Jesus and Genesis #2

You cannot go one step toward denying Genesis before you are immediately met with the authority of Christ same. What do you think you're doing because Jesus constantly treats Genesis as straight forward record of fact were glad you joined us on the truth pulpit with Don green founding pastor of truth Community Church in Cincinnati, Ohio. I again I feel right and today John continues our series, you can trust Genesis with part two of a message titled Jesus in Genesis last time Don traced the lines of authority for the book of Genesis, starting with the authority of Jesus, who authenticated the Old Testament today. Our teacher will get down to the specifics of Genesis itself will see from a survey of gospel versus how Jesus sees this first book of the Bible and in turn how we should see it. So open your Bible as we join Don green now in the truth. Pulpit Jesus in Genesis never going to go through this really quickly.

First of all, we see that Jesus affirmed the Genesis account of creation that is found in the first two chapters of Genesis. Go to the gospel of Mark chapter 10 beginning in verse six, but from the beginning of creation God made them male and female. For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and the two shall become one flesh. So they are no longer to 1/Jesus looks back, points to the creation account in the first two chapters of Genesis and says this is what happened and he builds theology for his day and for all future days based on the factual historical accuracy and reality of what was recorded in Genesis 1 and two. Jesus affirmed the creation in Genesis 1 and two, you can only get to the scientific objections to creation. You can only get to worldly scientific theories of evolution or theistic evolution or things like that you can only get to those by stepping over Jesus and ignoring what he says and for the biblical Christian submitted to the Lordship of Christ. In his mind as well as in his conduct that is unthinkable can't go there now.

Jesus affirmed the history of Adams son able which we read about in Genesis chapter 4. Look at the gospel of Luke chapter 11, you remember that Cain killed his brother Abel.

In Genesis chapter 4, so the chaos of of murder and sin in society had an early route.

Jesus said in Luke chapter 11 verse 49. For this reason also the wisdom of God said, I will send to them. Prophets and apostles, and some of them they will kill and some they will persecute so that the blood of all the prophets shed since the foundation of the world may be charged against this generation. Here it is from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah, the blood of Abel. Genesis chapter 4 verse eight Jesus quotes that alludes to that refers to that as a factual historical occurrence in time and space which lays the ground for the judgment on the generation that stood before him, beloved, he affirmed the teaching of Genesis chapter 4 about the murder of a you go on Matthew 24 verse 37 Jesus says the coming of the Son of Man will be just like the days of Noah Faraz in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and they did not understand until the flood came and took them all away, so will the coming of the son of man be.

Jesus is speaking about his future coming he grounds its reality.

He grounds what it will be like in the day of his second coming on what the nature of the world was like in the days of Noah and the days of the flood in the days of the ark, beloved, don't miss it.

The reality of his future coming he premises on the reality of the past described and recorded for us in full historical accuracy in Genesis 6 through nine. That's powerful for the Christian submitted to the Lordship of Christ that is conclusive. The flood happened because it's recorded in Genesis go still further, Jesus affirmed the history of Abraham which begins at the end of chapter 11 in Genesis look at the gospel of John chapter 8 John chapter 8 in verse 56 Jesus speaking to hostile Jews says your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day and he sought and was glad. So the Jews said to him you are not yet 50 years old and have you seen Abraham.

Jesus said to them, truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was born, I am Abraham was born, Jesus refers to Abraham is a literal historical figure and even premises in a manner of speaking, asserts his deity, asserts his assets in relationship to his preexistence to Abraham. Abraham was real and the deity of Christ is real. Jesus affirmed the story of Sodom and Gomorrah found in Genesis 18 and 19.

You can see this in Matthew 11 will look at Luke chapter 17 for the sake of time beginning in verse 28 Luke 17 verse 28.

It was the same as happened in the days of Lot.

They were eating, they were drinking they were buying.

They were selling. They were planting. They were building but on the day that Lot went out from Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven and destroyed them all. Jesus looks at that singular day of judgment and says that is what really happened and again premises is future coming based on that past event, verse 30. It will be just the same. Just the same as it happened in the day of Sodom on that day yet to come for us.

Even now on that day that the Son of Man is revealed. Jesus affirmed the rest of Genesis Genesis 22 through 50 in a very broad way.

Look at Luke chapter 13 verse 28 in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. When you see Abraham and Isaac, and Jacob.

