The sacrifice of Isaac, Genesis 22:1-19

Faith is the most desirable characteristic of a person that would be approved by God. Hebrews 11:6 says that without faith it is impossible to please God. The most exceptional attribute of the life of Abraham was his faith.  Abraham is presented in chapter 11 of Hebrews as perhaps the greatest champion of faith in all of the Bible.  The apostle Paul in his writings gives Abraham as the supreme illustration of salvation, saying four times, that Abraham believed God and it was reckoned to him as righteousness.  Abraham believed God. Not Abraham believed in God.  The devils believe in

Read More…

The birth of Isaac, Genesis 12-21

Today is the second message in our study of Genesis, on the life of Abraham. I’m getting my outline for the life of Abraham from Hebrews chapter 11.  Of all the heroes of the faith that are showcased there, Hebrews 11 has the most to say about Abraham.  And so, taking my cue from Hebrews, we are looking at three significant events in Abraham’s life. Hebrews 11:8 says, “By faith Abraham, when he was called, obeyed by going out to a place which he was to receive for an inheritance; and he went out, not knowing where he was going. 

Read More…

Abraham, father of the faithful, Genesis 12-15    

Today in our series on Genesis we come to the life of a man named Abraham.  Abraham is probably one of the most important figures in the Bible.  He is called  the father of the faithful. Rom 4:16 says, “For this reason [it is] by faith, in order that [it may be] in accordance with grace, so that the promise will be guaranteed to all the descendants, not only to those who are of the Law, but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all,” So as we are studying Genesis

Read More…

The Flood, Genesis 6,7,8

In our study of the foundations of the gospel, as seen through the book of Genesis, we come today to the story of the flood. As you know, I usually preach verse by verse, chapter by chapter. However, today I am going to try to cover the material found in three chapters of Genesis. If I were to use my usual approach, it would take several messages to cover this event. I don’t think I want to approach it that way, and so I hope to be able to give a summary of the three chapters in one message today.

Read More…

The Fall of Man, Genesis 3:1-21

Contrary to the prevailing, popular opinion, the creation account is not mythology. It is not an allegory. It’s an actual, historical account which is spoken of as such numerous times in the New Testament, and by Jesus Christ Himself. I am not going to spend a lot of time trying to defend the historicity of the account in Genesis then, but rather try to expound on the historical facts to relate the relevancy and repercussions of the fall to our lives today. Moses begins by introducing a new character, one he simply calls the serpent. And considering the importance of

Read More…

The Creation of Man and Woman, Genesis 2:4-25

Last time we looked primarily at the first six days of creation. Now beginning in chapter 2 and vs 4 we see a recapitulation of creation, which I believe is an expanded account of what happened in the six days of creation but also includes what happens in the next week or weeks to come. Moses begins this section by saying in vs 4 “This is the account of the heavens and the earth when they were created, in the day that the LORD God made earth and heaven.” A more literal translation might read, “these are the generations of

Read More…

Creation, Genesis 1-2:3

The first four words in the Bible really set the basis for our theology. “In the beginning, God…” God does not offer evidence for His existence. He does not tell us how or when He came into being. And as the rest of the first chapter of Genesis unfolds, we aren’t really given a lot of detail or scientific evidence about how the earth or how humans came into being either. Though a lot of things presented in the Bible can be corroborated by science, or by verified history, God doesn’t seem to be concerned about trying to prove that

Read More…

In the beginning, Genesis 1:1-3

Today, as we are on the cusp of beginning a new year, we are going to begin a new series on the book of Genesis. Genesis is a book of beginnings. The word Genesis literally means origins. It is a record of the beginning of time, the beginning of the earth, the beginning of the animal kingdom, the beginning of man, the origin of marriage, the origin of sin. There are many other firsts that we will see as we study through this book. But I call this a series in Genesis, because it will not be a complete exegesis

Read More…

What Child is this? Luke 2:1-20

One of my favorite Christmas carols is “What Child is this?” And I think that this carol asks the quintessential question of all mankind, what is this Child that was born of Mary. It’s a question that hopefully you have answered in your heart. The answer to this question is declared by the angel, “for today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.“ But to fully appreciate the anticipation of what this Child was that was to be born, you must be familiar with the prophesies that were made

Read More…

The birth of Christ prophesied, Isaiah 7:14, 9:6

Well, since we finished the gospel of Mark, I thought it was appropriate to do a couple of messages for the next two Sundays on the subject of Christ’s birth before we get into our next series on Genesis. And since we are studying Isaiah on Wednesday nights, I thought it would be appropriate to base our first message on Isaiah’s prophecies concerning the birth of Jesus Christ. What I want to do though is just focus on two passages of scripture in Isaiah which speak of the birth of Christ. There are other Messianic prophecies in Isaiah, but I

Read More…