Month: March 2020

Then Jesus took them through the writings of Moses and all the prophets, explaining from all the Scriptures the things concerning himself. – Luke 24:27

Yesterday we found Jesus in the promise Eve declared when Cain was born. Today we’re going to complete our research of Genesis, chapter four. 

While we’re gathering the tools for our excavation of chapter four, let’s consider the murder of Abel. We see in Hebrews 12:24, that God’s Word looks back to Abel’s martyrdom and says, “and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.“

By looking back at Abel’s murder, we can see that the blood Abel shed pointed to the blood Jesus would shed. Our excavation of Genesis has shown us that many of the earliest documented events foreshadowed God’s future intentions.

Blood Of The Martyrs

An early Christian author, Tertullian, in his book Apologeticus, coined the phrase: “the blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church” (Apologeticus, Chapter 50). This is a bit of an overstatement, for the seed of the Church is from the blood of Jesus. Jesus is the Lamb slain from the creation of the world. But it does help frame the foundational events that took place in the fourth chapter of Genesis. We’ve already found Christ several times. We’ve also found the headwaters of the martyrs’ blood that first flowed from the sin of Cain to the crucifixion of Jesus, and down to the persecution of the Church.

To complete our expedition of chapter four, we must examine two events. For each event, when we remove the commentaries of contrarians of Biblical truth, we find Jesus.

From Eve to Mary

Seth was born. Genesis 4:25-26: And Adam knew his wife again, and she bore a son and called his name Seth, for she said, “God has appointed for me another offspring instead of Abel, for Cain killed him.” To Seth also a son was born, and he called his name Enosh. At that time people began to call upon the name of the Lord.

The words of Eve have endured down through the ages so the Spirit of God must be behind these words. Hitchcock’s Bible Names Dictionary states that the meaning of the name “Seth” means “put”; “who puts”; “fixed.” Seth was the replacement for Cain. 

Cain lost his inheritance, so Seth, being the next son of Eve, received the first-born inheritance. And it is from Seth that the lineage of Christ Jesus is traced. Once again, we find Jesus here in chapter four. The Word of God is about God’s beloved Son (Matthew 3:17).

Notice, too, that the primary narrative is from Eve, rather than Adam. Even from the beginning of humanity, it has been God’s intent and focus for the Word of God to become flesh through a woman’s conception by the Holy Spirit. We find in Matthew 1:18, “This is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit.”

The LORD’s promise was (Genesis 3:15):
I will put enmity between you and the woman,
and between your offspring and her offspring;
he shall bruise your head,
and you shall bruise his heel.”

From Eve to Mary, there is something special about God’s promise that echoed down through the generations of Adam, Noah, Abraham, Issac, Jacob, David, and finally, by an angel, to this young virgin, Mary. “So the angel told her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. (Luke 1:30)” and Mary’s response, in faith, ““I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May it happen to me according to your word.” Then the angel left her. (Luke 1:38) We do a disservice to God when we relegate women to a lower spiritual place than men. (Someday I’ll write a devotional about how “weaker” does not mean “lesser”.)

A Foreshadowing Of The Church

God is always tidy. He doesn’t leave loose ends or scraps. We saw this in Mark 6:43, “And they took up twelve baskets full of broken pieces and of the fish.” We saw this same trait of God with His message to Mary. The promise given to Eve and fulfilled in Mary. 

As we begin putting our excavation tools away, until next time, we should take note that the final statement in chapter four says, “At that time people began to call upon the name of the Lord.” Since there are examples of individuals communicating with God before Genesis 4:26, the implication here is that believers began gathering together to call upon the name of the LORD. This seems to be a foreshadowing of the Church, the Bride of Christ (Revelation 19:7).

There is so much packed into chapter four. But one thing we can declare is that we found Jesus, we also found a martyr, faith, and the future Church all hidden in plain sight. Praise God! “For all the promises of God find their Yes in him. That is why it is through him that we utter our Amen to God for his glory.” –  2 Corinthians 1:20

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Then Jesus took them through the writings of Moses and all the prophets, explaining from all the Scriptures the things concerning himself. – Luke 24:27

Our Archaeological Site

Now we will go deeper into God’s Word on our quest to discover Jesus in the book of Genesis. This is healthy for us because we need to understand, with no shadow of doubt, that the narratives, historical accounts, prophecies, and commands in the Bible are all built upon Jesus.

