WE ARE CALLED CHILDREN OF GOD

It has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him. (1 John 3:2)

1 John 3:2-3 What marvelous love the Father has extended to us! Just look at it—we’re called children of God! That’s who we really are. But that’s also why the world doesn’t recognize us or take us seriously, because it has no idea who he is or what he’s up to. But friends, that’s exactly who we are: children of God. And that’s only the beginning. Who knows how we’ll end up! What we know is that when Christ is openly revealed, we’ll see him—and in seeing him, become like him. All of us who look forward to his Coming stay ready, with the glistening purity of Jesus’ life as a model for our own. ~The Message

Each of us will have a unique body as God determines, just as a single seed produces its own unique plant. (1 Cor 15:35-58) Think about how much more grandeur a plant is than its seed! (See also Mark 4:30-32, 1 Pet 1:22-23)

To gain our new body, our current body must die. (1 Cor 15:35-49) (See also Phil 1:18-26)

1 Corinthians 15:35-38 Some skeptic is sure to ask, “Show me how resurrection works. Give me a diagram; draw me a picture. What does this ‘resurrection body’ look like?” If you look at this question closely, you realize how absurd it is. There are no diagrams for this kind of thing. We do have a parallel experience in gardening. You plant a “dead” seed; soon there is a flourishing plant. There is no visual likeness between seed and plant. You could never guess what a tomato would look like by looking at a tomato seed. What we plant in the soil and what grows out of it don’t look anything alike. The dead body that we bury in the ground and the resurrection body that comes from it will be dramatically different. ~The Message 

1 Corinthians 15:39-41 You will notice that the variety of bodies is stunning. Just as there are different kinds of seeds, there are different kinds of bodies—humans, animals, birds, fish—each unprecedented in its form. You get a hint at the diversity of resurrection glory by looking at the diversity of bodies not only on earth but in the skies—sun, moon, stars—all these varieties of beauty and brightness. And we’re only looking at pre-resurrection “seeds”—who can imagine what the resurrection “plants” will be like! ~The Message

I Corinthians 15:42-44 This image of planting a dead seed and raising a live plant is a mere sketch at best, but perhaps it will help in approaching the mystery of the resurrection body—but only if you keep in mind that when we’re raised, we’re raised for good, alive forever! The corpse that’s planted is no beauty, but when it’s raised, it’s glorious. Put in the ground weak, it comes up powerful. The seed sown is natural; the seed grown is supernatural—same seed, same body, but what a difference from when it goes down in physical mortality to when it is raised up in spiritual immortality! ~The Message

1 Corinthians 15:45-49 We follow this sequence in Scripture: The First Adam received life, the Last Adam is a life-giving Spirit. Physical life comes first, then spiritual—a firm base shaped from the earth, a final completion coming out of heaven. The First Man was made out of earth, and people since then are earthy; the Second Man was made out of heaven, and people now can be heavenly. In the same way that we’ve worked from our earthy origins, let’s embrace our heavenly ends. 

(Philippians 1:18-26) So how am I to respond? I’ve decided that I really don’t care about their motives, whether mixed, bad, or indifferent. Every time one of them opens his mouth, Christ is proclaimed, so I just cheer them on! 

And I’m going to keep that celebration going because I know how it’s going to turn out. Through your faithful prayers and the generous response of the Spirit of Jesus Christ, everything he wants to do in and through me will be done. I can hardly wait to continue on my course. I don’t expect to be embarrassed in the least. On the contrary, everything happening to me in this jail only serves to make Christ more accurately known, regardless of whether I live or die. They didn’t shut me up; they gave me a platform! Alive, I’m Christ’s messenger; dead, I’m his prize. Life versus even more life! I can’t lose.

As long as I’m alive in this body, there is good work for me to do. If I had to choose right now, I hardly know which I’d choose. Hard choice! The desire to break camp here and be with Christ is powerful. Some days I can think of nothing better. But most days, because of what you are going through, I am sure that it’s better for me to stick it out here. So I plan to be around awhile, companion to you as your growth and joy in this life of trusting God continues. You can start looking forward to a great reunion when I come visit you again. We’ll be praising Christ, enjoying each other. ~The Message

1 Corinthians 15:50  I need to emphasize, friends, that our natural, earthy lives don’t in themselves lead us by their very nature into the kingdom of God. Their very “nature” is to die, so how could they “naturally” end up in the Life kingdom?

