God’s Sovereign Promise: Genesis 6-17
-Angie Jarratt
We are moving right along through the story of Scripture. So far we have learned how to share God’s true identity with others, and explained why He created the world and us. Kandice covered the fall last week and did a lovely job breaking down the effects of sin on the human race. Do y’all realize that the topics we have covered in the last 3 weeks are some of the hardest questions asked of believers? Who is God? How and why do we exist? And why is there so much bad in the world? Each and every one of us are now better equipped to share why we believe, what we believe, with others. That’s exciting!
Last week Kandice defined sin as irrational, and very clearly pointed out that all sin is death. ALL sin. She taught us that sin separates us from God and she showed us that the devil always makes sin look and sound desirable, but that the choice to sin always leaves us full of shame. . As we wrap up Genesis today we will see many examples where in His hate for unrighteousness we always find God extending His perfect grace again and again. We will see that the God of the Old Testament is the same sovereign, loving, and merciful God that came to earth to die for His people in the New Testament; putting to rest the common lie that the God of the Old Testament is all wrath and not love.
This week we are looking at Hope of Redemption. I want us to go to the Psalms to get a clear picture of what this means before we dive in:
“O Israel, hope in the LORD; For with the LORD there is mercy, And with Him is abundant redemption.” Psalm 130:7 NKJV
“He has sent redemption to His people; He has commanded His covenant forever: Holy and awesome is His name.” Psalm 111:9 NKJV
“None of them can by any means redeem his brother, Nor give to God a ransom for him— For the redemption of their souls is costly, And it shall cease forever—” Psalm 49:7-8 NKJV
The Psalms make it very clear that redemption and hope are found solely in Jesus. Jesus is our living Hope because He paid the price and redeemed or purchased us from sin and death by paying with His own life. Psalms 49 very importantly points out that it isn’t something that anyone can pay for us or something we can pay for ourselves.
The world defines hope as a feeling of expectation and desire for a certain thing to happen. Whereas, the Word of God describes hope as a person. Huge difference. 1 Peter 1:3 says “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead”
Which would explain why we are living in such a hopeless looking world. Sin and the tragedies of the world seem to take center stage on the News, on Social Media, in TV Shows and Movies and even our everyday conversations. We seem fixated on the negative, though most of the human race is hoping, craving and even searching for something positive in the sea of negative we are so accustomed to. So let me ask y’all a question, Is it possible that the focus on sin and tragedy in the world has shaped the way believers look at the Word of God too?
Think about it, when we read familiar stories of the Bible are we more likely to focus on the sin and downfall of the characters? Or do we look and find Jesus and the Hope of Redemption in each of these stories too? I might argue that if we focused more on the hope and less on the fall we might be more likely to share that hope with everyone in our lives. So that is what I want us to do today. I want us to seek out Hope in a few well known stories in Genesis. Training ourselves to find the hope the Word should give us EVERY TIME WE OPEN IT.
With the fall in Genesis chapter 3 comes the greatest hope. In Romans 5:12-21 Paul explains that Adam’s sin led to the death of the entire human race. Through one man (Adam) death came. Yet through one Man (Jesus Christ), grace and the gift of eternal life were given. It is here that we are first introduced to redemptive Hope. Hope with a big H. The only true hope. Just like we learned about the big G God and the little g gods. Jesus Christ is the only true hope, Jesus doesn’t just give us hope, He is Hope.
In Genesis 3:15-17 We are given the details of the plan of God to save fallen sinners, sometimes referred to as the first gospel, it declares God’s commitment to His creation. He will not abandon it to destruction but will pursue it in love. His promise is clear- a descendant of the woman will crush the head of the serpent. The exact nature of this plan is yet to be explained in Genesis, but it is in place. Jesus the promised seed of the woman would leave no doubt to the fulfillment of this promise. Through Jesus death and resurrection He would crush the head of Satan, permanently declaring victory over sin and death. Fulfilling the promise made in the first part of Genesis. Jesus the promised seed is our Hope of Redemption.
Genesis 6:18 The story of Noah offers another picture of the saving mercy of God, once again in the middle of humanity's sin and rebellion. God made a way for salvation through Noah and the Ark. The Ark is a powerful picture of Jesus Christ in whom salvation would come to everyone who believed in Him. Jesus like the Ark would one day be lifted up high above the floodwaters of our sin to endure the full wrath of God. By putting our hope and faith in Jesus we are rescued like Noah and his family.
