The Jesus Bible, NIV Edition NIV - Parable · The Jesus Bible, NIV Edition ... 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 A ... five books of the Bible (the Pentateuch), Moses

The Jesus Bible, NIV Edition Copyright © 2016 by Zondervan All rights reserved

The Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Published by Zondervan Zondervan, Grand Rapids, Michigan 49546

www.zondervan.com

“New International Version” and “NIV” are registered trademarks of Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission.

Book introductions, sidebar notes, articles, and essays copyright © 2016 by Passion Publishing.

Library of Congress Catalog Card Number 2016944211

The NIV® text may be quoted in any form (written, visual, electronic or audio), up to and inclusive of five hundred (500) verses without the express written permission of the publisher, providing the verses quoted do not amount to a complete book of the Bible nor do the verses quoted account for twenty-five percent (25%) or more of the total text of the work in which they are quoted.

Notice of copyright must appear on the title or copyright page as follows:

Scripture quotations taken from The Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

The “NIV” and “New International Version” are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.®

When quotations from the NIV® text are used by a local church in non-saleable media such as church bulletins, orders of ser-vice, posters, overhead transparencies, or similar materials, a complete copyright notice is not required, but the initials (NIV®) must appear at the end of each quotation.

Any commentary or other biblical reference work produced for commercial sale, that uses the NIV® text must obtain written permission for use of the NIV® text.

Permission requests for commercial use within the USA and Canada that exceeds the above guidelines must be directed to and approved in writing by Zondervan, 3900 Sparks Dr., Grand Rapids, Michigan 49546, USA. www.Zondervan.com

Permission requests for commercial use within the UK, EU and EFTA that exceeds the above guidelines must be directed to and approved in writing by Hodder & Stoughton Limited, 338 Euston Road, London NW1 3BH, United Kingdom. www.Hodder.co.uk

Permission requests for non-commercial use that exceeds the above guidelines must be directed to and approved in writing by Biblica US, Inc., 1820 Jet Stream Drive, Colorado Springs, CO 80921, USA. www.Biblica.com

Any Internet addresses (websites, blogs, etc.) and telephone numbers in this Bible are offered as a resource. They are not intended in any way to be or imply an endorsement by Zondervan, nor does Zondervan vouch for the content of these sites and numbers for the life of the Bible.

All rights reserved.

Printed in China N120712

16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 /DSC/ 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

A portion of the purchase price of your NIV® Bible is provided to Biblica so together we support the mission of Transforming lives through God’s Word.

Biblica provides God’s Word to people through translation, publishing and Bible engagement in Africa, Asia Pacific, Europe, Latin America, Middle East, and North America. Through its worldwide reach, Biblica engages people with God’s Word so that their lives are transformed through a relationship with Jesus Christ.

9780310444671_int_00_fm_niv_jesus_bible_FINAL.indd 2 6/27/16 1:42 PM

Rooted in the confession of Isaiah 26:8, PASSIONexists to glorify God by uniting students in worship, prayer and justice for spiritual awakening in this generation.From its start in 1995, the Passion movement has had a singular mission—calling students from campuses across the nation and around the world to live for what matters most. For us, what matters most is the name and renown of Jesus. We believe in this generation and are watching God use them to change the climate of faith around the globe.

LOUIE GIGLIO is thepastor of Passion City Church in Atlanta, Georgia, and the founder of Passion Conferences, a global movement uniting college-aged people to live for the fame of Jesus. With a desire to elevate God’s glory above all else, Louie has authored The Comeback, The Air I Breathe, I Am Not But I Know I Am, and Indescribable, which was co-authored with Grammy-Award winner, Matt Redman. Louie, and his wife Shelley, live in Atlanta, Georgia.

MAX LUCADO is apreacher with a storyteller’s gift — a pastor’s heart and a poet’s pen. Max’s message is simple: God loves you; let him. Max serves the people of Oak Hills Church in San Antonio, Texas. He preaches and writes to the hurting, the guilty, the lonely, the discouraged.

F E A T U R E D C O N T R I B U T O R S

JOHN PIPER is founder andteacher of desiringGod.org and chancellor of Bethlehem College & Seminary. For 33 years, he served as pastor of Bethlehem Baptist Church, Minneapolis, Minnesota. He is author of more than 50 books, including Desiring God, The Pleasures of God, Future Grace, and Let the Nations Be Glad.

RAVI ZACHARIAS isPresident and Founder of Ravi Zacharias International Ministries (RZIM). Their global outreach grew from humble roots in 1984 and includes fielding a team of itinerant speakers who operate from offices located around the world including the U.S., the UK, Romania, the Middle East, India, Singapore, Hong Kong, and Canada. The hallmark of Ravi’s heart is his strong evangelistic and apologetic spirit that manifests itself from a position of compassion.

RANDY ALCORN is anauthor and the founder and director of Eternal Perspective Ministries (EPM), a nonprofit ministry dedicated to teaching principles of God’s Word and assisting the church in ministering to the unreached, unfed, unborn, uneducated, unreconciled, and unsupported people around the world. A New York Times bestselling author, Randy has written over 50 books, including the Gold Medallion winner Safely Home.

F E A T U R E S

Jesus was sent by God to save sinners. Luke was one such sinner saved by the perfect life and substitutionary death of Jesus, the Messiah. Though Luke never met Jesus personally, it is clear that his life was radically transformed by the message he received from those who had.

