JESUS CHRIST IN THE BOOK OF GENESIS
JESUS CHRIST IN THE BOOK OF GENESIS
Tuesday Morning Bible Study, January 14, 2025
Pastor Carolyn Sissom
Galatians 3:9-10: To make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world has been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ: To the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known by the church the manifold wisdom of God.
“Genesis is the seed-plot of the whole Bible. It is essential to the true understanding of its every part. Here we have the “law of first mention.” Whatever something means the first time it is mentioned in the Bible, it will mean the same thing through the entire bible. Genesis is the foundation upon which all Divine revelation rests, and on which it is built up. It is not only the foundation of all truth, but it enters into, and forms part of, all subsequent inspiration; and it is at once the warp and woof of Holy Writ.”
Genesis is quoted and referred to sixty times in the New Testament. The time period of Genesis is from the creation of the world to the bondage of Israel in the land of Egypt (creation - 1860 B. C.) The time from Adam to Joseph has been estimated to be from 2300-2400 years.
Moses is the writer of Genesis and as revealed to us by Apostle Vincent Valentyne, I am persuaded, when Moses asked the LORD to show him his glory, he showed him the glory of the Book of Genesis:
Exo. 33:18-23: Moses said, I beseech you, show me your glory. The LORD said, I will make all my goodness pass before you, and I will proclaim the name of the LORD before you; and will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy. You cannot see my face; for there shall no man see me, and live. Behold, there is a place by me, and you shall stand upon a rock. It shall come to pass, while my glory passes by that I will put you in a cleft of the rock, and will cover you with my hand while I pass by. I will take away my hand, you shall see my back parts, but my face shall not be seen.
When the Lord showed Moses his back parts, that was the His glory of creation as well as Exodus. The date of the writing varies 1520 – 1400 B.C.
The theme of Genesis is the election of the nation under the sovereign plan of God. The word Genesis could be rendered as: “The beginning, source, origin, nativity, birth, lineage.”
The purpose of Genesis is to give an account of the origin of all things; to show God as the Originator of creation and redemption and God’s existance prior to the creation of the cosmos. To show the origin of all nations and the choice of the Hebrew nation as the nation through whom the redeemer would come.
From the very time of Adam and Eve, God began to give predictions of the coming Messiah or Savior. On various occasions, the LORD GOD would give new revelation of the line of descendants through which Christ would come. The main links in the Messianic line are shown in Genesis, where God revealed that Christ would come through:
1. The seed of the woman, or the human race (Gen. 3:15).
2. The line of Shem (Gen. 4:25).
3. The offspring of Shem (Gen. 9:26).
4. The family of Abraham (Gen. 12:3).
5. The seed of Isaac (Gen. 26:3).
6. The sons of Jacob (Gen. 46:3).
7. The tribe of Judah (Gen. 49:10).
Divine authority is set like a seal on its historical facts. Have you not read, that he which made them at the beginning made them male and female, and said, For this cause shall man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife; and the two shall be one flesh (Matt. 19:4-5).
But as the days of Noah were, so shall also be coming of the Son of Man be (Matt. 19:37).
All the streams of truth that originate in Genesis flow throughout the whole Bible and end in the Book of Revelation. There are four outstanding events: Creation, the Fall, the flood and the tower of Babel, All nations.
The Sovereignty of God over the nations stands. The Assembly of the United Nations is a usurper.
There are four outstanding persons in the beginning of the Hebrew nation: Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph, leaders of the chosen covenant nation.
The election of the Chosen Nation (chapters 12-50):
1. The Call of Abraham (12-14).
2. The Covenant with Abraham and his seed (17).
3. The circumcision of Abraham and his seed (17).
4. The Confirmation of Abraham (18-21).
5. The confidence of Abraham (22-23).
6. The concern of Abraham (24).
7. The Confirmation of the Blessing to Isaac (25-26).
8. The conferring of the Blessing by Isaac (27).
9. Jacob’s call (28).
10. Jacob’s Marriage (29-31).
11. Jacob’s return to Canaan (32-35). Esau’s generations (36).
12. Joseph as a slave (37-39).
13. Joseph as the Servant to Egypt (40-45).
14. Joseph as the savior of Israel (46-50).
Genesis records ten family histories over a period of approximately 2300-2400 years. The word generation or generations is mentioned 21 times.
