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We ’ re ready to begin tracing The Single Thread of “Salvation through Jesus Christ” through the Bible . Now that we have (in our previous lesson) established that: We cannot please God without “faith” - Heb.11:6a ; Biblical “faith” must include: Knowledge in the mind , Heb.11:6b ;
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We’re ready to begin tracing The Single Thread of “Salvation through Jesus Christ” through the Bible. • Now that we have (in our previous lesson) established that: • We cannot please God without “faith”- Heb.11:6a; • Biblical “faith” must include: • Knowledge in the mind, Heb.11:6b; • Trust in the Heart, Heb.11:6c; and, • Obedience in the Life/Body, Heb.11:6d • To have true biblical “faith” in God, we must first have “faith” in 3 aspects of His Word: • Faith in Its Inspiration, 1Cor.2:10-13; • Faith in Its Completeness, 1Pet.1:22-25; and, • Faith in Its Authority, 1Cor.14:37;
The Bible can be easily divided into three distinct Periods, or Dispensations, of time. Each of these Periods is descriptively identified by 3characteristics: • The Means/Messenger through whom God revealed His will (law); • Significant Eventswhich marked the beginning and end of that Period; and, • The Typeof Religion through which people during that Period worshipped and served God. • We will use these attributes to help us trace our Single Thread through the text. The 3 Periods of the biblical story are: • Patriarchal • Mosaical, and • Christian. • Let’s see how these 3 distinct periods can help us to understand the “story” of the Bible… The Single Thread Lesson #2 In the Beginning- The Patriarchal Period; Genesis 1:1 – Exodus 20:1
Compare these 3Periodsby these 3characteristics. • In the Patriarchal Period(Gen.1:1 – Ex.20:1): • God revealed His will directly (Means/Messenger) to the fathers, or patriarchs, of families who, in turn, disseminated it to their respective families, Heb.1:1a; • The Significant Eventswhich marked the beginning and end of the PatriarchalPeriodare Creation(Gen.1:1ff) and the Giving of the Law on Mt. Sinai (Ex.20:1); and, • Since God revealed His will directly to the patriarchs, and they taught it to their families, the Typeof Religion in this period was Family Religion, Gen.18:19. The Single Thread Lesson #2 In the Beginning- The Patriarchal Period; Genesis 1:1 – Exodus 20:1
Compare these 3Periodsby these 3characteristics. • In the Mosaical Period(Ex.20:1– Matt.1:1/Acts 2*): • God revealed His will (Means/Messenger) to Moses(and other prophets) who, in turn, disseminated it to the Israelites, Heb.1:1b; • The Significant Eventswhich marked the beginning and end of the MosaicalPeriodare the Giving of the Law on Mt. Sinai (Ex.20:1) and the first Pentecost afterCrucifixion, Resurrection, and Ascension of Jesus, (Acts 2*). • Since God revealed His will directly to Moses, and he taught it to the nation of Israel, the Typeof Religion in this period was National Religion, Ex.19:3-8. The Single Thread Lesson #2 In the Beginning- The Patriarchal Period; Genesis 1:1 – Exodus 20:1
Compare these 3Periodsby these 3characteristics. • In the Christian Period(Matt.1:1/Acts 2* - Rev.22:21): • God revealed His will (Means/Messenger) through Christwho, in turn, disseminated it to all mankind, Heb.1:2; Luke 16:16; • The Significant Eventwhich marked the beginning of the ChristianPeriodare the the first Pentecost afterCrucifixion, Resurrection, and Ascension of Jesus(Acts 2*). This period will continue until the end of time, 2Pet.3:7-10. • Since God revealed His will through Christ, and He, through inspired apostles and disciples, taught it to the whole world, the Typeof Religion in this period was Universal/Christian Religion, Gal.3:23-29; Col.1:6. The Single Thread Lesson #2 In the Beginning- The Patriarchal Period; Genesis 1:1 – Exodus 20:1
Perhaps a chart will help to compare these 3Periodsand their 3characteristics: The Single Thread Lesson #2 In the Beginning- The Patriarchal Period; Genesis 1:1 – Exodus 20:1
Now, let’s trace The Single Thread through the first of these 3 Periods, the Patriarchal (Gen.1:1 – Ex.20:1) by significant events: • Creation, Gen.1-2; • In this section we learn of the beginnings of the earth and atmosphere, 1:1-10; plant life, 1:11-12; living creatures, 1:20-25, and man, 1:26-28. • But we also learn of the beginning of sin, 3:1-7. It is with this beginning that the whole point of the Bible is manifested! • It was sin that separated man from the image of God in which he was created, 1:26-27, and made The Single Thread (of salvation through Jesus Christ) necessary, Gen.2:16-17; John 10:10b. • Gen.3:15thus begins our tracing of The Single Thread! The Single Thread Lesson #2 In the Beginning- The Patriarchal Period; Genesis 1:1 – Exodus 20:1
