God, Abel, Noah and Abraham
A talk given to the students at the Peninsular Gospel Training Course, Plymouth
Satan hates all Scripture, all the Word of God; but
especially Genesis and Revelation. Why?
Genesis reveals how he caused the fall and in Rev.
the Sovereign Lord reveals his final and total defeat.
These two books are the only accurate account of the beginning and the end.
In between is history - HIS STORY.
RE class teacher asked,
"what would you do if Jesus walked through the door?
Bright
schoolboy replied, "I would give him this red covered Bible and say, 'Jesus,
This is Your Life'"!
The whole Bible is an account of how Jesus Christ
implements God's Rescue Plan.
But the first two chapters
reveal Creation and last two chapters reveal creation of a new heaven and
a new earth.
God included them because he wants us to look at the earth and the stars,
and ask, "How come?"
In the beginning God ... Gen
11
What clear definitive statement do these first four
words of Scripture make?
That before anything was created, God was. He existed
before time began. Indeed, he made time.
Do we know of anything that happened before the beginning?
The Son of God was chosen and agreed to be the Lamb
who would bear the punishment we would deserve. 1Pe 119,20
He wrote your name in the Book of Life!! Eph
14
The creation story always stretches our minds, and I hope also our hearts
in sheer wonder.
In the beginning God created the heavens and the
earth
Before the 6 days of earth's creation began, God created the heavens: the
whole universe of millions of 'stars'.
Each one of these 'stars' (e.g. M83 see below) is a galaxy
like our Milky Way!
And that has >200 billion little stars
like our sun.
Among the stars that form our galaxy in our solar
system.
Some 'stars' are huge
clouds of matter in extraordinary shapes or Nebulae. 
Orion
Omega Swan M17
Almighty God chose to set one special tiny speck
of dust that we call earth in the midst the vast heavens.
If earth is represented by a 5mm mapping pin how
far from this room would you have walk to reach the Sun?
Near Leeds or
Liverpool - 289 miles. And another 11,300 miles (just short of New Zealand)
to reach Pluto.
And how many metres
in diameter would the sun be ? 4345m (2.7 miles!)
Yet this earth, this tiny speck of dust is unique.
It was chosen by God to be the very pinnacle of his creation.
"What is man that
you are mindful of him?" Psalm 83-5
So in the beginning God created a vast universe with a specially designed
and positioned earth.
It had a molten core, a cooled surface with lots
of water.
But it was formless and empty. It was dead
- no organic chemistry. There was no land, no light and no life.
Darkness was over the surface of the deep and
the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.
This is the starting point in the '6 day' creation revelation.
Day 1 - 3 First God makes the earth
habitable.
He gave, or had given earth its precise orbit at exactly the right distance
from the sun, (and a moon for tides)
He gave it rotation (surface didn't freeze or boil),
tilt (seasons), ionosphere (absorbs UV and X-rays),
an atmosphere to absorb
significant IR, magnetism (deflects solar cosmic rays), gravity and electricity.
He creates light (starts sun's nuclear fusion) and
separates light and darkness.
He separates thick 'mist' into water and sky
(clouds and atmosphere, he initiates the weather and water cycle)
He separates vast oceans (now 71% of surface and
av >12,000 ft ) from dry land
He splits the earth's crust, moves continents and
makes mountains.
He creates vegetation each according to their
different kinds, each bearing seed for food and multiplication.
He designed photosynthesis that absorbs
CO2 and releases O2 that would be needed by fish, birds
and mammals.
God took enormous care over his creation to make everything ready.
Day 4 - 6 Then God populates the
uninhabited earth.
He makes the sun and moon (already created) visible
from earth.
He populates the sea with fish and the sky with birds.
He populates the land with animals (and insects,
microbes).
And finally he creates man in his own image.
God blessed man and he gave him seeds for food and
the responsibility to care for it all.
God's rule, his care,
is kind, just and organised.
Note: This dominion
is given to all men and women, not one man or even one gender.
Thus there was order, simplicity, balance, beauty,
skill, imagination, variety and blessing.
Scientifically it is highly complex and highly accurate;
An average adult has some 75 million million cells!
(and identical twins both from 1 cell are identical)
Each human cell contains a million x a million molecules.
Each cell nucleus has 46 chromosomes each of which
is surrounded by DNA molecules - like beads on a string.
Though the whole cell is only 1/150 mm diameter,
each of these DNA molecules
is 1.8 metres long! intricately packaged in a very precise double helix
structure.
Yet each cell is made from a few simple building blocks:
98.5%
is water + hydrogen, oxygen, carbon, nitrogen, calcium and phosphorus. 1.5%
other (iron, copper ...)
The whole universe is made from just 118 elements.
The earth teemed with life - creatures with sight,
feeling, hearing, smell, and taste.
