bringer of peace, Shiloh, the Prince of Peace, with the gospel of peace, Romans 10 15, in a kingdom of peace, John 18 36, giving us the peace that passeth understanding, Philippians 4 7. But did he come from the tribe of Judah? In Hebrews 7 14, the inspired writer said, It is evident that our Lord sprang out of Judah. He didn’t come from the tribe of Levi, the argument of Hebrews 7. Thus, if he were on earth, he couldn’t be a priest.

But since he is in heaven, and a covenant of peace is between him and the Father, Zechariah 6.13. He is the one mediator between God and men, himself, man Christ Jesus, 1 Timothy 2.5, in that he has suffered being tempted, he is able to succor or give peace to those who are tempted, Hebrews 2.18. But the most marvelous verse in fulfillment of this beginning promise of Genesis 49 10 is found in the last book of the Bible. In Revelation 5 5, we read that Christ is the Lion, L-I-O-N, the strongest member of the tribe of Judah. So in the opening book of the Bible, the book of beginning, the book of Genesis, we read of the virgin birth of Christ, which was fulfilled in Bethlehem, Matthew chapter 1.

Conclusion

In the fullness of time, God did send forth his son, born of a woman, born under the law. He came from the seed of Abraham, Abraham’s seed is Christ, Galatians 3.16. He came from Judah, where the sovereignty, the power, the authority, the rulership was maintained until the Prince of Peace came, Genesis 49.10. So don’t ever study the book of Genesis again as a series of disconnected stories about Adam and Eve and Cain and Abel and Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and Joseph’s coat of many colors. Realize it is the platform that shouts out loud, Christ is coming. And that’s the whole thrust of the Old Testament.