Genesis And End-Time Events

Introduction: Tonight we're going to be looking at Genesis

and End time events- might ask - why Genesis? - thats the

book of beginings, I thought this series was about end-time

events

- Let me try to answer the question: Why begin a study of

end-time events with "the beginnings"?

1) because Scripture is a unified whole (it all fits

together)

- i.e. Pastor's message - Luke 1 (read 26-33) - that

is not just the story children recite at

Christmastime - ITS ESCHATOLOGY

- one of our goals in this series is to help us

understand how the various parts of the Bible fit

together

- How does man being given dominion in Gen. 1 affect

the condemnation in Rom. 1 that man worshipped the

creation instead of the Creator

- what if anything does that have to do with living a

feeling oriented lifestyle?

- How does the fall of man explain the significance of

the marriage supper of the lamb?

Point - Looking at the beginnings should help us tie some

things together and see Scripture as a unified whole

2) to gain a fuller understanding of the significance of

end-time events

- the fact taht the millennial kingdon will take place

on this earth does not seem that significant until

we realize that God promised Abraham in Gen. 12 that

his people would have a land

- thats why the Jews have fought over seemingly

insignificant pieces of land for years and thats why

the millennial kingdom beeing set up on this earth

is so critical

Point - end-time events will become more significant in our

thinking if we understand their roots

3) - to realize and accept our responsibility in the

"end-time" process

- one of the best things you can do for a production

worker is let him see how his job fits into the

overall production of the product

- it can be pretty boring assebling brake shoes all

day, but if he sees that his job is necessary for

the overall operation of that car, and that him

failing to do his job will hinder the work of

others, then it will be easier for him to work

hard at his job with care and enthusiasm

Point - Tonight and throughout this study we are going to

see how our present responsibilities as believers

fit into the overall plan and program of God

Tonight I'd like us to look at 4 truths from the beginnings

that will help us understand the end

I. The Lord Is King Forever

- One of the misconceptions about prophecy is that this

world is out of control and the end time events are where

God brings the whole thing back under wraps.

- The problem with that is that the Scripture clearly

teaches that God has been the king, is the king, and will

always be the king

- here's a couple of trues about God's kingdom (we're going

to study this subject in more depth in two weeks)

A. exists without interruption

Psalm 10:16 - The Lord is king forever and ever

Jer. 10:2-5, 10 (read)

B. includes all that exists

I Chron. 29:11 - "Thine, O Lord, is the greatness and

the power, and the glory, and the victory, and the majesty;

for all that is the heaven and in the earth is thine. Thine

is the kingdom, O Lord, and thou art exalted as head above

all"

Thats great news for all believers. While God is

certainly not responsible for all that happens today,

there is nothing that happens that is outside of His

control.

- that means two things

1) everything that happens in your life happens

for a purpose

- the existential view of life which says life

is meaningless is terru\ibly depressing, but a

believer doesn't have to life that way because

the God of heaven is king

2) God won't give you more than you can handle

- realize there are some here going through

deep waters

- remember, God is faithful and won't

permit you to be tempted more than you

are able, but will provide a way of

escape that ye may be able to bear it

- Now if I said that, you'd say, "thats

nice pastor, but you don't have any

control" but God can make that promise

because he's the king

Might say - thats great (and it is) - but what does that have

to do with eschatology?

Answer is - Because god is King from everlasting to

everlasting, He has the right to delegate authority

ITS THAT VERY ISSUE THAT MADE END TIME EVENTS NECESSARY

(that brings us to our next point)

II. Man Given Dominion & Responsibility

- One of the verses I asked you to read for tonight was

Gen. 1:26

- (diagram) - verse has implications to all of human

history

- Read verse

A. made in the image of God

- very broad subject, but for our concerns:

- able to think rationally

- morally responsible

- has a conscience

B. A "dominion haver"

- under God's rule, man was said to have dominion

over the other aspects of creation

- as a result, he was to rule over and subdue his

world, the animal kingdom, and his own physical

body

- he was to name the animals

- love his wife and meet her needs

- dress the garden

- obey God's commands and enjoy His fellowship

Therefore, it was God's intent that:

1) man be God's representative, ambassador, ruler

under God and that man would:

2) subdue his kingdom

Point - thats why Romans 1 is such a sickening

passage where God reports that man exchanged

the truth of God for a lie and worshipped the

creature more than the Creator.