1 Corinthians 15:51-57 But let me tell you something wonderful, a mystery I’ll probably never fully understand. We’re not all going to die—but we are all going to be changed. You hear a blast to end all blasts from a trumpet, and in the time that you look up and blink your eyes—it’s over. On signal from that trumpet from heaven, the dead will be up and out of their graves, beyond the reach of death, never to die again. At the same moment and in the same way, we’ll all be changed. In the resurrection scheme of things, this has to happen: everything perishable taken off the shelves and replaced by the imperishable, this mortal replaced by the immortal. Then the saying will come true:

Death swallowed by triumphant Life!

Who got the last word, oh, Death?

Oh, Death, who’s afraid of you now?

It was sin that made death so frightening and law-code guilt that gave sin its leverage, its destructive power. But now in a single victorious stroke of Life, all three—sin, guilt, death—are gone, the gift of our Master, Jesus Christ. Thank God!

1 Corinthians 15:58 With all this going for us, my dear, dear friends, stand your ground. And don’t hold back. Throw yourselves into the work of the Master, confident that nothing you do for him is a waste of time or effort.

(Mark 4:30-32) “How can we picture God’s kingdom? What kind of story can we use? It’s like an acorn. When it lands on the ground it is quite small as seeds go, yet once it is planted it grows into a huge oak tree with thick branches. Eagles nest in it.” 

This parable speaks of the destined greatness of the kingdom, contrasting its limited present significance in a small band of original followers with worldwide domination at Jesus’ return. ~The Message

(Peter 1:22-25) Now that you’ve cleaned up your lives by following the truth, love one another as if your lives depended on it. Your new life is not like your old life. Your old birth came from mortal sperm; your new birth comes from God’s living Word. Just think: a life conceived by God himself! That’s why the prophet said,

The old life is a grass life,

    its beauty as short-lived as wildflowers;

Grass dries up, flowers wilt,

    God’s Word goes on and on forever.

This is the Word that conceived the new life in you. ~The Message

Our new body will be incorruptible. Our current body is corruptible. Our new body will be glorified. Our current body is dishonorable. Our new body will be powerful. Our current body is weak. Our new body will be spiritual. Our current bodies natural. (1 Cor 15:42-44, In context: 1 Cor 15:35-58)

(2 Corinthians 5:1-5) Our new bodies will be from God, eternal and in the heavens. 

For instance, we know that when these bodies of ours are taken down like tents and folded away, they will be replaced by resurrection bodies in heaven—God-made, not handmade—and we’ll never have to relocate our “tents” again. Sometimes we can hardly wait to move—and so we cry out in frustration. Compared to what’s coming, living conditions around here seem like a stopover in an unfurnished shack, and we’re tired of it! We’ve been given a glimpse of the real thing, our true home, our resurrection bodies! The Spirit of God whets our appetite by giving us a taste of what’s ahead. He puts a little of heaven in our hearts so that we’ll never settle for less. 

~The Message

BOOK OF MOSES CALLED GENESIS

Jewish tradition lists Moses as the author of Genesis and of the next four books. Together these books are called the Pentateuch. Jesus said, “If you believed Moses, you would believe Me; for he wrote about Me” (John 5:46). The Pentateuch itself depicts Moses as having written extensively. See Exodus 17:14; 24:4; Deuteronomy 31:24. Acts 7:22 tells us that “Moses was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians.” In the notes accompanying the text we observe a number of loanwords from Egyptian that are found in Genesis, a fact which suggests that the original author had his roots in Egypt, as did Moses.

Genesis 1 MSG  First this: God created the Heavens and Earth—all you see, all you don’t see. Earth was a soup...We are given here the consequence of God’s first creative act—the earth was without form (lacking the order it would have when God’s commands were complete) and darkness was on the face of the deep (a further description of the lack of complete order and beauty that would emerge within six days). Both statements reveal that creation reflected God’s normal process of bringing order out of chaos. The deep is the primeval ocean that underlies the Earth (see 7:11). Hovering connotes “sweeping” or “moving” rather than staying stationary. The Holy Spirit is the “executive arm” of the Trinity, so He was quite active as God spoke each word. An alternate view, which recommends the possibility of the initial Gen. 1:1 creation becoming disordered (possibly by reason of Lucifer’s fall), is not biblically objectionable, but neither is it verifiable.

In the beginning God created is the traditional translation of what is a somewhat complex and debated Hebrew sentence structure. One approach is to take v. 1 as a temporal, subordinate clause, with the main clause in v. 3. God’s first divine command begins the process of transforming the chaos. God said will occur 10 times in ch. 1 as the means of bringing about life and order. The exact working relationship among the members of the Trinity in this process is not clearly defined in the Bible (see Col. 1:16). Light is the presence of illumination in general. The luminary bodies are created on the fourth day (vv. 14–19).