Jesus is the Lamb slain from the creation of the world. He is woven into the very fabric of the Bible. His agenda is redemption, recovery, and restoration. We need to learn to see Jesus behind all that it in God’s Word, for in Him lies the Truth which is health to our bodies (Proverbs 3:8) and the renewal of our minds (Romans 12:2)

It’s time for us to fetch our excavation tools and go to our archaeological site in Genesis, chapter four. We know this chapter has been relegated to myth lettered theologians, rather than recognized as communicating the foundation of Jesus through actual people that lived about six thousand years ago.

The Faith of Eve

In the opening of chapter four we find something surprising. Eve was pregnant for the first time. How challenging it must have been for her to go through the unknown process of childbirth. But here’s what we find: Now Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and bore Cain, saying, “I have gotten a man with the help of the Lord.” – Genesis 4:1

Even though Eve had sinned against God, we find that she had faith in God and acknowledges Him to be the author of the precious gift she has received. How many times have you heard people “write-off” Adam and Eve as worthless? It takes a lot before God does that. He is the God of second chances.

So now, we see that Eve understands God is at work in her. Cain is the first-born son, a type of Adam. As the firstborn son, Cain occupies a special place within the family and in Adam’s lineage. Cain occupies that position until he throws it away!

Here’s Jesus

And now we find Jesus! Eve is looking toward the fulfillment of God’s promise for her offspring to bruise Satan’s head (Genesis 3:15). That’s the job of Jesus. She doesn’t know when God will fulfill her promise, but she’s looking for God and, unbeknownst to her, she’s looking to the man Jesus Christ.

I want to keep our focus on finding Christ in Pentateuch. However, there are so many powerful truths in chapter four of Genesis that I feel compelled to highlight one.

If we jump to verse seventeen we find that Cain was a builder of cities. However, Abel was a shepherd. As a shepherd he would have had time for contemplation and devotion to God. Coincidentally, Moses and David also kept sheep. Undoubtedly, Abel, Moses, and David used their solitude to draw near and talk with God.

Also in chapter four we learn that Cain’s pride was hurt. Injured pride leaves an open door for Satan. And that’s what God tells Cain. This is what God said to him, “And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is contrary to you, but you must rule over it. (Genesis 4:7)”

Here we are, about one hundred and fifty years after creation and sin has become so strong within humanity that the first born son of Adam commits murder. Abel is not only the first murder victim, but he is the first person to be killed for fulfilling the will of the LORD.

Also, in chapter four we learn that Cain’s pride was hurt. Injured pride leaves an open door for Satan. And that’s what God tells Cain. This is what God said to him, “And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is contrary to you, but you must rule over it.” (Genesis 4:7)

Here we are, about one hundred and fifty years after creation and sin has become so influential within humanity that the firstborn son of Adam commits murder. Abel is not only the first murder victim, but he is the first martyr to be killed for fulfilling the will of the LORD.

In this brief chapter we made some excellent discoveries. We learned about the faith of Eve and we learned that Jesus is the fulfillment of the promise for which Eve was looking. I hope these will strengthen all of us.

Wrapping Up

We made some good discoveries today. We learned about the faith of Eve. We learned that Christ’s humanity is in the lineage of Seth. And we learned that Jesus is the fulfillment of the promise that Eve was looking for.

I hope they will strengthen all of us. Still, we have not yet made it through Genesis, chapter four, so we need to return to this excavation site tomorrow. There are some fascinating gems that God has buried at this site so we need to dig a bit more before we move on.

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Then Jesus took them through the writings of Moses and all the prophets, explaining from all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.

– Luke 24:27

Level setting is a common term for ensuring that all of us have a common understanding of some activity or subject. It doesn’t mean we all have to agree with the concepts. It just means that we understand what is intended by the author. In this chapter, we are doing a bit of level-setting. We will look into some verses where we may not have expected to find Jesus.

