The following is an edited version of the lecture given on November 25th, 2005 in the series entitled "In the Beginning."   Then God said, "Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth." So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them..     Genesis 1:26-27   Our Reason for Studying GenesisOn one occasion, the apostle Paul wrote,   Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.  (2 Timothy 2:15)   This verse is saying that if we rightly distinguish the words of the Bible, we can be acknowledged before God as people with nothing of which to be ashamed. The events that unfold from Genesis chapter 12 onward hold a very deep significance. In certain respects, you might say that they contain the key to the whole Bible. When I say the key to the whole Bible, I do not mean that just by reading these few verses you will be able to understand the whole Bible. What I mean is that if we come to understand a certain point within these passages, and take this point as our basis upon which we look at the Bible, we find that we begin to see what the Bible is saying-we find that we are able to discern the meaning of verses that we did not really understand before.Let’s consider Abraham, the father of our faith. One day, as Abraham stood before God, God said to him, “I am your shield, your exceeding great reward” (Genesis 15:1). At that time,   Abram said, “Lord God, what will You give me, seeing I go childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?” Then Abram said, “Look, You have given me no offspring; indeed one born in my house is my heir!”  (Genesis 15:2-3)   “I don’t even have any children. What are you saying that you intend to give me? The heir of everything I have is Eliezer, whom I brought from Damascus.” This is what he was saying. At that time, God told Abraham clearly that a seed would come from his own body.But after this Abraham did indeed have a son, but not with his own wife; he had a son from his wife’s bondservant. Since Abraham’s wife, Sarah, knew that God had promised him a son and she herself was not able to bear him that son, she told Abraham to have a son by her bondservant. So in this way a child was born to Abraham and was given the name of Ishmael. But then God told Abraham that it was to be a child born to Sarah that would be his heir and his seed. The name of the son that was born according to this promise was Isaac. This son, Isaac, became the person who continued the family line of Abraham. The elder brother-Ishmael, the son of the bondservant-was not in a position to be able to continue Abraham’s family line. We need to think very deeply about the Bible in relation to this incident. Especially for us, as we approach the Bible living in our present age, this incident has greater importance than many other parts of the Bible. This is because the relationship between these two men-Ishmael and Isaac-has the role of underscoring the assurance we have in the Bible that we read and in which we believe, and the faith that we have received through this Bible. The Bible tells us that this Ishmael was the father of twelve princes (See Genesis 25:16). Just as there were twelve tribes in Israel, Ishmael also had twelve sons. The Bible says that twelve princes were born to him. Then Abraham sent Ishmael away in order that he might appoint Isaac his heir and leave everything to this son. Two sons were born to isaac. Their names were Esau and Jacob, who were twins. When the elder son was born, his younger twin came into the world holding onto his brother’s heel. The younger brother was called Jacob. Later, after Jacob wresled with a Man, his name was changed to Israel (See Genesis 32:24-29). In the Bible God said to Abraham, “In Isaac your seed shall be called” (Genesis 21:12). Therefore the lineage of Abraham was passed down through Isaac. So the Bible talks about the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.The term “Jew” does not appear even once in the book of Genesis. In certain respects, we find that we are presented with events that took place in an age that is very different from the age in which we are living. Through the book of Genesis, we can view the Bible from a much wider perspective, as you might see things when looking through a wide-angle lens. If we carefully examine what it says in the book of Genesis, and then look at the Bible as a whole in the light of these words, we can see in advance what the Bible is trying to say to us. Through the relationship between Ishmael and Isaac and the relationship between Esau and Jacob, we find that there is one point that they have in common-in each case the elder brother is cast out. It is not so much that the younger brother tramples him down; the young brother is established. But does this relationship simply happen to come about? What is there for us to learn from the relationship between these two brothers? What on earth is it that God is trying to say to us through this? This is something that we need to think about deeply. In the letter to the Romans, we find an expression of the earnest desires of the apostle Paul’s heart. He had lived as a Pharisee, making every effort to keep the law, and then one day he discovered Jesus Christ and dedicated his life to the gospel. In the book of Acts we find that as the apostle Paul was traveling around, he first taught and preached God’s word extensively to the Jews in their synagogues. But he was persecuted so severely that in the end he said, “It was necessary that the word of God should be spoken to you first; but since you reject it, and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, we turn to the Gentiles” (Acts 13:46). From that time on, the gospel began to be proclaimed to the Gentiles. The letters that Paul wrote as he journeyed in this way have been passed down to us and amongst these is the letter to the Romans. If you carefully read chapters 9, 10, and 11 of the letter to the Romans, you find that there was a nation that God preordained, a nation to whom God gave His word, a nation that God had chosen and through which He intended to carry out His will. But this nation stumbled over its own trickery. As this happened, the blessing that they had received was passed over not to this chosen people, but other peoples, the Gentiles. This age in which we are now living is the age of the Church, an age in which the Church is being built up, consisting of all the people who have been born again through the Bible in obedience to the truth and not through works. It is the age of the gospel of grace.If you read the Bible carefully, you find that there is only one way for the spirit to be saved and that is the way that we talk about, although there is a different method for those whose lives are saved during the tribulation. There is no way that this can be understood unless you make a clear distinction in the Bible between the Jews and the Gentiles. But strangely the Bible is continually telling us about this.The simple content of Genesis chapters 1 and 2 that we are studying right now includes references to the whole history of the Bible and the fate of individuals who appear within that history.    Let Us Make Man in Our Image, According to Our LikenessLet’s take a look at Genesis from chapter 1 verse 20 to chapter 2 verse 3.   Then God said, “Let the waters abound with an abundance of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the face of the firmament of the heavens.” So God created great sea creatures and every living thing that moves, with which the waters abounded, according to their kind, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. And God blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth.” So the evening and the morning were the fifth day. Then God said, “Let the earth bring forth the living creature according to its kind: cattle and creeping thing and beast of the earth, each according to its kind”; and it was so. And God made the beast of the earth according to its kind, cattle according to its kind, and everything that creeps on the earth according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. Then God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” And God said, “See, I have given you every herb that yields see

정회원으로 가입하시면 전체기사와 사진(동영상)을 보실수 있습니다.