TEACHING ON THE CHARACTERS FROM THE OLD TESTAMENT

I have been teaching on the characters from the Old Testament in my Wend. morn. class at church. The first character was God Himself, my notes coming from a sermon I once preached when I was a pastor in North Carolina. Here are the notes (They are out of order, but that is how they came out when I cut and pasted. One may not know what I am refering to, but I do):

Genesis 1-3:Knowing God, and

Knowing He is Good. 08/29/04

Know people by their fruit-a

godly/secular principle

Founding Fathers

Florence Nightingale, Wilberforce
Creation declares God good-

seasons-Watchman Nee/Old Man

Adam/Eve had the evidence

through surroundings/relationship

with God. Read Gen. 1-2.

Gen. 3-serpent more cunning-

make Eve doubt, slander God.

Strat-Is it sin? Deny danger,assert

possitive effects. Goal-give us

false image of God. This is sin-

deliberate disobedience to further

self-act of non-love.

Tozer-“The Church has

surrendered her once lofty concept

of God and has substituted for

it one so low, so ignoble, as to

be utterly unworthy of thinking,

worshipping men.”

Tozer-“Modern Christianity is

simply not producing the kind of

Christian who can appreciate or

experience the life in the Spirit.

The words “Be Still and Know

That I Am God” mean next to

nothing to the self confident,

bustling 20th century mind.”

Rom.1:18-20-For the wrath of God

is revealed from heaven against all

ungodliness and unrighteousness

of men, who suppress the truth

in unrighteousness, because what

may be known of God is manifest

in them, for God has shown it to

them. For since the creation of

the world His invisible attributes

are clearly seen, being understood

by the things that are made, even

His eternal power and Godhead, so

that they are without excuse.

1:4,10,12,18,21,25-”It was good.”

1:31-“Indeed it was very good.”

2:15-Adam in

garden,responsibility,name

animals, given helper. V17-only

one law.



“Has God indeed said?”



ICor 13-tells us to think no evil

of each other-but Satan gets us

to think the worst-before we sin

against others, we have low view

of them.



Little by little-20th century.



Lost sense of awe-why we don’t

do our best for God, know His

presence or His goodness.



How do we know God’s

goodness? Luke 11: 9-13- Ask,

seek, knock.

Here are the rest of my notes from the classes taught thus far. The may seem skimpy, but there is a good deal of discussion on Wend. morning:

Adam:


Name Adam- of the ground.

Gen. 1:26- Image Bearer, Dominion, “us”, the Trinity.

Adam was to carry on the activity of God in the cultivation and guarding of the garden in a world already made perfect. God made earth for Man and Man for the earth. God is seen as benevolent and caring. Man was to multiply so to bear God’s image over all the earth. The builders of the Tower of Babel wanted to stay in one place and make a monument to them selves.

Gen. 2:7- Breath of life, Man was shaped by God.

Gen. 2: 15-20- One law. Companion Gen. 5:2 (Mt. 19:4)

Gen. 3- He ate. 1Tim 2:14, Adam not deceived. Rom. 5:13-14, Sin, death through Adam, we are not all guilty of Adam’s specific sin. We are born with the propensity to sin. 1Cor. 15:22, in Adam, all die while in Christ all are made alive. Rom 5: 15-21, through the offense, death reigned but the gift is life through Jesus Christ. When Adam sinned, he hid from God, blamed the woman, accused God. Man lost fellowship with God and with each other. God made skins for them; something had to die for sins.

Gen. 3:15- Promise of salvation.

Gen. 3:20- faith of Adam, called Eve the mother of all living.

Gen. 4, 5- Family of Cain/Seth. Call on the name of the Lord. Adam lives till Methuselah’s time. Told generations of his experiences.

Gen. 3: 17-19, Gen. 8:21.



Eve:

Called woman, “taken out of man,” Hebrew, “Isha taken out of Ish”; rib or side.

Called Adam Gen5:2- Mankind, See Gen. 3:22-24.

Called Eve- Gen. 3:20, “the mother of all living, life giving, the mother of all who have life.”

Gen. 3: 1-7, How Satan tempts Eve.

Gen. 3:16, Judgment on Eve.

Eve names her children, Gen. 4:1, 25.

Mark 10:6- Jesus states Man was created male, female in the very beginning.

Are women to be subordinate?

“…neither is man independent of woman, nor woman independent of man, in the Lord. For as woman came from man, even so, man also comes through woman, but all things are from God.” 1Cor. 3:11-12. See also Gal. 3:28, Eph. 5:21.



Cain, Abel, Seth:

Gen. 4: 1-2—Cain- acquisition or possession. Abel- breath or vapor.

Gen 4:25—Seth- substitute

“In the course of time Cain brought some of the fruits of the soil as an offering to the Lord. But Abel brought fat portions from the first born of his flock.” Gen. 4: 3-4 NIV

Abel, a true sacrifice by faith- “By faith Abel offered to God a most excellent sacrifice than Cain, through which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts; and through it he being dead still speaks.” Heb. 11:4.

Gen 4: 6-8:

The Lord told Cain why he would not accept his offering.

No good reason for Cain’s anger.

There was a path to acceptance.

Cain must master sin.

Gen. 4:9- Parents had hid from God, but Cain disrespected God, had no remorse for his brother, lied to God? What are the two greatest commandments? Love God and neighbor. Cain violated both.

God knew what Cain had done, but he was testing whether Cain was repentant.

Gen. 4: 10-15- punishment- Cain’s reaction- no remorse for deed, but sorrow for being caught. Worldly sorrow. God is merciful to him.

Gen. 4: 16-24- increase in sin through Cain’s generations:

Out of God’s presence

Named city after son, self promotion.

20-22- beginning of commerce, culture, crafts, without reference to God.

23-24- sinful boast. Cain’s nature passed on.

What about Cain? Why did he kill his brother? 1Jn. 3:11-15- no love for his brother. The model for false teachers- Jude 11.

Abel was 1st righteous man, first to be murdered. Why was he murdered? He was righteous. Why do the righteous suffer? Because they are righteous.

Abel’s blood speaks of justice, vengeance, Jesus’ blood, of forgiveness.

Gen. 4: 25-26- Seth as substitute, Man began calling on the name of the Lord. Adam and Eve had learned their lesson.