Hope Now Bible Church: Fresno, California

A Walk Through the Bible: Genesis

There is no doubt that life is a mess on our planet and most would agree that things are getting worse, not better. How did we get into such a mess? Is there any hope for us humans? Or are we doomed for destruction? 

Today we are embarking on a journey that will help us find the answers to those and other questions that may flood our thoughts. We are beginning a one year walk through the Bible. And it is our hope that by the end of one year, you will have an understanding of God's plan for planet earth and its inhabitants and a greater grasp of God's great plan for your life, and you will end the year with hope not only for this life, but for the life to come. 

How did we get into this mess that we're in? Our problems had to have begun somewhere. It's evident that sin is all around us. Each of us experience the result of sin everyday. Drug addiction, family breakups, fits of anger, hatred, wars, rumors of wars, political upheaval, weather related issues like hurricanes, volcanos and earthquakes, even oil spills. Sin is in full bloom, and there is no escaping its effect. This sin that we encounter daily in our lives is nothing new. While it may appear to be on a grander scale in 2010, there is no escaping the fact that it has been around us from the beginning of time--since the creation of the world. 

The book of Genesis presents us with a vivid picture of the beginning of sin, the effects of sin on our lives, and then, throughout the entire Bible, we will be presented with God's remedy for sin. 

The book of Genesis was written by Moses. Moses was the author of most of the first five books of the Bible, the books we call the Pentateuch, Torah, or Books of the Law. There are fifty chapters in the book of Genesis and by just knowing that fact alone we can conclude that an in-depth study of this book would take a long time. So today, as we will do for the next year, we are going to do a "walk through" of this book and all the books of the Bible. We'll look at the mountain tops, and perhaps in some other study we will have a chance to travel down to the valleys. 

The word Genesis means, "beginnings". So this book is a book of beginnings. Chapter one of Genesis probably contains the most well known verse in the Bible. "In the beginning God created." (Genesis 1:1) The immediate straight up fact that the Bible presents is that this book is about God and his eternal existence. He was in the beginning. There are no apologies and no other proof offered. And it's because of this in your face statement that many people reject the Bible. But this statement has to be responded to in some way. You can choose to just ignore that the Bible is about the reality of God (Which I believe is impossible to do since we are confronted with God's existence almost daily); You can reject the existence of God as mere mythology or superstition; Or, you can accept it as the very word of God But you cannot remain neutral. 

I. Beginnings 

Since the word Genesis means "beginnings", there are several beginnings in the book of Genesis. 

 1. The beginning of the world (Chapters 1,2) 

 Out of Nothing

In the beginning God: God was in the beginning--which means God had no beginning, he has always existed, and he created the world out of nothing. When God made the world and the universe, He used no natural resources to create. There was no dirt or wood, no metal or water, no atmosphere or air. The theological term is from the latin, creatio ex nihilo which means, God spoke (Genesis 1:3; "Let there be light, and there was light") and the elements that make up the world came into existence. 

 Didn't Create Alone 

Therefore, in two short chapters we get a glimpse of the creation power of God; and the crown of his creation was the creation of man. But there is more to learn in the first two chapters of the Genesis: In Genesis 1:26 we get a hint that God was not alone in his creating. Look at verse 26: "Then God said, "Let us make man in our own image, after our likeness." If we read in verse one, "In the beginning God created", then we have to ask who is the "us" and the "our" in this verse? Who is God talking to? As we walk through the Bible, we will see that the veil is lifted more and more and God's plan for his creation will be revealed and we'll see that the "us" and the "our" here is God the Father, God The Son, and God The Holy Spirit. In chapter 1:2 we read that the "Spirit of God" hovered over the face of the waters. And, in the New Testament book of John 1:1 it says, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God." And later in John we discover that the Word is Jesus Christ. And the apostle Paul writes in Colossians 1:15,17: "He [Jesus Christ] is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation....and he is before all things, and in him all things hold together." So in the first two chapters of the Bible we are shown the beginning of the world and a picture of what we call, The Trinity; One God, Three Persons. The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. So Genesis is about the beginning of the world and the fact of God; that he created out of nothing and that he was not alone when he created. 

2. The beginning of sin and its consequences (Chapters 3-10) 

Because God is a gracious God, One who deals fairly with his creation, he gave mankind a choice--to follow him or to reject him. It's the same choice that he gives you today. You can choose to follow Jesus Christ, or reject him. God has not made you a robot. You have freedom to make a choice. The question is, what choice will you make. Adam chose to follow his own desires and lusts and therefore, sinned. Look at Chapter 3:17:

 "And to Adam he [God] said, “Because you have listened to the voice of your wife and have eaten of the tree of which I commanded you, ‘You shall not eat of it,’ cursed is the ground because of you; in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life; 18 thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you; and you shall eat the plants of the field. 19 By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return.” 

