Jesus in Genesis

Introduction

This is a study of biblical types in the book of Genesis using Arthur Pink’s text “Jesus In Genesis”. I am fully indebted to Rev. Pink for this study. Before we begin any discussion of the book of Genesis I must give credit for most of what I will share with you to Arthur Pink, whose commentary on Genesis I have used for this study.  Arthur Pink was born in Nottingham, England and he pastored in Australia and the United States.  He had a unique gift of discerning the depth of the Scriptures and clearly had a direct line to the Holy Spirit as his teacher.  He dwelt continually on the great themes of Scripture: grace, justification and sanctification.  He died in 1952 in Scotland. There are others, such as Francis Schaefer, who have been sources of great value to me in this study and I will mention them as we go along.

I said earlier in introducing this subject that I would be wrong about something I teach this year. I reiterate that now and I do so for very good reasons. First, because it will undoubtedly be true, though not intentionally. And second, because I would like for all of you to feel perfectly free to disagree or to express a different view along the way. That will certainly add to the value of this class. I would like you to know up front that I want to challenge your thinking and study. 

One of the most challenging things I can think of is to ask you several questions. First, when do you think God did His creative work? Second, we are right away going to look at Genesis 1:1 that states, In the beginning God….If God did the creating “in the beginning” what existed before the beginning?  Where did God come from?  Let your mind drift back in time and see if you can imagine where God came from. When did eternity begin?  When did time begin? What was happening before “In the beginning?”

Well, let’s look at a few passages of Scripture. These are the word of God.

· John 17:24, “Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world.”

· Ephesians 1:3-4, Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. For He chose us in Him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in His sight.

· 1 Peter 1:20,  He was chosen before the creation of the world, but was revealed in these last times for your sake.

· Titus 1:1-2,  Paul, a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ for the faith of God’s elect and the knowledge of the truth which leads to godliness---a faith and knowledge resting on hope of eternal life, which God, who does not lie, promised before the beginning of time.

· 2 Timothy 1:8-9,  So do not be ashamed to testify about our Lord, or ashamed of me, His prisoner. But join with me in suffering for the gospel, by the power of God, who has saved us and called us to a holy life---not because of anything we have done but because of His own purpose and grace. This grace was given in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time.

So we are faced with a very interesting question: When did history begin? The question is not merely theoretical. Something existed before creation and that something was personal and not static; The Father loved the Son; there was a plan; there was communication; and promises were made prior to the creation of the heavens and the earth.

You are all familiar with John 1:1, In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  This is not an attempt to improve on the Scripture but to explain it. What this verse says is, “In the beginning already was the Word, and the Word already was with God, and the Word already was God. So we find first a statement that the Word already was, but then in sharp contrast to this we find something new was brought into being “in the beginning” when He who already was there made what now is.

As we approach this first book of the Old Testament I must begin in the New Testament with a verse from 2 Peter 1:20 in which Peter says, Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet's own interpretation. This means that one part of the Bible is not to be isolated from the other parts. It emphasizes that the standard of truth is not the interpreter, but the Word of God itself.

The Old Testament Scriptures are fundamentally a stage on which is shown in symbolism and ritualism the whole plan of redemption. The events recorded in the Old Testament were actual occurrences, yet they were also typical pre-figurations. Genesis has been called “the seed plot of the Bible”, because in it we have, in clue form, almost all of the great doctrines that later appear fully developed in the books of Scripture. 

There are three major divisions of the book. The first begins with the phrase, “In the beginning God”; the second with the phrase, “Now the serpent”; and the third with the phrase, “Now the Lord”. There are three words that set out what we find in each of these divisions. The word for the first division is generation; for the second division the word is degeneration, and the word for the third division is regeneration.

I think it is important for me to say to you that it is possible that at first you are going to be very skeptical of the types that we will discover and it will be very natural to consider them “coincidences”.  But if you will be patient, I am convinced that you will agree that there could not possibly be so many coincidences in God’s Word.

The Book of Genesis is about God. If we keep this fact in mind as we study we will be less likely to enter into debates on some of the things that God did. The second thing to remember, in fact the first thing to accept and keep in mind, is that GOD IS SOVEREIGN !!!!!!!!!!!!

In Genesis:

· God is revealed as the Creator-God, as the Covenant-God, as the Almighty-God, as well as the possessor of heaven and earth.

· we have the first hint of  the trinity, of a plurality of the Godhead.

· man is seen.  First as the creature of God’s hands, then as a fallen and sinful being, and later as one who is brought back to God.

· we see the evils of Satan revealed.

· the truth of  election is first recorded. God singles out Abram from an idolatrous people and makes him the father of the chosen nation.

· the truth of salvation is typically displayed.

· the truth of justification by faith is first made known.

· the believer’s security is illustrated.

We find the following concepts:

· separation

· God’s disciplinary chastisement

· the importance and value of prayer

· the rapture  of the saints

· the divine incarnation

· the death and resurrection of the Savior are foreshadowed

· the Savior’s coming exaltation

· the priesthood of Christ

· the coming of the Antichrist

· the judgment of God on the wicked

As we shall see, all of this is amazing proof of Divine Authorship. Who but the One who knows the end from the beginning, could have included in germ form, what is found as the Scriptures unfold the Word of God?