1. The generations of the heavens and of the earth. (1:1-4; 26;2:4)
2. The generations of Adam. (5: 1-6:8)
3. The generations of Noah. (6: 9-9:29)
4. The generations of Noah’s sons. (10: 1-22:9)
- The generations of Shem. (11: 10-26)
- The generations of Terah, father of Abraham. (11: 27-25:11)
- The generations of Ishmael (25: 12-18)
- The generations of Isaac. (25:19-35:29
- The generations of Esau. (36: 1-37:1)
- The generations of Jacob, who became Israel (37: 1-50;26)
Genesis records nine beginnings:
1. The beginning of the earth and universe (1:1-2:3).
2. of the human race. (2: 4-25)
3. of sin (3:1-7)
4. of redemptive revelation (3: 8-24)
5. of the human family (4:1-15)
6. of godless civilization (4: 16-9:29)
7. of nations (10: 1-32)
8. of human languages (11: 1-9)
9. of the Hebrew race (covenant people). 11: 10-50:26)
Beginning of human history:
Generation: Creation of universe and man (Ch. 1-3).
Degeneration:
1. The Fall (3-4) –entrance of sin
2. The Flood (5-9)-judgment
3. The Tower of Babel – judgment (10-11).
Then Regeneration through Men who obeyed God and are forever in the Faith Hall of Fame.
1. Abraham – Faith
2. Isaac – Submission
3. Jacob – Spiritual Transformation
4. Joseph – Suffering and Glory.
Who are the men and women of Faith who will arise in the 21st century and obey the Lord and “that through Faith will subdue kingdoms, work righteousness, obtain promises, stop the mouth of lions, quench the violence of fire, escape the edge of the sword, wax valiant to fight, turn to flight the armies of the aliens?” (Heb. 11:33-34)
In the Book of Genesis, God sovereignly chose a man through whom He would institute His program for the whole of His creation.
In the beginning, God created light, and Jesus walked on earth as God incarnate and declared Himself as the Light of the World (John 8:12).
Jesus sent His Body, the Church with a commission to be partakers and reflectors of His Light and to go into the entire world and preach the Gospel to every creature (Mk. 16:15).
Jesus Christ is seen in Genesis as:
1. The Creator (Gen. 1; Col. 1:16).
2. The Beginning (Rev. 1:8).
3. The Light (Gen. 1:3, 16; Jn. 8:12).
4. The Tree of Life in the midst of the Garden (Gen. 2:9; Jn. 15:1-5).
5. The Seed of the Woman. (Gen. 3:15; Matt. 1:23).
6. The Clothing for Adam and Eve (Gen. 2:21; Rom 13: 11-14).
7. The Flaming Sword (Gen. 3:15; Gen. 1:1; Heb. 4:12).
8. The Ark of Salvation (Gen. 6-8; Lk.2:30).
9. The Burning Lamp of the Abrahamic Covenant (Gen. 15:17; Ps. 119:105).
10. The Isaac, the Only Begotten Son (Gen. 21-22; Jn. 3:16).
11. The Ladder between earth and heaven. (Gen. 28:12; 1 Tim. 2:5)
12. The Man who wrestled with Jacob (Gen. 32:24-32; Gal. 5:17).
13. The Joseph, the Beloved Son. (Gen. 37-50; Matt. 3:17).
14. The Shiloh (Pacificator) (Gen. 49:10; 11 Cor. 5:17-21).
Jesus Christ, the Promised Redeemer, has a lineage in Genesis:
1. Through the human Race – The Seed of the Woman (Gen. 3:15).
2. Through One Nation – The Covenant Nation of Israel (Gen. 12: 1-3).
3. Through One Tribe – The Tribe of Judah (Gen. 49:10).
Genesis and Revelation are the two Bible books most attacked by Satan, for Genesis predicts Christ’s destiny (3:15) and Revelation seals it. (20:10). Genesis begins with God and ends with a coffin, symbolizing man’s fall. Genesis begins with a Garden and the Book of Revelation ends with a City whose builder and maker is God.
