Is to basically go from Genesis to Revelation in an overview.
! And my hope is that we can really see the magnificence of God's creation.
and what His plan of redemption is, and really how we fit into that.
So, to begin with, I'd like to read out of Colossians 1, starting in verse 15.
And read that.
It says, He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.
For everything was created by Him in heaven on earth, the visible and the invisible,
whether thrones or dominions, or rulers or authorities.
All things have been created through Him and for Him.
He is before all things, and by Him all things hold together.
Lord, I pray that today, as we study Your Word,
Lord, that we would gain a better understanding of who You are,
that we may glimpse at how big and how holy You are.
Thank You for Your Word, and I pray that today, You would speak through Your Word,
and speak through me.
Lord, may You open ears and hearts, and open my mouth to speak.
I pray this in Your name. Amen.
As we begin in Genesis chapter 1,
it doesn't take long to get to the first verse.
It says,
In the beginning, God.
And that is the foundation from which we have to start,
is that before time, before creation,
that God existed,
He is infinite,
He is holy,
and that He has created us,
therefore we've started as His creation.
We have to start from that point,
that He is the Creator,
and that we are creation.
Let's see.
God created time,
and space,
and matter,
and He created the earth,
and humans.
And so when we see God creating man,
it says that He created man in His own image.
And there's a lot packed into that,
because what that means is that man is spiritual.
Man has a spirit,
and is able to interact,
and to have a relationship with God.
As we look in the beginning in Genesis,
that Adam was placed into the Garden of Eden,
that God was physically with Adam,
walking in the garden with him,
that God gave him a mandate.
He gave him the mandate to care for the garden,
and to take care of it,
and to work in it.
He also told Adam to name the animals.
And so we see that there's this relationship
between God and Adam.
It's unhindered.
There's joy there.
There's peace on the earth.
And that's where we started.
That's what the creation was created as.
It is holy,
and full of joy.
There's no sadness,
no death.
And so that was God's vision of creation,
that it was good.
It was very good.
And so then we move into Genesis chapter 3,
and we see that sin enters the world.
And sin,
when Adam sins,
it is his taking God's authority
that God gave to him,
and he rejects that authority,
and makes himself his own master.
When we look in Genesis chapter 3,
it says that the serpent came
and tempted Eve,
and then Eve gave to Adam,
and Adam disobeyed the direct command of God,
and it separated them.
When God came,
Adam fled from God's sight.
There was a separation there.
And so then as we move in from there,
God removes Adam and Eve
from the Garden of Eden.
They are now separated from him,
and we see that God does not leave Adam without hope.
It says in Genesis 3.15,
that I will put hostility between you and the woman,
and between your seed and her seed.
He's talking to Satan here.
And he will strike your head,
and you will strike his heel.
So from the very beginning,
there was this promise.
Man was now separated from God and lost.
There was death.
There was this spiritual separation.
God said,
one day,
I'm going to crush Satan's head.
I'm going to kill this evil,
and there will be this bringing back
of the way things were before sin.
And so then we see that that goes into Noah,
and we see how vile and how wicked the earth became
when sin entered the world,
and this separation that was there,
that it took a very limited amount of time
for God to literally wipe out most of creation.
And yet,
even in that,
we find that
with God starting with Noah and his family,
it wasn't long before the Tower of Babel,
and just proof that man was fallen
and in need of a Savior.
As we come into the Abrahamic covenant,
to the law,
we find that Israel came into being
or into God's plan,
and that God had a plan for Israel,
that they were the beginning
of restoring man to himself.
He promised through Abraham
that the nations would be blessed,
and yet he pulled Israel out
to be a light to the nations,
to be a light to those,
the rest of the nations,
to see God.
And we see that beginning with Egypt,
that God said,
I raised up Pharaoh.
He says this,
I believe it's in Hebrews,
that God raised up Pharaoh
that he might show,
show his glory,
his majesty.
I guess just realizing
the depth of the need
that man had for a Savior,
and then looking as the law was given,
it says that the law
was a tutor to bring us to Christ,
that basically the law,
it's in Hebrews.
Let me go to Hebrews.
Hebrews chapter 10.
