From The Garden To The City

Genesis 2:8 “garden” To those who put their trust in Him, the Lord gives His very precious promises – “You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail” (Isaiah 58:11); “They will be like a well-watered garden, and they will sorrow no more” (Jeremiah 31:12). Looking to the Lord as …

God’s Great Faithfulness

Genesis 1:23 - “the evening and the morning” The repeated pattern of nature – evening, morning, evening, morning… – speaks to us of God’s great faithfulness. Without the sustaining power of God of perfect faithfulness and constant love, our world would return to chaos – “without form and void” (1:2). Whatever changes may take place …

Lord, everything seems so hopeless.

Genesis 17:1-27 Lord, everything seems so hopeless  - when we take our eyes off You! Help us to keep our eyes on You. Fill us with fresh hope. Sometimes, we can be optimists. Often, we’re pessimists. You’re always “the God of hope” (Romans 15:13). You’re always saying to us, “There is hope” (Jeremiah 31:17). Lord, …

Salvation and the assurance of salvation

Genesis 15:1-21 In Genesis 15:2,8, Abraham asks two questions: "what will you give me?" "how can I be certain?" For us, these are the questions of salvation and the assurance of salvation - God has given us His salvation, and we have the assurance that this salvation has been given and received. Where are we …

The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world

Sixth Sunday after Pentecost: Genesis 22:1-12; Psalm 13 or Jeremiah 28:5-9; Psalm 89:1-4, 15-18; Romans 6:12-23; Matthew 10:40-42 Let us look to Christ, “the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.” In Genesis 21:22-34, we see Abraham in his relationship with the world. In Genesis 22:1-14, we see Abraham in his …

A continuing story

Genesis 4:17-26 The story of Cain and Abel is a continuing story. Abel died, yet ‘by faith still speaks, even though he is dead’ (Hebrews 11:4). Cain ‘went out from the presence of the Lord’. He became ‘a restless wanderer’ (14,16). What a contrast there is between these two brothers! For Abel, there was glory …

The Blessing of God, the Grace of God and the Glory of God

Genesis 12:1-4: 2 Timothy 1:8-10; Matthew 17:1-9 God's Blessing - Given,  Accepted And Enjoyed (Genesis 12 & 13) The “land” was given to Abraham by God. It was to be the land of His “blessing” (Genesis 12:1-3).  God’s gift of grace calls forth our response – “Abraham went, as the Lord had spoken to him” …

Lord, we are often tempted.

Genesis 3:1-5 Lord, we are often tempted - tempted to forget all about You. The pull towards self-centred living is so strong.We think that we can go it alone. We think that we don’t need You. We think that we can manage all right without You. Where does this kind of thinking come from? Does it …

“In the beginning, God” (Genesis 1:1).

"In the beginning, God" (Genesis 1:1). Here, we are taken back to eternity, back to the eternal God. There is nothing beyond this. There is nothing beyond Him. "God created the heaven and the earth" (Genesis 1:1). He is the Lord of heaven and earth. The mention of heaven and earth in the Bible's opening …

God’s greatest gift – His Son, our Saviour, Jesus Christ

Genesis 21:1-21 We have here the contrast between Isaac, the child of promise, and Ishmael, the fruit of unbelief. Ishmael was born as a result of impatience, the failure to wait upon the Lord. In the birth of Isaac, the initiative belonged with God, and the glory belonged to Him. In Christ, we are the …

Cain, Abel and Christ

Genesis 4:1-16 We read about Cain and Abel. We look beyond them to Christ. He offered himself as the perfect sacrifice for sin. He is "the Passover Lamb." He "has been sacrificed for us" (1 Corinthians 5:7). Jesus is "the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world" (John 1:29). We read …

Did God really say?

Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?”(Genesis 3:1). Did God really say? Here, we have the sowing of the seeds of doubt, the questioning of God's Word. Do we …

From a self-centred life to a God-centred life

They said, ‘Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves; otherwise we will be scattered over the face of the whole earth’ (Genesis 11:4). Return, Israel, to the Lord your God. Your sins have been your downfall!  Take words with you and …

The Breath Of Life

Genesis 2:7 “the breath of life” Everything changes when the Lord breathes His breath of life into us. * Until God comes to us in power, our situation is desperate – “I saw a great many bones on the floor of the valley, bones that were very dry” (Ezekiel 37:2). When He breathes life into …

Fron every tribe and nation and people and language

"With your blood you purchased for God persons from every tribe and language and people and nation" (Revelation 5:9). To Abraham, the Word of God was spoken: "All peoples on earth will be blessed through you" (Genesis 12:3). In the one hundredth Psalm, we have a call to worship: "Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth" (verse …

Male And Female

Genesis 2:20 “a helper suitable for him” Man was sharing God’s creation with the animals. Now, God was about to do something very special, something that would make the world a very different place. Genesis 2:21 “a deep sleep” Man contributes nothing to this mighty work of God. This is a great lesson we must …

Abraham was willing to sacrifice his only son. God did sacrifice his only Son.