Redemption

The redemption of remnants is a continually recurring theme throughout God’s work with the descendants of Adam. Noah and his family were a tiny remnant of all humanity. Abraham was a small remnant of all humankind, Jacob was a remnant of Abraham’s tribe, and the children of Israel that entered the promised land were a remnant of the Jews that left Egypt. The list goes on. Elijah thought he was the only remaining prophet, but God told him that He had 7,000 more (1 Kings 19:18); God had a remnant.

Recovery

To understand the recovery of all that Adam lost, we first need to know what happened when Adam sinned. Adam was the administrator of God’s creation. He was the heir of God’s creation because he was the first man, a type of the firstborn son. Or, perhaps, I should say that first born sons are a type of Adam. Isaac’s son, Esau, provides us with an insight into what happened to Adam.

See that no one is sexually immoral, or is godless like Esau, who for a single meal sold his inheritance rights as the oldest son. Afterward, as you know, when he wanted to inherit this blessing, he was rejected. Even though he sought the blessing with tears, he could not change what he had done. – Hebrews 12:16-17

Adam’s act of rebellion gave all that God had vested in him to Satan; Satan gained the place of master over Adam and all Adam’s progeny. This is why it states in Romans 5:12, “Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned—“

Then the end will come, when he [Jesus] hands over the kingdom to God the Father after he has destroyed all dominion, authority and power. – 1 Corinthians 15:24

Restoration

Heaven and Earth have been subjected to rebellion. In Luke 10:18, Jesus says, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven.” So, God will restore all holiness to His creation. We find God’s solution in Revelation 21:1, “Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more.” God’s act of restoration was prophesied by Isaiah in Isaiah 65:17.

Redemption, recovery, and restoration are hallmarks of God. We will see many of these as we continue our quest to find Christ in Christianity.

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Then Jesus took them through the writings of Moses and all the prophets, explaining from all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.

– Luke 24:27

Excavation

Presently, we are easily finding Christ in these opening verses of the Bible. But soon, we will be going deeper. In preparation for us excavating truths that have been covered over by neglect or inconvenience or the fear of being peculiar (set-apart), it is wise for us all to share a common understanding of a few facets of God’s Word.

Doctrine

Doctrine cannot be made from the silence of the Bible. For example, nowhere in God’s Word do we find when or how people learned to read and write. God makes it clear to us that words carry great significance, but the Bible is silent regarding the invention of reading and writing. So, there are lots of opinions about this but no Christian doctrine about this topic. A person would be heretical to teach as a Church doctrine that Adam invented writing.

A second component of this truth is that Scripture must be interpreted by Scripture. If we are seeking the truth of God’s Word we can use nothing less than God’s Word to understand that truth. 

Telescoping

When we study prophecies in the Bible, they are usually from prophets like Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Zechariah. In their prophecies we find a characteristic called telescoping. What God reveals to prophets in visions, dreams, or messages are often layered messages. There will be an aspect of the prophecy that will come to pass rather quickly, and then there are aspects of that same prophecy that may be fulfilled by events that are scattered across centuries or millennia. But to the prophet it appears all as once; often they don’t see the timeline.

Redemption, Recovery, and Restoration

As we excavate in search of Jesus, we will discover Christ our Redeemer, Christ the Father’s Recoverer, and Christ the Restorer. The Bible is not a science book, though it contains science. The Bible is not a political book, though it has much to say about politics. The Bible is not a history book, but, again, it contains much history. No, the Bible is about the redemption of the children of Adam, the recovery of all Adam lost, and the restoration of God’s holiness within His creation.

We will learn that God had a plan for redemption even before He created all things. Jesus is the Lamb slain from the creation of the world (Revelation 13:8). We will see Jesus redeem a remnant of the descendants of Adam. We will see Jesus recover all that Adam lost when he sinned and then give that to the Father. And finally, we will see God, (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit) restore God’s holiness within His creation through a new heaven and a new earth.

Tomorrow

Tomorrow we will wrap up our preparations for digging deeper, and then on Monday we will discover Jesus in some unexpected places.

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Then Jesus took them through the writings of Moses and all the prophets, explaining from all the Scriptures the things concerning himself. 