It says,
Since the law has only a shadow
of the good things to come,
and not the actual form
of these realities,
it can never perfect the worshipers
by the same sacrifices.
They continually offer
year after year.
Otherwise,
wouldn't they have stopped
being offered,
since the worshipers,
once purified,
would no longer have
any confession of sins.
But in the sacrifices,
there was a reminder
of sins every year,
for it is impossible
for the blood of bulls and ghosts
to take away sin.
And so you see the nation of Israel
longing for the Savior.
They knew that they were sinful.
The law brought about
a consciousness of sin.
Paul talks about how
the sin-taking opportunity
of the law
works in him,
that it just shows
the corruption that he has.
And then the sacrificial system
was a picture
of things to come.
It was incomplete,
but they knew it was coming.
And so you see God's plan
being worked out
as he shows man
his need for him,
his holy law,
and what his standards are.
He commanded Israel
over and over and over again
throughout Leviticus
to be holy as he is holy.
The standard was set
at perfection,
but only one sin,
James 2.10,
he who keeps the whole law
and yet stumbles
at one point
is guilty of all.
And so man was in this
great need of a Savior.
And all throughout
the Old Testament,
we see as man failed
to live up to God's standards.
We have in the book of Psalms
a great example
of God's,
of a heart of a godly man
that knew his sin
and yet had a relationship
with Christ
and knew,
or a relationship with God
and knew what was coming.
You see there's just
the praise that he had
for God working
through his law
and through his spirit.
And so that brings us
into the prophets
who were shouting out,
basically,
the need for repentance
and the Isaiah,
the prophecy
of a coming Savior.
And so Israel
was looking forward
to this coming Savior
that would save them
from their sins
and that would bring
redemption
and reconciliation
back to them.
The temple was set up
in such a way
that God dwelt,
his Shekinah glory
dwelt in the temple
in the Holy of Holies,
but man was separated
from that.
There was a veil
that separated man
from that.
And so these people
had to go through
a priest
who entered once
a year
into the holy place
and his offering
was the atonement
or the,
it was the,
yeah,
it was basically
the atonement
was what was the shadow
of things to come
until Christ came.
and so,
I just,
I wanted to make clear
through this
that we have examples
of Daniel,
of Jonah,
the Psalms continually
talks about
shouting out
to the nations
that God raised up Israel
to be a light
to the nations.
They weren't designed
to be this little
separate group of people
that never had any
interaction with the
outside world,
that they were to be a light
to which other nations
were drawn to God,
not to them.
And yet,
so often,
Israel failed
to live up to that standard.
They rebelled,
they worshipped foreign gods,
they allowed the nations
to affect them,
and yet,
God was faithful to them,
He was merciful to them
over and over again.
He judged them,
but He always brought them back
in mercy and love,
and so,
it's often stated
that God is different
in the Old Testament
than He is in the New Testament,
but just looking at
how God dealt
with the nation of Israel
and His love
and His mercy
towards them
is incredible.
And so,
getting forward,
let's just go straight
into Christ.
That's really what
we're here for today
is Christ.
He is the answer
to the Old Testament.
He's just,
it's amazing.
As I was studying for this,
it's just,
it really is amazing.
So,
let's,
let's see here.
Let's look at
John chapter 1.
We find that
in the beginning
was the Word,
and the Word was
with God,
and the Word was God.
He was with God
in the beginning,
and all things
were created through Him.
Once again,
we have that Christ
was the Creator
of all things,
and through Him
all things hold together.
All things were created
through Him,
and apart from Him
nothing was made
that was made.
He,
when Christ came,
we've got to remember
that He was fully God.
He was fully man,
but He was also
fully God,
and so as God
came to earth,
man who for 4,000 years
had been separated
from God,
finally was able
to see God
in human flesh.
That should blow
our minds right there,
that God who was
unable to be seen
has come
in human flesh,
veiled His glory
so that we could see Him
in human flesh.
And it says
He came into His own,
and His own
did not receive Him.
we have a tendency,
I think,
or at least I have
a tendency
to say
shame on people.
Shame on those people
because
if I would have been there
and that was God,
I mean,
how amazing
would that have been?
But yet,
we,
Ephesians 2, 1
says we were dead
in our trespasses
and sins.