- thats why the issue of self-control is such a

dominant theme in Scripture

- From the very beginning, God wanted men and

women who would accept the responsibility of

controlling themselves and their worlds for

His glory

(Pete Rose Article?)

Of course, that explains why every man and woman has

to be judged. That explains why believers

must appear before the judgement seat of

Christ to receive the things done in their

bodies, whether they be good or bad

- it explains why God wants us to face

temptations, and handle them

- it explains why he wants us to face trials,

and handle them

- it explains why he wants us to bring into

captivity every thought to the obedience of

Christ

- it also explains why it will be so great

some day when you and I are glorified, and

the curse of sin is removed, and we are

able to rule and reign with Christ as joint

heirs, finally fulfilling the role for

which we were created

You know the story doesn't end there. We have to talk about:

III. Satans's False Kingdom

A. Timing?

Sometime bewteen the creation and Genesis 3, Satan

and his host fell

B. Source

Isaiah 14 and 28 make it clear that Satan fell

because of his pride and desire to usurp God's

authority

- said I will exalt my throne above the stars of God

- I will be like the most high

Its at this very point that we see a:

C. Great contrast develops

between:

1) man - the "dominion haver" who rules and subdues

his life and world under God &

2) Satan - the "dominion usurper" who attempts to

rule and control his world apart from God's

authority

It wasn't long at all before those two contrasts collided in

an event that would have cataclysmic effect on all of world

history.

IV. Man's Fall & Its Results

- You know the passage in Genesis 3. Satan comes as the

serpent and he begins to question God's goodness by

asking if there are tress they are not allowed to eat

from.

- Next, he casts doubt on God's Word by saying that they

shall not surely die.

- Last, he completes his lie by telling of all the benefits

of eating from the forbidden tree.

- In other words, they are given a:

A. choice

- who's kingdom are you going to follow?

- God's true and righteous kingdom or my false

kingdom

- Adam and Eve both made the wrong choice, a decision

that affected mankind more than any other

- man who was supposed to represent God had now

betrayed Him

- who was supposed to subdue the creation had now

been fooled by it

- the terrible results of that act can hardly be

overestimated

- God comes and He says this: read Gen. 3:15

B. Results

God (not Satan) declared war!

1. war between Satan and Christ

throughout history Satan has tried to cut off the

line of Christ

- of course the first attempt was the murder of

Cain and Abel

- I John 3:12 tells us that Cain was "of the

wicked one"

- we'll be studying one of Satan's last ditch

efforts Sunday morning when we look at

Herod's wicked command to have all the male

children under two years of age in the

region of Bethlehem killed

2. war between Satan/his followers and believers

- the passage speaks about Satan's seed

- the passage we just spoke about in I John

refers to Cain as being "of the wicked one"

- early in Jesus' ministry, he told the

Pharisees that they were the generation

(offspring) of vipers(Matt. 3:7). Later

he said it plainly in John 8:41 when he

told them they were of their father the

devil

- he also said there was no neutral ground -

Matt. 12:30 - "He that is not with me is

against me, and he that gathereth not with

me scattereth abroad"

if you think that is bad news, consider this:

3. all men born sinners

- Rom. 5:12 - Wherefore as by one man sin

entered into the world, and death by sin, and

so death passed upon all men, for all have

sinned

- we see that all through the book of Genesis

- its not long before the whole human race is so

wicked that God must destroy them with a flood

except for a few who were on his side

- even after that event, the people turn right

around and begin building a city and a tower to

make a name unto themselves

- in other words, there's a war between Satan and

his followers and God & His followers---and you

and I were born on the wrong side

- we were born sinners, not just in the sense

that we would sin after we were born

- but that we were born totally depraved,

not because we were as bad as we could be

- but totally depraved in that all parts and

aspects of our lives were tainted by sin

- we could no longer act correctly

- we could no longer reason correctly

- in fact, the situation was so bad that Jeremiah

said:

Jeremiah 17:9 - The heart is deceitful and

desperately wicked

Paul said we were "by nature the children of

wrath" naturally (Eph. 2:3)

small wonder that Jesus said - "He that

believeth not is condemned

already" (John 3:18)

- so there's a war all right - and you and I were

born on the wrong side!

