Notes of Faith July 12, 2026
Some of you may not take the time to read all of this, but if you will you will have been given the gist of Genesis 1-36. That is a lot of Scripture to read!
Genesis 1–36
Every story, like every life, has a beginning. So it is no surprise the Bible begins the story of mankind at the very beginning, before there was life of any kind and the world had just been shaped. Yet even then there was one life — God, who is Life. We see Him issuing commands from Heaven while also hovering over the waters of the newly formed planet earth.
God’s last act of creation was to pick up some soil and fashion man (Adam), as a sculptor might mold clay. He breathed life into man’s nostrils and then formed the female (Eve) from the male. God planted a garden using the plants and life forms He had already created and placed the man and his wife there. Finally, He gave the man a task. Adam spent his first day of life getting to know God’s creation and bestowing names on all the animals.
God had told Adam that he could eat from any tree in the garden except the tree of knowledge of good and evil. At this time, there was no death in the world — all God’s creation was at peace. But everything changed when Adam and Eve disobeyed God. The animals became hostile to them and to one another. Thorns and thistles sprang up where once only edible plants had grown. Worst of all, suffering and death entered the world.
Adam and Eve were forced to leave the garden. Soon after, their first son, Cain, was born, followed by Abel. The Scripture suggests that God had explained to Adam and his family how to enter His presence with proper sacrifices, with God Himself making the first animal sacrifice in the garden. So when Cain brought an offering of fruits and vegetables, it was rejected by God, while the sacrifice of an animal offered by his brother, Abel, was accepted. This made Cain angry, and he murdered his brother.
Time passed, but the condition of mankind did not improve. Roughly 1,500 years after creation, the wickedness on earth was so great that God decided to send a flood in judgment. Only one righteous man, Noah, was found to become a second Adam. The flood lasted for forty days. After the waters re- ceded, God promised to never again send a flood to destroy mankind. It was then up to Noah and his family to reestablish the human race, repopulating the planet and building towns, villages, and cities.
All of mankind, at this point, spoke one language — probably the language that Adam spoke with God in the garden of Eden. Having one common language made it possible for mankind to unite together in carrying out great projects. But this changed when the people gathered together to build a great city, with a tower reaching into the heavens, to bring glory to themselves.
Man was still intent on becoming a god unto himself, excluding the lordship of the Creator. So the Lord confused mankind’s language, making it more difficult for humanity to join together in an effort to become “like God.”
Many years later, one of Noah’s descendants, a man named Abram, was living in the city of Ur. He was seventy-five years old when God told him to travel to a distant land that would be revealed to him. Abram was to leave his family and friends behind — with the exception of his wife, Sarai, and his nephew, Lot — and head to a place with a different culture and in which he knew no one. Abram obeyed the word of the Lord and eventually arrived in the land of Canaan, which by that time had been settled by the descendants of Ham (a son of Noah).
God then made a promise to Abram that in spite of his old age, He would make him into a great nation. God made it clear this promise would come through a son of miraculous birth — a child born through the union of Abram and his wife, Sarai.
But as the years passed, Sarai doubted God’s promise. Even worse, she convinced her husband to act on her doubts, giving her handmaid Hagar to him. Sarai’s scheme did lead to a birth, as Hagar bore a son named Ishmael. But God rejected Ishmael as the son of promise, and Sarai’s plan led to tension and division in the family. When God’s promised son was finally born to Abram and Sarai — who by then were renamed Abraham and Sarah — she called him Isaac, which means “he laughs.” But one person’s laughter proved to be the source of another’s jealousy, and Ishmael started to mock Isaac’s status. This led Sarah — who had persuaded Abraham to have the child with Hagar — to call for them to be cast out.
God provided for Hagar and Ishmael, but His covenant continued through the line of Isaac. However, when Isaac was older — between the ages of fourteen and twenty-one — God told Abraham to put Isaac to death as a sacrifice to Him. How would God’s promise come to pass if Isaac died so young? The command made no sense to Abraham, but he trusted God and obeyed. When God saw that Abraham was faithful even in carrying out this instruction, He provided a sacrificial ram and spared Isaac’s life.