We love darkness
rather than light.
He came into His own,
and His own
did not receive Him.
And so we see
Christ's life
lived out in perfection.
He was tempted
as we are
in all ways.
He was fully human
yet without sin.
And so what He did
for us
is amazing.
What we could never do,
James 2, 10,
if we keep the whole
long yet stumble
at one point,
we're guilty of all.
We all have sinned
and fallen short
of the glory of God,
and yet He came
and He lived
a life without sin
in the midst
of a world
that hated Him.
He was persecuted.
He was tempted.
Just,
yeah.
Isaiah 53, 11
talks of,
let's go there
for a second.
Isaiah 53.
Alright,
this is,
Isaiah.
He will see it out
of His anguish,
and He will be satisfied
with His knowledge.
My righteous servant
will justify many,
and He will carry
their iniquities.
Therefore,
I will give Him
the many
as a portion.
He will receive
the mighty as spoiled
because He has submitted
Himself to death
and was counted
among the rebels.
Christ came
out of love for us,
but He came out
of a love for the Father,
to do the Father's will.
He said,
I didn't come to do
my will,
but the will of the Father.
It is God's,
been God's plan
since the beginning
that He would redeem
a people to Himself.
We have been
separated from God,
and yet God
sent Himself.
He sent God Himself,
Christ,
to reconcile us.
The cross
is the focal point
at which God
absorbed the wrath
that God had for us
upon Himself.
The crucifixion
was horrible.
It was the worst death
imaginable,
that it was nothing
in comparison
to the wrath
of God being
poured out upon His Son.
God,
that's amazing.
I heard it said once
that only an infinite God
could pay an infinite price
for our sins
in a finite amount of time.
But for us,
as finite individuals,
it would take an infinite amount
of time to pay
for an infinite debt,
amount of wrath.
God absorbed an infinite amount
of wrath
upon that cross.
Praise the Lord.
That should drive us
to a love
for Christ
that should totally
transform our lives.
That's what we've been called to
as believers,
is to love the Lord our God.
And I think when we get
an image of the cross,
of what Christ did for us,
it will transform our lives.
When Christ died,
we know from the New Testament
that the veil was torn.
And just to view the...
For 6,000 years,
men had been separated from God
from what they were created to do.
Remember that when we were created,
we were created
with the relationship with Christ.
Man was designed
to know and to glorify God
through a relationship with Him
and through obeying His law.
For this 4,000 year period,
man had been separated from God
and had been proving
over and over and over again
how corrupt and how vile
he was apart from Christ.
And now,
the veil had been torn.
And no longer did man
need to go through a high priest,
but he could go
through Christ
directly in
to God.
And so often,
we,
I,
become
so focused on
what I'm doing.
How am I
living my Christian life?
The ins and outs,
the details and all of that.
And Jesus rebuked the Pharisees.
He said,
you look in the Scriptures
because you think that in them
you have eternal life.
And He rebuked them
because they forgot Him.
And I think so often,
we get caught up,
and it's really legalism,
but we get caught up
in pleasing God
by our actions
when in reality,
Christ is saying,
I didn't,
I came and I fulfilled the law.
He said,
I didn't come to abolish the law,
I came to fulfill the law.
And in that,
we can know Him,
we can have a relationship
with Him.
He said in John,
He said,
this is eternal life
that you may know Him
and Jesus Christ
to His Son,
that you may know God
and Jesus Christ.
We've been created
to have a relationship
with Christ.
To know Him
and to know His voice,
He said that,
my sheep hear my voice
and they know me.
I would,
I would just encourage you
and encourage myself,
learn to know
the voice of the Lord.
to hear from His Word,
to hear the Spirit within you.
As you live life,
Paul said,
whatever you do,
whether you're eating
or whether you're drinking,
do all of the glory of God.
Realize that everything
that we do
is some form of worship.
We're either worshiping ourselves
or we're worshiping someone else
or we're worshiping God.
That we,
everything we do
is an act of worship
of some kind
to someone.
And so,
call us,
the exhortation is
to do all to the glory of God.
Your daily living,
it's not religion and life,
it's life,
is spiritual.