And men with intelligence and most important, men
made in the image of God himself. Men with a soul.
What makes man unique and so different from all animals?
Worship, beauty, music,
imagination, kindness, intellect, reason.
But
also greed, war, pride, cruelty, revenge, wickedness.
God blessed the 7th day and made it
holy. 23
Note: No evening and morning on the 7th day. No end. Every
day God still enjoys his marvellous creation.
There are10
commands in Gen 1. Each were instantly obeyed! God said ... And it was
so.
Isn't God absolutely fantastic!!
Not all men think so.
Peter accurately foretold that men will finally scoff at the truth of God
being Creator. 2 Pe 33-7
If men then also deny God's Judgement, e.g. flood
in Noah's day, Sodom ...
then it is quite safe
to ignore God. There is no need for anyone to fear him!
Now is not the time to show why evolution is both incorrect and wicked. But
note the result:
Man becomes even more arrogant and proud of his
achievements in science, technology and
medicine.
Man thinks God can be side-lined without any consequences
"Survival of the fittest" when applied to humans
inevitably leads to genocide and war
(Basis of Nazi belief
in supremacy of Aryan race).
Do Science and Scripture Conflict?
No, I don't think so.
Science is not a threat to faith nor is it the enemy of Scripture, but adds
proof to its truth and consistency.
Many are frightened by the thought that a 'day', which in Hebrew is 'a Yom',
isn't always 24 hours.
5 indications why I think the 'long day' may be the way God chose and the
way that scripture tells it:
1. After separating
the land and sea, God chose a slow continental drift
(not
instant or 24 hours at 40 mph! Still moving about 2"/year.)
2. God ordered each
'kind' of plant, fish and animal to be fruitful and multiply and fill the
earth.
They
obeyed - but it took more than 24 hours!
3. God called the
light day ('Yom' here = 12 hours of daylight c.f. night). 15
4. These are the
generations of the heavens and of the earth when they were created,
in
the day (a 'yom' of 6 days) that the Lord God made the earth and the
heavens. 24 (KJV)
5. The day ('yom'
or reign) of the Lord. Mal 41,5 Is 136,9 etc
(x19)
This
can be the instant of his coming or the age of his rule (which is 1000 years
or all eternity!)
So, far from denying the accuracy of Scripture,
I think this view enhances Scripture and the eternal
truth of God's amazing design.
Others may think that God did everything in 6x24 hours - fine! No quarrel.
God wants us to be absolutely sure of the who and what of creation.
The when / how long seems to be more flexible.
(Perhaps the question
arises because we are almost obsessed with time and clocks today!)
The most vital truth is the "Wow" of God's incredible,
beautiful, ingenious, creation.
The power to make energy and matter from nothing, its design, simplicity,
complexity, variety, balance, colour, ...
from the microscopic to the millions of light-years,
and all with such apparently simple 'building blocks' ...
Consider the common Daddy-long-legs.
This little chap settled on the window while my wife and I were having supper one evening.
I watched it for while and marvelled! Then said, "I must show this to the students."
Each leg has a rigid bone structure to support its weight,
Each has 'hip' joint that is rotational and 3 dimensional. Each one also has 6 other two dimensional 'knee' joints.
Each joint has an energy supply and an actuator or muscle to enable movement,
Each muscle in each joint has a separate control system to and from the control centre or brain.
And throughout the length are nerves to detect feeling and position.
Moreover each limb is even self-repairing for many injuries.
Yet each leg is only about the size of an average needle!
God is absolutely amazing!
As an ex farmer I'm not generally squeamish
but confess I'm now less eager to squash the next one that dares to enter our house!
God's Covenants and Promises
This is the 2nd half of my brief - what connection is there with Creation?
The Lord Almighty will not allow his fantastic creation
to fall into the dustbin.
He Covenants to rescue and restore. He Covenants
a redeeming Saviour and a mighty Advocate.
As Karl said 2 weeks ago, "God is the promise-Maker and the promise-Keeper;
we are the promise-Breakers."
What is a covenant?
A Covenant is an unchangeable, divinely imposed legal
agreement (guarantee) made by God with man.
God has made several covenants with men.
A Worldwide Covenant with Noah that he would not
the destroy the earth again by flood.
Note that Peter reveals
a rider to that covenant. 2Pe 310-13 Next time it
will be by fire. Some covenant!!
Personal Covenants like with Jacob.
This is what the
Lord says - he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel:
"Fear not, for I
have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine." Is
431
God made a personal/national covenant with David:
Has God not made
with me an everlasting covenant, arranged and secured in every part?
