November 13, 2011
Scripture:
Turn to Hebrews 2:9: “But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death.” We have been thinking of that suffering of death, the suffering for our sins. But then, with only a comma between, “crowned with glory and honour.” How can we fathom the depth of that suffering, or the brightness of that glory?
But read on: “that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man. For it became him, for whom are all things, and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory.” We can’t comprehend His sufferings, and we will never have to. But when it comes to the glory, we will be part of it! We will be brought into it by the work He has done on our behalf. Yes, we can joy in our God, whose counsel it was that all these things should happen.
Hymn 312 - Jesus loves me, this I know
Prayer
We have been studying Genesis for a long time, and today we will finally come to the end. After Jacob came to Egypt, he lived there until he passed away. Before he died, he blessed his family and prophesied about their future.
Read Genesis 50:22 - 26
Joseph was getting older: he was a great grandfather. Before he died he wanted to tell his family something. Joseph told them that God would visit them and that He would take them out of the land of Egypt and bring them to the land that God had promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
We know that God did keep His promise. We, like Joseph, have a promise to claim: the Lord Jesus has said that He will come and take us to Himself. We know from His word that He will not fail us.
Next, Joseph requested that they take his bones with them when they went to the Promised Land. He didn’t want his remains to stay in Egypt. So, here we are at the end of Joseph’s life. When he died, they embalmed his body to preserve it.
It’s interesting to note that Genesis begins with “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.” and ends with “and Joseph died.” It seems that Genesis is a complete story; but really, everything that begins in Genesis ends in Revelation.
In conclusion, here’s a good outline of the book of Genesis.
Much More
Joseph
Abraham … was chosen; received a son.
So this brings us to the end of Genesis. It has been really precious to go through Genesis and see how God worked in the lives of its six prominent men.
Luke 8:16-25
We looked at the fruit from the seed - which was for God - and the light - which is for man. When we receive life, we then receive a testimony; our light. This light reveals sins, so the wicked don’t like it. It exposes the fact that their condition isn’t suitable. The light of God’s Word helps us, as Christians, to judge what is not consistent with that light.
Verse 18 tells is to “Be careful how ye hear”. Mark 14:24 says “What ye hear”. Both are important. What we take in, through hearing and seeing, is important. There is a lot of propagation out there that isn’t the Good Seed from the sower, but rather seed from the world. What are we feeding on?
However, our passage says, “Be careful how ye hear.” Different ways to hear are illustrated in the parable of the sower. Is our heart hard like the ground on the wayside? That seed bounced off, and the birds ate it. Do we let the word of God bounce off our ears and give Satan a chance to take it?
Then there is the stoney ground hearer. These ears take in the word, and that person might even enjoy the word - until trials come. Some people have considered the Gospel until someone starts mocking it; and they can’t stand the persecution and say, “I’m not getting in on this.” Then there are the thorny-ground hearers. What do we have in our lives that is keeping us from hearing the Word?
In our private time in the Word, we need to let the Word get into our hearts to do it’s work. Some people only want to hear certain things from the Word, but we must take it all. What we hear, and how we hear is a message for all of us.
The rest of the verse is an exercise as well. We can let the truth into our hearts, live by it, compound it, and grow; or we can backslide and lose what truth we did have. We can either grow or backslide. We can’t stand still, and it all depends on how we receive the truth. We can get so enchanted with things that we think have value, but in the end are a loss spiritually. We need to spend time in what is really valuable.
Verses 19-20. These were natural relationships, and we don’t neglect them after we are saved, but our Lord used this opportunity to teach an important lesson. V20. It’s not just what we hear, or how we hear, but we also have to act on it. We need to be doers of the word. This brings us into relationship with the Lord. It all goes back to the word. God told Joshua that he would be successful if he meditated in the word. Meditation brings us close to Jesus so that we can walk with Him.
We need to take the word in faith; and that means the whole thing, we can’t be selective hearers. We also can’t bring our ideas to the Bible and try to manipulate passages to fit.
The Bible has something that no other book has : an interpreter, if we know the Author. We have the Holy Ghost to guide us in understanding it. Also, the Bible is practical for today, it’s information is not obsolete like so many other books. It’s lessons are many and deep. God has given us many instructions because He wants to see us come into port under full sail. In addition to all this, there are many precious promises given to us if we obey. This is truly a Book that stands alone. Other books have some value, but the Bible is truly outstanding.
Next time, we’ll see that Jesus told the disciples to “Come over to the other side” of the lake. In reality, our journey is a journey to the other side. And as we’ll see, it’s not always easy.
Hymn 293 - A little ship was on the sea
Prayer