We are spiritual.
We are created
in the image of God.
And so,
as we live life,
let us live
in a relationship
with Christ.
with the death of Christ
and came the,
or with the beginning
of the church
came the,
the coming of the Holy Spirit.
We now have God
dwelling within us.
Once again,
it's that picture
of reconciliation
where no longer
is man separated from God,
but now God dwells within us.
And so,
as we live life,
we're not left
without a helper.
That if you are a believer,
you have God
living within you.
That we're no longer
alive to ourselves,
but we're dead to ourselves
and alive to Christ
as His Spirit comes in
and changes us.
Sanctification is this
process of
leaving behind,
of putting to death
the deeds of our flesh
and living according
to the Spirit.
That's a process.
We've been saved,
we're being saved,
and we will be saved,
we'll be glorified.
But that the Holy Spirit
is working within us.
And as believers,
it says that we're
not to be drunk with wine,
but be filled with the Spirit.
The idea there
as of a ship
in Paul's day
would have a sail.
And basically,
that the sail,
as it was turned
to the right way,
would be filled with the wind
and driven along.
And so this idea of
as we live the Christian life,
to metaphorically,
to turn ourselves
into God
and to be driven
by the Holy Spirit.
And so it's,
it's our,
it should be our joy
and our,
our privilege as Christians
to,
to die daily to ourselves,
to take up our cross daily
and follow Christ
and to turn
into the Spirit
and the Word of God.
Let Him fill us
with His Word
and with His Spirit
as we're moved along.
Moving from that point,
this is our Christian life now
that we should be,
our place now
is to bring glory
and honor to God
that He's left us here
for a purpose
and that's to
make His name known.
Matthew 28,
18 through 20
is the Great Commission.
Go into all the world
and preach the Gospel
to every living creature,
baptizing in the name
of the Father
and the Son
and the Holy Spirit,
teaching them
all that I've commanded you.
For lo,
I'm with you always,
even to the end of the age.
And He's saying,
My Spirit will be with you.
I've given,
given you what you need
to do this.
I will be with you.
And He's saying,
as you're going,
is literally how that's stated.
It's not that we,
once again,
segmented,
that we segment,
we go,
I'm going to be headed overseas
in a week and a half,
that,
oh,
I go and then I come back
and life is normal.
It's as you're going,
living a life
that is
filled with the Spirit
and as you're going,
telling others about
what Christ has done
in your life.
And then,
moving forward
to the end of the age,
to Revelation,
there's some amazing things
in Revelation.
Let's turn to Revelation 21.
Let's go to Revelation 22.
Then we'll go back to 21.
It says,
in verse 3,
and there will no longer
be any curse.
The throne of God
and of the Lamb
will be in the city
and His slaves
will serve Him.
They will see His face
and His name
will be on their foreheads.
When we look at heaven,
the overwhelming thought
that should consume us
is that we will dwell
with God physically.
that's,
if you know Christ
and you love Him,
what an amazing thought
that this,
that the God
who dwells in you now
will one day dwell
with us physically
in a new heaven,
a new earth
for eternity.
that should drive
our lives
as we have
this eternal focus
of where we're going.
But what a glorious thought
that one day
we will dwell
with God
in perfection
without a curse.
It says the curse is gone.
And so we will return
in a way
to the Garden of Eden.
Life will be perfect.
The curse will be gone.
The fellowship
will be there.
We will live life.
It's not,
it's eternal life.
It's not
that time stops
and we don't,
it's kind of this
floating out
in the clouds mentality.
But that we'll live
with God
in human,
in our human form.
We'll have a resurrected body
but it will be
without the curse.
And sin will be gone.
What a glorious thought.
The greatest enemy
that we have within it,
or is the greatest enemy
that we have
is within us
and it's our flesh.
Paul said,
I know that in me
dwells no good thing.
He knew that his flesh
had been corrupted,
completely corrupted
by sin,
but that God
was redeeming him.
And he said,
I've died to myself
and I'm living to Christ.
And he looked forward
to that day.
He said at the end
of Romans 7,
O wretched man
that I am,
who will deliver me
from this body of death?
Thank God
for Christ Jesus.