And that first sin of Adam (Romans 5:12) caused a ripple effect through the human race, beginning with his own children whose rebellion resulted in the death of one son, Abel who was murdered by his brother Cain (Genesis 4). And sin took root even more to the extent that the world became so corrupt that God determined to wipe out those who continued to rebel. Of all the inhabitants of the earth, only Noah and his family chose to follow the creator God and they were saved through the flood. (Genesis 6-9) But even after the flood and with the new chance that God presented Noah and his family, sin still ruled in their sinful bodies. 

And again as people multiplied on the earth they chose their own way--away from God. We may wonder, how could these people reject God after all they had been through. But it's the same question we should ask ourselves today. Why do you continue to sin, even when you've seen the power of God at work in your life? You've tasted his goodness, but you slip back to your sinful ways, away from God. The Bible says that "all have sinned" and that "none seek God." That's why we need to continually stay in the Word of God and pray and attend church and hear the Word of God preached, so that we can encourage one another to love and good deeds. 

The heart of man is sinful. And sin has consequences, and we'll see later that there is only one remedy for this sin that rules in our lives. So Genesis presents us with the beginning of the world, the beginning of sin and its consequences, and in chapter 11 we read about the beginning of the nations. 

3. The Beginning of the Nations (Genesis 11) 

After the flood, the sin that still ruled and reigned in the lives of mankind led the people of the world in Genesis to look away from God and become self absorbed and self centered. Look with me at Genesis 11:1,4: "Now the whole earth had one language and the same words." "Then they said, "Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower with its tops to the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be dispersed over the face of the whole earth." 

One of the things that sin does in your life is that it tricks you into believing that you can solve your problems on your own. You think you are smarter than God and rather than trust in him and his plan for your life, you try to do everything in your power to make life go your way. The problem is, it doesn't work. Rather, God is calling you today to trust him, to put your faith in him and not in your own solutions. When you reject God and choose to follow your own desires, your problems don't get smaller, they get larger. 

And that is what happened in chapter 11. Because of the desire of the people to find their own solution and their desire to make a name for themselves--they made a determination that they wanted life to revolve around them--and their problems became even bigger and they were dispersed all over the world. Some of those peoples are to this day in utter despair because of their sinfulness thousands of years ago. But there is one particular nation that Moses writes about in the book of Genesis. 4. 

The Beginning of the Hebrew Nation (Genesis 12-50) 

It is the beginning of the Hebrew nation--The Jewish nation. We see this nation begin in chapter 12:1-3: 12:1 Now the LORD said to Abram, 

“Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. 2 And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” 

And it is in these three verses that God sets forth His covenant or His promise with Abraham. God promised Abraham seven things: 

1. He would make his family into a great nation (vs. 2) 

2. He would bless this nation (vs. 2) 

3. He would make their name great (vs. 2) 

4. They would be a blessing to others (vs. 2) 

5. God would bless those who blessed them (vs. 3) 

6. God would curse those who curse them (vs. 3) 

7. All the families of the world would be blessed because of them (vs. 3) -- The reason God began this new nation, this nation of Israel as it will be called later, is so the Messiah, the Savior Jesus Christ would come from these peoples as a blessing and redeemer for all mankind. 

And these promises to Abraham and his descendants are formalized even more throughout the rest of the chapters in Genesis. 

But in Chapters 39-50 we are introduced to another nation. It is the nation of Egypt. And it is in the nation of Egypt that three primary things happen: 

1. Egypt would initially be a haven or rest for the nation of Israel. 

2. Egypt would eventually become a place of bondage and captivity for the Jews. 

3. Egypt would be the place were God would ultimately let His glory be shown But not only is the book of Genesis a book about the beginning of the world, sin, the nations and the Hebrew Nation, it is a book filled with rich characters. Let's name a few: 

 II. Key Characters in Genesis

1. God: Creator of the universe -- Savior of the human race. 

2. Adam: The first man and he was a "type" of Jesus Christ (See Romans 5:14). A "type" means that he is a person who foreshadows another who is to come. So Adam foreshadowed the coming of Jesus Christ. How was Adam a "type" of Christ? Adam was the head of the human race. (Jesus is referred to in Romans as "the last Adam.") Christ is the head of the new Creation. 