"When they reached the place God had told him about, Abraham built an altar there and arranged the wood on it. He bound his son Isaac and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. Then he reached out his hand and took the knife to slay his son. But the angel of the Lord called out to him from heaven, “Abraham! Abraham!” …

God is calling us to make a new beginning with Him.

After Adam and Eve had sinned, things went from bad to worse. These were very dark days (Genesis 6:5-7). Then, we read these wonderful words, "But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord" (Genesis 6:8). There was to be a flood, but there would also be an ark. The flood speaks of God's …

A Command, A Promise, A Warning

"And the Lord God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die” (Genesis 2:16-17). A command is not to be discussed. It's to be obeyed. Do what …

Putting the past behind us and stepping out into the future

"When the dove returned to him in the evening, there in its beak was a freshly plucked olive leaf! Then Noah knew that the water had receded from the earth" (Genesis 8:11).  Was the flood really over? Was it safe to leave the ark? Was it time for a new beginning? When bad things are …

The Third Day!

Genesis 1:13 - “the third day” We read these words, and our thoughts move forward to the mighty miracle of Jesus’ resurrection from the dead – “on the third day God raised Him from the dead.”

This is the Lord’s doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes.

"In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth" (Genesis 1:1). Here, we are taken back to the beginning. Immediately, we feel that we are way out of our depth. Everything is surrounded by mystery. This is too much of us. We try to understand, but we can't take it all in. We confess our faith. We …

Look at the rainbow. Look beyond the rainbow.

Genesis 9:8-17 We look at the rainbow. We see the love of God. We look beyond the rainbow. We look to the Cross. There, we see the supreme demonstration of the love of God. There, we see Jesus, suffering for us. His suffering is the suffering of love. It wasn't the nails that held Him …

Lord, You have made us.

Genesis 1:14-25 Lord, You have made us - to praise You. You call us to live for Your glory. Praise to God, glory to God - Where does this come from? We look into our hearts - and it is not there. We look at our lives - and we say, "Where is this praise …

Isaac and Jesus

Genesis 22:1-24 Abraham was prepared to sacrifice Isaac: "You did not refuse to give Me your son, your only son" (Genesis 22:12). God did give His only Son for us: "God did not spare His only Son but handed Him over to death for us all" (Romans 8:32). While there may be comparisons made between …

Lord, You are our Creator.

Genesis 1:26-2:3 Lord, You are our Creator. We have been created by You. We have been created for You. What have we done with this great blessing? We have turned away from You. We have gone our own way. We have done our own thing. Have You lost patience with us? Have You given up …

The evil subtlety of Satan, and the defeat of Satan!

From the majestic perfection of God and the privileged responsibility of humanity, we now move to the evil subtlety of Satan. An intruder has sneaked into the privileged place between God the Creator and mankind. His creation. Chapter 2 ends with the absence of shame. Chapter 3 begins with the presence of Satan. The work …

Lord, we thank You that You have a place in Your heart for us.

Genesis 2:18-25 Lord, we thank You that You have a place in Your heart for us. Why? What have we done that You should keep on loving us? Is there something good about us - something that makes us worthy of Your love? Whatever way we look at it - the answer’s always “No.” No! …

History – His Story

Genesis 2:4 - “This is the history” This is His Story. This is God’s Story. In this great Story of creation, which leads on to the great Story of salvation, we read about the God who has done for us what we could never do for ourselves. we could not create ourselves. We could not …

It’s not the beginning of the end. It’s the end of the beginning.

"We know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him" (Romans 8:28). Is everything that happens to us good? How are we to answer this question? Should we answer a question with another question? Will the final outcome be good? When we look on to the final outcome, everything changes. …

Sometimes, we wonder, “Where is our life leading us?”