Genesis 12:1-3
The promises to Abraham are rooted in the nature and character of God. (think of your attribute list) God remains faithful to an unfaithful, rebellious, idolatrous people to his promises of the covenant. Those promises are based on grace (Jesus ) and not the law. As one born in the line of Abraham, Jesus is the means by which the promises to Abraham were fulfilled. All who are in Christ, born again only by the grace of God, are children of Abraham and recipients of the promises of God that were fulfilled in Jesus. Through faith in Christ every promise made to Abraham applies to us too. Galatians 3:28-29 says “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.”
I want us to think about our own lives for a bit now. Think of the sin and destruction that God has repeatedly saved you from. As a teen and young adult I spiraled down a very scary, very dark path. I look back now and can see that the lack of Hope in my life caused me to self destruct. The guilt of sin, the shame of who I was created a need in me to escape my reality. My addiction WAS escape. And in an effort to escape my sin, the only thing I found was more sin. It’s a terrifying cycle and one that can only be broken with heavenly intervention. Jesus saw me and he showed me that He was the escape I needed. He was my Hope of Redemption.
Which leads me to the last story in Genesis we will discuss today.
Hagar was a young Egyptian slave living among God’s people. Sarai her master gives this young girl to her husband Abraham in a desperate attempt to fulfill the promise to Abraham that we discussed earlier. Well, hello again sin. Hagar does conceive but Sarai’s plan to use Hagar as a surrogate mother goes awry when Hagar gets puffed up about her ability to carry a child, when Sarai cannot. Her attitude is not good. Sarai treats her harshly and in an attempt to escape her reality she flees. She doesn’t think of the consequence of running she just wants to escape, she was a woman, pregnant without a husband, death was a very likely outcome for her. Again we see sin and self reliance making quite a mess for our characters. Just as it did for me as a young girl, While it looked hopeless for me and Hagar we see Hope show up yet again.
This part so excites me! I want you to remember back to week one when we discussed the names of God. How cool that we are about to see one right here! “Then she called the name of the Lord who spoke to her, (El Roi) You-Are-the-God-Who-Sees; For she said “Have I also here seen Him who sees me? (vs 13) The God who sees, Jesus, her Hope. Her life wouldn’t be perfect for that point forward but she knew she was seen, and loved.
Jesus is the living Hope in every story from Genesis that we looked at today. He is also the Hope the world is searching for. The gospel of Jesus Christ is hope for all. But the problem is we tend to be selective with whom we share this hope with. Like Sarai we allow a bad attitude or our own shortcomings to push certain people to flee into the desert alone. Hopeless. Here's the deal God sees everyone and He loves everyone. Exclusive or selective hope, IS NOT HOPE AT ALL. As followers of Christ we don’t get to decide who gets to hear the hope of Jesus. Hagar could have died in the desert. Every time we exclude people from the gospel of Hope it's the same. Death. We deem people unsavable, we decide we don’t want to love the drug addict or the girl that did you wrong, or the weird person that makes you uncomfortable. God sees all people. All races, all ages, ALL people. Mark 16:15 says “And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.”
The redemptive hope of Jesus is what our world is missing and I pray that everyday we get better at sharing our Hope.
Resources used in this writing: The Jesus Bible
I highly recommend this Bible. It is a great resource to add to your collection!
https://www.christianbook.com/the-jesus-bible-esv/9780310452201/pd/452204?event=ESRCG
Think it over:
Think of the people group you have deemed unworthy of Hope. Write down who they are and then ask God to give you His love and compassion for those people. Ask forgiveness for being exclusive and selective with God’s redemptive plan to save and give a hurting world the Hope that they are craving.
Who are the close people in your life that could use some hope?
How is the world's definition of hope and the negativity surrounding you daily impacting the way you see God’s Word and His calling on Your life?
Do you recognize God’s redemptive plan playing out in your own life? The pattern of sin and redemption? Does God’s faithfulness give You confidence or do you find yourself resistant to His grace?
What area of hopelessness do you need to surrender to God this?