- we scattered rather than gathered with Christ

- we were in the grip of the wicked one according

to I John 5:19

- thats why it was so important that you and I be

born again

- because of the redemptive work of Jesus Christ

we were bought back and put in a position where

we could please God

(talk more about that in a minute)

Another result was

4. death

- remember Satan said that they wouldn't

surely die

Of course death simply means separation, and

they immediately died in the sense that they

were:

a. separated from God

the joy of that intimate fellowship was now

lost

b. physical death

Satan said they wouldn't die, yet Genesis 5

is written to show how much of a liar Satan

is:

"Adam lived 930 years, and he died"

"Seth lived 912 years and he died"

"Enosh lived 905 years and he died"

- and on and on and on

worst aspect was:

c. possibility of the "second death"

- where the individual was eternally

separated from God without any remedy

whatsoever

V. Implications To The Future And The Present

A. dominion

1. present - At our IFRBC conference Dave Jeremiah

said, "The biggest problem with us believers

today is the issue of self-control"

- I think he's right

- God wants believers who, under his

Lordship, can gain control of the various

areas of their lives

- individuals who are controlling their

finances, instead of letting finances

control them

- individuals who are growing and handling

relationship problems instead of letting

those problems handle them

- individuals who are growing in their

control of their thought life instead of

being controlled by lusts of the flesh

- one of the questions tonight is, are you

growing in control of your world or is

your world, problems, lusts controlling

you?

2. future - II Timothy 2:12 - If we suffer, we shall

also reign with Him

- that dominion will be completely restored

in the millennial kingdom when believers

will rule and reign under the Lord Jesus

Christ

B. the war

1. present - I wonder how many individuals who would

indentify themselves with Faith Baptist Church

leave home every morning recognizing that they

are in a war?

- I think we'd have to spend a lot less time

convincing folks that the world is bad if more

folks were aware of the war

- this isn't just a theme for the end times--its

a theme throughout the Scriptures

- good news is, if you've trusted Christ as your

Savior, the war is now winnable

- the old man was crucified according to Rom.

6:6, and now you're a new man--no longer a

slave to sin

- you have a new capacity and ability to be

changing, growing, and to be pleasing to Him

- if you want it to, that can result in great

spiritual victory

- When we sing #496 (Victory In Jesus), thats not

some pie in the sky by and by song--thats for

here and now

- Paul said in I Cor. 2:14 - "Thanks be unto God

who always leads us in triumph in Jesus Christ"

- Some of you know all about that. You can look

back over this year and see definite examples

of ways you've changed and grown

- yes, there's a war, but the believer can be

growing and taking strides at winning that war

2. future - of course the time is coming when God

will end the war by casting Satan and his host in

the lake of fire (Rev. 20:11)

Paul concluded the book of Romans with this verse

"And the God of peace shall bruise Satan under

your feet shortly. The grace of our Lord Jesus

Christ be with you. Amen"

C. death

we said before that death means separation

1. present

one of the results of being born a sinner is that

there can be no fellowship with God. I Tim. 2:5

says that God is on one side and you are on the

other.

- but after trusting Christ as Savior,

a. fellowship is possible

I John 1:3 - That which we have seen and

heard declare we unto you, that ye also may

have fellowship with us, and truly our

fellowship is with the Father, and with his

son, Jesus Christ

- another result of salvation is that death has

no sting.

b. death has no sting

Satan lied when he said, Thou shalt not surely

die. But there is an answer for death, and

that is the resurrection.

thats why Paul could write, O death, where is

thy sting? O, grave, where is thy victory?...

But thanks be to God, who giveth us the

victory through our Lord Jesus Christ

2. future

of course believers need not fear the second

death either. Paul said, What shall separate

us from the love of Christ?...For I am

persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor

angels...shall be able to separate us from the

love of God, which is in christ Jesus