 3. Satan: The deceiver, tempter, liar and murderer. Three things about Satan that you should know: 

 a. Satan is a created being. This is an important concept. He is not all knowing, he is not all powerful and he is not all present. His demons do his work for him. And was it not for God allowing Satan freedom to operate, Satan would have no influence. 

 b. Satan, when he was created was not satisfied with being the foremost angel. The book of Isaiah (14:13,14) says this about Satan: 13 You said in your heart, ‘I will ascend to heaven; above the stars of God I will set my throne on high; I will sit on the mount of assembly in the far reaches of the north; 14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High." Therefore, for a time, God has given Satan access to this world. "He prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour." That's why we are to be sober-minded and watchful. And through Jesus Christ, we have the power to resist Satan, "firm in our faith", the Apostle Peter tells us in 1 Peter 5:9. 

 c. And while Satan has access to this world and even has access before God, someday he will be cast down, according to Revelation 12:7-9, and be thrown into the abyss (Revelation 20:3) and finally into the Lake of Fire (Revelation 20:10). His end is sure thanks to the power of the Lord Jesus Christ who will rule and reign forever. 

 4. Noah: Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord (Genesis 6:8) What a great testimony to be said about a person. Is that what you strive to hear in your life? That you found favor in the eyes of the Lord? It can be, if you a leader in your family, like Noah was before the flood. a. He prepared a way of salvation for his family by building and entering the Ark (Hebrews 11:7). And that Ark is a foreshadowing of Jesus Christ whom we enter into for our salvation. 

Moms and dads, are you leading your children into the safety and eternal security of the Lord Jesus Christ? What are you teaching your children? What are they watching you do? Why not determine today to find favor in the eyes of the Lord and lead your children toward Jesus Christ? 

5. Abraham: Abraham obeyed God by accepting God's call to leave his homeland (Hebrews 11:8). 

 a. He was the father of the Hebrew people and a multitude of nations (Genesis 17:4-5). And I believe that if you can understand God's working in the life of Abraham and God's promise to him, you will understand what it means to put your faith and trust in Jesus Christ. 

 b. Abraham believed God and it was counted to him as righteousness (Romans 4:3). This passage in Romans is probably one of the most beautiful passages in the entire Bible and while it pertains to Abraham, it is meant for our benefit. The Lord God Himself, by an act of grace moved by His sovereign love, stooped to the record and blotted out everything that was against Abraham, and then wrote down on the record that He, God, counted, this man Abraham to be perfect even at a moment when Abraham was ungodly in himself. That is justification. 

Let me try to break this down in a way that we can all grasp. When you were born, because of the sin of the first man Adam, you inherited a sin nature. There is nothing you can do about it. You were born in sin. You may have looked innocent as a baby, but deep within was your sinful nature ready to come out. You couldn't wait to sin. We don't teach young toddlers to be selfish, they just know how to be that way naturally. So, we are born with a sin nature--we always lean more toward sin.

 And if we could pretend that each person has a white board that details his or her life, we would see that each person has a list of sins on their life account: Selfishness, hatred, adultery, homosexuality, fits of anger, laziness, gossip, etc. (Only you and God know what your true sins are). It is a hopeless situation. You cannot escape the fact of sin in your life. But, something amazing happens--we call it amazing grace. At the moment you believe in Jesus Christ, that he alone can save you from your sin and that he is God, Jesus Christ takes out his blotter and he blots all of these sins out and writes the word RIGHTEOUS over every sin. 

You are Justified 

Abraham, believed God and it was counted to him as righteousness, and the same thing happens to you when you believe. God immediately covers every one of your sins, past, present and future, with the blood of Jesus Christ and because of this, you are Justified--Your Life Account looks as if you don't have any sin because all that can be seen is the RIGHTEOUSNESS of Jesus Christ.  If you could only understand one thing in the Bible, then Justification is probably the most important. When you believe in Jesus Christ, you inherit a free gift of eternal life (Romans 6:23), not because of any act of righteousness that you perform--You inherit the free gift of eternal life solely on the basis of what Jesus Christ has promised to you. It is the Righteousness of Jesus Christ that secures your eternal life, not your own goodness (Titus 3:4-7). 

The Thread of Redemption

 And so, the book of Genesis records this Amazing Grace story for us and it is the thread that will run through every other book of the Bible in the Old Testament. If you don't understand this, you won't understand the rest of the Old Testament, because every other story, character and situation in the Old Testament, while historical in nature in many parts, is about Jesus Christ and his righteousness. So we will develop this even further throughout the coming year. 

6. Isaac: Through Isaac the promises of Abraham were passed down to Jacob. 

7. Jacob: The promise that God gave to Abraham is reaffirmed with Jacob (Genesis 28:10-15). a. God changed Jacob's name to Israel (Genesis 35:10) 

 8. Joseph: Joseph is a picture of total trust in God. 

 a. Joseph was sold into slavery by his brothers (Genesis 37:28) 

 b. He eventually became second only to Pharaoh in the land of Egypt (Genesis 41:40). 

 c. Joseph convinced Pharaoh that his family should live in the land of Goshen (in Egypt) because of a severe famine in the land of Canaan (which is now Israel). 

d. And the book of Genesis ends with Joseph's death and the last verse in Genesis reads: 

So Joseph died, being 110 years old. They embalmed him, and he was put in a coffin in Egypt. [And that is where our story will pick up next week as we look at the book of Exodus.] 