Now, let’s trace The Single Thread through the first of these 3 Periods, the Patriarchal (Gen.1:1 – Ex.20:1) by significant events: • The Great Flood, Gen.6 - 9; • As man began to multiply on the earth, so too did his sin, 6:1,5. • Man’s sin became so great that God was “sorry” He made man, and God’s justice demanded expiation (the act of atoning for sin); man would be destroyed by water, 6:7. • But one man, Noah, “found favor (grace)” in God’s eyes because of his righteousness, 6:8-9. • So, God decided to save Noah, his family, and enough representative animals to repopulate the earth…. The Single Thread Lesson #2 In the Beginning- The Patriarchal Period; Genesis 1:1 – Exodus 20:1
Now, let’s trace The Single Thread through the first of these 3 Periods, the Patriarchal (Gen.1:1 – Ex.20:1) by significant events: • The Great Flood, Gen.6 - 9; (continued) • God saved Noah from the flood by: • Telling him of the coming destruction, 6:13; • Telling him how to prepare for it, 6:14-17; and • Promising to save him if he heeded the warning and obeyed the plan of salvation provided, 6:17-21. • Noah obeyed and was saved along with his family and the animals while everything else on earth perished, 6:22 – 9:7. • This story lays the foundation for future salvation, Titus 2:11-14; 1Pet.3:21. * The Single Thread Lesson #2 In the Beginning- The Patriarchal Period; Genesis 1:1 – Exodus 20:1
Now, let’s trace The Single Thread through the first of these 3 Periods, the Patriarchal (Gen.1:1 – Ex.20:1) by significant events: • Abraham- the beginning of God’s chosen family, Gen.12:1-3; • Like Noah, Abraham was selected from all of mankind because of his faithful obedience to God, 15:6; 18:19. • God made 3 promises to Abraham: • Land (which would be Canaan), 12:1; • Nation (which would be Israel), 12:2; and the • Seed (which would be salvation through Jesus Christ- our Single Thread!), 12:3. • The fulfillment of these 3 promises form the outline of the rest of the Bible (Land & Nation = O.T. and Seed = N.T.). The Single Thread Lesson #2 In the Beginning- The Patriarchal Period; Genesis 1:1 – Exodus 20:1
Now, let’s trace The Single Thread through the first of these 3 Periods, the Patriarchal (Gen.1:1 – Ex.20:1) by significant events: • Development of the Nation of Israel from Abraham, Gen.12 - 50; • Despite God’s promises, Abraham was old, and he and Sarah had no children, 12:4 – 20:18.* • God eventually gave them a son, Isaac, 21:2-5. • However, when Abraham died, Isaac and his wife, Rebekah, were the only surety of God’s promise to make of Abraham a great nation, 22:6 – 25:5-10. • So, the fulfillment of the Nation promise would come through him, 22:16-18; 26:1-5. • Isaac and Rebekah had two sons: Esau and Jacob, 25:19-26. The Single Thread Lesson #2 In the Beginning- The Patriarchal Period; Genesis 1:1 – Exodus 20:1
Now, let’s trace The Single Thread through the first of these 3 Periods, the Patriarchal (Gen.1:1 – Ex.20:1) by significant events: • Development of the Nation of Israel from Abraham, Gen.12 - 50; • God chose the younger of the twins, Jacob, to fulfill the Nation promise (and the Seed also), 28:1-4. • Jacob eventually had 12 sons: Rueben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Dan, Naphtali, Gad, Asher, Issachar, Zebulun, Joseph, and Benjamin, chps. 29-30, and God blessed and multiplied them, 30:43. Now, the Nation was beginning to grow! • Because of jealousy among the brothers (caused by their father’s favoritism), Joseph was sold into slavery and wound up in Egypt, chp.37. The Single Thread Lesson #2 In the Beginning- The Patriarchal Period; Genesis 1:1 – Exodus 20:1
Now, let’s trace The Single Thread through the first of these 3 Periods, the Patriarchal (Gen.1:1 – Ex.20:1) by significant events: • Development of the Nation of Israel from Abraham, Gen.12 - 50; • Through God’s providential help and prospering of Joseph in Egypt, he became 2nd in command over the whole land, chps. 39 – 41. • When a famine occurred that encompassed that whole part of the earth, Jacob and his sons, who still lived back in Canaan, went to Egypt to buy grain, 41:56 – 44:34. • Eventually, Joseph revealed himself to them, and moved them to Egypt, 45:1 - 50:26. • In Egypt, God prospered the family of Jacob, and they grew and multiplied exceedingly, Ex.1:1-7. A “nation” was beginning… The Single Thread Lesson #2 In the Beginning- The Patriarchal Period; Genesis 1:1 – Exodus 20:1
Though they would not really fully become a “nation” until they had a Law (aprecept which bound and guided them), and were resettled in Canaan (the place God promised), the family of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob were certainly becoming the Peopleof God! In our next lesson in this series, we’ll continue to trace The Single Thread through the Mosaical Period and the rest of the O.T. For now, remember the 4 Significant Events we covered: Creation/Beginning of all things- including sin and salvation through Jesus Christ; The Great Flood- which taught us God will punish the wicked and save the righteous; The 3 Promises made to Abraham- Land, Nation, andSeed which form the outline of the rest of the Old and New Testaments; and, Development of the Nation of Israel from Abraham, Isaac & Jacob. The Single Thread Lesson #2 In the Beginning- The Patriarchal Period; Genesis 1:1 – Exodus 20:1