Scheme of Redemption

Goals of Our Study To learn how God moved from man's problem of sin to His solution of Jesus on the cross To understand how everything in the scriptures relates to, and points to, Jesus and the cross To understand how everything in the Bible reveals God to mankind - who He is and what He is like Get a better understanding of how we got here tonight on the orange carpet Slide 2

Main concepts of our study "Scheme of Redemption" - The plan of God, established before creation, to redeem mankind from sin View the Bible as one book, with 66 different chapters, and the real division taking place at Genesis 3:6 rather than between Malachi and Matthew This division covers two drastically different worlds: The world prior to sin and the world after sin Slide 3

Main concepts of our study Genesis 1-2: God and perfection, man and innocence Genesis 3-12 – “The Background of Redemption” Genesis – “Redemption through Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph” Slide 4

Recap God created everything, all was perfect, and sin enters the world at Genesis 3:6 The whole world became severely corrupt God flooded the earth with water, but spared Noah, his family, and select animals on the ark Yet, even after a global cleansing, sin is still a problem, and God MUST get to Calvary! Slide 5

Recap Redemption thru the patriarchs God makes three main promises to Abraham A great nation would come forth from Abraham (Genesis 12:2, 13:16, & 15:5) His descendants would receive the land of Canaan as an inheritance (Genesis 12:7, 13:15 & 17) Through Abraham, all the families/nations of the earth would be blessed (Genesis 12:3) Slide 6

Recap Redemption thru the patriarchs God promises Abraham an heir/child God informs Abraham that his descendants will be enslaved and oppressed for 400 years before receiving Canaan because “the sin of the Amorite is not yet complete” (Gen 15:14-15) The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance (2 Peter 3:9) Conquest of Joshua was judgement on Canaan Slide 7

Abraham is promised an heir Gen 15:2-4 - Abram said, “O Lord God, what will You give me, since I am childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?” And Abram said, “Since You have given no offspring to me, one born in my house is my heir.” Then behold, the word of the Lord came to him, saying, “This man will not be your heir; but one who will come forth from your own body, he shall be your heir.” Slide 8

Abraham is promised an heir God has made some big promises to Abraham (great nation, Canaan to his descendants, by his seed all earth blessed) Abraham now is trying to understand how this will happen as he doesn’t have any children God tells him that he will have children, and that his descendants will be innumerable as the stars of Heaven (Gen 15:5) Slide 9

Abraham tries to force God’s will Genesis 16:1-4 - Now Sarai, Abram’s wife had borne him no children, and she had an Egyptian maid whose name was Hagar. So Sarai said to Abram, “Now behold, the Lord has prevented me from bearing children. Please go in to my maid; perhaps I will obtain children through her.” And Abram listened to the voice of Sarai. After Abram had lived ten years in the land of Canaan, Abram’s wife Sarai took Hagar the Egyptian, her maid, and gave her to her husband Abram as his wife. He went in to Hagar, and she conceived; Slide 10

Abraham tries to force God’s will Does it go over well with Sarah that Abraham has conceived a child with Hagar? No – Sarah begins treating her harshly, and Hagar runs away (Genesis 16) Hagar flees into the wilderness, and the angel of the Lord came and spoke to her, tells her to go back to Sarah, and that He will take care of her (Genesis 16) Slide 11

Abraham tries to force God’s will The Lord informs Hagar that He will bless her son, but he’ll be a troublesome individual (Genesis 16) Hagar gives birth to a son and Abraham names him Ishmael Abraham 86 years at this time Slide 12

Can you identify with Abraham? Can you identify with Abraham? Is it easy to simply know that God is in control and not try to take actions into your own hands? Does taking action sometime feel like the right thing to do? Sometimes, we must simply wait and see how God works something out in our life If we try to force God’s will, it may turn out worse for us, or at least not as great as it could have been Slide 13

Sign of God’s covenant with Abraham What is a covenant? In simplest definition, it’s an agreement Can be made between anyone or any group of people Often made with some type of formal symbology (document, payment of some form, spit-and- shake ) Slide 14

Sign of God’s covenant with Abraham What was the covenant that God had made with Abraham Abraham’s descendants would inherit Canaan A great nation would come forth from Abraham Could throw in the promise to bless all nations through him, but this one isn’t mentioned in Genesis 17. Slide 15

Sign of God’s covenant with Abraham God had previously made a covenant with Abraham, in Genesis 15, that He would give Canaan to Abraham’s descendants In chapter 17, God reiterates His promises to Abraham (land and large nation) He then involves Abraham in the covenant with the sign of circumcision of all males, which would be required of him and his descendants. Anyone who refused would be considered cut off and a breaker of the covenant Slide 16

Sign of God’s covenant with Abraham Abraham, Ismael, and all of Abraham’s servants and other men of his household were circumcised on that day Abraham is now 99 when this occurs Ishmael is 13 How did circumcision become a problem for the early church thousands of years later? Jewish Christians insisted that circumcision was required as a additional requirement for salvation Slide 17

Why Abraham? Genesis 18:17-19 – Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do, since Abraham will surely become a great and mighty nation, and in him all the nations of the earth will be blessed? For I have chosen him, so that he may command his children and his household after him to keep the way of the Lord by doing righteousness and justice, so that the Lord may bring upon Abraham what He has spoken about him Slide 18

Why Abraham? Why do you feel that God chose Abraham “For I have chosen him” We are not told that there was something special about Abraham We could speculate that Abraham’s character was a reason Simple fact is, God chose a man who most likely worshipped false gods to initiate the initial steps towards the cross Slide 19

Why Abraham? What word does this idea make you think of? Grace – There was nothing that Abraham did to deserve the greatness that was bestowed upon him. In fact, he probably did just the opposite as a pagan. The worship of idols/false gods was something that often rendered destruction. Slide 20

Coming Up Genesis – Continue studying with redemption through Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph Abraham and Sarah promised a son Sodom and Gomorrah destroyed, Lot and his family spared Birth of Isaac Slide 21