–  Luke 24:27

Adam and Eve

As we continue to search for Christ Jesus within the “Christianity” of secular opinions and modern ecumenical ideas, we go back to the Truth in God’s Word. Today, we’ll look at the first prophecy that promised Christ’s arrival.

As we turn our attention to the the 3rd chapter of Genesis we find one of the most well known events of the Bible. It is the sin of Eve and Adam and the fallout from their sin. The account can be found in Genesis 3:6. Eve was seduced by Satan, in the form of a snake. Adam had no excuse for his sin.

Jesus Is The Seed

We’ve already learned that Eve, the first woman, is a foreshadow of the Church. Now, in Galatians 3:16, we learn that God’s promise to Abraham is for his seed, and that seed is Jesus. And in Isaiah 7:14, we learn that Immanuel, “God with us,” is prophesied to come from a virgin – no help from man, the dust of the earth (i.e., Adam). Here are the verses:

The promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. Scripture does not say “and to seeds,” meaning many people, but “and to your seed,” meaning one person, who is Christ. – Galatians 3:16

Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel. – Isaiah 7:14 

Through a woman sin entered the world and by her Seed was salvation promised. Now let’s look at the Bible verses that confirm this statement.

“…I will put enmity between you and the woman,
and between your offspring and her offspring;
he shall bruise your head,
and you shall bruise his heel.“ – Genesis 3:15

Your Offspring, Her Offspring

Notice “your offspring and her offspring.” The offspring of Satan are the “whitewashed tombs,” the scribes and Pharisees (Matthew 23:27) that opposed Jesus and eventually crucified Him. The offspring of a woman is the promised Seed (Jesus) who was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary.

“He shall bruise your head.” Jesus rose from the dead, defeating sin, the tool of Satan. “You shall bruise his heel.” The feet of Jesus walked in the dust of the roads. The “heel” of Christ was his humanity. And it was Christ’s humanity that Satan and his offspring attacked, bruised and crucified. But the sinless Christ overcame Satan’s attack when He rose from the grave.

What we’ve learned from this study is that Jesus is Immanuel, the Seed that God promised Abraham. We learned that the plan for Immanuel was deeply connected to women, from Eve all the way to the mother of Jesus. We also learned that Satan would attack Jesus but that Jesus would ultimately overcome and defeat Satan.

Whew! The Holy Spirit packed a lot into a very brief passage of Scripture.

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Revised from “Finding Christ in Christianity,” September 22, 2018

Red Letter Christians

I decided to start this blog after one of my sons said he was struggling with his faith. Specifically, he felt that Scriptures did not align. He began calling himself a “red letter” Christian, believing the words of Jesus, printed in red, were true, but he questioned the veracity of everything else.

I understand his perspective, especially in our world where people have confidence that they can reasonably understand anything just by Googling it. If we’re looking for a hotel review or the best deal for new tires or even learning about Lupus on WebMD, Googling may be valid. However, this is not the case when tackling 1st-century events that have spawned two thousand years of commentary covering every nook and cranny of the divine Word of God.

Discovering Jesus

Therefore, instead of adding more verbiage and thereby moving us even further from the Truth of Scripture, my goal is to take us on an expedition that unwraps as many layers of commentary as we can so we get down to the bedrock, or more specifically, the Rock, Christ Jesus. We’re going to be discovering, once again, Christ in Christianity.

Ok, this is serious stuff but let’s be joyful. As Jesus said (red letter), “If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love.I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you” – John 15:10-12 (NIV).

My Agenda

As for versions of Scripture, I will use several Bible translations such as NIV, ESV, KJV and so forth. Why? Because we’re excavating to uncover Jesus.

Each Bible translation carries its own agenda. For example, the agenda of The Message is to make God’s word as accessible as possible to the widest audience of modern readers. That’s good. Still, valuable nuances may be de-emphasized or lost in translation. As for the KJV, it carries with it a very high cost of entry that is quite challenging for those whose primary language is not English. Therefore, as we embark on this journey, I will seek, from mainline translations, the Bible version that most clearly points to Jesus, because that’s my agenda. Tomorrow we start!

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