Part 4 of “The Tree” – a study of Jesus’ family tree.

Genesis 12-23

Before discussing Abraham’s story, I’d like to begin with

anecdote.  A man named Jack accidentally fell

of the edge of a steep cliff. On the way down he was able to grab hold of a

branch, which temporarily stopped his fall. He looked down, and to his horror, discovered

that there were hundreds of feet between him and the bottom of the cannon. He

couldn’t hang there forever, and there was no way for him to climb up the steep

wall of the cliff.  So Jack began yelling

for help, hoping that someone passing by would hear him. “HELP! HELP! Is anyone

up there? HELP!” He yelled for a long time, but no one heard him. He was about

to give up when he heard a voice.

“Jack, Jack. Can you hear me?”“Yes, yes! I can hear you. I’m down here!”“I can see you, Jack. Are you alright?”“Yes, but who are you, and where are you?“I am the Lord, Jack. I’m everywhere.”“The Lord? You mean, GOD?”“That’s Me.”“God, please help me! I promise if, you’ll get me down from here, I’ll stop sinning. I’ll be a really good person. I’ll serve You for the rest of my life.”“Easy on the promises, Jack. Let’s get you off from there, then we can talk.”“Now, here’s what I want you to do. Listen carefully.”“I’ll do anything, Lord. Just tell me what to do.”“Okay. Let go of the branch.”“What?”“I said, let go of the branch… Just trust Me. Let go.”There was a long silence.Finally, Jack yelled, “HELP! HELP! IS ANYONE ELSE UP THERE?”

The definition of faith, according to the Bible is, “the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen” (Heb. 11:1).  I am not sure what Abraham was hoping for, or to what sort of convictions he held, but his family’s home was in the City of Ur, where Nanna, the Mesopotamian Moon god, was worshiped.  Although childless, Abraham was prosperous, settled, and old.  What he may not have known was that he was a descendant of Shem, ten generations removed, and the last time God spoke to anyone directly was with Shem and his brothers.  

Abraham Heard God’s Call

Before Abraham had

an encounter with God, he was known as “Abram,” which means: “Exalted

Father.”  As the story unfolds, God

eventually renamed him Abraham which means, “Father of many.”  Both names are all well and good for people

with children, but Abraham was childless. No matter how hard he and his wife

tried, Sarah could not get pregnant. 

When he first heard

God’s voice, Abraham was seventy-five (75) years old and his wife Sarah was sixty-five

(65).  Although old, God promised

Abraham, “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.  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” (Gen. 12:1-3). Through this statement, God promised

three things to Abraham: (1) Land, (2) descendants, and (3) that through him

the nations would be blessed (redemption).

At this time, Abraham

was oblivious to God; all he knew was the gods his ancestors worshiped.  Yet, God pursued him, and Abraham responded

to God in faith and obedience:

By faith Abraham obeyed when he

was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance.  And he went out, not knowing where he was

going.  By faith he went to live in the

land of promise, as in a foreign land, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob,

heirs with him of the same promise.  For

he was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and

builder is God. (Heb.

11:8-10).

Abraham Eventually Obeyed God

When Abraham decided

to move his wife and her family to famine struck Canaan, he first took a detour

to Egypt.  However, knowing that his wife

was beautiful and that others in Egypt would kill him in order to take her, Abraham

said to his wife,  “I know that you are a woman beautiful in appearance, and when the

Egyptians see you, they will say, ‘This is his wife.’  Then they w

Part 4 of “The Tree” – a study of Jesus’ family tree.

Genesis 12-23

Before discussing Abraham’s story, I’d like to begin with

anecdote.  A man named Jack accidentally fell

of the edge of a steep cliff. On the way down he was able to grab hold of a

branch, which temporarily stopped his fall. He looked down, and to his horror, discovered

that there were hundreds of feet between him and the bottom of the cannon. He

couldn’t hang there forever, and there was no way for him to climb up the steep

wall of the cliff.  So Jack began yelling

for help, hoping that someone passing by would hear him. “HELP! HELP! Is anyone

up there? HELP!” He yelled for a long time, but no one heard him. He was about

to give up when he heard a voice.