Luke, a physician by trade, compiled information concerning the Christ from eyewit-nesses to his life, death and resurrection. The letter is addressed to Theophilus, presum-ably a Gentile convert who served among the Christian community established through Jesus’ work. This neophyte church was facing persecution, and Luke sought to reassure Theophilus of God’s faithfulness throughout history, seen most clearly in the sending of Jesus Christ. God would surely not abandon his people in the face of persecution when he had already gone to such great lengths to secure their salvation through Christ.

Luke’s Gospel is the only one with a sequel — the book of Acts. There Luke continues to describe the ongoing acts of God through the power of the Holy Spirit as the church spread throughout the known world of the first century. Through the church’s proclamation of Jesus, God continues to seek and save sinners.

This mission is vividly portrayed in the life of Christ seen throughout Luke’s Gospel. Jesus was sent by God to fulfill his pledge to save his people from their sins. Though many would fail to trust him, Jesus relentlessly pursued them in his love. This passionate, gracious love is portrayed in the three stories found in Luke 15 — a lost sheep, a lost coin and two lost sons. There Jesus is pictured as a loving Savior who will go to any length to find what belongs to him.

JESUS’ MINISTRY, DEATH,

RESURRECTION

c. AD 27 – 30

JOHN THE BAPTIST’S MINISTRY

c. AD 25 – 27

TIBERIUS CAESAR IS ROMAN EMPEROR

c. AD 14 – 37

LUKE

9780310444671_int_05_matt_acts_niv_jesus_bible_FINAL.indd 1600 6/27/16 12:57 PM

Book introductions highlight the story of Jesus in every book

BEGINNINGS JESUS AS THE SUPREME DISPLAY OF THE GLORY OF GOD— JOHN PIPER

GENESIS 1 – 2

After the question “Does God exist?” (to which God answers, “I Am,” Ex 3:14), the next question that can shape your life most deeply is “Why did God create the world?”

The short answer that resounds through the whole Bible like rolling thunder is this: God cre-ated the world for his glory. We’ll see what that means below, but first let’s establish the fact. “Bring my sons from afar and my daughters from the ends of the earth — everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made” (Isa 43:6 – 7). Even if the narrower meaning here is “I brought Israel into being for my glory,” the use of the words “created,” “formed,” and “made” are pointing us back to the original act of creation. This is why Israel ultimately exists. Because this is why all things ultimately exist — for the glory of God.

THE BIBLE IS CLEAR

When the first chapter of the Bible says, “God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them” (Ge 1:27), what is the point? The point of an image is to image. Images are erected in pub-lic to display the original. Point to the original. Glorify the original.

God made humans in his image so that the world would be filled with ref lectors of God. Images of God. Billions of statues of God. So that nobody would miss the point of creation. Nobody (unless they were spiritually blind) could miss the point of humanity, namely, God! Knowing, loving, showing God.

The angels cry, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory” (Isa 6:3). It’s full of human image-bearers. Glo-rious ruins. But not only humans. Also nature! Why such a breathtaking world for us to live in? Why such a vast universe? Scientists now say (I can’t verify it!) that there are more stars in the universe than there are words and sounds that all humans of all time have ever spoken. Why is it so gigantic?

The Bible is crystal clear about this: “The heav-ens declare the glory of God” (Ps 19:1). If some-one asks, “If earth is the only inhabited planet in the universe, and man the only rational inhabit-ant among the stars, why is there such a large and empty universe?” The answer is: It’s not about us. It’s about God. Which means it’s not an over-statement; it’s an understatement. God created us to know him and love him and show him. And then he gave us a hint of what he is like — the universe.

9780310444671_int_01_gen_deut_niv_jesus_bible_FINAL.indd 8 6/27/16 12:53 PM

7 compelling essays on the grand narrative of Scripture by Louie Giglio, Max Lucado, John Piper, Ravi Zacharias, and Randy Alcorn

F E A T U R E S

Throughout the first five books of the Bible (the Pentateuch), Moses served the people of Israel in three primary offices or ways: prophet (Dt 34:10 – 12), priest (Ex 32:31 – 35) and as a type of king or ruler (Ex 18:24 – 26). The people of God relied on Moses to lead them as a forming nation and in religious practices according to God’s Word, as well as petitioning the Lord on their behalf. Moses foretold of another prophet that God would raise up to serve Israel in the same vein. Deuteronomy 18:15 states, “The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your fellow Israelites. You must listen to him.” This verse established a culture of anticipation that went unfulfilled for hundreds of years. The people of Israel longed for the next great leader, one who would lead them as a king, priest and prophet. Moses foreshadowed the one for whom Israel waited. He was a type of Christ, looking forward to the Messiah who was yet to come.

Jesus proved to be the long-anticipated prophet, following in the offices of Moses and fulfill-ing the anticipation of Israel recorded in the Old Testament (Mt 4:12 – 17; Lk 4:16 – 21). Although many Israelites looked for a military leader, Jesus came as a humble servant, even willing to face the most humiliating form of execution within the Roman Empire (Php 2:5 – 8). He is a king — whose kingdom is not of this world — who came to serve his people by atoning for their sin on a cross to rescue them from the judgment of God. He is a prophet who proclaimed the commands of God and showed his followers the right path to please the Lord (Jn 14:15,23). Finally, he is a priest, going before the Father on behalf of the people of God, an office he currently fulfills at the right hand of the Father without ceasing (Heb 7:23 – 25).

Ultimately, all of the Old Testament authors — from Moses to David and the other prophets — looked forward to the day when the Messiah would come and bring finality to their anticipation, a day when they would see their ultimate Prophet, Priest and King.