 III. Application 

What can we learn from the book of Genesis? [messy world] We can learn many things, but I'm just going to leave you with three things to think about this week as you will, I'm hopeful, read through the book of Genesis.  

1. The book of Genesis is foundational for believing in Jesus Christ. Some want to discredit the book of Genesis by making a claim that it is a book full of myths and fairy tales. But those who say that are making a serious, perhaps eternally deadly mistake. In the gospel of John 5:46-47, Jesus said this, 

46 For if you believed Moses, you would believe me; for he wrote of me. 47 But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe my words?” 

Remember I told you earlier that Moses was the author of the Book of Genesis. And Jesus says that if you do not believe the writings of Moses, how will you believe the words of Jesus? You see, all throughout the book of Genesis, we see Jesus. Where? I don't see his name, you say. Well you don't have to see the name of Jesus to know that he is there. Listen to what the Apostle Paul wrote in the book of Colossians 1:15-17 regarding the creation of the world. 

He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. 16 For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. 17 And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 

Jesus Christ is the Creator, "In the beginning God" is all about Jesus. Have you believed God? Do you believe in the Christ, the Son of the living God? Genesis shows us that at the moment you believe, you recieve the righteousness of Jesus Christ. 

 2. Just as God used various people throughout the book of Genesis, He wants to use you to glorify him. In Genesis 4:7, just before Cain had murdered his brother Abel, God spoke to Cain and said, 

6 "The Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry, and why has your face fallen? 7 If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is for you, but you must rule over it.” 

I think there is something very important in this statement by God. Do you notice what the circumstances are surrounding this conversation with God? God is speaking to Cain while Cain is angry. You see, when you get angry, while you may not be interested in taking your anger to the Lord, He is there, calling out to you, pleading with you, warning you. The Bible says in Romans 5:8: 

"But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us."

Jesus Christ loves you, even in the midst of your sin; Even when you are angry, even when your face is fallen. And he is calling you to repentance so that He might be glorified. Will you repent today of your sins and lift your face to Him? 

 3. Just as the book of Genesis is about beginnings, the Bible tells us that you had a beginning too. I'm not talking about the day you were born. No, the Bible says that God chose you before the foundation of the world. Your beginning began long before earth was created in Genesis 1 and 2. 

In the book of Ephesians 1:3-4, the Apostle Paul writes: 

"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessings in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him." 

 King David in the book of Psalms (139:16), moved by the Holy Spirit, wrote this: 

"Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them." 

No, no matter where you were born or what the circumstances were behind your birth, you were no accident. God chose you before the foundation of the world. He chose you to be holy and blameless before him. And so the question for you this morning is, are you? Are you living your life with a desire to be holy and blameless? Genesis is a book about beginnings, its a book of fresh starts. It's a book of hope and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ. Why don't you thank God for his Amazing Grace and start living your life for him. Why not make today your Independence Day from sin, your new beginning, by believing in the One True Creator of the world and then choose to follow him this week. 

Right now, in the quietness of your own heart you can look to Jesus, you can thank him for a new beginning in your life and you can determine to follow him today. Don't let your sin hold you back from looking to Jesus Christ and asking for forgiveness. "Even while you were still a sinner, Christ died for you." And when you confess your sin, the Bible promises that immediately your sins are forgiven. You can move on, you can turn to Christ and follow him and walk with him. Won't you do that today? Heavenly Father, even as you chose us in Jesus Christ, before the foundation of the world, help us Lord Jesus to live our lives holy and blameless before you. Lord Jesus, we are weak and it is so difficult. Help us Lord Jesus to rule over sin through the power of your Holy Spirit whom you have poured out on us generously. For it is in the name of Jesus, the name above all names! Amen.

The Power of Psalms: Psalm One

The book of Psalms has probably given more comfort and help, brought more joy and peace, and provided more relief from the stress and pains of life than any other book of the Bible.

 

The Psalms contain one of the most quoted passages in the Bible, “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.”  (Psalm 23).  The Psalms are actually songs.  They are not only songs of comfort, but songs of praise too.  In fact, the Hebrew title of the book of Psalms is “Praises” or “Book of Praises.”  Psalms is a songbook of praises to God.  The Psalms were written to be accompanied by the harp and as we will see, choirs sang many of these songs.

 

Chapter one of the book of Psalms is really an introduction to the whole book.  Psalm 1 is a psalm that teaches us the way to blessedness and warns us about the way of destruction.  So let’s dive into the book and see what God desires to teach us through His word.