The message of the Book of Genesis is the fact of the existence of God prior to the creation of the cosmos. The origin of the cosmos is a fact by an act of creation through the spoken word. The origin of man is a fact through an act of creation and not by evolution. The purpose of God in the creation of man is: communion, dominion, and administration.
It reveals the failure of man under every God-provided condition:
1. Amid an ideal environment (Eden).
2. Under the rule of conscience (from the fall to the flood).
3. Under Patriarchal rule (from Noah to Joseph).
Genesis reveals the redemption by blood and the salvation of man by divine grace. The necessity of man to know by failure his own weakness and insufficiency, so as to bring him to the mercy and grace of God.
THE PRINCIPLE OF THE GODLY LINE OF SETH: (Gen. 4: 25-5:18)
This shows the development of the Godly Seed and the generation of Jesus Christ.
1. Adam – lived 930 years.
2. Seth- lived 912 years – appointed, substitution, set.
3. Enos – frail, mortal man (lived 905 years).
4. Cainan – one that laments, purchaser, (910 years).
5. Mahaleel – praise of God, God is splendor (895 years).
6. Jared – descended, going down, declining (962 years).
7. Enoch – dedicated, teacher, initiated, disciplined (365 years).
In the days of Enos, men began to call upon the Name of the Lord. (4:26):
1. Enoch begat Methuselah (“when he is dead it shall be sent) (969 years).
2. Methuselah begat Lamech (powerful) (777 years).
3. Lamech begat Noah (rest, comfort) (950 years.)
Methuselah died the year of the flood. His life overlapped that of Adam and Shem, thus forming a connecting link between the Garden of Eden and the post flood world. Methuselah was the end of an age and Noah ushered in a new age. He found Grace. he is the first human to apprehend the Grace of God and bring it into the earth realm.
Enoch:
1. He walked with God after he begat Methuselah 300 years.
2. He begat sons and daughters (reproduced himself).
3. He was not, for Good took him.
4. He was in the genealogy of the Son of Man (he was a man of like passions (Lk. 3:37).
5. He walked by Faith (Heb. 11:5).
6. He was translated.
7. He did not see or experience death.
8. He was not found (of the evil one).
9. He had this testimony before he was translated, that he pleased God (Heb. 13:16).
10. He was the seventh from Adam who prophesied of the apostates, saying the Lord comes with ten thousands of His Saints (Jude 14).
The purpose of God is seen in Genesis 1:26. It is the creation of man in His image and Likeness. Christ is the image of God. (11 Cor. 3:18; 4:4).
Gen.1:1: In the beginning God…
GEN. 1:3: And God said, “Let there be light; and there was light.
Genesis 1:26-27: And God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness; and let THEM have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the air, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth. So, God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he THEM.
Gen. 12:2: And I will make of you a great nation…
Gen. 18:14: Is anything too hard for the LORD?
The curse of the woman and the man did not enter in until after the fall. In the Garden of Eden, the Lord God created male and female to have communion and dominion equally over Creation.
Jesus destroyed the curse at the Cross. It is not automatic, it has to be appropriated by the Blood, Faith and the Holy Ghost. (Gal. Ch. 1 & 2).
The First Man Adam fell; the Last Adam is ruling and reigning with GOD that we may rule and reign with him and have dominion over creation. This means we don’t back-up, slack-up, sit down, or stop preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
There are those who went before us - having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise; God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect. Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which does so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us (Heb. 11:33-34).
The Bible does not attempt to prove the existence of God.
Heb. 11:6: Without faith, it is impossible to please him for he that comes to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.
Carolyn Sissom, Pastor
Eastgate Ministries Church
10115 West Hidden Lakes Lane, Richmond, TX
Scripture from K.J.V. and N.K.J.V. I entered into the labors of Kelly Varner, Principles of Present Truth of the Book of Genesis. Comments and conclusions are my own and not meant to reflect the views of Dr. Varner.