“Jack, Jack. Can you hear me?”“Yes, yes! I can hear you. I’m down here!”“I can see you, Jack. Are you alright?”“Yes, but who are you, and where are you?“I am the Lord, Jack. I’m everywhere.”“The Lord? You mean, GOD?”“That’s Me.”“God, please help me! I promise if, you’ll get me down from here, I’ll stop sinning. I’ll be a really good person. I’ll serve You for the rest of my life.”“Easy on the promises, Jack. Let’s get you off from there, then we can talk.”“Now, here’s what I want you to do. Listen carefully.”“I’ll do anything, Lord. Just tell me what to do.”“Okay. Let go of the branch.”“What?”“I said, let go of the branch… Just trust Me. Let go.”There was a long silence.Finally, Jack yelled, “HELP! HELP! IS ANYONE ELSE UP THERE?”

The definition of faith, according to the Bible is, “the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen” (Heb. 11:1).  I am not sure what Abraham was hoping for, or to what sort of convictions he held, but his family’s home was in the City of Ur, where Nanna, the Mesopotamian Moon god, was worshiped.  Although childless, Abraham was prosperous, settled, and old.  What he may not have known was that he was a descendant of Shem, ten generations removed, and the last time God spoke to anyone directly was with Shem and his brothers.  

Abraham Heard God’s Call

Before Abraham had

an encounter with God, he was known as “Abram,” which means: “Exalted

Father.”  As the story unfolds, God

eventually renamed him Abraham which means, “Father of many.”  Both names are all well and good for people

with children, but Abraham was childless. No matter how hard he and his wife

tried, Sarah could not get pregnant. 

When he first heard

God’s voice, Abraham was seventy-five (75) years old and his wife Sarah was sixty-five

(65).  Although old, God promised

Abraham, “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.  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” (Gen. 12:1-3). Through this statement, God promised

three things to Abraham: (1) Land, (2) descendants, and (3) that through him

the nations would be blessed (redemption).

At this time, Abraham

was oblivious to God; all he knew was the gods his ancestors worshiped.  Yet, God pursued him, and Abraham responded

to God in faith and obedience:

By faith Abraham obeyed when he

was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance.  And he went out, not knowing where he was

going.  By faith he went to live in the

land of promise, as in a foreign land, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob,

heirs with him of the same promise.  For

he was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and

builder is God. (Heb.

11:8-10).

Abraham Eventually Obeyed God

When Abraham decided

to move his wife and her family to famine struck Canaan, he first took a detour

to Egypt.  However, knowing that his wife

was beautiful and that others in Egypt would kill him in order to take her, Abraham

said to his wife,  “I know that you are a woman beautiful in appearance, and when the

Egyptians see you, they will say, ‘This is his wife.’  Then they w

Part 3 of “The Tree” – a study of Jesus’ family tree

Genesis 6-9

The story of Noah and the flood is not for little children.  The story of the flood is horrific, frightening, and tragic.  The flood is the justifiable holocaust of an entire generation with the exception of one solitary family.  Had any of the children that day survived the flood and asked to draw on paper what they had experienced, I do not believe you would have seen anything close to what we see in our churches today shown in the image to the right:

Instead, what you would have seen is something like the pictures

some of the children who survived the tsunami of 2004, that killed over 200,000

people, drew to illustrate their experience:

After Cain murdered his younger brother and was driven away

from his family to be a wanderer with his wife, we are told that the hearts of

his descendants grew increasingly evil.  Cain’s

great, great, great grandson Lamech was the first to pervert God’s intended

purpose of the institution of marriage by becoming the father of polygamy and

the value; we are given a glimpse into this man’s heart through the poem he

wrote for his wives:

“Adah and Zillah, hear my voice;        you wives of Lamech, listen to what I say:I have killed a man for wounding me,         a young man for striking me.If Cain’s revenge is sevenfold,         then Lamech’s is seventy-sevenfold.” (Gen. 4:24-24)

Essentially, Lamech was boasting that God could only avenge

Cain seven-fold, but he had the ability to avenge himself seventy-sevenfold.  This behavior was the growing culture of the

day until Seth was born. 

After Seth was born, we learn that people began to call upon

the name of Yahweh: “At that time people

began to call upon the name of the LORD.” With the birth of Seth, a second

and godly bloodline began in order to counter the bloodline of Cain.  Cain’s line represents evil, while Seth’s

line represents godliness.  Cain’s line grew

to be both secular and violent, while Seth’s bloodline represented godliness in

a world where calling upon the name of the Lord was rare and unpopular.   