DEUTERONOMY 18:15 – 19

CHRIST, THE PROMISED PROPHET


Over 300 full-page articles reveal Jesus throughout all of Scripture

37 Then Reu ben said to his fa ther, “You may put both of my sons to death if I do not bring him back to you. En trust him to my care, and I will bring him back.”

38 But Ja cob said, “My son will not go down there with you; his broth er is deadand he is the only one left. If harm comes to him on the jour ney you are tak ing, you will bring my gray head down to the grave in sor row.”

The Second Journey to Egypt

43 Now the fam ine was still se vere in the land. 2 So when they had eat en allthe grain they had brought from Egypt, their fa ther said to them, “Go back

and buy us a lit tle more food.”3 But Ju dah said to him, “The man warned us sol emn ly, ‘You will not see my

face again un less your broth er is with you.’ 4 If you will send our broth er along with us, we will go down and buy food for you. 5 But if you will not send him, we will not go down, be cause the man said to us, ‘You will not see my face again un less your broth er is with you.’ ”

6 Is ra el asked, “Why did you bring this trou ble on me by tell ing the man you had an oth er broth er?”

7 They re plied, “The man ques tioned us close ly about our selves and our fam-i ly. ‘Is your fa ther still liv ing?’ he asked us. ‘Do you have an oth er broth er?’ We sim ply an swered his ques tions. How were we to know he would say, ‘Bring your broth er down here’?”

8 Then Ju dah said to Is ra el his fa ther, “Send the boy along with me and we will go at once, so that we and you and our chil dren may live and not die. 9 I my self will guar an tee his safe ty; you can hold me per son al ly re spon si ble for him. If I do not bring him back to you and set him here be fore you, I will bear the blame be fore you all my life. 10 As it is, if we had not de layed, we could have gone and re turned twice.”

11 Then their fa ther Is ra el said to them, “If it must be, then do this: Put some of the best prod ucts of the land in your bags and take them down to the man as a gift — a lit tle balm and a lit tle hon ey, some spic es and myrrh, some pis ta chio nuts and al monds. 12 Take dou ble the amount of sil ver with you, for you must re-turn the sil ver that was put back into the mouths of your sacks. Per haps it was a mis take. 13 Take your broth er also and go back to the man at once. 14 And may God Al mighty a grant you mer cy be fore the man so that he will let your oth er broth er and Ben ja min come back with you. As for me, if I am be reaved, I am be reaved.”

15 So the men took the gifts and dou ble the amount of sil ver, and Ben ja min also. They hur ried down to Egypt and pre sent ed them selves to Jo seph. 16 When Jo seph saw Ben ja min with them, he said to the stew ard of his house, “Take these men to my house, slaugh ter an an i mal and pre pare a meal; they are to eat with me at noon.”

17 The man did as Jo seph told him and took the men to Jo seph’s house. 18 Now the men were fright ened when they were tak en to his house. They thought, “We were brought here be cause of the sil ver that was put back into our sacks the first time. He wants to at tack us and over pow er us and seize us as slaves and take our don keys.”

19 So they went up to Jo seph’s stew ard and spoke to him at the en trance to the house. 20 “We beg your par don, our lord,” they said, “we came down here the first time to buy food. 21 But at the place where we stopped for the night we opened our sacks and each of us found his sil ver — the ex act weight — in the mouth of his sack. So we have brought it back with us. 22 We have also brought ad di tion al sil ver with us to buy food. We don’t know who put our sil ver in our sacks.”

23 “It’s all right,” he said. “Don’t be afraid. Your God, the God of your fa ther, has giv en you trea sure in your sacks; I re ceived your sil ver.” Then he brought Sim e on out to them.

24 The stew ard took the men into Jo seph’s house, gave them wa ter to wash

a 14 Hebrew El-Shaddai

GENESIS 43:8 – 9

BECOMING A SLAVE SO A SLAVE COULD

GO FREEJudah makes a risky and bold move in this passage in complete contrast to his cowardly and unrighteous behav-ior earlier (Ge 37:26 – 27; 38:11 – 26). When Judah was forced to act on this pledge (44:33 – 34), he remained faithful to his promise, offering him-self as a slave so that his brother could avoid a similar fate (44:17). His substitutionary act would have allowed Benjamin to return to his fa-ther as a free man.

Centuries later, one of Judah’s de-scendants would offer himself in the place of sinners so that they might be freed from their penalty and slav-ery. Judah’s pledge of his life as the substitute for his younger brother is a striking parallel to Jesus’ substi-tutionary sacrifice of his life for his adopted brothers and sisters — the church (Ro 8:17,29). Unlike Judah, however (Ge 37:26 – 27), Jesus did not contribute to the slavery of the church. Instead, Jesus graciously pledged himself as a substitute so that he might bring home his re-deemed ones, right into the heavenly Father’s very presence.

72 // GENESIS 42:37


Nearly 700 sidebar articles comment on the text and show the Christ-connectedness of the passage

F E A T U R E S

25 Cir cum ci sion has val ue if you ob serve the law, but if you break the law, you have be come as though you had not been cir cum cised. 26 So then, if those who are not cir cum cised keep the law’s re quire ments, will they not be re gard ed as though they were cir cum cised? 27 The one who is not cir cum cised phys i cal ly and yet obeys the law will con demn you who, even though you have the a writ ten code and cir cum ci sion, are a law break er.

28 A per son is not a Jew who is one only out ward ly, nor is cir cum ci sion mere ly out ward and phys i cal. 29 No, a per son is a Jew who is one in ward ly; and cir cumci sion is cir cum ci sion of the heart, by the Spir it, not by the writ ten code. Such a per son’s praise is not from oth er peo ple, but from God.

