According to Plan Chapter 11

1. According to PlanChapter 11 First Revelation of Redemption

2. Genesis 4-11 Outside Eden, Cain and Abel were born to Adam and Eve. Cain murdered Abel and Eve bore another son, Seth. Eventually the human race became so wicked that God determined to destroy every living thing with a flood. Noah and his family were saved by building a great boat at God’s command.

3. Genesis 4-11 The human race began again with Noah and his three sons with their families. Sometime after the flood a still unified human race attempted a godless act to assert its power in the building of a high tower. God thwarted these plans by scattering the people and confusing their language.

4. God’s commitment to creation God’s commitment to creation is seen in the preservation of mankind, and the establishment of a line of people which is the object of God’s special redeeming love.

5. Genesis 4:25-26 Adam lay with his wife again, and she gave birth to a son and named him Seth, saying, "God has granted me another child in place of Abel, since Cain killed him." Seth also had a son, and he named him Enosh. At that time men began to call on the name of the LORD.

6. Call on the Name of the Lord In the time of the prophets it means to believe God for salvation. And everyone who calls on the name of the LORD will be saved; for on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there will be deliverance, as the LORD has said, among the survivors whom the LORD calls. Joel 2:32

7. God’s commitment to creation God’s commitment to creation is shown in the covenant with Noah. The restoration of the human race is foreshadowed in the rescue of Noah and his family. This leads to the promise that the earth will also be preserved.

8. The Story of Noah and the Flood • What do you remember about this story? • Genesis 6 - 9

9. Noah and the Covenant The LORD saw how great man’s wickedness on the earth had become, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time. The LORD was grieved that he had made man on the earth, and his heart was filled with pain. So the LORD said, “I will wipe mankind, whom I have created, from the face of the earth — men and animals, and creatures that move along the ground, and birds of the air — for I am grieved that I have made them.” But Noah found favor in the eyes of the LORD.Genesis 6:5-8

10. Noah and the Covenant Two important words are used for the first time. • Grace • Covenant

11. Noah and the Covenant But Noah found favor in the eyes of the LORD. This is the account of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time, and he walked with God… So God said to Noah, “I am going to put an end to all people, for the earth is filled with violence because of them. I am surely going to destroy both them and the earth. So make yourself an ark of cypress wood; make rooms in it and coat it with pitch inside and out. Genesis 6:8-9, 13-14

12. Noah and the Covenant Two important words are used for the first time. • Grace – God’s grace is the cause of sinful people becoming righteous. Grace is an attitude of God for the good of those who do not deserve the good. • Covenant

13. Noah and the Covenant I am going to bring floodwaters on the earth to destroy all life under the heavens, every creature that has the breath of life in it. Everything on earth will perish. But I will establish my covenant with you, and you will enter the ark — you and your sons and your wife and your sons’ wives with you. Genesis 6:17-18

14. Noah and the Covenant Two important words are used for the first time. • Grace – God’s grace is the cause of sinful people becoming righteous. Grace is an attitude of God for the good of those who do not deserve the good. • Covenant – The key biblical word used to express the relationship between God and his people.

15. Noah and the Covenant The first reference to covenant, then, involves God’s commitment to save Noah and his family from destruction. This salvation does not mean eternal life in itself, but we must say that it certainly points in that direction. Eternal life as it is spoken of in the New Testament is way over the horizon from the Old Testament person’s view. The movement from the Old Testament expressions of salvation, which are tied to historical events in this life, towards the full New Testament understanding of eternal life is something our survey of biblical theology will uncover.

16. The Covenant Repeated Then God said to Noah and to his sons with him: “I now establish my covenant with you and with your descendants after you and with every living creature that was with you — the birds, the livestock and all the wild animals, all those that came out of the ark with you — every living creature on earth. I establish my covenant with you: Never again will all life be cut off by the waters of a flood; never again will there be a flood to destroy the earth.” And God said, “This is the sign of the covenant I am making between me and you and every living creature with you, a covenant for all generations to come… Genesis 9:8-12

17. Noah and the Covenant God refuses to allow human rebellion to divert him from his purpose to create a people to be his people in a perfect universe.

18. God’s covenant… distinguishes between those who are chosen as the objects of blessing, those who will somehow share this blessing, and those who are under judgment.

19. The Division of Mankind Noah, a man of the soil, proceeded to plant a vineyard. When he drank some of its wine, he became drunk and lay uncovered inside his tent. Ham, the father of Canaan, saw his father's nakedness and told his two brothers outside. But Shem and Japheth took a garment and laid it across their shoulders; then they walked in backward and covered their father's nakedness. Their faces were turned the other way so that they would not see their father's nakedness. When Noah awoke from his wine and found out what his youngest son had done to him, he said, "Cursed be Canaan! The lowest of slaves will he be to his brothers." He also said, "Blessed be the LORD, the God of Shem! May Canaan be the slave of Shem. May God extend the territory of Japheth; may Japheth live in the tents of Shem, and may Canaan be his slave." Genesis 9:20-27

20. The Division of Mankind • Why is the youngest son of Ham singled out for the curse? Why was he punished so severely? • Who is God? What is he like?

21. Tower of Babel Now the whole world had one language and a common speech. As men moved eastward, they found a plain in Shinar and settled there.  They said to each other, "Come, let's make bricks and bake them thoroughly." They used brick instead of stone, and tar for mortar. Then they said, "Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves and not be scattered over the face of the whole earth." Genesis 11:1-4

22. Tower of Babel But the LORD came down to see the city and the tower that the men were building. The LORD said, "If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them. Come, let us go down and confuse their language so they will not understand each other.“ So the LORD scattered them from there over all the earth, and they stopped building the city. That is why it was called Babel—because there the LORD confused the language of the whole world. From there the LORD scattered them over the face of the whole earth. Genesis 11:5-9

23. Another judgment – pointing to the final judgment to come… • Shem is blessed • Japheth shares in that blessing • Canaan is under judgment

24. Grace God’s grace is his unceasing loving commitment to a race that has acted in a way that not only does not deserve such love, but actually deserves the very opposite.

25. The Two Lines • Mankind without God is represented in the line of Cain. • Mankind with God is represented in the line of Seth who is the forefather of Noah.

26. God’s plans involve a distinction Rescued by grace Lost as a judgment Cain is rejected The rest of mankind perishes Canaan is cursed • Abel finds favor • Noah’s family is saved • Japheth shares the blessings of Shem

27. The Summary Immediately after the fall God begins his work of restoring the whole created order to its right relationship to himself. He acts on the basis of his covenant commitment to creation, and reveals his kingdom by the election of certain people through whom he will work out his purposes.

29. The Main Themes • God’s covenant commitment to his people despite their rebellion • Election on the basis of grace • Division of the human race into elect and nonelect

30. The Path Ahead • Noah – Christian baptism For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive by the Spirit, through whom also he went and preached to the spirits in prison who disobeyed long ago when God waited patiently in the days of Noah while the ark was being built. In it only a few people, eight in all, were saved through water, and this water symbolizes baptism that now saves you also—not the removal of dirt from the body but the pledge of a good conscience toward God. It saves you by the resurrection of Jesus Christ… 1 Peter 3:18-21

31. The Path Ahead • Election of Abram – Election of Israel – Election of Christ – Election of those who are in Christ Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will—to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace that he lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding. And he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, to be put into effect when the times will have reached their fulfillment—to bring all things in heaven and on earth together under one head, even Christ. Ephesians 1:3-10

32. God’s covenant… is shown to have it outworking in a plan of redemption. This involves the election of representative individuals through whom the plan of God will be effected. Election is based on nothing in those who are elect.