The three primary patriarchs of Israel recorded in Genesis.

Jesus refers to them in a global comprehensive way when you see them in all the prophets in the kingdom of God but yourselves being thrown out.

Jesus says, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob will be in the kingdom of God and so saying that stating it in the indicative. The future indicative they will be there.

He affirms their reality and where do we know about their reality we know it from the testimony of Genesis in those broad chapters from Bert chapter 22 when Abraham going back to Chapter 11 all the way through chapter 50 now beloved. That's a brief survey and here's here's what I want you to see about what we just covered ever so quickly.

The cumulative weight of these many references from Genesis is conclusive for understanding the perspective that Jesus had toward the book of Genesis from creation through Jacob just in this brief survey that we seen you see in every instance, he affirms that without qualification, without embarrassment, without diminishment.

Today's critic might be able to step around one or two of these boulders in his effort to discredit the book of Genesis and evade the force of Jesus's teaching on its historicity. But when you take them in combination. When you take them all together, these individual boulders turn into an avalanche that fall upon the critic.

It is an avalanche that buries his unbelief that that demolishes his effort to undermine Genesis while still somehow holding to the authority of Christ. You cannot have it both ways. If you want to reject Genesis you must understand that you are rejecting Christ at the same time because they go together. Jesus has put all of his teaching authority all of his deity.

All of his assertions of truth and put the full weight of his authority behind the teaching of all of Genesis in his ministry. And so you cannot go one step toward denying Genesis before you are immediately met with the authority of Christ same. What do you think you're doing because Jesus constantly treats Genesis as straight forward record of fact you cannot isolate Genesis from the authority of Christ.

And so, as you deal with different scientific theories different biblical theories.

Beloved have the wisdom have the discernment have the perspective to realize that you cannot let today's critic put blinders on, so that you are only looking at the very narrow thing that they want you to see. Take off the blinders and see the full perspective. What is the full context of the flood. What's the book of Genesis, the Pentateuch, the Old Testament, all of the Bible and then you ask the determinative question for yourself as a believer you say, what does Christ say Christ says Genesis is true. Christ says the flood is true.

All believe Christ over all else. And so, from the primary principle of the authority of Christ. We derive the necessary corollary of the authority of Genesis and we follow that and we see the authority of the account of the flood and we realize that there is this great harmony of testimony, the harmony of the testimony of Scripture in harmony with the things we saw from the geologic record and we step back in the midst of an unbelieving world and we say praise God. God has has saved me. God has given me a new mind.

Contrary to the world. I have the real truth premised not on my opinion not on what I think the based on something outside of me. Something that is true. If I had never existed. The authority of Christ giving testimony to the authority of his word. In general, and in details including about the flood in our minds are anchored in truth. Is it possible that Jesus was mistaken, was he limited in knowledge.

Was he unaware of what he did not know now that's not possible. Such a an assertion such a postulate is not consistent with the deity of Christ or his own claim of authority. Jesus said in Matthew 24 verse 35. He said heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away. There is an enduring abiding authority to what I say they will never be truly contradicted the authority of what I say.

Christ said stands forever not possible that he was mistaken and you know what else along that same vein, such a thought would've been unthinkable to his disciples. Those who were closest to him. The apostle John in his gospel said that Jesus himself knew what was in man and assertion of his omniscience. John chapter 2 verse 25 after the resurrection.

Peter said to Christ, he said, Lord, you know all things. Those who knew him best even on a human level recognize divine omniscience in him in a way perfectly consistent with what Christ said about himself that his words would not pass away.

You know what else the resurrection of Christ validates everything that he said this is supernatural, the resurrection of Christ is the imprimatur on the truthfulness of everything that he taught a supernatural vindication of the of the man Christ Jesus and everything that that man taught vindicated by his resurrection, Christ made no mistakes.

There were no errors in his thought out. Upon the suggestion. Secondly, sometimes people say this stated in question form did Jesus accommodate his teaching to his audience that he accommodate what he taught to conform to the prevailing beliefs of his audience in his day.