The two Hebrew words tohu and bohu in v. 2 would be rendered as “unformed” and “unfilled.” Thus the first three days of creation speak of “forming,” and days four to six of “filling.” Other translation possibilities have appeared in the last century, but they presuppose the existence of chaotic matter or even a pre-Adamic race before the creation described in ch. 1 began. 

The most direct and fully acceptable translation is the traditional one adopted here. 1:4 Was good is the divine approval formula that will occur seven times to emphasize creation’s quality and aptness for its purpose. It stands in contrast to the condition described following the Fall (ch. 3). 

1:5 The evening and the morning: The Hebrews began each new day at sunset. This time designation, along with the numbering of the days and the Sabbath rest on day seven, shows that the author views creation as happening in the course of six consecutive 24-hour periods, followed by a seventh of divine rest.

1:6, 7 Let it divide the waters from the waters: The water-covered Earth was apparently surrounded by vapor. God used the firmament, the space between the surface and the clouds, to separate the two “waters,” creating a massive vapor canopy high above the Earth (Hebrew mabbul). These waters which were above provided a protective greenhouse effect over the world of that period.

1:8 Heaven: See definition of firmament in note on v. 6.

1:9, 10 The third day marked the appearance of Earth by defining the boundaries (be gathered together into one place) of the Seas.

1:11, 12 God commanded the earth, with its productive power, to bring forth the plant kingdom. According to its kind: God’s laws of genetics were impressed upon the plant kingdom.

1:21 Great sea creatures are the more magnificent ocean creatures, such as whales and dolphins. According to their kind: Again, the laws of genetics that preclude any evolution into another kind; a sparrow can never produce a vulture.

1:24 Cattle is generic for all domestic animals; creeping thing represents mice, reptiles, insects, and so on; beast of the earth represents wild animals. Together with those in v. 21 they represent the totality of the animal kingdom.

1:26 Let Us: God was speaking, not only to what the NT reveals to be the rest of the Trinity, but to the entire host of heaven, the angels, as well. Our image likely refers to such qualities as reason, personality, and intellect, and to the capacity to relate, to hear, to see, and to speak. All of these are characteristics of God, which He chose to reproduce in mankind. Dominion over . . . the earth: God created man to be His kingdom agent, to rule and subdue the rest of creation, including the aggressive satanic forces, which would soon infringe upon it.

Date

The traditional date of the Exodus from Egypt is the mid-fifteenth century b.c. First Kings 6:1 states that Solomon began building the temple “in the four hundred and eightieth year after the children of Israel had come out of the land of Egypt.” Solomon is thought to have begun construction about 960 b.c., dating the Exodus about 1440 b.c. So Moses wrote Genesis after 1440 b.c., during the forty years in the wilderness.

Content

Genesis opens with the formation of the solar system, the preparation of the land for habitation, and the creation of life on the Earth. All of the eight acts of creation are accomplished in six days.

The subsequent ten chapters explain the origins of many mysterious qualities of life: human sexuality, marriage, sin, sickness, pain in childbearing, death, the wrath of God, man’s enmity toward man, and the dispersion of races and languages throughout the Earth.

Genesis, beginning in chapter 12, recounts the call of Abraham and the inauguration of God’s covenant with him, a glorious, eternal covenant renewed with Isaac and Jacob. Genesis is remarkable for its exquisite narrative, highlighted by the inspiring account of Joseph and the divine preservation and multiplication of the people of God in Egypt. It is a lesson in divine election, as Paul recounts in Romans 9.

Genesis in many ways anticipates the New Testament: the very personal God, the Trinity, the institution of marriage, the seriousness of sin, divine judgment, and righteousness by faith. The Tree of Life, lost in Genesis, is restored in Revelation 22.

Genesis concludes with the blessing of Jacob upon Judah, from whose tribe was to come the Messiah: “The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh comes; and to Him shall be the obedience of the people” (49:10). Many centuries and many struggles will follow before this prophecy finds its fulfillment in Jesus Christ.

Personal Application

Genesis immediately brings into question many secular world views, so serious Genesis students must become accustomed to thinking differently. We must perceive the world and its history as the ancient biblical authors reveal it. For example, the narratives of chapters 1—3 are not to be understood allegorically but as actual history. The Word of God must always stand above the word of man; we are not to judge His Word, but rather, it judges us. Therefore, ancient Hebrews should not be thought of as primitive simply because they relate reality differently. Rationalized Greek thinking about world realities may be our heritage, but it is not always true.

