Broadlands Bible Church
November 30, 2022
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Thesis: The thesis that God's words are for man as he is as a creature of eternity, with a body of dust, a functional capacity imparted by a "life giving spirit", and a new identity as "a living soul", is established by the multitude of contexts which follow the pattern of "body, spirit, soul" (not necessarily in that order) throughout God's progressive revelation in the recording of this extensive pattern over the 1600 years (+/-) through verbal and written words.
Introduction: In our studies to date we have dived into the details that give us a description of man as God created him, because our interpretations of His words absolutely depend upon our understanding of the "setting" into which the words fell.
The last time we met, we reconsidered the terms of the text that tells us of the temptation of man by the serpent so that we might see that he attacked Eve, then Adam, at all points that relate to the way man was created by God. This record strongly implies that the only effective way for God to restore what the serpent destroyed is to address man according to the same issues. It will not help us to be told things that do not address those things which, going astray, will destroy us.
So, this evening we are going to move on to the next most highly visible record in which God addresses the lies: Genesis 12:1-3.
- I. Genesis 12:1-3.
- A. The background of this text.
- 1. Genesis 1-11 is a record of approximately 2,000 years of human history that takes up a mere 15 pages in our Bibles.
- 2. The pages are devoted to a double record of creation (using three of the fifteen pages addressing a single week of historical time), a record of the entrance of sin into man's experience (using one and a half of the remaining twelve pages), a record of the recurring thesis that this sin has established death as the relational and physical end of man (using two and a half of the remaining nine and a half pages), a record of the cataclysmic destruction of "the first world" by the quick elimination of everything that breathes air except for the survivors on the ark (using five of the remaining seven pages), a catalog of the nations as rebels against God, made manifest at Babel (using most of the remaining two pages, and the background of the man, Abram (using a part of a page). Pulling these elements together, the first fifteen pages of the Bible, covering two thousand years, what we have is a heavy emphasis upon what the entrance of sin into the human realm has accomplished.
- B. The elements of the text.
- 1. There is an immediate presentation of Yahweh's words to Abram.
- 2. This presentation consists of two sets of three parts.
- a. There is a three-fold command addressing three requirements imposed upon Abram by Yahweh.
- 1) The first is the demand that Abram abandon his "land" (erets) which, according to 2:9, was God's provision for man's physical sustenance: the issue at this point is focused upon Abram's "body".
- 2) The second is the demand that Abram abandon his "relatives" which composed his "blood kin tribe" which, according to Cain's complaint in 4:14, was the basis for his physical safety in the context of man's penchant for murder and mayhem: the issue of this demand was focused upon man's identity as a "soul".
- 3) The third is the demand that Abram abandon his "father's house" which gave Abram his "identity": the issue here is focused upon Abram's "status".
- b. Then there is a set of three commitments by Yahweh to him (promises).
- 1) The first is a "replacement land" (erets) that will enable Abram to continue to draw his physical life from the nourishing earth.
- 2) The second is a "replacement set of relatives" making up "a great nation" that will make "security" in this world a possibility.
- 3) The third is a "replacement identity" (a great name) making up for the loss of "status" derived from his father's house.
- C. When we compare the demands/promises to Genesis 3 we see that an exact parallel exists in the issues of "body", "soul", and "spirit".
- D. We also see a "fleshing out" of the issues so briefly addressed in chapter three.
- 1. God immediately returns to the requirement from Him upon man: Faith.
- a. This was where the "ball was dropped" and this is where "recovery" will be made.
- b. Faith is the actual "bottom line" in all "relational life": distrust kills it, trust gives it life.
- 2. God's return is to the three elements involved in the 2:7 record of His creation of man.
- 3. And the return fleshes out the issues to some degree.
- a. "Earth" is for the sustaining of man's physical body.
- b. "National/tribal identities" are for the preservation of man through "relationships".
- c. "Names" are for the establishment of "status" in the eyes of the observers.
