James Reed's FORGE

RC states of our text for today, “The prophesied hostility between the offspring of the serpent and the offspring of the woman (cf. 3:15) takes shape immediately in the hostility of ungodly Cain against godly Abel (vv. 1–16), and in the contrast of Cain’sungodly offspring (which we will see later) versus the godly line of Seth (4:17–5:32). There is a horrendous escalation of sin from Cain to Lamech. 4:1–16 The focus is on Cain, the archetype of Satan’s followers. Cain displays his kinship with the devil by his hostility against God and his murder of a good man (v. 8; Matt. 23:35; Heb. 11:4), together with his lies (v. 9; John 8:44; 1 John 3:12).”[1]

[1] R. C. Sproul, ed., The Reformation Study Bible: English Standard Version (Orlando, FL;Lake Mary, FL: Ligonier Ministries, 2005), 15.

We continue on from where we left Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. I did not bring this out last week, but in2:15 Adam was given a job to do.He was not to be idle doingnothing. His was a labor of keeping and tending the garden. Now, exactly what that looked like we are not told, but whatever it was- it was rewarding. It did not entail hard labor, the sweat of Adam’s brow, and the production of thorns and thistles as a reward. This work was done in obedience to God’s command.We see here a works based covenant with God. What happens here in chapter 3 is a test of fidelityto mankind’s King. Obedience is rewarded with a life in harmony with God. Disobedience will bring death.

Today, we will begin our study through the Book of Genesis. I love the Book of Genesis for a number of reasons which I’m sure will come out as we move through it. For the longest time, my approach to the Book of Genesis was defensive. I felt as though I had to be ready to give an explanation for everything Darwinian evolutionary and atheistic thought could throw at me. I have talked with many skeptics, agnostics, and atheists during my life, and I have learned through talking with them—a true skeptic will never be convinced of anything, and they are without question some of the most arrogant, lonely, and miserable people I have ever met. Skeptics are selectively skeptic—only when they come across something that they don’t like are they skeptical. Their

Those verses in Romans truly apply to Darwinian Evolution. While I’m prepared to give a defense and point out the utter foolishness of evolution, I want to encourage you, as God’s people, that’s not the reason to study Genesis. We need

Genesis is the Book of Beginnings. We find a lot of first things happening in this great book. We find the beginning of man, the first family, and someone named Seth who is the many times great grandfather of Jesus. We find the first sin,

I will not be taking the usual approach where we read every single verse. Genesis is 50 chapters long, and it covers the first 2,000 years of history. I don’t want to be in this book for the next several years, so we are going to take a rather accelerated approach. However, if you ever have any

In Chapter 4 we have the wedding of Boaz and Ruth. If we were looking for a case illustrating the law of God as given in Dt. 25:5, there is no better example. But there’s a lot more going on here than a study in case law. The Gospel of Jesus Christ is here in pictures, shadows, and symbols. And, as I’ve brought out since the first chapter, a descendant of this marriage will be David the King, and a descendant of David is the Son of David—the Savior, Jesus Christ. Remember when

At this point in our narrative, we are moving toward a major resolution for Ruth and Naomi. We are moving from despair to hope. We are going to see the power of faithfulness,

Up to this point in the Book of Ruth, we have seen the loving and excellent character of two women—Naomi and Ruth. Although others have been mentioned, these two women are

Ruth has been called the most beautiful piece of literature in the not only the Bible, but the entire world. This book is about the providence of God and His covenant community. Providence is God’s care, preparation in advance, and His guardianship over you. Ruth is about the kindness of God’s people. BTW- We do not get to be God’s people because we are kind. We are kind because we are God’s people. This book gives us a picture of our Lord’s redeeming work. Boaz, a character we’ll get to as we look into this book, is the redeeming relative or kinsman-redeemer. This points us to Christ—our kinsman redeemer. Ruth is a picture of those who enter into new life through Christ, and we will see the clear hand of the Holy Spirit as we look at Ruth’s life. The main theme of this story is that of a redeeming relative. The most important theme in the Book of Ruth is God’s preservation and continuation of the promised Seed and the redemption of God’s people no matter the circumstances.

No other passage shows the heart of love of the Lord seen in the Suffering Servant, the Messiah, Jesus, more than this one. And all this 700 years before Christ lived on earth. The NT quotes more from Isaiah than all the other prophets combined, with an amazing 308 references in the various NT books. For example, John quotes Isaiah in chapter 12 of his Gospel, and then he adds this commentary in verse 41, “These things Isaiah said when he saw (Jesus’) glory and spoke of Him.” As a matter of fact, when one reads verses like these, it’s almost as though Isaiah was an eyewitness to the flogging and the crucifixion—that he was there. But remember, Isaiah’s long ministry was roughly 700 years prior to that of Jesus. Seven centuries separate them. I’ve used this as an example before, but that’s like someone writing in the early 1300s about the events related to the terrorist attacks here on 9/11/01!

Some of you may remember the classic A Charlie Brown Christmas. There’s a scene where an exasperated Charlie Brown yells, “Isn’t there anyone who knows what Christmas is all about?” I have to admit I’ve felt that way before. Amid the commercialism, materialism and the general confusion of the holiday, we probably all want to understand what happened to make Christmas the largest season in retail. During my short time as a manager at Walmart, I was truly amazed at what happened in our stores around Christmas. Multiple millions of dollars in retail moved through the stores I was in. People going into debt, for gifts that others don’t really want or need, in some cases attempting to impress those who don’t care, and buying things that will be out of the style trends next year. We seek to understand, just like Charlie Brown. “Isn’t there anyone who knows what Christmas is all about?”

1. Are you troubled by the events, people, or circumstances in your life?

2. Are you worried about the events, people, or circumstances in your life?

3. Are you fearful because of the events, people or circumstances in your life?

4. Is your heart at peace?

I’m going to suggest that if we’re honest, we are prone to being troubled, worried, and fearful. And we’re not alone. It’s common for all of us. Just look at the disciples of Jesus and consider that Jesus knew their hearts.