God’s Faithfulness

3 What ad van tage, then, is there in be ing a Jew, or what val ue is there in circum ci sion? 2 Much in ev ery way! First of all, the Jews have been en trust ed

with the very words of God.3 What if some were un faith ful? Will their un faith ful ness nul li fy God’s faith

ful ness? 4 Not at all! Let God be true, and ev ery hu man be ing a liar. As it is written:

“So that you may be proved right when you speak and prevail when you judge.” b

5 But if our un righ teous ness brings out God’s righ teous ness more clear ly, what shall we say? That God is un just in bring ing his wrath on us? (I am us ing a human ar gu ment.) 6 Cer tain ly not! If that were so, how could God judge the world? 7 Some one might ar gue, “If my false hood en hanc es God’s truth ful ness and so in creas es his glo ry, why am I still con demned as a sin ner?” 8 Why not say — as some slan der ous ly claim that we say — “Let us do evil that good may re sult”? Their con dem na tion is just!

No One Is Righteous9 What shall we con clude then? Do we have any ad van tage? Not at all! For we

have al ready made the charge that Jews and Gen tiles alike are all un der the power of sin. 10 As it is writ ten:

“There is no one righteous, not even one; 11 there is no one who understands; there is no one who seeks God. 12 All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one.” c

13 “Their throats are open graves; their tongues practice deceit.” d

“The poison of vipers is on their lips.” e

14 “Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness.” f

15 “Their feet are swift to shed blood; 16 ruin and misery mark their ways, 17 and the way of peace they do not know.” g

18 “There is no fear of God before their eyes.” h

19 Now we know that what ev er the law says, it says to those who are un der the law, so that ev ery mouth may be si lenced and the whole world held ac count able to God. 20 There fore no one will be de clared righ teous in God’s sight by the works of the law; rath er, through the law we be come con scious of our sin.

a 27 Or who, by means of a b 4 Psalm 51:4 c 12 Psalms 14:13; 53:13; Eccles. 7:20 d 13 Psalm 5:9 e 13 Psalm 140:3 f 14 Psalm 10:7 (see Septuagint) g 17 Isaiah 59:7,8 h 18 Psalm 36:1

ROMANS 3:20 // 1749

9780310444671_int_06_rom_rev_niv_jesus_bible_FINAL.indd 1749 6/27/16 12:56 PM

Room for notes and journaling throughout

OLD TESTAMENT


JESUS: OUR

GLORIOUS CREATOR

GENESIS


The book of beginnings starts with the most significant words of all time: “In the beginning God.” With these words, the story of God’s grand and glorious plan for humanity com-mences. The opening book of the Bible is about God’s created design for his world, human-kind’s fall into sin and rebellion, and God’s gracious plan to rescue his beloved people from the terrible implications of their sin. The stories of famous people such as Abram/Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Joseph fill the book and trace the story of God’s grace toward his chosen people. At the outset of the Bible, right after the first sin, God promised to send One who would defeat Satan and sin forever. Jesus, the creative Word by which God spoke all things into being (Jn 1:1) would one day make his dwelling in a fallen world in order to save sinful humanity.

God, through Moses, prepared these documents to present a unified picture of the nature and character of himself and his work in the world to the second generation of those freed from slavery in Egypt — those who were poised to take the land of promise. This record of God’s dealings with humanity, starting with his created design, connected this generation to God’s continued grace, mercy and guidance.

The first few chapters of Genesis introduce the God of creation and his goal for his created image-bearers. Human sin contaminated and marred God’s created world, but it has not thwarted his purposes. He will still be known and worshiped, and his glory will fill the earth. In order to demonstrate his holiness and hatred of sin, God acted in judgment (Ge 3:16 – 19). This judgment, however, did not obscure the abundance of grace

JACOB AND HIS FAMILY

GO TO EGYPT

c. 1876 BC

ABRAM GOES TO CANAAN

c. 2091 BC

CREATION

Unknown

GENESIS


seen throughout Genesis. He pledged to send a child, an offspring of the woman, who would one day crush the head of Satan forever (Ge 3:15). In this way, God declared that he had a plan to reclaim rebellious image-bearers from their sin. Throughout Genesis, God repeat-edly made these promises in the form of a series of covenants in which he pledged his loy-alty, faithfulness and grace to humans, who were then called to respond to this grace with worshipful obedience.

God’s created design and mission in the world have not changed. He is still intent on filling the earth with his glory and using his created image-bearers to accomplish that goal. Christ, in his wrath-bearing death and life-giving resurrection, allows people to fulfill the very purpose for which they were created. His death fulfilled the covenant promises of God to make a way for people to have a right relationship with God in spite of human sin. Jesus’ perfect obedience demonstrated the values of the kingdom of God and defined the hope that we look for — the coming day when sin and death will be eradicated forever.

IN THE BEGINNING GOD CREATED THE HEAVENS AND THE EARTH.

Genesis 1:1


GENESIS

The Beginning

1 In the be gin ning God cre at ed the heav ens and the earth. 2 Now the earth was form less and emp ty, dark ness was over the sur face of the deep, and the Spir it of God was hov er ing over the wa ters.

3 And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. 4 God saw that the light was good, and he sep a rat ed the light from the dark ness. 5 God called the light “day,” and the dark ness he called “night.” And there was eve ning, and there was morn ing — the first day.

