God’s Plan to Be With Us – SWO26 Summer

Scripture

Today’s Scripture is listed below. Make sure you read each section of Scripture before reading the commentary on it.

What’s The Point?

Now that we have looked at how Creation and the Fall highlight God’s desire to be with us, the rest of this study will show us that desire has not changed, and God has constantly been making a way for us to be with him. All of the Bible is the story of God’s plan of redemption.

Today, we are going to look through multiple parts of Genesis at the lives Cain and Abel, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. We will see how God has continually inserted himself into human history so we would know him and trust him, and we will see God’s consistent desire to dwell with us.

Cain and Abel – Genesis 4:1-18

The thing we want to focus on in this story is God’s merciful instruction to Cain. This is after the Garden, so man has already fallen into sin. Also, Cain has just brought God an offering that he did not accept. God would have been completely justified to leave Cain in his sin and frustration, but instead he intervened. He tried to convince Cain to not let his anger overtake him, but Cain did not listen.

You probably know how this story ends—Cain’s anger leads him to kill his brother. It is not a happy ending; nonetheless, the darkness in the story highlights  God’s intervention for Cain in the midst of his anger and sin.

Noah – Genesis 6:1-8 & 9:8-17

Noah’s ark is often portrayed as a story for kids because of all the cute, cuddly animals, but it’s actually a terrifying ordeal. We see in Genesis 6 that God decides to “uncreate” the world. Just as he brought everything into existence, he will bring everything out of existence—everything except Noah and his family because “Noah found favor in the eyes of the LORD” (Genesis 6:8). When everything on the earth was evil, Noah was righteous.

But the point of this narrative is not the righteousness of Noah. God had every right to uncreate the world he had made, but because he was merciful, because he was patient, and because he had a plan to redeem mankind, he allowed Noah to live. God acted in a way to preserve specific life for a specific purpose. It is important in the story of Noah that we understand God’s wrath poured out on sin and God’s intervening grace to choose and preserve Noah’s life.

Abraham – Genesis 12:1-3, 15, & 17:1-8

Genesis 12 is the initial call of Abraham (he was Abram at the time, but you get the picture). At this point Abraham had done absolutely nothing for the Lord. In all likelihood Abraham was a pagan, worshiping other gods when the one true God called him and promises to bless him. God doesn’t only promise to bless Abraham; he promises to bless “all the families of the earth” (Genesis 12:3).

In Genesis 15 God makes a covenant with Abraham. It seems like Abraham was doubting God’s promise, so God renews his word to Abraham by telling him that not only will he have an heir, but he will have more heirs than there are stars in the sky (Genesis 15:5).

After this, God makes a covenant with Abraham by passing through a bunch of animal halves. This seems strange to us today, but the idea was those who were making the covenant were saying, “I’ll keep my end of the bargain or else I’ll end up dead like these animals.” This type of covenant was a big deal, and the crazy part of this specific covenant is that God makes it with himself. Abraham doesn’t walk through the animal halves. God is making it very clear that he will fulfill his promise.

In Genesis 17 God speaks to Abraham again and reiterates his promise, reminding him that he won’t just have a kid; he is going to be “the father of a multitude of nations” (Genesis 17:4).

The promise and repetition of the promise should remind us of God’s plan to be with us. The reason God keeps calling Abraham the father of bunch of people is because he is the father of every Christian. Jesus was a descendant of Abraham, and we are coheirs with Christ, so in Christ we are the blessed children of Abraham.

Isaac – Genesis 26:23-25 & Jacob – Genesis 35:9-15

We are looking at these two passages specifically because God reaffirmed his promise that he made to Abraham to Isaac and Jacob. Isaac was Abraham’s son and Jacob was Isaac’s son, Abraham’s grandson. God proclaimed he would be with Isaac just like he was with Abraham. The promise to Jacob was the same but God announced it differently.

Jacob was renamed—much like his grandfather, Abraham. Jacob became Israel, so when God promised him that “a nation and a company of nations will come from you” (Genesis 35:11), we know that God is referring to the nation of Israel, the Jewish people.

There are two things we should see through these Scriptures. First, God’s desire and plan to be with his people is immediate. His plan was constantly being worked out so that he could make a chosen people for himself. Adam, Noah, Abraham, they are all men God chose to make himself known to.

Secondly, God’s desire to be with his people is eternal. The promises he gave to Adam, Noah, and Abraham all extended beyond themselves. God was and still is making for himself a people to dwell with him for all of eternity. All of these instances of God intervening and calling men to himself are wonderful as standalone events but are even more miraculous when we step back and see them all as integral parts of God’s plan to redeem us through the finished work of Christ.

Scripture Memorization

Malachi 3:6

“For I the LORD do not change; therefore you, O children of Jacob, are not consumed.”

Prayer

Father God, I have nothing to offer you. Just like with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, you chose me because you are good. Just like Cain, I am a wicked sinner, but you intervened and revealed your Gospel to me. Just like Noah, I want to live in righteousness before you. I praise you for your goodness and grace towards me. I thank you for your desire to be with me. I worship you because you are holy and worthy of my worship.

Reflection

1. Think about your own life. Think about the fact that God could have left you to your own sin and devices, but instead he chose to redeem you.
2. The Scripture memorization from today highlights God’s immutability—his unchangingness. Why is that characteristic so important?
3. When you look back on your life, can you see the ways he has directed you?

Discussion Questions

1. What are some other Old Testament figures or stories that example God’s plan to be with us?
2. Are there moments in your life that shine a spotlight on God’s calling for your life? What are they?
3. Are there moments where God intervened in your life when you didn’t deserve his mercy?