Blessed is the man (vs. 1)

"Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers;"

The very first word that we are confronted with in Psalms is the word “blessed.”  I think that is a positive way to begin a book or a letter, don’t you?  When you see that word it should make you feel good.

 

The word blessed, when referring to a man or woman simply means happy. When the word is used of God it carries more of the meaning of praise.  So if we say “Blessed be God”, we mean “Praise be to God.”  When we say “Blessed is the man” we should look at it more as “Happy is the man.”

 

The word blessed is actually a plural word in its original.  Plural means more than one.  So the idea here is that this man who is being described here is blessed in more than one way.  It has the idea that when you are blessed you have joy and gratitude as you live in fellowship with God.

 

And that makes sense because outside of God, man is cursed and ultimately leads a meaningless life.  The book of Ecclesiastes makes this clear in 1:2, “Vanity of vanities, says the Preacher, vanity of vanities!  All is vanity.”  Life outside of God is vanity or futile/meaningless. 

 

But we need to be careful that we don’t think that because the word blessed means happy that I’m talking about a feeling.  This blessedness that comes from God is not based on feelings – in other words, neither negative feelings nor unfavorable conditions can take God’s blessing away.

 

I think what is being communicated here is, the person who devotes himself to living a godly and righteous life is the one who finds true happiness, while the one who lives without regard to God is the miserable person.  Sometimes the world looks at it the other way.  The God devoted person is miserable, and those who live lives away from God’s rules and his thoughts find all of the fun!

 

Mile Markers to Happiness

 

The Psalm begins by giving us the path to blessedness or happiness.  Along the path there are three mile markers.  Let’s look at each of them.

1.  Mile Marker One: The Counsel of  the Ungodly
 
The first marker is this.  The man who is blessed is a person who doesn’t live his life on the basis of bad advice from others. 
 
“Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked.” (vs. 1)
 
Just replace that word “counsel” with “advice.”  I’m sure you have friends who are quick to offer you advice.  If your friend is a believer in the Lord Jesus, often times that counsel is good and constructive.  But many times we listen to godless advice.  Sometimes it comes from friends, sometimes from movies or television shows we watch.  We can get bad advice from the newspaper or from magazines. “Live like this, you’ll be glad you did.”
 
Your blessedness with Christ is tied directly to the advice you listen to and obey.  Ungodly counsel or advice is not concerned with praying, or reading, or repenting.  Ungodly counsel says that there is no need for any of these things.
 
But blessed is the man who walks not in another’s ungodly counsel.

2.  Mile Marker Two: The Way of Sinners

"Nor stands in the way of sinners" (vs. 1)
 
The focus shifts now from listening to the ungodly counsel of another to standing with the ungodly.  You’ve listened to the advice, but rather than get out of the way, you stand in the way.  The godly person avoids standing in the way of the ungodly. The blessed man does not follow the same moral paths of the ungodly.
 
3.  Mile Marker Three: The Seat of Scoffers

"Nor sits in the seat of scoffers" (vs. 1)
 
When you sit down in the counsel of the wicked it means so much more than walking or standing.  To “sit” takes it a step further.  It suggests remaining or abiding with the ungodly and enjoying their company. A scoffer makes fun of God and His people.  People who scoff hold nothing sacred—they scoff at God and everything that is associated with Him. And the godly person will always feel out of place and unhappy around those who make fun of or a mockery of God.   

And remember, it is always harder to get away when you are sitting.  When you walk or stand, you can quickly run away from danger.  But when you are sitting it takes more effort and sometimes you just think, “I don’t really want to get up.”

What the Godly Person Chooses

"But his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night." (vs. 2)

 

1.  Delights in the Law of the Lord

The Godly person, rather than walking, standing, and sitting with the ungodly “delights” in the law of the Lord.  The “law” means teaching, instruction or direction.  This word law here really means the whole truth of God as it is revealed in the Word of God.

 

“Blessed are those whose way is blameless, who walk in the law of the Lord!...I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you.” (Psalm 119: 1, 11).

 

The Godly person does not take counsel from the wicked; rather he takes his counsel or advice from the Word of God. This Word is his delight. The Godly man finds it to be interesting and relevant.  It brings him joy and satisfaction.

2.  Meditates on the Word of God

Not only is God's Word interesting and relevant, the Godly person chooses to read it often and to meditate on it.

"...he meditates day and night." (vs. 2)

This word meditate is such an interesting word.  When this Psalm was written, it was written in Hebrew. And the Hebrew word for meditate is Haga is a word that is primarily used in poetry in the Bible.  You will find Haga mostly in Psalms and Isaiah.  The basic meaning of the word is a low sound, characteristic of certain animal sounds.

