Bible

Genesis 5 – Will You Stand Out?

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Reading through a family tree can be a little dull. “Your great, great, great grandfather Joe Smith was born in Kentucky. He grew up and worked in the coal mines. He met a lady named Ann Jones. They married and had three kids. One of those kids was named Ben. Ben grew up and worked…”
But occasionally, there’s an ancestor who stands out. There’s something about their character or conduct that makes them rise above the drone of names, and you’re struck by the impact they had on the family…and eventually you.
Genesis chapter five gives us the family lineage of Noah. Like most family trees, it can be a little dull to read. There’s the name of someone you don’t know. You find out how long they lived before they had a child, and how long they lived after that child. Then they die and the pattern starts all over again with the child.
But in the middle of all the names, one person stands out. His name is Enoch. There’s something different about Enoch. Twice in four verses, we’re told Enoch “walked with God.” (This phrase is not used with the others names in the lineage.) Then it doesn’t say that Enoch died, like everyone else. Instead, we’re told “Enoch walked with God, and he was not, for God took him.” – Genesis 5:24 ESV.
Then the lineage goes on as usual, until you get to Noah. Noah stands out. He is described as “one who will bring relief.” He (like Enoch) is also described as someone who “walked with God.” – Genesis 6:9.
Perhaps there’s a connection between Enoch standing out and Noah standing out.
When your descendants review their family tree, will you stand out above the drone of names as someone who walked with God? Will your life impact future generation to stand out for God?
Bret Legg is the Teaching and Counseling Pastor at Warren Baptist Church in Augusta, GA.

Genesis 4 – Anger Management

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Our world is becoming more and more angry. The news is filled with stories of violent protests, terrorist plots, random shootings, road rage, school bullying and racial hatred.
Just four chapters from creation, you find the first biblical reference to anger. Cain and Able each bring an offering to God. God examines first the person and then their offering and favors Able over Cain. This angers Cain to the point that you can see it on his face.
But notice how God responds to Cain’s anger…
God doesn’t tell Cain to bring a better offering. We think external circumstances are to blame for our anger, but anger originates in us…not outside of us. Instead of telling Cain to bring a better offering, God told Cain to bring a better heart, because anger management starts with heart management.
God doesn’t chastise Cain for his anger. Instead, God tries to help Cain with managing his anger. He points out Cain’s anger, challenges him to figure out why he’s angry and cautions him on how he should respond to his anger.
Cain refuses to heed God’s warning and kills his brother…not because he was angry, but because he didn’t manage his anger.
Ephesians 4:26 (ESV) tells us, “Be angry and do not sin…” How do you do this? Try following the same plan God gave Cain….
  1. Be AWARE of your anger.
  2. ASSOCIATE your anger with what’s going on internally, not externally.
  3. ACT in a way that brings the anger into submission.
Where is anger getting the best of you? Remember God’s words about anger…
“it desires to have you, but you must rule over it” (Genesis 4:7b NIV)
Bret Legg is the Teaching and Counseling Pastor at Warren Baptist Church in Augusta, GA.

Genesis 3 – A Great Head Fake

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In a lecture entitled “Achieving Your Childhood Dreams,” Randy Pausch talked about something he called a “head fake.” A “head fake” is when you think you’re learning about one thing, but you’re actually learning about something different.
Genesis chapter three contains one of the great “head fakes” in the Bible. When you read Genesis chapter three, you learn about the fall of man where Adam and Eve decided to veer from God’s ways and choose their own. Your read about…
  • Eve being enticed to desire what God had prohibited.
  • Eve going rogue and choosing to ignore God’s desires.
  • Adam choosing to follow Eve into rebellion rather than obey God.
  • Their sudden shame and hiding from God and each other.
  • God sending them out of the garden and into a harsh reality.
The entire chapter seems to be about the terrible sin and punishment of Adam and Eve. But here’s the “head fake.” Genesis chapter 3 is about more than just the sin of man. It’s also about the mercy of God. It’s about more than just man’s fall. It’s about God’s lifting. Think about it…
  • God knew what they had done, but He still came to pursue them.
  • God could have laid into them, but He asked them what happened.
  • God could have wiped them out and made someone else who would obey, but He committed to seeing it through with them.
  • God could have left them barely clothed, but instead He clothed them.
  • God could have left them in the garden to eat from the tree of life and thus be stuck in their condition, but he sent them out and guarded the entrance to prevent that from happening.
Our tendency is to fall. God’s tendency is to lift up. Our tendency is to run from Him. His tendency is to run toward us.
Think about how God is showing you mercy, despite your choices.
Bret Legg is the Teaching and Counseling Pastor at Warren Baptist Church in Augusta, GA.f

Genesis 2 – Retelling the Story

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One reason to tell the same story twice is that you left something out the first time you told it. When you tell the story a second time, your focus is different from the first telling.
In Genesis chapter 2, God tells the creation story a second time with a different focus. The first time He tells the creation story is in Genesis chapter one. There, He focuses on the reasonable order of creation. The second time He tells the creation story is in Genesis chapter 2. There, He focuses on the relational intent of the creation story. They’re the same story told from different perspectives.
Why is this important? Because it takes both perspectives to properly describe God. God is both reasonable and relational. He is both powerful and personable.
It’s easy to either make God so powerful He’s no longer personable, or to make God so relational that He’s no longer reasonable. We either make Him so much God that He’s no longer Father, or so much Father He’s no longer God.
Let’s not forget that God is both the God who made us and the God who wants to walk with us.
Bret Legg is the Teaching and Counseling Pastor at Warren Baptist Church in Augusta, GA.

Genesis 1 – In the Beginning

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Though science and faith argue over how things were created, they both agree there is a reasonableness to creation. They agree there is a purposeful progression to how things came to be.
This is exactly what you see in Genesis chapter 1. There, God brings things into being and progressively brings them into order and purpose. He originates, orchestrates, and organizes each part of creation to fulfill a purpose.
Like creation, you and I have a beginning and we continue to develop and progress toward some sort of purpose.
As people of faith, we are quick to affirm the creative power and plan of God when it comes to creation, but then we doubt God’s creative power and plan when it comes to our lives. It doesn’t make sense to believe that God can purposefully create and manage an entire cosmos, but can’t be trusted to manage and guide our lives.
Genesis chapter 1 should give us confidence that our Creator is as invested and intentional in over-seeing our lives as He is in overseeing the cosmos.
Where is it that you need to trust the God of all creation today?
Bret Legg is the Teaching and Counseling Pastor at Warren Baptist Church in Augusta, GA.