Genesis 5:18-32 Lord, help us to walk with You. Sometimes, we wonder, “Where is our life leading us?” That depends, Lord, on who’s doing the leading. Are we being “led by the Spirit of God” (Romans 8:14)? or Have we allowed the devil to slip into the place where You alone should be? Lord, lead …

The laughter of unbelief and the laughter of faith

Genesis 21:1-34 There are two very different kinds of laughter in the story of Sarah. There is the laughing in Genesis 18:13-15. This is the laughter of unbelief, laughing at the Lord, with the proud attitude that God's Word cannot be taken seriously. There is the laughter of faith, the laughter which rejoices in the …

If there is to be delight in God’s Word, we must overcome doubt.

If there is to be delight in God's Word, we must overcome doubt. Satan is always saying, "Did God really say ...?" (Genesis 3:1). We must learn to say, "God did say" (Genesis 3:3). We must stand by this confession of faith in God and His Word. Satan will not give in easily. He will …

I will bless you. You will be a blessing. Bless the Lord.

"... I will bless you... you will be a blessing... " (Genesis 12:1-3).God is calling us to receive a blessing from Him - and to be a blessing for Him. Receiving God's blessing is a good thing - but it's not all that God has planned for us. We are to let His blessing flow …

We look at the rainbow. We see the love of God.

Genesis 9:8-17 We look at the rainbow. We see the love of God. We look beyond the rainbow. We look to the Cross. There, we see the supreme demonstration of the love of God. There, we see Jesus, suffering for us. His suffering is the suffering of love. It wasn't the nails that held Him …

In God’s Image

Genesis 1:26 - “in God’s image” This doesn’t sound like a true description of the way we really are! We are sinners. We have lost our way. It’s a reminder of what God created us to be. It’s His high calling for us. He calls us to be like Him. He calls us to bring …

Closeness to God develops as we learn to delight in the Word of God.

Among many names and life-spans, there is this remarkable statement: "Enoch walked faithfully with God; then he was no more, because God took him away" (Genesis 5:24). This closeness to God develops as we learn to delight in the Word of God. Together with "Noah" who "found favour in the eyes of the Lord" (Genesis …

Let’s do what God tells us to do.

Genesis 2:4-25 Do what God tells us to do. This leads to blessing. Do what God tells us not to do. This leads to trouble. It’s been trouble ever since. Here, on earth, things can be turned around. We can be set in the right direction. We are not yet at our final destination, but …

Lord, we thank You for Jesus – He is the Rock of our salvation.

Genesis 8:1-22 Lord, we thank You for Jesus – He is the Rock of our salvation. Often, in our journey through life, we’re walking on shifting sand. As we walk along, we discover that it’s more than shifting sand – It’s quicksand! It’s sucking us in – and it’s dragging us down. Is there any …

Lord, You are God.

Genesis 2:15-17 Lord, You are God. Who are we to tell You what to do? Who are we to say, “We’ll do what we like” - when You’re saying to us, “I know what’s best for you.” Help us to choose Your way - and stop insisting on getting our own way. How are we …

Flow, River, Flow.

Genesis 2:13 “the river that flows through the whole land” God is not only concerned with our personal blessing. He wants His blessing to reach out to many people in every land: “Fill this land with the Father’s glory … Flow, river, flow … Flood the nations with grace and mercy” (from the hymn, “Shine, Jesus, …

Transported into an eternal dimension (Search The Scriptures: Genesis)

Genesis 1:1-2:3 There is, here, a real sense of the majesty of God. He is "beyond description." We cannot comprehend Him. We can hardly put into words this sense of God's greatness. We are transported into an eternal dimension, which is so different from our earthly existence. We read, "In the beginning, God ... " …

Lord, we thank You for Your great love.

Genesis 6:9-22 Lord, we thank You for Your great love. There is no love like Your love. We think of Your Son, giving Himself, in death, for us. We think of His suffering for us and we say, “Saviour of the world, what have You done to deserve this?” We look at the Cross, and …

The elder – Esau – will serve the younger – Jacob.

Genesis 27:1-46 This is a story of deception - things are not as they seem. What are we to say about this chapter? We must begin by saying that this family is a mess. There's something else that we must say - there is more to this story than what's going on in this family. …

May we never lose sight of our eternal glory.

Genesis 23:1-20 Genesis is known as "the book of beginnings." We can also learn from the endings. here, we read of the death of Sarah. As we read of the generations coming and going, we come to rest in the truth that only God is eternal. This is the great truth, proclaimed in Psalm 90. …

Despite our many failures, God remains faithful.