Through Seth, God would fulfill the promise made to Adam and

Eve; through Seth’s line, the kingdom of God’s light and power was moving to

make the promise a reality.  The hope was

that, through Seth, would come a deliverer. 

Sin Vandalizes What is Good

Noah was the descendant of Seth and worshiped of the God of

Adam and Eve.  In Genesis 6, we learn

that things went from bad to worse when it came to the spirit of Lamech.  We are told in verse 5 that, “The LORD saw that the wickedness of man was

great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was

only evil continually.”  And, in verse

11 that, “the earth was corrupt in God’s

sight, and the earth was filled with violence.” 

By the time Noah’s generation began, there were three types

of people: The sons of God, the daughters of man, and the Nephilim.  There are three legitimate theological

explanations for who these three sets of people were, you can decide for

yourself what you believe.

The “sons of God” are fallen angels who mascaraed as men while the daughters of men were human women.  The fallen angels impregnated the women and they in turn gave birth to the infamous Nephilim who may have been very large men who were also feared ferocious warriors.[1]  The “sons of God” represent the godly line of Seth (the seed of God) and the “daughters of men” represent the ungodly line of Cain (the seed of Satan) whose offspring were the Nephilim, who were not giants, but ruthless warrior champions, known for their combat skills.Finally, the third view understands that the “sons of God” were kings over certain regions, revered as gods by those they ruled over. Their attitude was that of Lamech who did as he pleased and took any woman as his wife as he wished.  These kings practiced rampant polygamy by taking the “daughters of men” (common women) as thei

Part 3 of “The Tree” – a study of Jesus’ family tree

Genesis 6-9

The story of Noah and the flood is not for little children.  The story of the flood is horrific, frightening, and tragic.  The flood is the justifiable holocaust of an entire generation with the exception of one solitary family.  Had any of the children that day survived the flood and asked to draw on paper what they had experienced, I do not believe you would have seen anything close to what we see in our churches today shown in the image to the right:

Instead, what you would have seen is something like the pictures

some of the children who survived the tsunami of 2004, that killed over 200,000

people, drew to illustrate their experience:

After Cain murdered his younger brother and was driven away

from his family to be a wanderer with his wife, we are told that the hearts of

his descendants grew increasingly evil.  Cain’s

great, great, great grandson Lamech was the first to pervert God’s intended

purpose of the institution of marriage by becoming the father of polygamy and

the value; we are given a glimpse into this man’s heart through the poem he

wrote for his wives:

“Adah and Zillah, hear my voice;        you wives of Lamech, listen to what I say:I have killed a man for wounding me,         a young man for striking me.If Cain’s revenge is sevenfold,         then Lamech’s is seventy-sevenfold.” (Gen. 4:24-24)

Essentially, Lamech was boasting that God could only avenge

Cain seven-fold, but he had the ability to avenge himself seventy-sevenfold.  This behavior was the growing culture of the

day until Seth was born. 

After Seth was born, we learn that people began to call upon

the name of Yahweh: “At that time people

began to call upon the name of the LORD.” With the birth of Seth, a second

and godly bloodline began in order to counter the bloodline of Cain.  Cain’s line represents evil, while Seth’s

line represents godliness.  Cain’s line grew

to be both secular and violent, while Seth’s bloodline represented godliness in

a world where calling upon the name of the Lord was rare and unpopular.   

Through Seth, God would fulfill the promise made to Adam and

Eve; through Seth’s line, the kingdom of God’s light and power was moving to

make the promise a reality.  The hope was

that, through Seth, would come a deliverer. 

Sin Vandalizes What is Good

Noah was the descendant of Seth and worshiped of the God of

Adam and Eve.  In Genesis 6, we learn

that things went from bad to worse when it came to the spirit of Lamech.  We are told in verse 5 that, “The LORD saw that the wickedness of man was

great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was

only evil continually.”  And, in verse

11 that, “the earth was corrupt in God’s

sight, and the earth was filled with violence.” 

By the time Noah’s generation began, there were three types

of people: The sons of God, the daughters of man, and the Nephilim.  There are three legitimate theological

explanations for who these three sets of people were, you can decide for

yourself what you believe.

