The Bible is the revelation of God’s will to man. It is a self-disclosure by God, giving us information we could not gain from any other source. It begins with the book of Genesis, explaining in just a few chapters, how the human race was brought into existence by the personal activity of the God who created the universe. It shows that the first man and woman were the objects of his love and special attention. They were created “in his image” (Genesis 1:26-27), and were given the privilege of regular communication with him (Genesis 2:15-17; 3:8). One man and one woman were appointed, not only as the progenitors of our race, but also as God’s stewards, his custodians and caretakers over the creation. They were created with the characteristics of mind, emotions, personality, and will. They were made creative, imaginative, inventive, artistic, capable of loving and being loved–and above all, able to worship. As the account of Genesis continued, the problem of evil surfaced. Even though Adam and Eve had been created perfect, they had also been created with the ability to choose, or reject, God’s will for them. In theory, they could have chosen to obey God completely. Instead, being tempted by Satan, they partook of the forbidden fruit (Genesis 3). Evil did not begin with man but with a rebellion among the angels. The angelic rebellion damaged the created universe and its invisible angelic government (Isaiah 14:12ff. Ezekiel 28:12ff.). It also brought about the possibility that man, too, could choose a course of action contrary to the perfect ways of God. This first human sin alienated our original parents from their creator. Instead of looking forward to walking with him in the garden, they hid themselves from him (Genesis 3:8-10). The separation from God that is the result of sin is the greatest of all problems for the human race. God had warned Adam that if he disobeyed, “you will surely die” (Genesis 2:17). Adam did not die immediately in a physical sense, although the process of aging and eventual death was triggered by this event of rebellion. But Adam died spiritually (Romans 5:12). The word “death” in the Bible actually means “separation.” Thus, when a person dies physically, there is a separation between the physical and the non-physical aspects of his being: his Soul and Spirit. The body is laid to rest where it will return to dust (Genesis 3:19), while the immaterial part of man goes on to wait the judgment, and the eventual destination of heaven or hell (Luke 16:19-31). There is also a spiritual death separation of man’s spirit from the spirit of his Creator. This is what the Apostle Paul had in mind when he declared, As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, 2 in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. – Ephesians 2:1-2 Sin, therefore, poses the greatest of all threats to the well-being of our race. Man’s fall resulted in his spiritual death. His body was genetically damaged so that all men are mortal because of the sin of Adam. Men cut off from the source of life have no hope–and God IS Life! All life, all forms of life, come from God. Being disconnected from the source of life (for any reason) means an organism will begin to die, and continue to die. Men begin to die as soon as they are born, but God in his love for us did not abandon us in our plight. A god who was simply good might have declared the human experiment a failure, and would have left us to suffer the consequences of our rebellion, or, perhaps, would have put us out of our misery, snuffing out the planet with a momentary explosion, in order to preserve the rest of his creation from possible contamination. A god who was simply just could have easily allowed anarchists and rebels to perish. After all it is his universe not ours. But God is not simply good, nor simply just. Above all he is holy, and he is a God of love. His very nature is love (1 John 4:8). In his love, he sought to reestablish a relationship with Adam and Eve by seeking them out. When they hid from him, the Lord found them and offered a way back, a way of restoration. That restoration involved wearing the skins of an animal sacrifice. An animal sacrificed by God himself was the first creature to die. The death of the animal was symbolic of the physical death they deserved to die. It demonstrated a great principle of Scripture that “without the shedding of blood there is no remission (removal) of sin.” The concept of a substitutionary atoning sacrifice was introduced. Before they received this gift from God, they were in a state of being spiritually dead-cut off from him. But when they received it and wore it, they were in effect confessing their sin and their inability to solve the problem for themselves. The death of that first animal on their behalf became a “covering” for their sin (Genesis 3:21). Fig leaves and other forms of clothing would come to be symbols of man’s selfrighteousness. Sin causes man to lose his own righteousness as the prophets tell us, “All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags” (Isaiah 64:6). This would later be the basis for the institution of the system of animal sacrifices and would teach us about “imputed righteousness”–that inherent goodness of Christ with which we are clothed when we place our faith in him. And the animal sacrifices, in turn, point to a future final sacrifice by the Messiah. That is why Paul continued the explanation in Ephesians this way: But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, 5made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. – Ephesians 2:4-5 The next few chapters of Genesis trace the spread of the human race and its eventual corruption–within less than 2000 years–to the point that God needed to send a flood to destroy the evil. Again, he did not destroy the entire planet, but, in love and grace, God preserved the eight persons who still trusted in him. Therefore, Noah and his family were saved (Genesis 6- 10). After the Flood, God told men to “be fruitful and increase in number and fill the earth” (Genesis 9:1). This would require them to gradually migrate in all directions. Some were undoubtedly obedient to God‘s will, but many of them decided to rebel. They built a city and a tower at Babylon, and established there a false religious system in an effort to disobey God and stay together on their own terms. God confused their languages so they could no longer work together (Genesis 11).
Chosen to Share the Truth
Several hundred years later people had established cultures in many places. There were some who still retained the truth passed down to them by their fathers from the time of Noah, but there were many who had abandoned that truth. God picked out one man, from the city of Ur of the Chaldees, a place where most people no longer believed in him. He called Abram (later named Abraham) with these words: The LORD had said to Abram, “Leave your country, your people and your father’s household and go to the land I will show you. 2 “I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing.‖ – Genesis 12:1-2
The Covenants
God does not act whimsically or arbitrarily, but deals with individuals and nations on the basis of great contracts or covenants that he himself initiates. The very name Yahweh is known as the “covenant name” of God. Yahweh is related to the Hebrew verb “to be” and indicates that God is a living Person who enters into personal relationships with individuals and with groups of individuals. Everything God has done in regards to our salvation is based on one or more of the covenants God has made in the past. None of these has been abrogated or annulled. Even before Abraham’s time God had made a covenant with Noah on behalf of the whole human race. That covenant was a promise never again to destroy the earth with a flood. (Genesis 9:8-17) There are groups of churches today that stress what they call “covenantal theology.” We do not disagree with this emphasis on the ways God has chosen to enter into contracts with his peoples. However many of the “covenant churches” would not necessarily agree with our eschatology. The subject of covenants in the Bible is important and complex. Appendix E – Notes on the Covenants in the Bible, introduces this subject for the serious student. Five principle covenants–all still in effect–apply to the nation of Israel. These include the Abrahamic Covenant (later confirmed to Isaac and Jacob), The Mosaic Covenant, the Covenant of The Land, the Davidic Covenant, and the New Covenant
The Purpose of a “Chosen People”: Blessing of All Nations
The Abrahamic Covenant was the promise of a special blessing for Abraham’s descendants: a “chosen” people. But it is obviously not for their benefit alone, but that, through them, all people would be blessed! ―I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.” – Genesis 12:3 The promised benefit to the whole human race was later revealed as the Messiah – – the Deliverer from the penalty of sin. That is, the promise to Abraham was really the promise of one unique seed, Messiah, in whom all the covenants would find their fulfillment (Galatians 3:16). The theological term “eternal covenant” refers to an agreement within the Godhead, made before the foundation of the world, out of which all the covenants with mankind would later flow.