6 And God said, “Let there be a vault be tween the wa ters to sep a rate wa ter from wa ter.” 7 So God made the vault and sep a rat ed the wa ter un der the vault from the wa ter above it. And it was so. 8 God called the vault “sky.” And there was eve ning, and there was morn ing — the sec ond day.

9 And God said, “Let the wa ter un der the sky be gath ered to one place, and let dry ground ap pear.” And it was so. 10 God called the dry ground “land,” and the gath ered wa ters he called “seas.” And God saw that it was good.

11 Then God said, “Let the land pro duce veg e ta tion: seed-bear ing plants and trees on the land that bear fruit with seed in it, ac cord ing to their var-i ous kinds.” And it was so. 12 The land pro duced veg e ta tion: plants bear ing seed ac cord ing to their kinds and trees bear ing fruit with seed in it ac cord-ing to their kinds. And God saw that it was good. 13 And there was eve ning, and there was morn ing — the third day.

14 And God said, “Let there be lights in the vault of the sky to sep a rate the day from the night, and let them serve as signs to mark sacred times, and days and years, 15 and let them be lights in the vault of the sky to give light on the earth.” And it was so. 16 God made two great lights — the great er light to gov ern the day and the less er light to gov ern the night. He also made the stars. 17 God set them in the vault of the sky to give light on the earth, 18 to gov ern the day and the night, and to sep a rate light from dark ness. And God saw that it was good. 19 And there was eve ning, and there was morn-ing — the fourth day.

20 And God said, “Let the wa ter teem with liv ing crea tures, and let birds fly above the earth across the vault of the sky.” 21 So God cre at ed the great crea-tures of the sea and ev ery liv ing thing with which the wa ter teems and that moves about in it, ac cord ing to their kinds, and ev ery winged bird ac cord-ing to its kind. And God saw that it was good. 22 God blessed them and said, “Be fruit ful and in crease in num ber and fill the wa ter in the seas, and let the birds in crease on the earth.” 23 And there was eve ning, and there was morn ing — the fifth day.

24 And God said, “Let the land pro duce liv ing crea tures ac cord ing to their kinds: the live stock, the crea tures that move along the ground, and the wild an-i mals, each ac cord ing to its kind.” And it was so. 25 God made the wild an-i mals ac cord ing to their kinds, the live stock ac cord ing to their kinds, and all the crea tures that move along the ground ac cord ing to their kinds. And God saw that it was good.

26 Then God said, “Let us make man kind in our im age, in our like ness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the live stock and all the wild an i mals, a and over all the crea tures that move along the ground.”

a 26 Probable reading of the original Hebrew text (see Syriac); Masoretic Text the earth

GENESIS 1:3

LET THERE BE LIGHTGod brings light into darkness. That is a recurring theme throughout the Bible, and it begins here. In this verse, the spoken words of God cre-ate physical light to brighten a dark world. The New Testament records God sending his Son, Jesus, to be the light of the world (Jn 1:1 – 14). And Paul wrote to the church in Corinth that salvation occurs when God commands the light of his own glory “displayed in the face of Christ” to shine on the darkness of sinful hearts (2Co 4:6). Light represents the glory and salvation of God as it is expressed in Jesus Christ. Jesus is the exact representation of God, and he revealed God to a world sit-ting in darkness. Those who trust in Jesus are brought from the darkness of sin into God’s light — where there is joy, peace and hope forever. In the end, there will be no more darkness, and the light of God’s glory will shine brightly in God’s eternal kingdom (Rev 21:23).

GENESIS 1:26 – 27

MADE IN GOD’S IMAGE

Human beings are uniquely created in the image of God. When the rest of creation was being birthed, it was “good.” God created the birds, fish, plants and stars to display his splen-dor and oh, how amazing they are.

(continued on page 6)


Jesus has been from the beginning. We live in a pluralist society where many people believe in some type of “god.” Therefore you probably would not get a whole lot of pushback when you say, “God created the heavens and the earth.” However, understanding that Jesus created everything changes how one views the whole of Scripture. Colossians 1:15 – 17 says that, “The Son [ Jesus] is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authori-ties; all things have been created through him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.” Paul writes that all things were created by, through and for Jesus.

John makes a similar claim at the outset of his Gospel. The New Testament was written in Greek to a largely Greco-Roman audience. The Greeks believed that there was a unifying force that holds the entire world together. They defined that force as the Logos. The Gospel of John defines the Logos as Jesus. John 1:1 – 2 says, “In the beginning was the Word [Logos], and the Word [Logos] was with God, and the Word [Logos] was God. He was with God in the beginning.” The Word of God — the very agent God used to create all things — took on f lesh and made his dwelling on earth in the person of Jesus Christ.

John and Paul affirm this is the agent of creation — the eternal Word of God who was used by God to make something out of nothing. Understanding that Jesus created everything and holds everything together should shape how we read the whole of Scripture. Jesus does not make his first appearance in the book of Matthew. God’s Trinitarian nature is on display from the outset of the Scriptures. And, in many ways, the various stories found throughout the Old Testament help explain the nature, character and work of Jesus Christ. Time and time again, God sets the stage for the sending of the Son to fulfill his eternal plan to save those who were dead in their sins.

GENESIS 1:1

JESUS CREATED EVERYTHING AND HOLDS IT ALL TOGETHER


27 So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.

28 God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruit ful and in crease in num-ber; fill the earth and sub due it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over ev ery liv ing crea ture that moves on the ground.”