The “sons of God” are fallen angels who mascaraed as men while the daughters of men were human women.  The fallen angels impregnated the women and they in turn gave birth to the infamous Nephilim who may have been very large men who were also feared ferocious warriors.[1]  The “sons of God” represent the godly line of Seth (the seed of God) and the “daughters of men” represent the ungodly line of Cain (the seed of Satan) whose offspring were the Nephilim, who were not giants, but ruthless warrior champions, known for their combat skills.Finally, the third view understands that the “sons of God” were kings over certain regions, revered as gods by those they ruled over. Their attitude was that of Lamech who did as he pleased and took any woman as his wife as he wished.  These kings practiced rampant polygamy by taking the “daughters of men” (common women) as thei

Part 3 of “The Tree” – a study of Jesus’ family tree

Genesis 6-9

The story of Noah and the flood is not for little children.  The story of the flood is horrific, frightening, and tragic.  The flood is the justifiable holocaust of an entire generation with the exception of one solitary family.  Had any of the children that day survived the flood and asked to draw on paper what they had experienced, I do not believe you would have seen anything close to what we see in our churches today shown in the image to the right:

Instead, what you would have seen is something like the pictures

some of the children who survived the tsunami of 2004, that killed over 200,000

people, drew to illustrate their experience:

After Cain murdered his younger brother and was driven away

from his family to be a wanderer with his wife, we are told that the hearts of

his descendants grew increasingly evil.  Cain’s

great, great, great grandson Lamech was the first to pervert God’s intended

purpose of the institution of marriage by becoming the father of polygamy and

the value; we are given a glimpse into this man’s heart through the poem he

wrote for his wives:

“Adah and Zillah, hear my voice;        you wives of Lamech, listen to what I say:I have killed a man for wounding me,         a young man for striking me.If Cain’s revenge is sevenfold,         then Lamech’s is seventy-sevenfold.” (Gen. 4:24-24)

Essentially, Lamech was boasting that God could only avenge

Cain seven-fold, but he had the ability to avenge himself seventy-sevenfold.  This behavior was the growing culture of the

day until Seth was born. 

After Seth was born, we learn that people began to call upon

the name of Yahweh: “At that time people

began to call upon the name of the LORD.” With the birth of Seth, a second

and godly bloodline began in order to counter the bloodline of Cain.  Cain’s line represents evil, while Seth’s

line represents godliness.  Cain’s line grew

to be both secular and violent, while Seth’s bloodline represented godliness in

a world where calling upon the name of the Lord was rare and unpopular.   

Through Seth, God would fulfill the promise made to Adam and

Eve; through Seth’s line, the kingdom of God’s light and power was moving to

make the promise a reality.  The hope was

that, through Seth, would come a deliverer. 

Sin Vandalizes What is Good

Noah was the descendant of Seth and worshiped of the God of

Adam and Eve.  In Genesis 6, we learn

that things went from bad to worse when it came to the spirit of Lamech.  We are told in verse 5 that, “The LORD saw that the wickedness of man was

great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was

only evil continually.”  And, in verse

11 that, “the earth was corrupt in God’s

sight, and the earth was filled with violence.” 

By the time Noah’s generation began, there were three types

of people: The sons of God, the daughters of man, and the Nephilim.  There are three legitimate theological

explanations for who these three sets of people were, you can decide for

yourself what you believe.

The “sons of God” are fallen angels who mascaraed as men while the daughters of men were human women.  The fallen angels impregnated the women and they in turn gave birth to the infamous Nephilim who may have been very large men who were also feared ferocious warriors.[1]  The “sons of God” represent the godly line of Seth (the seed of God) and the “daughters of men” represent the ungodly line of Cain (the seed of Satan) whose offspring were the Nephilim, who were not giants, but ruthless warrior champions, known for their combat skills.Finally, the third view understands that the “sons of God” were kings over certain regions, revered as gods by those they ruled over. Their attitude was that of Lamech who did as he pleased and took any woman as his wife as he wished.  These kings practiced rampant polygamy by taking the “daughters of men” (common women) as thei

Part 2 of “The Tree” – a study of Jesus’ family tree.

Genesis 4

What makes Star Wars

timeless and great, in my opinion, is that the film shares some of the

important themes from the Great Story.   In

the Great Story (the story of redemption in the Bible), the great serpent and

antagonist entered into the Garden where man and woman enjoyed true love with

both God and each other, they were tempted to sin against God by the

Serpent.  Adam and Eve ate the forbidden

fruit that God commanded them not to eat and God cursed all of creation because

of Adam and Eve’s rebellion. 