Genesis 12 Before starting to comment on chapter 12, I want to say something about the second part of chapter 11, verses 10-32. These verses provide us with the background to the events which begin to unfold in chapter 12. The message of this long list names is this: God is moving on. He is …

Everything seems to be changing. We trust in God’s unchanging love.

Genesis 49:28-50:26 It was a time of "very great and sorrowful lamentation" (10). Jacob had died (33). Soon, Joseph would be gone (26). God was still there. He had been there in the past (20). He would be there in the future (24-25). Times are hard. We rejoice: ‘The steadfast love of the Lord never …

Getting our priorities right

Trinity Sunday (First Sunday after Pentecost): Genesis 1:1-2:4a; Psalm 8; 2 Corinthians 13:11-13; Matthew 28:16-20 Getting our priorities right: God, His Word, His Spirit - at the centre of our life The Bible’s opening verses challenge us to get our priorities right. (a) The priority of God (Genesis 1:1). God comes first. Before anyone else …

Is the Lord at the centre of our lives?

"Abram built an altar to the Lord" (Genesis 13:18). As I was reading about Abram and Lot going their separate ways, I noticed these words in the last verse of this chapter. Here, we are challenged to think about what is important to us. Are we giving the Lord His rightful place in our lives? …

To be blessed by the Lord is better than anything else.

"Abram is blessed by God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth" (Genesis 14:19). To be blessed by the Lord is better than anything else. Without the blessing of God, our lives are empty. We may fill our lives with many things, but the question keeps coming back to us: What about God: where does …

Fear is such a powerful emotion.

"Do not be afraid, Abram" (Genesis 15:11). Fear is such a powerful emotion. It can have such a negative effect on us. Abram needed to hear this word from the Lord. We need to hear this word from the Lord. There are times when everything seems to be so out of control. We wonder, "What's …

God keeps on loving us, even when we’re doing all that we can to keep on running away from Him.

Genesis 16 Hagar was running away, but "the Angel of the Lord found her" (verses 6 and 7). Can we run away from God? We can try, but will we succeed? Why does God come looking for us? It's because He loves us. This is something we must never forget. God does not want us …

The long journey, through the Old Testament, is leading us to Jesus Christ, our great Saviour.

Genesis 17 "Your wife, Sarah, will bear you a son, and you will call him Isaac" (verse 19). Abraham was given a glimpse of the future. For Abraham and Sarah, Isaac would be their immediate future. God was looking beyond the immediate future. He was looking toward the long-term future. God told Abraham that he would …

God is leading His people towards a time of great blessing.

Genesis 18-19 Abraham lived through tumultuous times. As we read about the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, let us not lose sight of where things are going: "Abraham is to become a great and powerful nation, and all the nations of the earth will be blessed through him" (18:18). When terrible things happen, and we …

God is carrying out His plan of salvation.

Genesis 20-21 In these chapters, the high point is the birth of Isaac (21:1-3). The great verse, which jumps out at us, is the first verse of chapter 21: "The Lord came to Sarah as He had said, and the Lord did for Sarah what He had promised." This is more than a human story. …

God so loved the world – not only the important people, but all people.

Genesis 10:1-32 What a lot of names! Why is all this included in God’s Word? It may describe the historical conext of God’s unfolding purpose of providing salvation for sinners, but what does it say to us? The inclusion of so many obscure names emphasizes that everyone - however obscure - is important. ‘God so …

Trusting In Christ As Saviour, Let Us Walk With God.

Genesis 5 The most significant comment in this chapter is in verses 22-23: "Enoch walked with God". We should not, however bypass the reference to Noah who also "walked with God" (Genesis 6:9). In verse 29, we read of Noah ("Relief"): "This child will bring us relief from the work and painful labour of our …

God’s command and God’s promise

Genesis 46:1-34 Jacob goes to Egypt. There were three factors in Jacob’s guidance: Inner desire - He wanted to see Joseph;  Circumstances - Joseph wanted to see him and his sons were going to take him;  God’s Word - God told him to go.  With God’s command, there was also His promise - ‘I will …

God doesn’t give up on the backslider.

Genesis 19:1-29 In Genesis 3, we read of humanity’s fall into sin. Here, we see the awfulness of human sin and the awesomeness of divine judgment. We must take God with the utmost seriousness. If we refuse to take Him seriously, He will continue to take us seriously - in His judgment! Sin leads to …

In the beginning, God

Genesis 1-2 "In the beginning, God"  - The first four words of the Bible take us back to the point where we can go no further, back to the eternity of God. What do we find when we are taken back - into the heart of the eternal God? We find love. We discover that …