29 Then God said, “I give you ev ery seed-bear ing plant on the face of the whole earth and ev ery tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. 30 And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds in the sky and all the crea tures that move along the ground — ev ery thing that has the breath of life in it — I give ev ery green plant for food.” And it was so.

31 God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And there was eve ning, and there was morn ing — the sixth day.

2 Thus the heav ens and the earth were com plet ed in all their vast ar ray.

2 By the sev enth day God had fin ished the work he had been do ing; so on the sev enth day he rest ed from all his work. 3 Then God blessed the sev enth day and made it holy, be cause on it he rest ed from all the work of cre at ing that he had done.

Adam and Eve4 This is the ac count of the heav ens and the earth when they were cre at ed,

when the Lord God made the earth and the heav ens.5 Now no shrub had yet ap peared on the earth a and no plant had yet sprung

up, for the Lord God had not sent rain on the earth and there was no one to work the ground, 6 but streams b came up from the earth and wa tered the whole sur face of the ground. 7 Then the Lord God formed a man c from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nos trils the breath of life, and the man be came a liv ing be ing.

8 Now the Lord God had plant ed a gar den in the east, in Eden; and there he put the man he had formed. 9 The Lord God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground — trees that were pleas ing to the eye and good for food. In the mid dle of the gar den were the tree of life and the tree of the knowl edge of good and evil.

10 A riv er wa ter ing the gar den flowed from Eden; from there it was sep a rat ed into four head wa ters. 11 The name of the first is the Pi shon; it winds through the en tire land of Hav i lah, where there is gold. 12 (The gold of that land is good; ar o-mat ic res in d and onyx are also there.) 13 The name of the sec ond riv er is the Gi-hon; it winds through the en tire land of Cush. e 14 The name of the third riv er is the Ti gris; it runs along the east side of Ash ur. And the fourth riv er is the Eu phra tes.

15 The Lord God took the man and put him in the Gar den of Eden to work it and take care of it. 16 And the Lord God com mand ed the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the gar den; 17 but you must not eat from the tree of the knowl-edge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will cer tain ly die.”

18 The Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a help er suit able for him.”

19 Now the Lord God had formed out of the ground all the wild an i mals and all the birds in the sky. He brought them to the man to see what he would name them; and what ev er the man called each liv ing crea ture, that was its name. 20 So the man gave names to all the live stock, the birds in the sky and all the wild an i mals.

But for Adam f no suit able help er was found. 21 So the Lord God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep; and while he was sleep ing, he took one of the man’s

a 5 Or land ; also in verse 6 b 6 Or mist c 7 The Hebrew for man (adam) sounds like and may be related to the Hebrew for ground (adamah) ; it is also the name Adam (see verse 20). d 12 Or good; pearls e 13 Possibly southeast Mesopotamia f 20 Or the man

God said these creations were good. However, when it came to humans, the tone changed. He said that the creation of humans was “very good.” Human beings are an extra-special creation for at least three reasons. First, it is clear that humans have an identity that is rooted in God. When God said, “Let us make mankind in our image,” he reiterated the pres-ence of Jesus and the Holy Spirit in the act of creation (see article on Ge 1:1). Humans are special because Jesus, as a part of the Trinity, created them in his image. Second, humans are special because they were cre-ated for a unique purpose. No two humans are the same. Other aspects of creation serve general functions, but only humans have a unique, in-dividual purpose. Third, humans are designed to have a one-on-one re-lationship with God through Jesus, powered by the Holy Spirit. As a right of being created in the image of their Creator, humans can relate directly to him. It is through Jesus that this relationship is made possible. He came and tore down the dividing wall of hostility that separated his special creation from God (Ro 8:34 – 39).

GENESIS 1:28

GOD’S CREATED MISSION

Adam and Eve lived on mission. This is seen in a couple of ways. First, they were to multiply and fill the earth. As created image-bearers, were it not for sin, they would naturally multiply and fill the earth with more and more image-bearing worshipers of God. As worshipers spread, the glory of God

(Made in God’s Image, continued)

(continued on next page)

6 // GENESIS 1:27


ribs a and then closed up the place with flesh. 22 Then the Lord God made a wom-an from the rib b he had tak en out of the man, and he brought her to the man.

23 The man said,

“This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called ‘woman,’ for she was taken out of man.”24 That is why a man leaves his fa ther and moth er and is unit ed to his wife, and they be come one flesh.

25 Adam and his wife were both na ked, and they felt no shame.

The Fall

3 Now the ser pent was more crafty than any of the wild an i mals the Lord God had made. He said to the wom an, “Did God real ly say, ‘You must not eat from

any tree in the gar den’?”2 The wom an said to the ser pent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the gar-

den, 3 but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the mid dle of the gar den, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’ ”

4 “You will not cer tain ly die,” the ser pent said to the wom an. 5 “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, know ing good and evil.”

6 When the wom an saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleas ing to the eye, and also de sir able for gain ing wis dom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her hus band, who was with her, and he ate it. 7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they re al ized they were na ked; so they sewed fig leaves to geth er and made cov er ings for them selves.

8 Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as he was walk-ing in the gar den in the cool of the day, and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the gar den. 9 But the Lord God called to the man, “Where are you?”

10 He an swered, “I heard you in the gar den, and I was afraid be cause I was na ked; so I hid.”

11 And he said, “Who told you that you were na ked? Have you eat en from the tree that I com mand ed you not to eat from?”