Will he not bring
to fruition my salvation and grant me my every desire? 2Sam
235
We aren't going to focus on Jacob or David, or even on the probably familiar
New Covenant in Jer 31
Here God promises the house of Israel that instead
of always wanting to sin and disobey the Law,
God will write his Law in their hearts. A day is
promised when temptation will have no pull on us at all!
Let us go to Gen 4 and to the story of
Abel.
Abel was well aware of the terrible sinful plight he had inherited - and
it grieved him.
Abel was a shepherd; he brought the best portions of the firstborn of his
flock. Couldn't be better.
But he knew that his offering was not good enough.
He knew that God would have to provide the full,
perfect and sufficient sacrifice for sin.
What made Abel so glad?
God had given him assurance
that his sins were forgiven, and he had received the gift of God's righteousness.
How do we know this?
Heb
114 describes Abel as commended by God as a righteous man.
It
also says that he was a man who by faith offered a better sacrifice.
By faith?
Heb 111 defines
faith as the assurance of things hoped for -
He
didn't just hope for forgiveness God assured him of it.
This
God-given assurance was God's personal covenant with Abel.
Not
pride; but the gracious statement of our mighty Advocate and the verdict
of the Judge.
And
so it is with us too - we are redeemed, summoned by name (like Jacob), and
assured we belong to Jesus.
Abel was so glad, in
zealous gratitude he gave his best.
Like
the forgiven ex-prostitute who anointed Jesus with perfume. Lu
736-50
Neither
were forgiven because they gave much; they were forgiven much and therefore
gladly gave much.
In
The Pilgrims Progress, when Christian comes to the Cross;
who
was relieved of his burden of sin, given robe of righteousness and scroll.
The
scroll was God's personal covenant to Christian. What a treasure!
It was Abel's joy that made Cain so jealous; a jealousy which grew and led
to murder - but that's another story.
Noah
was righteous and obeyed God.
He obeyed because he was righteous, not made righteous
because he obeyed.
He was ridiculed - worse, so was God - until it was
too late.
Peter prophesies that
at the end men will scoff at creation, righteousness and Judgement. 2
Pe 33
God gave Noah precise instructions as to how to build the Ark. It was much
more that quaint Sunday-school story.
Within those instructions our great and gracious
God gave Noah a personal Covenant. Gen 614
God instructed Noah to apply pitch to the Ark, both inside and out.
'Pitch' here is the Hebrew word Kaphar. Translated
94 times in OT as atonement, purging, mercy, forgiving ...
So God's instruction was to coat the Ark inside and
out with 'Atonement'.
Just as for us the
bread and wine represent the cost of redemption.
For Noah inside, the
pitch, the atonement, was the clear, eloquent assurance of God's personal
covenant.
But
for those outside it was a direct evangelistic sermon!
Noah's personal Covenant clearly revealed that it
was by God's instruction
that Noah was made
righteous by the atonement of Christ.
As
Charles Wesley would later write:
"Jesus, thy blood and righteousness my beauty
are, my glorious dress,
Midst flaming worlds in these arrayed,
with joy shall I lift up my head."
In Gen 12 God makes an unconditional eternal national
covenant with Abraham:
I will make you into a great nation. Gen
122 Abraham was the father of the Jews.
I will bless those who bless you, and whoever
curses you I will curse. Gen 123a Ignored. UK loses
empire.
All peoples on earth will be blessed through
you. Gen 123b Jesus chose to be born a Jew; and bless
all nations.
To your descendants I give this land. Gen
127 1518
Each of these four promises are now bitterly contended by both Muslim Arabs
and much of Christian West -
Especially the land gift.
But God's Covenant remains, and we do well to understand
this. Read Zech 12, 14
The Lord himself confirms that like Abel, and Noah,
Abraham
'saw' day of Jesus Christ.
Your father Abraham rejoiced at the thought of
seeing my day; he saw it and was glad. Jn 856
What did he see? In
Gen 22 we are given the answer.
Abraham is instructed to offer Isaac. 222
As they were going to Mt Moriah,
Isaac says, "The
fire and the wood are here, but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?"
Abraham answered,
"God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son."
Gen 227,8
What a prophecy!
In fact God provided a Ram caught in a thorn bush.
2000 years later Jesus wore a crown of thorns.
Isaac (aged~20 and Abraham 120) would have had to
be willing to be sacrificed.
Jesus, the only and beloved Son of God was obedient unto death.
Phil 28
And to prove that Abraham really did see something
of what God himself would do,
He called that place
The Lord Will Provide. (not Has provided). Gen 2214
For Isaac there was a substitute ram provided.
But for Jesus there
could be no substitute.
Jesus became our
substitute. No one else could do what our Redeemer has done for us.
The Lord Almighty remains the Creator
and eternal Covenant Maker.
God is faithful
and always, absolutely always, keeps his word
to Abel, to Noah, to Abraham ... and to us.