Like the moaning of a dove.

"I moan like a dove." (Isaiah 38:14) [Hezekiah, when he was thinking he was going to die].

Or, the growling of a lion over its prey.

"As a lion or a young lion growls over his prey" (Isaiah 31:4) [The Lord describing how he will fight for and defend Israel].

Or simply groaning for the Lord's help.

"Give ear to my words, O Lord; consider my groaning." (Psalm 5:1)

Therefore, a Godly person takes time to moan, or growl, or groan over God's word.  These, of course, are metaphors. A metaphor is a figure of speech in which a term or a phrase is applied to something but that doesn't literally apply, in order to suggest a resemblance.  So the idea here is not that you are actually moaning or growling or groaning, but that your heart attitude is such that you are intensely thinking about God's word moment by moment.

What the Godly Person is Like 

"He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither.  In all that he does, he prospers."  (vs. 3)

1.  He is like a Tree Planted.

He is not like a wild tree.  He is like a tree planted.  Again, another metaphor (figure of speech) is being used here.  Who plants the tree?

It is clear throughout Scripture that God is the one who plants.  We all know that the Bible teaches us that we cannot plant ourselves in the Lord.  Its impossible because we are too sinful.  Romans says, "None seeks God." God is the one who chooses us and plants us.

Jesus is recorded by Matthew as saying, "Every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted will be rooted up." (Matthew 15:13).  Some people will try to grow on their own, but it will never work. That is called good works and you will never be close to God by your good works.  In fact, God roots up those people.  Any religious person who claims to be of God, but has not been planted by God will not last.  How do you know if you have been planted by God?

2.  He is Planted by Streams of Water

First, he is planted with access to living water.  In other words, he is planted in Jesus Christ.  Jesus said, speaking to the Samaritan woman; 

Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” (John 4:13,14).

A Godly person is planted in Jesus Christ.

3.  Yields Fruit in its Season

A person who is planted by God, yields fruit  You will know if you are in Christ if there is fruit in your  life.  That fruit does not come out of season. For example, if an orange tree bears its fruit too early, the late frosts will kill the fruit.  The best fruit grows in season, when the weather is just right.

The fruit that a Christian bears is patience in the time of suffering, faith in the day of trial, and holy joy in the hour of prosperity.  Fruitfulness is an essential quality of a gracious man or woman, and that fruitfulness should be seasonable. (Spurgeon).

4.  Leaf Does Not Wither

Not only is the fruit preserved, but his leaf too.  A Godly person will not lose his or her beauty or fruitfulness.

5.  In All That He Does, He Prospers.

This prosperity is what I would call, prosperity of the soul.  Not financial prosperity or material prosperity. When we are planted by God and are yielding fruit in our lives and are beautiful from the outside, it shows that God is at work on the inside of our lives.  

Sometimes for the good of the soul's health we may be poor, or bereaved, and persecuted.  In other words, our worst things, for the Godly person, are often our best things. The trials that you go through as a Christian is God's cultivation of your life, by which he grows and brings forth abundant fruit (Spurgeon)

But the ungodly are not like this:

What The Ungodly Are Like

"The wicked are not so, but are like chaff that the wind drives away." (vs. 4)

1. They Are Like Chaff

Chaff is the loose hulls of the wheat that are separated from the edible portion. In Bible times they would throw the grain up in the air and the chaff would blow away while the edible grain would fall back down to the threshing floor.

So, the wicked person will be mixed in with the Godly, but in time, they will be separated and will not last.

2.  They Will Not Stand in The Judgment

"Therefore the wicked will not stand in judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous." (vs. 5)

When the ungodly go before God in the final judgment, they will not be able to stand.  While the future of the wicked person may not seem evident to us while they are living, from God's perspective they have no future.  The will not be able to withstand the judgment of God.

They will be separated from the righteous.

Conclusion

"For the LORD knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish." (vs. 6)

Here's the final idea.  The name of the righteous is carved in stone, but the unrighteous, or the wicked has his name written in sand. (Spurgeon). 

Here is how Charles Spurgeon concludes this chapter:

"The righteous man ploughs the furrows of earth, and sows a harvest here, which shall never be fully reaped till he enters the enjoyments of eternity; but as for the wicked, he ploughs the sea, and though there may seem to be a shining trail behind his keel, yet the waves shall pass over it, and the place that knew him shall know him no more for ever. The very “way” of the ungodly shall perish. If it exist in remembrance, it shall be in the remembrance of the bad; for the Lord will cause the name of the wicked to rot, to become a stench in the nostrils of the good, and to be only known to the wicked themselves by its putridity (Corruptness or rottenness)."

