first look at deliverance by grace

Posted on January 6, 2012 by Jefferson Vann

matsa chenGenesis 6.  We have already seen in Genesis how God’s grace is present even in the midst of his judgment.  Here we see grace at work delivering people from the consequences of their own sins.

  1. The judgment is real and its motivation is just.  God did not have to wait several centuries to see a world filled with unrighteousness.  Total depravity grieves God’s heart.
  2. He chooses a man.  Noah is blameless in his generation, but he does not stay that way (9:20-27).  God, who sees the future, knows that Noah is not the perfect specimen of humanity, but he chooses to love him anyway.
  3. He prescribes a plan.  The ark is the means that God will use to preserve humanity from the flood.  The cross is the means of delivering us from destruction in hell.

LORD, we all deserve your wrath. Thank you for delivering us by your grace.

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first look at natural death

Posted on January 5, 2012 by Jefferson Vann

vayyamotGenesis 5.  This chapter traces the family tree of Adam until the time of Noah.  besides that, it also is a clear reminder that what God warned Adam about in the garden of Eden will happen.  Now that humanity has transgressed the prohibition of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, we share the same destiny.  We die.  It took Adam 930 years but he eventually succumbed to natural death (5).  The others followed.  At the end of each story, there is an inevitable “and he died”  (5,8,11,14,17,20,27,31).  The only exception appears to be Enoch, and we don’t really know what happened to him.  He was not found.  The point of this passage is that death is a constant, and it will be until our Lord returns to abolish it at the resurrection.

LORD, we tremble at the awareness of our own mortality.  but we trust that you will make us alive again when Christ returns.  Our destiny is in your hands.

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first look at murder

Posted on January 4, 2012 by Jefferson Vann

rovetsGenesis 4.  Cain’s offering had disappointed God.  The reason was that God looked not at the offering, but at the heart of the offerer.  God warned Cain that he had a choice.  He could rule over his sinful heart, or he could allow it to overcome him.  He chose sin and death.  He murdered his brother.

God had been watching.  He banished Cain, forcing him to abandon the ground, because the ground would abandon him.  He would be a fugitive and wanderer on the earth, and he and his descendants would not be known for their farming skills.  His descendants would also inherit his lack of self-control.  Seven generations later, the lust for vengeance is still active in his family, as is demonstrated by Lamech’s poem.

LORD, heal our hearts.  Sin seeks to consume us, as it did Cain.  Most of us do not murder, but all of us have murder in our hearts, like a crouching beast waiting to pounce (7).  Grant us the fruit of your Holy Spirit – which is self-control.

Posted in Holy Spirit, self-control, the flesh, vengeance | Tagged | 1 Comment

first look at judgment

Posted on January 3, 2012 by Jefferson Vann

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Genesis 3.  God judges rightly.  For each sin involved in the fall, there are appropriate consequences.

  1. Satan is not mentioned here – but it is obvious from later scriptures (Rev. 12:9; 20:2) that he tempted the serpent to deceive Eve.  His battle with the woman’s offspring would occur in God’s timing, and will crush his head (15).
  2. The serpent would be cursed above all creatures.  It would be transformed from its initial beauty to become a bottom crawler (14).
  3. The woman would experience a change physically and emotionally that would be passed on to all women after her (16).
  4. The man would also be changed.  He would suffer just trying to survive this life, and he and all who come from him (including Eve) will eventually die, returning to the ground (‘adamah) from which he had been formed. All mankind lost the garden of Eden. God will not grant the tree of life to the accursed.

LORD, your judgments are righteous.  Thank you that even in the fall there are hints of your grace, and the undoing of sin’s consequences.

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first look at paradise

Posted on January 2, 2012 by Jefferson Vann

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Genesis 2.  Eden was God’s best for humanity. Its idyllic atmosphere gave Adam everything he could ask for.  He had life, a feast for eyes and mouth, meaningful work, and the perfect companion to share it with.  God only prohibited one thing – and we know how that turned out.

Eden will be restored to us by Christ in the new age – only it will be so much better.

  1. Instead of potential life (conditional immortality) we will have eternal life.
  2. The river will be the river of life.
  3. Christ is the new Adam, and we will be his bride, created out of his sacrifice.
  4. We will be Christ’s perfect companion for eternity.

LORD, thank you for giving us your best.  We long for our eternal paradise where we can celebrate your love in Christ.

Posted in deliverance, eternal life, future, Jesus Christ, love | Tagged | 1 Comment

first look at God

Posted on January 1, 2012 by Jefferson Vann

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Genesis 1.  The story of how God created the universe helps us to understand him better. Each picture we see of him in this chapter explains more fully who he is, and how we relate to him.

  1. He is an artist.  He starts with a blank canvas, and then adds all the things to it (light, space, dry land, vegetation, creatures) that draw attention to the focus of his artistic work: humanity.
  2. He is a judge.  He reorders all the disorder by separating and changing.  He sets right all the things not yet perfected.
  3. He is a father.  He brings humanity into being in order to spread his image all over the cosmos.

LORD, thank you for creating us in your image – as the focal point of your creation.  Thank you that you will not allow us to remain imperfect.  through Jesus you are setting us right.

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come to your future

Posted on December 31, 2011 by Jefferson Vann

SDC11490Revelation 22.    The Bible ends with an invitation. 

“’The Spirit and the Bride say, “Come.” And let the one who hears say, “Come.” And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who desires take the water of life without price.”
(Revelation 22:17 ESV)

The River in the middle of the city is an invitation to your future.  You can have not only eternal life, but new life eternally: a permanent cleansing of all those things about yourself that you think can never be changed.  And the best news is … it is free.  We pay no price for this holy and righteous eternity.  It is bought and paid for by the costly death of Christ on the cross. 

LORD, we want what you have planned for us.  We choose to come to our future.

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the presence and the future

Posted on December 30, 2011 by Jefferson Vann

SDC11490Revelation 21.   The most beautiful thing about the believer’s future revealed in this chapter is not the golden streets, or jeweled walls, or pearly gates. The radiance of the city comes from the manifest presence of God himself.  He will be with us, and his presence will make all the difference. The sheer power and glory of his presence will banish forever those things about life that we thought were forever. From then on, there will be no more mourning, crying, pain or death. These “former things” will pass away.  The new thing that God will do among us will not involve any of those former things.  Sometimes it is hard to see God in the disappointments of this age.  It will not be so in the future. His presence will be manifest.

LORD, help us to trust in your presence today, as we long for your eternal presence in our future.

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judgment and the future

Posted on December 29, 2011 by Jefferson Vann

sdc11490Revelation 20.  Christians differ on how they interpret the binding of Satan. I cannot bring myself to believe that Satan is bound in any way now, so that makes me a premillenialist.

At the end of this chapter is the lake of fire, which (the text says) is the second death.  No one escapes that fate unless his or her name is in the Lamb’s book of life. Eternity begins after that.

LORD, thank you for the promise of judgment upon Satan and his kingdom.  Thank you for the promise of eternal life in your kingdom.

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love and war in the future

Posted on December 28, 2011 by Jefferson Vann

SDC11490Revelation 19.     A trumpet calls heavens armies to war against the demonic powers, with Christ at the head.  Meanwhile, believers hear a call to come and celebrate.  It is the marriage supper of the Lamb.  There will be both tragedy and triumph going on at the same time. It MATTERS DEARLY which side you are on.

LORD, help us to get ready for the great celebration of grace – and plead with others to join us there.

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