With the rebellion

of Adam and Eve came death and the vandalization of Shalom (God’s peace).  Every experience of life would, from that

moment on, become a reminder of death. 

For Adam, he would labor by sweat and blood to bring life from the

ground; for Eve, she would painfully labor with sweat and blood to bring forth

life from her womb.  But in the shadow of

evil and death, God gifted Adam and Eve with a promise – a prophecy – that the

great serpent would one day be destroyed:

I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you strike his heel.”(Genesis 3:15)

So who or what is

the serpent?  In Harry Potter,

he is the Dark Lord Voldemort. In The

Lord of the Rings, he is the Dark Lord Sauron.  In The

Wizard of Oz, he is the Wicked Witch of the West.  In The

Matrix, he is Agent Smith.  In The Chronicles of Narnia, he is the

White Witch. In Superman, He is Lex

Luther.  In The Dark Knight Returns, he is the Joker.  And, in Star

Wars he is Darth Vader and every evil Sith Lord before and after him.

After Luke Skywalker defeated Darth Vader, who happened to

also be his father, it seemed as though balance was brought to the

universe.  What we learned from the

seventh Star Wars movie in the trilogy, The Force Awakens, is that Han Solo and

Princes Leia had a son whom they named Ben. 

Because the force was strong with Ben, they sent him to be trained by

his uncle, Luke Skywalker until Ben was seduced to the Dark Side by Supreme

Leader Snoke, while giving into the temptation to be as powerful as his

grandfather, Darth Vader.  Ben took on a

new name as a champion of the Dark Side: Kylo Ren.  Needless to say, the expectation Han and Leia

had for their son to grow into a force for good under the tutelage of Luke was

victimized by pride.

The expectation Adam and Eve had for their son, Cain, was

not unlike that of the expectation Han Solo and Princes Leia had for their

son.  When it came to the worship of

Yahweh, Cain brought a portion from his labors from the ground, while Abel

brought “the firstborn of his flock and

of their fat portions” in worship to the Lord.  Both men were raised by Adam and Eve to

worship their Creator, but between the two sons, there was a difference in how

they worshiped the Lord, and how God responded to their worship. 

After Adam and Eve

were forced out from the Garden due to their rebellion, God began to move

through human history to bring forth the promise He made to Adam and Eve, and

as He did, He provided more details of what that Seed would do for, and with, a

cursed creation.  God vowed to honor and

keep the promise He made to that first couple, but only in His own time. 

God Honors Worship that is Motivated by Love… Not Duty

The offering that

Cain and Abel brought to the LORD was their way of thanking God; it was their

way of worshiping Him for all the good that He brought into their lives through

their respective occupations.  Cain was a

farmer, so he brought the produce of His work to God, not because God needed

it, but as a way of worshiping Him.  Abel

was a shepherd, so he brought a portion of his labor before the LORD as an

offering.  In verse three we are told

that Cain brought his offering, “In the

course of time...” which is probably a reference to the end of the

agricultural season.  So, this was not

the first time Cain or Abel worshiped

Part 2 of “The Tree” – a study of Jesus’ family tree.

Genesis 4

What makes Star Wars

timeless and great, in my opinion, is that the film shares some of the

important themes from the Great Story.   In

the Great Story (the story of redemption in the Bible), the great serpent and

antagonist entered into the Garden where man and woman enjoyed true love with

both God and each other, they were tempted to sin against God by the

Serpent.  Adam and Eve ate the forbidden

fruit that God commanded them not to eat and God cursed all of creation because

of Adam and Eve’s rebellion. 

With the rebellion

of Adam and Eve came death and the vandalization of Shalom (God’s peace).  Every experience of life would, from that

moment on, become a reminder of death. 

For Adam, he would labor by sweat and blood to bring life from the

ground; for Eve, she would painfully labor with sweat and blood to bring forth

life from her womb.  But in the shadow of

evil and death, God gifted Adam and Eve with a promise – a prophecy – that the

great serpent would one day be destroyed:

I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you strike his heel.”(Genesis 3:15)

So who or what is

the serpent?  In Harry Potter,

he is the Dark Lord Voldemort. In The

Lord of the Rings, he is the Dark Lord Sauron.  In The

Wizard of Oz, he is the Wicked Witch of the West.  In The

Matrix, he is Agent Smith.  In The Chronicles of Narnia, he is the

White Witch. In Superman, He is Lex

Luther.  In The Dark Knight Returns, he is the Joker.  And, in Star

Wars he is Darth Vader and every evil Sith Lord before and after him.