12 The man said, “The wom an you put here with me — she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it.”

13 Then the Lord God said to the wom an, “What is this you have done?”The wom an said, “The ser pent de ceived me, and I ate.”14 So the Lord God said to the ser pent, “Be cause you have done this,

“Cursed are you above all livestock and all wild animals! You will crawl on your belly and you will eat dust all the days of your life. 15 And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring c and hers; he will crush d your head, and you will strike his heel.”

16 To the wom an he said,

“I will make your pains in childbearing very severe; with painful labor you will give birth to children. Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you.”

a 21 Or took part of the man’s side b 22 Or part c 15 Or seed d 15 Or strike

would be seen throughout the world God had created. Second, people were to exercise dominion over God’s world. They were to do more than simply care for the world — they were to harness the latent potential built into God’s very good created design in order to magnify the order, beauty and capabilities inherent in all things made by God. Sin changed all that God created, but it did not obliter-ate this mandate. In Christ, men and women can fulfill their God-given mission to fill the earth with worship-ers and develop the world in such a way as to bring God great glory.

GENESIS 3:15 – 17

THE PROMISED ONEGod’s judgment of sin is interrupted by a stunning picture of his grace. Because of human sin, there are vast implications — from men and women to the very creation itself. But God promises that sin will not have the final word. This first refer-ence to the plan of God to save fallen sinners, sometimes referred to as the protoevangelium (the first gospel), declares God’s commitment to his creation. He will not abandon it to destruction but will pursue it in love. His promise is clear — a descendant of the woman will crush the head of the serpent. The heel of this male heir of the first parents will be struck, though the child will emerge victori-ous by crushing the head of the evil one. The exact nature of the plan is yet to be explained, but the plan is already in place. Jesus, the promised seed of the woman, would leave no doubt as to the fulfillment of this promise. It would appear that Satan

(God’s Created Mission, continued)

(continued on page 14)

GENESIS 3:16 // 7


BEGINNINGS JESUS AS THE SUPREME DISPLAY OF THE GLORY OF GOD— JOHN PIPER

GENESIS 1 – 2

After the question “Does God exist?” (to which God answers, “I Am,” Ex 3:14), the next question that can shape your life most deeply is “Why did God create the world?”

The short answer that resounds through the whole Bible like rolling thunder is this: God cre-ated the world for his glory. We’ll see what that means below, but first let’s establish the fact. “Bring my sons from afar and my daughters from the ends of the earth — everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made” (Isa 43:6 – 7). Even if the narrower meaning here is “I brought Israel into being for my glory,” the use of the words “created,” “formed,” and “made” are pointing us back to the original act of creation. This is why Israel ultimately exists. Because this is why all things ultimately exist — for the glory of God.

THE BIBLE IS CLEAR

When the first chapter of the Bible says, “God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them” (Ge 1:27), what is the point? The point of an image is to image. Images are erected in pub-lic to display the original. Point to the original. Glorify the original.

God made humans in his image so that the world would be filled with ref lectors of God. Images of God. Billions of statues of God. So that nobody would miss the point of creation. Nobody (unless they were spiritually blind) could miss the point of humanity, namely, God! Knowing, loving, showing God.

The angels cry, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory” (Isa 6:3). It’s full of human image-bearers. Glo-rious ruins. But not only humans. Also nature! Why such a breathtaking world for us to live in? Why such a vast universe? Scientists now say (I can’t verify it!) that there are more stars in the universe than there are words and sounds that all humans of all time have ever spoken. Why is it so gigantic?

The Bible is crystal clear about this: “The heav-ens declare the glory of God” (Ps 19:1). If some-one asks, “If earth is the only inhabited planet in the universe, and man the only rational inhabit-ant among the stars, why is there such a large and empty universe?” The answer is: It’s not about us. It’s about God. Which means it’s not an over-statement; it’s an understatement. God created us to know him and love him and show him. And then he gave us a hint of what he is like — the universe.


We can see the purpose of creation even where the apostle Paul describes how we have fallen short of it. He says in Romans 1:20 – 21:

“God’s invisible qualities — his eternal power and divine nature — have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse. For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him.”

The great tragedy of the universe is that, while human beings were made to glorify God, we have all fallen short of this purpose and “exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like a mortal human being” (Ro 1:23).

GOD HELPS US FEEL THIS TRUTH

So, resounding through the whole Bible — from eternity to eternity — like rolling thunder is God’s great purpose for all things: He created the world for his glory. Besides Isaiah 43:7 (“created for my glory”), Isaiah presses home the reality over and over to help us feel it and make it part of the fabric of our thinking:

“Every valley shall be raised up, every moun-tain and hill made low . . . And the glory of the Lord will be revealed, and all people will see it together” (Isa 40:4 – 5).

“I am the Lord; that is my name! I will not yield my glory to another” (Isa 42:8).“The Lord has redeemed Jacob, he displays his glory in Israel” (Isa 44:23).““For my own name’’s sake I delay my wrath; for the sake of my praise I hold it back from you . . . I have tested you in the furnace of aff lic-tion. For my own sake, for my own sake, I do this. How can I let myself be defamed? I will not yield my glory to another” (Isa 48:9 – 11).“He said to me, ‘You are my servant, Israel, in whom I will display my splendor’ ” (Isa 49:3).“The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to pro-claim good news to the poor . . . They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the Lord for the display of his splendor” (Isa 61:1 – 3).

GLORIFY IS DIFFERENT FROM BEAUTIFY

This is why God created the world — that he may be glorified. Which does not mean that he may be made glorious. Don’t take the word glorify and treat it like the word beautify. To beautify means to take something plain and make it beautiful. We don’t take a plain God and make him beautiful. That is not what glorifying God means.