When we
come into heaven,
we will have
that resurrected body
that will be freed
from this body of death,
this body of sin.
And so we will
be able to
once again
fully worship God
to our maximum capability
without the hindrance
of sin
and our flesh
in this world.
What a glorious thought.
Going back to
Revelation 21.
Did I read the,
I read the wrong passage,
didn't I?
Revelation 22.3.
No, okay.
Let's go back
to Revelation 21.
It will be
1-7.
This is a,
this is an image
of what the new heaven
and the new earth
will be like.
Just let this,
let this come into your heart
and realize
this is where we're headed.
Then I saw
the new heaven
and the new earth
for the first heaven
and the first earth
had passed away
and the sea
no longer existed.
I also saw
the holy city,
the new Jerusalem
coming down
out of heaven
from God
prepared like a bride
adorned for a husband.
Then I heard
a loud voice
from the throne
saying,
Look!
God's dwelling
is with humanity
and He will live
with them.
They will be
His people
and God Himself
will be with them
and be their God.
He will wipe away
every tear
from their eyes.
Death will no longer exist.
grief,
crying,
and pain
will exist
no longer
because the previous
things have passed away.
Brothers and sisters,
that's where we're headed.
That,
that is
what God
has redeemed us to.
That is eternal life.
It says that,
well,
before,
that eternal life
is this,
that you may know Him
and Jesus Christ.
This,
this is where we're going.
that this time now
is limited.
Maybe 60,
70,
80 years
for most of us.
Maybe less for some.
But that we're,
we're headed towards this.
And so,
what are we to do now
as we're moving
towards this time
of dwelling with God
for eternity?
I just,
I want to
exhort you
to live with
a heavenly focus.
Live with a mindset
of knowing
that we,
apart from Christ,
are dead
in our trespasses
and sins.
That our wrath,
the wrath against us
is infinite
because we have sinned
against an infinite God.
But that Christ
has come
and that He has paid
an infinite price
for our sins
so that we can now
be reconciled
to Him.
That's the story
of creation.
That's the story
of redemption.
Beginning in Genesis,
just in summation,
that we began
with God
in a relationship
with Him.
That man felt
that there was now
this barrier
between God and man.
That man has sinned
awfully
through the Old Testament
and was in need
of a Savior.
But that there was
this promise
that a Savior would come.
That Christ has come
and He has absorbed,
taken the wrath
of God upon Himself.
And by His wounds,
by His wounds
we are healed.
And that now
we've been given
the ministry
of reconciliation.
That we now
are to go
and tell others.
If God has changed
your life
and His Spirit
dwells in you
and it says
that my sheep
know me
and they hear my voice
and by this
you'll know
that you love me
if you keep
my commandments.
are we striving
to keep God's commandments
out of a love for Him
or are we striving
to keep God's commandments
to get a love from Him?
God's love
is unconditional
upon us.
He came
while we were yet sinners
Christ died for us.
It's a love
that we're called to
but it's not a human love.
If your goal
is to love people
with a human love
people aren't very easy
to deal with.
But that if you love
people with God's love
you begin to see them
not as a physical
human being
but each person
is a soul
that has worth
and that each person
is lost
in the need of a Savior
and that should
that should drive us
to tell the nations
to declare
to declare His glory
among the nations
that He is worthy
of praise
and of adoration
for what He's done.
And so as we see
a lost humanity
we see a world
that is
basically
insulting Christ.
What we do
is a direct
insult
against Him
and yet
Christ has forgiven us
in that.
And so my
plea
is for us
to have a
greater love
for Christ
realizing what
He's done for us
with the greatness
of our sin
sinning against
the infinite God
and yet the greatness
of His love
towards us
and that should
drive us to worship
and praise
and love.
I want to
close with
kind of
an illustration.