After Luke Skywalker defeated Darth Vader, who happened to

also be his father, it seemed as though balance was brought to the

universe.  What we learned from the

seventh Star Wars movie in the trilogy, The Force Awakens, is that Han Solo and

Princes Leia had a son whom they named Ben. 

Because the force was strong with Ben, they sent him to be trained by

his uncle, Luke Skywalker until Ben was seduced to the Dark Side by Supreme

Leader Snoke, while giving into the temptation to be as powerful as his

grandfather, Darth Vader.  Ben took on a

new name as a champion of the Dark Side: Kylo Ren.  Needless to say, the expectation Han and Leia

had for their son to grow into a force for good under the tutelage of Luke was

victimized by pride.

The expectation Adam and Eve had for their son, Cain, was

not unlike that of the expectation Han Solo and Princes Leia had for their

son.  When it came to the worship of

Yahweh, Cain brought a portion from his labors from the ground, while Abel

brought “the firstborn of his flock and

of their fat portions” in worship to the Lord.  Both men were raised by Adam and Eve to

worship their Creator, but between the two sons, there was a difference in how

they worshiped the Lord, and how God responded to their worship. 

After Adam and Eve

were forced out from the Garden due to their rebellion, God began to move

through human history to bring forth the promise He made to Adam and Eve, and

as He did, He provided more details of what that Seed would do for, and with, a

cursed creation.  God vowed to honor and

keep the promise He made to that first couple, but only in His own time. 

God Honors Worship that is Motivated by Love… Not Duty

The offering that

Cain and Abel brought to the LORD was their way of thanking God; it was their

way of worshiping Him for all the good that He brought into their lives through

their respective occupations.  Cain was a

farmer, so he brought the produce of His work to God, not because God needed

it, but as a way of worshiping Him.  Abel

was a shepherd, so he brought a portion of his labor before the LORD as an

offering.  In verse three we are told

that Cain brought his offering, “In the

course of time...” which is probably a reference to the end of the

agricultural season.  So, this was not

the first time Cain or Abel worshiped

Part 2 of “The Tree” – a study of Jesus’ family tree.

Genesis 4

What makes Star Wars

timeless and great, in my opinion, is that the film shares some of the

important themes from the Great Story.   In

the Great Story (the story of redemption in the Bible), the great serpent and

antagonist entered into the Garden where man and woman enjoyed true love with

both God and each other, they were tempted to sin against God by the

Serpent.  Adam and Eve ate the forbidden

fruit that God commanded them not to eat and God cursed all of creation because

of Adam and Eve’s rebellion. 

With the rebellion

of Adam and Eve came death and the vandalization of Shalom (God’s peace).  Every experience of life would, from that

moment on, become a reminder of death. 

For Adam, he would labor by sweat and blood to bring life from the

ground; for Eve, she would painfully labor with sweat and blood to bring forth

life from her womb.  But in the shadow of

evil and death, God gifted Adam and Eve with a promise – a prophecy – that the

great serpent would one day be destroyed:

I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you strike his heel.”(Genesis 3:15)

So who or what is

the serpent?  In Harry Potter,

he is the Dark Lord Voldemort. In The

Lord of the Rings, he is the Dark Lord Sauron.  In The

Wizard of Oz, he is the Wicked Witch of the West.  In The

Matrix, he is Agent Smith.  In The Chronicles of Narnia, he is the

White Witch. In Superman, He is Lex

Luther.  In The Dark Knight Returns, he is the Joker.  And, in Star

Wars he is Darth Vader and every evil Sith Lord before and after him.

After Luke Skywalker defeated Darth Vader, who happened to

also be his father, it seemed as though balance was brought to the

universe.  What we learned from the

seventh Star Wars movie in the trilogy, The Force Awakens, is that Han Solo and

Princes Leia had a son whom they named Ben. 