Isaac married a woman named Rebekah, who bore him twin sons: Esau and Jacob. Esau, being the eldest (if only by seconds or minutes), was given his family’s birthright. But Esau foolishly traded it to his younger brother for a bowl of stew, and then Jacob schemed with his mother to deceive his father into giving him the blessing of that birthright. Esau was angry and vowed to kill Jacob, so Jacob fled to live with his mother’s brother, Laban, for a time.
Jacob fell in love with Rachel, Laban’s younger daughter, and agreed to work for seven years for her hand in marriage. But when the wedding arrived, Laban substituted her older sister, Leah, forcing Jacob to work another seven years to gain Rachel’s hand. This led to tensions in Jacob’s family, which only increased when children began to arrive. After many years, family friction grew to the point where Jacob and Laban could no longer live together. So Jacob headed back toward Bethel and his homeland.
Esau learned of his arrival and rode out to meet him with 400 men. In desperation, Jacob called on the Lord — and God arrived, in the form of a man who wrestled with him throughout the night. As the new day broke, the Lord gave Jacob a limp but also a blessing and a new name. Emboldened, Jacob went out the next day (with gifts) to meet Esau. The two brothers embraced and were reconciled.
Abraham's Journeys
God was pleased by the work of His hands and loved His entire creation.
REFLECTIONS
God loves His creation. One of the striking things we discover in the opening chapter of Genesis is God’s love toward all creation. This becomes a theme throughout Scripture, culminating in the costly sacrifice God’s own Son would make on the cross. We find God’s Spirit hovering above the waters of creation before the earth was even shaped (see Genesis 1:2), and His presence is similar to that of a mother hen guarding her chicks. God spoke to His creatures as they were created, and His words were all blessing: “Be fruitful and multiply” (verses 22, 28). God the Creator also concluded each day by stepping back and assessing His own work — and each day He declared that “it was good” (verses 3, 10, 12, 18, 21, 25, 31).
Clearly, God was pleased by the work of His hands and loved His entire creation.
Mankind is unique in all of creation. Genesis underscores that mankind is different from the rest of creation. We share the same original material with the rest of creation, as God used the dust of the earth to create us (see Genesis 2:7). However, the Lord did more than merely speak a command when He created Adam: He fashioned the dust with His own hands and breathed life directly into him. Only human beings are created in the image of God. This in itself is a deep subject for consideration. In an intellectual sense, Adam and Eve were like God in that they could exercise reason and understanding. In a moral sense, they were like God because they were good and sinless (of course, that changed when they sinned.)
Sin results in separation. Adam’s sin separated him from God. He had enjoyed daily communion with the Lord, talking with Him like close friends, but sin ruined that for Adam and all his descendants. As Paul would later write, “Through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned” (Romans 5:12). This face-to-face communion will never be re- stored this side of heaven. Sin also separated mankind from the rest of creation. Adam’s sin brought suffering and death to everything, and everything began to rebel against man’s headship, just as man had rebelled against the headship of God. Because of Adam’s sin, all of life now fights against us.
God calls His people to walk in faith. God revealed a small portion of His plan to Abram and then asked him to respond by walking away from all he knew. This is what it means to walk in faith: to step into the unknown with only God’s word to depend on. Abram arrived in Canaan to find himself surrounded with unfriendly people, and then God told him he would inherit the entire land for his descendants. Circumstances made this seem impossible, yet Abram took God at His word. He was seventy-five years old and had no children, yet he believed that God was going to give him many descendants. Walking in faith requires that we accept God’s Word at face value, even when it seems impossible that His promises can come true. In this, Abram and Sarai provide us with a great role model.
We can never predict the consequences of sin. Sarai probably did not think that her plan concerning Hagar was sinful, and she certainly never thought it would bring about suffering for her family.