I was in
Mexico
about a year
ago
talking to a
missionary
and he said
Daniel
it was really funny
I'd asked him
I said
are we on schedule
and we were
doing some things
and some
distractions
had come up
and he said
Daniel
we're always
on schedule
and I said
what does that mean
and he said
let me explain it
to you
he said
Daniel
when you get up
every day
you have a choice
he said
let me liken it
to this
there were
three servants
in a king
and the one servant
would get up
every day
and he would
go out
into the kingdom
and do whatever
he wanted
he just
you know
if he wanted
to do whatever
he would do that
and do something else
he would do that
and if he did nothing
that was fine too
he said
and that was one servant
and then there was
another servant
there was a servant
that went out
every day
and he ran around
as fast as he could
as hard as he could
and he did
everything he could
that he thought
the king wanted him
to do
and he worked
and the king
sat in his kingdom
and shook his head
and went
why
but there was
a third servant
and the third servant
would go before
his king daily
and he would
come and kneel
before his king
and say
sir
say king
here I am
I love you
and I know
that you love me
what would you have
for me to do today
and
he said
Daniel
that's the servant
that truly loves
his king
the other two servants
the one servant
didn't have a relationship
with the king
he was
he was all caught up
in what he thought
he needed to do
he said
and the third one
didn't care about
the king
at all
he said
Daniel be that servant
and he said
as long as you're
that servant
and you're daily
coming before the Lord
realizing that you
are not your own
that you've been
bought with a price
therefore glorify
God in your body
that each day
Romans 12
1
off your body
is a living sacrifice
holy and acceptable
to God
that's your reasonable
act of worship
that
as
you are God's servant
his bond slave
as Paul would say
that your
that your duty
as a
Christian
is to
to come before
the Lord daily
and say
I'm not my own
I am yours
what do you have for me
and he said
Daniel as long as
we're doing that
then we're right on schedule
because we're doing
what God has called us to do
and realizing that
our
schedules
and our
routines
or what we think
God wants us to do
is often not at all
what God wants us to do
he wants us to have
ears to hear
and hearts that are
humble and listening
to the Lord
saying here I am
I've been created
to do
whatever it is
that you want me to do
and just
as a believer
when your heart
is that way
your joy
will be
immense
peace will be
immense
because
you will know
that it
it is not
you
but that
it is
God
that lives
in you
that's
working
and willing
to do
his good
pleasure
there's
great joy
in that
if you
struggle
with
always
wondering
am I doing
what the Lord
wants me to do
or am I in
the Lord's
will
and that
if your heart
is humble
before the Lord
and you are
broken before him
saying Lord
here I am
use me
that's what
God's asked of us
and he will
use you
he says
that those
who call on him
he will no wise
cast out
his spirit
dwells within us
live life
in a way
of listening
to the spirit
within you
and of
listening to the
word of God
and then realize
that we have
the immense
blessing
of being able
to come boldly
before the throne
of grace
and to speak
to him
at any time
that he is
he is
there
that when we
are humble
and pure
before him
repenting of our
sin
when we
turn back
to ourselves
that God
is
the path
is clear
there is no
separation
there anymore
that God
has taken
that away
and we
truly
can be
in a relationship
with him
so I would
encourage you
to
first of all
to
come before him
daily
and say
Lord here I am
what would you
have me to do
today
that that's the
heart that God
calls us to
and then second
of all
to put the
gospel on your
lips
and in your
life
to be
a
living testimony
of who God
is to those
who have never
heard
about a
I guess about a
month ago
three or four
weeks ago
I had the
opportunity to
go down to
Buford
and do some
door to door
witnessing
so I began
to tell this
lady
about how
she was
really caught
up in this
idea that
she wasn't
worthy of
God
and I said
well ma'am
here's the
gospel that
you aren't
worthy of
God
but that
God has
come
and that
he has
paid your
sin and
that you
can now
have a
relationship
with him
and know
him
and she
said I've
never heard
it that way
before
I've never
heard that
before
so I
just want
to encourage
you
there are
people here
we tend
to think
that oh
they've
heard the
gospel
many people
have heard a
version of
the gospel
but it's
not the
gospel
the gospel
is not
that Jesus
is just a
savior
and that he
came and
died for our
sins so we
have a free
ticket into
heaven
he came for
so much more
than that
so that we
can know
him
and in
that there's
joy and
fulfillment in
life
so just
those two
things
to live
a humble
life
before
Christ
and to
live a
life
of
worship
and of
proclamation
of who
he is
and what
he's done
I had a
whole lot
more notes
than that
but that's
what came
out so
let's pray
a