Because the force was strong with Ben, they sent him to be trained by

his uncle, Luke Skywalker until Ben was seduced to the Dark Side by Supreme

Leader Snoke, while giving into the temptation to be as powerful as his

grandfather, Darth Vader.  Ben took on a

new name as a champion of the Dark Side: Kylo Ren.  Needless to say, the expectation Han and Leia

had for their son to grow into a force for good under the tutelage of Luke was

victimized by pride.

The expectation Adam and Eve had for their son, Cain, was

not unlike that of the expectation Han Solo and Princes Leia had for their

son.  When it came to the worship of

Yahweh, Cain brought a portion from his labors from the ground, while Abel

brought “the firstborn of his flock and

of their fat portions” in worship to the Lord.  Both men were raised by Adam and Eve to

worship their Creator, but between the two sons, there was a difference in how

they worshiped the Lord, and how God responded to their worship. 

After Adam and Eve

were forced out from the Garden due to their rebellion, God began to move

through human history to bring forth the promise He made to Adam and Eve, and

as He did, He provided more details of what that Seed would do for, and with, a

cursed creation.  God vowed to honor and

keep the promise He made to that first couple, but only in His own time. 

God Honors Worship that is Motivated by Love… Not Duty

The offering that

Cain and Abel brought to the LORD was their way of thanking God; it was their

way of worshiping Him for all the good that He brought into their lives through

their respective occupations.  Cain was a

farmer, so he brought the produce of His work to God, not because God needed

it, but as a way of worshiping Him.  Abel

was a shepherd, so he brought a portion of his labor before the LORD as an

offering.  In verse three we are told

that Cain brought his offering, “In the

course of time...” which is probably a reference to the end of the

agricultural season.  So, this was not

the first time Cain or Abel worshiped

Part 1 of “The Tree” – a study of Jesus’ family tree.

Genesis 1-3

G.K. Chesterton once wrote: “I had always felt life first as

a story: and if there is a story there is a story teller.”  This statement is why, I believe, we are able

to hear a bit of our story within the pages of the Bible.  God is the storyteller of creation and human

history, and we are the characters who find ourselves on the stage of his great

and grand story of redemption.

The types of people

that God wanted to follow Him were not people who had it all together

spiritually.  This statement is

especially true of the types of people who comprise Jesus’ family tree.  In Mathew 1:1-17, we are given a list of all

those in Jesus’ family tree that support Him being the rightful heir of King

David.  In Luke, we are given a similar

list of Jesus’ ancestors that prove that He was the promise made to

Abraham.   However, looking closer,  the individuals in Jesus’ family tree will

prove to be a bit scandalous.

Beginning with Adam, we are provided a list of ancestors, some

of whom were guilty of deceit, incest, rape, adultery, and murder.  We will not look at all of the people in

Jesus’ family tree, but we will look at some of the key people that comprise His

linage.  What you will discover in the

weeks to come is a God who not only turns evil around for good, but also takes

what is ugly and makes it beautiful.  

Included in Jesus family tree are people like Adam and Eve

who had their hearts crushed by a wayward firstborn son who murdered their

second son.  Also included in Jesus’

family tree is Noah, who, after he’d passed out drunk, was humiliated by one of

his sons.  Jesus is the descendant of Abraham

and Sarah whose marriage included deceit and a lack of faith. He is the

descendant of the son of Abraham’s nephew, Lot, whose daughters raped him while

drunk.  Also in Jesus’s family tree is

Jacob’s unwanted and ugly wife, Tamar, who disguised herself as a prostitute

for the purpose of getting pregnant by her father-in-law.  Also included were the brothel running prostitute

known as Rahab, and Ruth, who was from a people that despised the Hebrews, and

who can forget David, whose guilt of adultery and murder eventually divided his

kingdom.  With each of their stories, God

was able to transform what appeared to be categorically ugly into something

captivatingly beautiful.  As with all

family trees, we must start with the beginning. 

God is the Creator

The Bible starts

with the phrase: “In the beginning…”  What happened in the beginning?  “God created the heavens and the earth”

(v. 1). This is how we tell stories: “Once upon a time…” “A long, long time

ago…” In a galaxy far, far away…”  Like

all other stories, our story begins in the mind of God when, “The earth was without form and void, and

darkness was over the face of the deep” (v. 2). 