May the Lord cleanse our hearts and our ways, that we may escape the doom of the ungodly, and enjoy the blessedness of the righteous!

Hope Now Bible Church.  The Power of Psalms.  Pastor Roger Feenstra. 2010. 

Three Kings: Guys Like Us

By Pastor Roger Feenstra

The Bible is an interesting book.  You may think that all of the people the Bible talks about are holy people.  But in reality, they are people just like you and me.  Take for example the guys below:  Probably the only difference is that they were Kings, but in all other aspects of their lives, they struggled with the same things you and I might struggle with.

King David

The first guy is King David.  You remember David don’t you?  He was the guy who, when he was a young boy, went up against the giant named Goliath.  David was a tough guy. 

David said this about himself in the Old Testament book of 1^st Samuel:

But David said to Saul, "Your servant used to keep sheep for his father. And when there came a lion, or a bear, and took a lamb from the flock, I went   after him and struck him and delivered it out of his mouth. And  if he arose against me, I caught him by his beard and struck him  and killed him.(1 Samuel 17:34-35)

 When David grew from boyhood, he was appointed King of  Israel.  He was a mighty King and nearly every battle he fought,  he won.

But there came a time in David’s life as King that he decided to stay back from the battle, he let his commanders go and fight instead – and that was the beginning of David’s downfall.  Let’s pick up the story in the book of 2 Samuel 11:

In the spring of the year, the time when kings go out to battle, David sent Joab, and his servants with him, and all Israel. And they ravaged the Ammonites and besieged Rabbah. But David remained at Jerusalem. It happened, late one afternoon, when David arose from his couch and was walking on the roof of the king's house, that he saw from the roof a woman bathing; and the woman was very beautiful… (2 Samuel 11:1-2)

Look at verse 4

So David sent messengers and took her, and she came to him, and he lay with her. (Now she had been purifying herself from her uncleanness.) Then she returned to her house. And the woman conceived, and she sent and told David, "I am pregnant."(2 Samuel 11:4-5)

There were two problems that David was now dealing with.  One, he had sex with a woman he was not married to and second, this woman, Bathsheba, was already married and her husband was away fighting the battle.  Now David was in a jam.  So he called her husband back from the battlefield and tried to coerce him to go and have sex with his wife, then he would think that the child was his.  But the plan didn’t work, because her husband, Uriah, was such a loyal soldier, he couldn’t think of having sex while his fellow soldiers were out on the battlefield sacrificing their lives.

So, David, rather than do the honorable thing and admit what he had done, sent Uriah to the front line of the battle where he knew Uriah would be killed.

And because of David’s treachery God allowed the child that was born to him by Bathsheba to die.  And for David, it was a very difficult time.

King Solomon

David had another son named Solomon, and after David’s death, Solomon became King of Israel.  God was blessing Solomon.  The Bible tells us in 1 Kings that:

Solomon loved the LORD, walking in the statutes of David his father (1 Kings 3:3. 

The Bible tells us the Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream and said,

“Whatever you ask for I shall give you.”  (1 Kings 3:5)

And Solomon, rather than asking for things said to God,

“I ask for wisdom and understanding.”  (1 Kings 3:9)

And this pleased God and God granted to Solomon wisdom and understanding.  In fact the Bible tells us that Solomon was the wisest man who lived and the wisest man who would ever live!

Solomon loved wealth.  Look at 1 Kings 10: 14

Now the weight of gold that came to Solomon in one year was 666 talents of gold, besides that which came from the explorers and from the business of the merchants, and from all the kings of the west and from the governors of the land. King Solomon made 200 large shields of beaten gold; 600 shekels of gold went into each shield. And he made 300 shields of beaten gold; three minas of gold went into each shield. And the king put them in the House of the Forest of Lebanon. The king also made a great ivory throne and overlaid it with the finest gold. The throne had six steps, and at the back of the throne was a calf's head, and on each side of the seat were armrests and two lions standing beside the armrests, while twelve lions stood there, one on each end of a step on the six steps. The like of it was never made in any kingdom. All King Solomon's drinking vessels were of gold, and all the vessels of the House of the Forest of Lebanon were of pure gold. None were of silver; silver was not considered as anything in the days of Solomon. For the king had a fleet of ships of Tarshish at sea with the fleet of Hiram. Once every three years the fleet of ships of Tarshish used to come bringing gold, silver, ivory, apes, and peacocks. 

The passage goes on to say that he had 1,400 chariots and 12,000 horsemen, 

But there was something Solomon liked more than gold and chariots.  Women – the text says “foreign women.”  It seems he couldn't keep his eyes, or his hands off of them.

Look at 1 Kings 11: 3,

He had 700 wives, princesses, and 300 concubines. And his wives turned away his heart.