Genesis teaches many other lessons as well: Abraham is our example of faith (15:6; Gal. 3:7); Joseph’s life is an exquisite sermon for all who suffer unfairly and is a challenge to faithfulness in this age of undisciplined permissiveness.

Finally, we understand human nature properly only as we grasp the truth of “original sin.” When Adam sinned, all of us not only sinned but inherited a resident sin nature (8:21; Rom. 5:19; 7:18). Only a Savior can deal effectively with this inherited natural corruption.

Christ Revealed

The preexistent Christ, the living Word, was very much involved in the creation. “All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made” (John 1:3). Jesus’ ministry is anticipated in Genesis 3:15, suggesting that the “Seed” of the woman who will bruise the Serpent’s (Satan’s) head is Jesus Christ, the “Seed” of Abraham mentioned by Paul in Galatians 3:16. Melchizedek is the mysterious king-priest of chapter 14. Since Jesus Christ is both King and High Priest, the letter to the Hebrews makes this appropriate identification (Heb. 6:20).

The greatest revelation of Christ in Genesis is found in God’s establishment of His covenant with Abraham in chapters 15 and 17. God made glorious promises to Abraham, and Jesus is the major fulfillment of those promises, a truth explained in detail by Paul in Galatians. Much of the Bible is built upon the Abrahamic covenant and its flowering in Jesus Christ.

The dramatic story of Abraham’s willingness to sacrifice Isaac at God’s command bears a startling similarity to the crucial event of the New Testament. “Take. . .your only son Isaac, whom you love. . .and offer him there as a burnt offering” (22:2) reminds us of God’s willingness to sacrifice His only Son for the sins of the world.

Finally, Jacob’s blessing upon Judah anticipates the coming of “Shiloh,” to be identified as the Messiah. “And to Him shall be the obedience of the people” (49:10).

The Holy Spirit at Work

“The Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters” (1:2). Thus we find the Spirit involved in creation. The Holy Spirit also worked in Joseph, a fact obvious to Pharaoh: “Can we find such a one as this, a man in whom is the Spirit of God?” (41:38).

Although the Holy Spirit is otherwise not mentioned in Genesis, we see His work in drawing the animals from the four corners of the Earth into Noah’s ark. We also perceive His working throughout the lives of the patriarchs as He protected them and their families and as He blessed them materially. All sorts of difficulties and impossible situations beset the chosen family, frustrating, if possible, the fulfillment of God’s promises to Abraham; but the Spirit of God supernaturally resolved every challenge. ~ NSFL BIBLE STUDY

LIVE TOGETHER WHOLE AND HEALED

James 5:16-18 Make this your common practice: Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you can live together whole and healed. The prayer of a person living right with God is something powerful to be reckoned with. Elijah, for instance, human just like us, prayed hard that it wouldn’t rain, and it didn’t—not a drop for three and a half years. Then he prayed that it would rain, and it did. The showers came and everything started growing again.

PRAYER TO BREAK GENERATIONAL CURSES "Father, I know Your Word says that if we confess our iniquity (sins) and the iniquity (sins) of our fathers that you will heal us (James 5:16; Leviticus 26:40-42). Father, I take responsibility for my sins. I ask You to forgive me of my sins, separate them from me, and place them on the cross of Jesus Christ. I also ask you to forgive my fathers of this same sin, separate their sins from them, put them on the cross as well and thus break the curse off of me and my family, in Jesus' name."

PRAYER OF SALVATION "Father, I know that Jesus came that we may have life and that life more abundantly (John 10:10). The Word of God confirms that he who follows Jesus must be a servant of the Lord. As that servant, he would lose the life he knows and would receive a new life in Christ (Mark 10:43; Romans 6:4). I am willing to die to my old life and pick up this new life as a servant of the Lord Jesus Christ. "Father, I confess I have been living for my self. The path I have chosen has not produced life-giving fruit that lasts. I am willing to give my whole life to You and confess with my mouth that Jesus is Lord and that I am now the servant of the Lord. No longer will I live for myself, but I will live for Christ from this day forth. I confess my sins and ask that they be removed from me and put on the cross of Jesus Christ. (Take the time needed to confess these sins). I know this is the beginning of a journey that will continue through eternity. I (insert full Christian name) give You 100 percent of my heart and confirm my covenant with Jesus who is raised from the dead and now lives in my heart."