The idea is this did Jesus pretend to agree with his audience because they believed Genesis even though Jesus himself knew better, and so he didn't want to even want to come in and overturn the applecart and just overwhelm them with too much information, so we accommodated their their mistaken belief about the historical accuracy of Genesis in order to somehow accomplish a greater purpose to bring him along slowly. You might say, the idea that Christ did this to avoid unsettling his hearers. Maybe over the process of time, he could gradually bring them from their mistaken beliefs to the truth that explain this. Could that explain the avalanche that's falling down on unbelief of all of these references in Genesis. Could that be possible.

No, no that that can't possibly be true. Jesus Christ claimed authority for everything that he said my words will not pass away. My words will not be found to be untrue. Read read the Gospels, read how Jesus interacted with the Pharisees, for example, in Matthew 23 alone. He calls them fools, blind guides, hypocrites and serpents are those the words of a man who is trying to accommodate himself to the unbelief of his audience to the mistaken means of their thinking.

No, no, Christ was the preeminent man of courage and and came from heaven and directly contradicted mistaken false traditions when he found them. He didn't confirm people in their unbelief by tricking them and saying to them things that he knew wasn't true. What kind of Christ is that where you get that picture of Jesus out of the Gospels. Besides, look at Mark chapter 8, this would be the last text we go to Mark chapter 8. Christ never hesitated to confront unbelief.

Remember when Peter took Jesus aside and started to rebuke him after Jesus said he is going to be crucified and killed on and rise again on the third day, Peter took him aside Mark chapter 8 verse 32 began to rebuke him. I don't know what was going through Peter's mind right then Todd got an idea. All correct the Lord and what he says That's that's that's your first pope I would look someplace else.

It's enough force to see Jesus's willingness to directly confront the mistaken assumptions and words of his audience in verse 33, turning around and seeing his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said get behind me Satan, for you are not setting your mind on God's interests, but man's had no problems rebuking and confronting unbelief when it occurred to them when it was manifested in his presence cc the problem here with the critics view of Genesis and the way that they try to evade the force of Jesus in Genesis. The problem is not the Jesus was mistaken. The problem is not the Jesus was deceptive in his teaching. The error and the deception or with entirely. The critics of Scripture and that brings us to the point of moral choice. This consideration of Jesus and Genesis then leaves us leaves you leaves the world with a moral choice to make.

In response to him. Jesus insisted on it. Look at verse 34 of Mark eight, he summoned the crowd with his disciples so this is a mixed group believing unbelieving representative of all the world, he summoned the crowd with his disciples and said to them, if anyone, therefore this applies across all time across all cultures cross male cross female cross old young intelligent, less educated, crosses every conceivable social and geographic line every chronological barrier.

Everyone is brought under the sound of this demand from Christ. If anyone wishes to come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the Gospels will save it for what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul for what will a man give in exchange for his soul. Look at it here for whoever is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will also be ashamed of him when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels. The authority of Christ the authority of the Old Testament, the authority of Genesis and Christ says if you're ashamed of my words all be ashamed of you and the judgment. You don't want to be there. Do you, do you believe Christ and his word.

Beloved, if so, I tell you, on the authority of Scripture. Your hope is well-founded. Your belief is true no matter how many waves of PhD's come against you if you question Christ, if you question is word I call you to repent of your sin against him to repent of that unbelief and to bring your heart, soul and mind to bring all of your being into submission to the Lordship of Christ to trust him alone for your salvation, and that mind that he is given to you to handed over to be used in the service of this great beloved, the consequences of your response to that demand of Christ will echo throughout all of eternity better for the worse as pastor Don Greene has asserted today on the truth pulpit. You can't claim to accept the Lordship of Jesus Christ and then proceed to contradicted shoreward. Well, it follows that the apostles of our Lord would reaffirm Christ's teaching on the subject and will see that on our next broadcast as we continue our series, you can trust. Genesis keep studying with us here on the truth pulpit but right now here's Don with some exciting ministry news my friend. It's always meaningful for me to be able to preach God's word to God's people and to share with you here on the radio recently I completed a series that is one of my all-time favorites. It's called the Bible and Roman Catholicism was several messages designed to test Catholic teaching by what Scripture says we like to share a copy of that with you a full complete CD album of 10 messages just go to our website and requested or you'll find the downloads we just want you to have this material at no cost as our gift and ministry to you. Thanks Don and Fred as Don mentioned, visit us at the truth. Pulpit.com to learn more. And while you're there, you can also find other great resources like three CDs of John's teaching. That's all it the truth. Pulpit.com I feel right and will see you next time on the truthful