Out of the

imagination of the mind of God, came forth a world brimming with life and

worship.  On the first day, God created the

heavens and the earth; day and night.  On

the second day, He divided the heavens from the earth.  On the third day, God created the land, sea,

and vegetation.  On the forth day, He

created the sun, moon, and stars.  On the

fifth day, God created creatures great and small.  On the sixth day, God created land animals,

and finally mankind.  And, on the seventh

day… God rested. 

Out of the mind of

God came forth different rivers, multitudes of species of plants, trees, and

all kinds of vegetables and fruit.  Out

of the mind of God came the great dinosaurs, elephants, the giraffe, lions, and

tigers, and bears.  Out of the mind of

God came forth the great sea creatures, coral reefs, small fish, jellyfish,

snails, sea turtles, etc.  It was the

product of God’s unlimited imagination that the idea of human beings became a

reality after He said, “Let us make man

in our image, after our likeness” (v. 24).  Human beings were created

as unique category within creation, for we are the only crea

Part 1 of “The Tree” – a study of Jesus’ family tree.

Genesis 1-3

G.K. Chesterton once wrote: “I had always felt life first as

a story: and if there is a story there is a story teller.”  This statement is why, I believe, we are able

to hear a bit of our story within the pages of the Bible.  God is the storyteller of creation and human

history, and we are the characters who find ourselves on the stage of his great

and grand story of redemption.

The types of people

that God wanted to follow Him were not people who had it all together

spiritually.  This statement is

especially true of the types of people who comprise Jesus’ family tree.  In Mathew 1:1-17, we are given a list of all

those in Jesus’ family tree that support Him being the rightful heir of King

David.  In Luke, we are given a similar

list of Jesus’ ancestors that prove that He was the promise made to

Abraham.   However, looking closer,  the individuals in Jesus’ family tree will

prove to be a bit scandalous.

Beginning with Adam, we are provided a list of ancestors, some

of whom were guilty of deceit, incest, rape, adultery, and murder.  We will not look at all of the people in

Jesus’ family tree, but we will look at some of the key people that comprise His

linage.  What you will discover in the

weeks to come is a God who not only turns evil around for good, but also takes

what is ugly and makes it beautiful.  

Included in Jesus family tree are people like Adam and Eve

who had their hearts crushed by a wayward firstborn son who murdered their

second son.  Also included in Jesus’

family tree is Noah, who, after he’d passed out drunk, was humiliated by one of

his sons.  Jesus is the descendant of Abraham

and Sarah whose marriage included deceit and a lack of faith. He is the

descendant of the son of Abraham’s nephew, Lot, whose daughters raped him while

drunk.  Also in Jesus’s family tree is

Jacob’s unwanted and ugly wife, Tamar, who disguised herself as a prostitute

for the purpose of getting pregnant by her father-in-law.  Also included were the brothel running prostitute

known as Rahab, and Ruth, who was from a people that despised the Hebrews, and

who can forget David, whose guilt of adultery and murder eventually divided his

kingdom.  With each of their stories, God

was able to transform what appeared to be categorically ugly into something

captivatingly beautiful.  As with all

family trees, we must start with the beginning. 

God is the Creator

The Bible starts

with the phrase: “In the beginning…”  What happened in the beginning?  “God created the heavens and the earth”

(v. 1). This is how we tell stories: “Once upon a time…” “A long, long time

ago…” In a galaxy far, far away…”  Like

all other stories, our story begins in the mind of God when, “The earth was without form and void, and

darkness was over the face of the deep” (v. 2). 

Out of the

imagination of the mind of God, came forth a world brimming with life and

worship.  On the first day, God created the

heavens and the earth; day and night.  On

the second day, He divided the heavens from the earth.  On the third day, God created the land, sea,

and vegetation.  On the forth day, He

created the sun, moon, and stars.  On the

fifth day, God created creatures great and small.  On the sixth day, God created land animals,

and finally mankind.  And, on the seventh

day… God rested. 

Out of the mind of

God came forth different rivers, multitudes of species of plants, trees, and

all kinds of vegetables and fruit.  Out

of the mind of God came the great dinosaurs, elephants, the giraffe, lions, and

tigers, and bears.  Out of the mind of

God came forth the great sea creatures, coral reefs, small fish, jellyfish,

snails, sea turtles, etc.  It was the

product of God’s unlimited imagination that the idea of human beings became a

reality after He said, “Let us make man

in our image, after our likeness” (v. 24).  Human beings were created

as unique category within creation, for we are the only crea