Verse 6 goes on to say,

So Solomon did what was evil in the sight of the LORD and did not wholly follow the LORD, as David his father had done. (1 Kings 11:6)

And because of that disobedience, it was the beginning of the end for Solomon.

King Rehoboam

When Solomon died, his son, Rehoboam came into power.  The Bible tells us that Rehoboam was a harsh leader.  He treated the people of Israel as slaves.

In the book of 2 Chronicles 11 we read that Rehoboam loved power.  And rather than putting his trust in God, he took everything into his own hands:

Rehoboam lived in Jerusalem and he built cities for defense in Judah.(2 Chronicles 11:5)

And Chapter 12 tells the sad conclusion of Rehoboam:

When the rule of Rehoboam was established and he was strong, he abandoned the law of the LORD, and all Israel with him.(2 Chronicles 12:1)

What Causes People to Turn From God?

Why did these men, who seemingly had all they wanted and were blessed by God, turn their backs on God? 

More importantly, maybe you’ve turned away from God and have decided to do things your own way.  Why?

Well the answer is found in the New Testament, in the book of 1 John 2:15, 16:

Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world--the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride in possessions--is not from the Father but is from the world. (1 John 2:15-16)

You see, these men began to love the world more than they loved God. 

• David pursued the “Desires of the flesh” when he took Bathsheba and had sex with her
• Solomon pursued the “Desires of the eyes” when he was consumed with wealth and gold and foreign women.

And

• Rehoboam pursued “Pride in possessions” which essentially means he “loved the power that he had.”

 Sex, Money, Power.

 In themselves and when done rightly, these are not bad things.  But  when your life is consumed by either of these things, God becomes  just an afterthought.

 The Bible uses a word for anything you put before God – its called sin.

Now we all sin, but John tells us in this same book in chapter 3

No one who abides in him keeps on sinning; no one who keeps on sinning has either seen him or known him. (1 John 3:6)

In other words, John is telling you and me to not make it a practice of sinning.

David, Solomon, Rehoboam started off on the right track, but they began making it a practice of sinning. 

In the book of James we find the progression of sin:  How it takes hold in our lives:

But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death. (James 1:14-15)

What’s this “death” that James is talking about? 

Well, its eternal death – You know, you’re not going to live forever.  What is going to happen to you when you die?

The Bible says there are only two alternatives.  Heaven (life).  Hell (death).

Romans 6:23 puts it this way:

For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

You see the payment, or wages of unforgiven sin is eternal death.  But fortunately, there is a way of escape from this death.  That is by receiving the free gift of eternal life that is offered by Jesus.

Then, the Bible says that when we sin all we need to do is confess it.  You see, once you believe in Jesus:  That he is the Giver of Salvation – when you believe in him, you are automatically guaranteed eternal life.

• There is nothing else you need to do except believe
• There are no magic words you have to say
• There are no works you have to perform
• You don’t even have to be holy to believe in Jesus

The Bible says, “Even while you were still a sinner, Jesus Christ died for you.”

So, you can make a decision.  You can choose to go your own way like David, Solomon and Rehoboam did.  Or, you can choose to stand up and follow Jesus: To proclaim his message of Salvation to your children, your wife, your girlfriend, your mom, and your friends.

And of course that would be our prayer for you today:  That if you don’t know Jesus Christ as your Savior, that you tell him you believe in him and make a decision to follow him.  The instant you believe in Jesus, your sins, past, present and future are forgiven!  It doesn’t matter what you have done.  God has forgiven your sins. 

Maybe you know Jesus already.  Perhaps you followed him once, maybe in jail or prison, or maybe as a young person.  But now, you’ve put him behind you.  You don’t think of him much.  You certainly aren’t living your life for him.

Do you know you can confess that sin right now?  Tell him you’re sorry and you want to follow him.

Simply say in your heart, "Lord Jesus I believe in you.  I want your free gift of eternal life.  I want to follow you."  And if you prayed that and meant it, then the Bible says that Jesus now lives within you.  You have the power of the Holy Spirit in you life.  And, you are assured of eternal life.

Maybe you already know Christ, but you haven’t been following him.  Ask him to forgive you right now.  He promises he will.  The Bible says, “There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.”

Today is the first day of the rest of your life.  Sure there are pressures that you’ll face each day, but wouldn’t you rather face them with the power of God on your side?  Why not determine to follow God beginning right now.

Three Aspects of God’s Promise: Genesis 15:7-21

Choosing to Follow: The Life of Abraham, Genesis 12:1-13:4

The New World: Genesis 8:20 – 11:9

Escape From the Storm: Genesis 6:11 – 9:17

A Righteous Man: Genesis 6:9,10

Through One Man...Genesis 3

Creation, Day Six: Genesis 1:24-31