PRAYER OF FORGIVENESS "Father, I understand that You do not forgive sin but You do forgive people who sin (Matt. 6:12). I understand that You separate the sins from those who confess and repent of those sins. The Word of God confirms that Jesus bore my confessed sins on the cross and that He no longer holds them against me (1 Peter 2:24). I also understand that no one but Jesus deserved forgiveness and that You will forgive me of my sins with the same measure that I choose to forgive others (Matt. 6:14-15)." "Father, I choose to forgive (insert name). What they did to me is sin. Take this sin from them and put it on the cross. And on the day of judgment when I stand before Your Throne, I will hold no accusation against them. Father, I ask you to bless them, in Jesus' name."

REPENTANCE FOR JUDGMENT AND CONDEMNATION "Father, I understand you Word says You will judge me with the same measure I use to judge others. I also know by Your Word that I will be condemned with the same measure that I use to condemn others (Luke 6:37-38; I Cor. 5:12). I know it is correct to judge things as right and wrong according to Your Word, but only You know the motives and intent of another's Heart (Hebrews 4:12). "Father, I have judged others and condemned them. this is sin, and I repent of this sin and ask You to separate this sin from me in Jesus' name and put it on the cross of Jesus Christ."

PRAYER TO BREAK WORD CURSES "Father, I know Your Word says to say things that edify, build up, correct in love, and confirm (1 Thes. 5:11: 2 Timothy 4:2). Words of condemnation, slander, complaining, griping, and gossip or accusation are not of You. They are sin (James 5:9). Father, I have said words that did not edify, exhort, correct in love, or confirm. I take responsibility for those words. They are sin. Take this sin from me, put it on the cross of Jesus, and on the day of judgment, hold no accusations against me. I renounce those words in Jesus' name. I ask you to bless those whom I have said bad words about. "Father, people have said words about me that did not edify, exhort, correct in love or confirm. That is sin. Take the sin from them, put it on the cross of Jesus and on the day of judgment, hold no accusations against them. They are free. I choose to release them from this, and those words are now broken off me, in Jesus' name."

PRAYER TO BREAK UNGODLY COVENANTS "Father, I understand that sexual intercourse is the sign of the marriage covenant and that you call the marriage covenant holy (Matt. 19:6). I know Your Word states that sex outside of marriage is sin (Matt. 15:19-20). I also understand that I have entered into a covenant with every person with whom I have had sexual relations. Father, I renounce the ungodly covenant I made with (insert name). This was sin and I renounce it as such. Separate this sin from me, place it on the cross of Jesus, and break this covenant I made off of me and my household. I also renounce any other ungodly covenants I have made as well, in Jesus' name."

IT'S ALL ABOUT RELATIONSHIPS

PRAYER TO RELEASE SPOUSE "I willingly lay down all the conditions that I am expecting my spouse to meet on the altar of God. I (your full Christian name) choose to give 100 percent of my heart to ( your spouse's full Christian name) from this day forth."

PRAYER OF RESTORATION "Father, I willingly lay down on Your Altar all the conditions that I was expecting You to meet. I (your full Christian name) choose to give 100 percent of my heart to You from this day forth. I will be Your servant and You will be my God, in Jesus' name."

PRAYER TO CONFESS SIN "Father, I have sinned. I confess my sin(s) of (insert the sin(s) you committed). I repent and turn from this. Forgive me of this sin. I choose to forgive those who have sinned against me. Father, I choose to forgive (name of person who sinned against you). What they did was sin. Take this sin from them and place it on the cross of Jesus and on the day of judgment I will not hold this sin against them. Even now they are free. Father, bless them."

PRAYER TO CONFESS UNBELIEF "Father, I have not applied the faith You have given me. I have allowed doubt and unbelief to enter in. I confess this as sin and choose to turn back to You. Forgive me for this sin, in Jesus' name."

PRAYER FOR DISOBEDIENCE "Father, I have disobeyed Your Word and Your plan for my life. I repent and turn back to serving You alone. Forgive me of this sin and place it on the cross of Jesus Chris. I am Your servant from this day forth."

PRAYER OF REPENTANCE "Father, I have not acted in accordance to Your nature and I am upset with myself for these actions. They are sin. I repent and I will no longer continue to act this way. Father, take this sin from me, place it on the cross of Jesus Christ, and separate it from me. Forgive me of this sin and forgive my fathers of this same sin as well, in Jesus' name."

PRAYER TO CAST CARES ON THE ALTAR "Father, I am carrying the burdens of my relationships and circumstances. I choose to lay all my cares, all my worries, all my fears, all things I cannot change on Your altar. Father, I lay my spouse on Your altar. Father, I lay my children on your altar. Father, I lay my job, my finances on Your altar. Father, I lay (name the circumstances that you cannot change) on Your altar. You are my supply and You alone can move in my circumstances. I give these to You and trust You with them, in Jesus' name."