Abram may well have understood this, yet he did not stop to count the cost of disobedience. There are times when we persuade ourselves that “this one little bit” of sinful behavior won’t hurt “just this once.” However, this single act of disobedience in Abram and Sarai’s case led to countless deaths and acts of persecution that have continued to this present day. Humans are specialists at self-justification. We can always excuse and condone the “little sins” we commit. However, we should keep in mind that we cannot predict what consequences each “one little sin” may produce — such as how many innocent people may suffer, how long the ripples may continue, or even what price we may pay.
God calls us to costly obedience. Abraham was tested by God’s command to sacrifice his son. Yet this was not a random test; God’s purpose was to prove the strength of Abraham’s faith. He also wanted to present to the world a picture of His plan to sacrifice His own Son on the cross. God will sometimes ask us to obey Him in ways that are costly. The principle He wants us to learn is that faith-filled obedience is more valuable than anything this world has to offer. The other side to this principle is that costly obedience leads to eternal riches. Abra- ham’s obedience brought a priceless blessing to the entire world, showing mankind just how much God was willing to do to redeem us. Jesus was willing to obey at any cost, and we must follow His example.
God’s purposes are not furthered by our schemes. God intended from the beginning for Esau to be subservient to Jacob. He promised it before the boys were born and would have accomplished it without plots from Isaac’s family. We saw the same principle in the life of Abraham: he had God’s promise of an heir through Sarah, yet he allowed his fears (and his wife’s schemes) to override his faith in God’s word. In each case, the schemes of men led to bad consequences. Jacob’s schemes alienated him from his twin brother and led to his being deceived by others. Abraham’s involvement with Hagar led to a deep-seated enmity between people groups. God accomplishes what He promises. This does not mean that we are not involved in those promises, but our involvement requires obedience, not scheming. Our involvement may sometimes require no effort at all on our part — except for placing our faith in God’s provision.
God uses us despite our failures. Jacob had many weaknesses and shortcomings, and from a human perspective he was not the sort of man that most people would trust. But God was still able to use him in mighty ways, and he is listed among the heroes of the faith.
The Lord does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart. — 1 Samuel 16:7
The Lord looked on the heart of Jacob and found a man who ultimately longed for His blessing and intimacy. When we have a relationship with our Creator, He instills within us character traits that are pleasing to Him. Through His Spirit, He develops those things in us, making us more like Christ as we grow. This process may not always be pleasant, but in the end we will reflect the image of His Son.
STUDY QUESTIONS
How does Genesis1:1-2:2 emphasize God’s gentleness and love toward creation? What does this suggest about His view of you?
What was the nature of God’s curse in Genesis 3:17–19? In what ways have you seen this curse carried out in your own life? Give some real examples.
What exactly was mankind doing in Genesis 11:1–9 that was displeasing to God? Why were they doing these things? Why was God not pleased?
If you had been Abram, knowing that you and your wife were both growing old, how would you have viewed God’s promise that you would have a son (see Genesis 15:1–6)?
How did Sarai’s solution to the problem of her childlessness show lack of faith in her thinking? How did it reveal her shortsightedness in God’s larger plans (see Genesis 16:1–4)?
Put yourself in Abraham’s place. How would you have reacted if God commanded you to sacrifice your child (see Genesis 22:1–19)? What would you have done?
Why might Esau have been so willing to sell his birthright? Whose sin is worse in your opinion: Jacob’s or Esau’s (see Genesis 25:27–34)?
Why did God give Jacob a limp during the wrestling match (see Genesis 32:24–32)? How did Jacob’s limp serve as a reminder of his weakness and need to depend on God?
Excerpted from 52 Weeks Through the Bible by John MacArthur, copyright John MacArthur.
What did you learn from God about Him today? What did you learn about yourself? Are you ready for a more intimate relationship with the One who gave you life, who sustains your life, and is prepared to give you eternal life? Come to Jesus, the author and perfector of your faith!
Pastor Dale
