Lesson TWO: THE GENESIS FOUNDATION
Introduction: The book of Genesis has the first account of love recorded in the Bible right from creation and onwards with the story of Abraham and Isaac. This week, we seek to study more about the foundational truths that encompass the core of Scripture’s message on salvation and prophecy.
Memory Text: John 1:29 [NKJV]
‘The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!”‘
SABBATH: In the quest to interpret and understand the book of Revelation as far as prophecy is concerned, knowledge about key concepts on the same subject in the Old Testament is very important. The book of Genesis tells us how this world came into existence and, in a sense, shares important lessons about the nature of God’s love, the nature of humanity and the aspect of the Great Controversy with a great foundation laid for one to understand more about these lessons.
SUNDAY; There are concepts that are brought to light in the book of Genesis, and they are explained further in detail throughout the other books of the Bible. God intends that His children understand Him through His word, so He feeds them with information gradually as the concept enlarges over time. In addition, God is truth; He establishes it as well, and He never changes. Therefore, we are assured that when Bible principles are repeatedly mentioned, it is for the case of emphasis and shedding more light on their meaning.
(READ Matthew 24:15; 11:29; Revelation 1:3; Jeremiah 9:23&24)
MONDAY; The right meaning of love is very important in understanding Bible prophecy. Sinful nature has corrupted how humans view the nature of love in that it views love as being self-centred rather than one-centred on others. Contrary to this ideology, as seen in the case of Abraham and Isaac, we see that God’s love for us is provisional and self-sacrificing in nature. Just as God provided a ram for sacrifice, this was a foreshadowing of the sacrifice of His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, a gift to the human race as a ransom for our sins.
(READ Genesis 22:1-13; Matthew 3:17; Mark 1:11; Luke 3:22; John 3:16; Hebrews 11:19)
TUESDAY: A lamb is first mentioned in the account of Genesis 22, and it symbolises Christ as seen in the book Revelation. Isaac’s question, “Where is the lamb?” has the word “lamb” first mentioned, and this question is answered by John, who declares Jesus as the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world, as first mentioned in the book of John. This account helps us understand more of how Jesus Christ is our Substitute and more of the slain Lamb in John’s vision recorded in Revelation.
(READ Genesis 22:7&8,11-14; Exodus 12:3-13; Revelation 5:5-10; John 1:29-34; Matthew 3:17)
WEDNESDAY: Death is the wages of sin, as Scripture states, and it is what we pay for having been disconnected from our Creator, God,, who is the Source of life. It is too horrible, and being opposite to life, it was never intended to be part of the experiences here on earth. However, drawing parallels between Abel’s death and Christ’s death as two people who faced death yet were righteous and undeserving of it, we have hope in Christ Jesus because He rose up from the dead and holds the keys of the grave and death.
(READ Genesis 2:15-17; 4:8-15; 1 Corinthians 15:15-19; Revelation 1:18; Romans 6:23)
THURSDAY; The dragon who is the perpetrator and enabler of false systems of worship, as identified in Revelation, has traces of it in the Garden of Eden as a serpent. He seeks to entice people into rebelling against God, right from Adam and Eve’s encounter in Genesis. Given the fact the unchanging nature of the Great Controversy, however much the devil never rests in this plot, God promises to grant us wisdom and discernment that with the equipment of Scripture, we can not fall for the devil’s tricks and lies.
(READ Genesis 3:1-5; 12:1-9; 13:2-4; James 1:5)
FRIDAY; The Bible is the story of God’s interaction with humanity throughout history, and by studying thousands of years of such interactions, we can learn much about the consistent character of God. In addition, it is not merely a book about the future, but rather, it’s also a book about the past, designed to keep us rooted in our historical faith so that we are not led astray by a desire to seek originality.
(READ “The Revelation” pages 578-581 in The Acts of the Apostles by Ellen G White)
CAPTIONS:
SUNDAY; The principle of “first mention”
MONDAY; Understanding God’s love
TUESDAY; Isaac’s question: where is the lamb?
WEDNESDAY; Dealing with death
THURSDAY; The serpent
FRIDAY; Further thought
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS;
- Why is it so important that we not allow anyone or anything, no matter how smooth or even logical, to weaken our faith in the Bible and the infallible truths that it teaches? In what subtle ways can this weakening happen?
- Why is knowing that Jesus is our Substitute so foundational to our salvation? What hope would you have without Him as that Substitute, especially in the judgement?
- How should the church respond to new interpretations of prophecy? Though we know that there is always more to learn, how do we discern whether the new light is essential just a fad, or even an error?