9


(CONTINUED)

GENESIS 1 – 2

BEGINNINGS

world — this history as it is unfolding — was created and is guided and sustained by God so that the grace of God, supremely displayed in the death and resurrection of Jesus for sinners, would be glorified throughout all eternity in the Christ-exalting joys of the redeemed.

Or let’s just keep it short: This world exists for the glory of God’s grace revealed in the saving work of Jesus. There is an unbreakable connec-tion between the glory of God, the glory of grace, the glory of Christ, the glory of the cross.

THE GLORY OF GOD AND THE CROSS OF CHRIST

Let me show you this from God’s Word in five steps.

1. The apex — the highpoint — of God’s display of his own glory is the display of his grace.

“God predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will — to the praise of his glorious grace” (Eph 1:5 – 6). In other words, the glory of God’s grace — what Paul calls “the incom-parable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus” (Eph 2:7) — is the highpoint and endpoint in the revelation of God’s glory. And the aim of predestination is that we live “to the praise of his glorious grace” forever.

When God created the world, he did not create out of any need or any weakness or any deficiency. He created out of fullness and strength and com-plete sufficiency. As Jonathan Edwards said, “Tis no argument of the emptiness or deficiency of a fountain that it is inclined to overf low.”

Or switch to the word magnify. We magnify his glory like a telescope, not a microscope. Micro-scopes make small things look bigger than they are. Telescopes make unimaginably big things look more like what they really are. Our lives are to be telescopes for the glory of God.

WHY THIS PARTICULAR WORLD?

But we can’t leave it here. It’s too general. It’s too disconnected from the specific persons of the Trinity and from the f low of history the way God is guiding it. The question is not just, “Why did God create the world?” but why this world? Why these thousands of years of human history with a glorious beginning, and a horrible fall into sin, and a history of Israel, and the coming of the Son of God into the world, a substitutionary death, a triumphant resurrection, the founding of the church and the history of global missions to where we are today? Why this world? This history?

And the short answer to that question is for the glory of God’’s grace displayed supremely in the death of Jesus. Or to say it more fully, this

10


supremely revealed through the saving work of the Son.

4. From eternity, God’s plan was that the glory of God’s grace would reach its highpoint in the saving work of Jesus on the cross.

We see this in the title that was already on the book of the redeemed before the creation of the world. Before there was any human sin to die for, God planned that his Son would be slain for sinners. We know this because of the name given to the book of life before creation. “All inhabitants of the earth will worship the beast — all whose names have not been written in the Lamb’s book of life, the Lamb who was slain from the creation of the world” (Rev 13:8).

The name of the book before creation was “the Lamb’s book of life, the Lamb who was slain from the creation of the world.” The plan was glory. The plan was grace. The plan was Christ. And the plan was death. And that death for sinners like us is the heart of the gos-pel, which is why Paul calls it “the gospel that displays the glory of Christ” (2Co 4:4).

5. Therefore, the ultimate purpose of creating and guiding and sustaining this world — this history — is the praise of the glory of the grace of God in the crucifixion of his Son for sinners.

This is why Revelation 5:9 and 13 show that for all eternity we will sing the song of the

This is the endpoint of his glory, and everything else — even God’s wrath — serves this. So Paul said, “Choosing to show his wrath and make his power known, bore with great patience the objects of his wrath . . . to make the riches of his glory known to the objects of his mercy” (Ro 9:22 – 23). Wrath is penultimate. The glory of grace on the objects of mercy is ultimate.

2. God planned this — the praise of the glory of his grace — before creation.

God “chose us in him before the creation of the world . . . to the praise of his glorious grace” (Eph 1:4,6).

Grace was not an afterthought in response to the fall of man. It was planned before creation. It was the plan, because grace is the summit of the mountain of his glory. And he created the world for his glory. He planned the world for the glory of his grace.

3. God’s plan was that the praise of the glory of his grace would come about through the Son of God, Jesus Christ.

“He predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ . . . to the praise of his glo-rious grace” (Eph 1:5 – 6). This predestina-tion to the praise of the glory of God’s grace happened “through Jesus Christ.” In the eter-nal fellowship of the Trinity, the Father and the Son planned that God’s grace would be

11


(CONTINUED)

GENESIS 1 – 2

BEGINNINGS

And why did he create a world that would become like this world? A world that fell into sin? A world that exchanged his glory for the glory of images? Why would he permit and guide and sustain such a world? And we answer: for the praise of the glory of the grace of God displayed supremely in the death of Jesus.

I ask:• Is the glory of God the brightest treasure on

the horizon of your future? Paul expressed the Christian heart in Romans 5:2, “We boast in the hope of the glory of God.”

• Is the glory of grace the sweetest news to your guilty soul?

• Is the glory of Christ in your life the present, personal embodiment of the grace of God?

• Is the glory of the cross the saddest and hap-piest beauty to your redeemed soul?

Lamb. We will say with white-hot admiration and praise, “You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, because you were slain, and with your blood you purchased for God persons from every tribe and language and people and nation” (Rev 5:9).

YOUR BRIGHTEST TREASURE

So we ask again, in conclusion, “Why did God create the world?” And we answer with the Scrip-tures: God created the world for his glory. God did not create out of need. He did not create the world out of a deficiency. He was not lonely. He was supremely happy in the fellowship of the Trinity — Father, Son and Holy Spirit. He cre-ated the world to put his glory on display that his people might know him, and enjoy him and show him.

BEGINNINGSGENESIS

1–2(pg. 8)

REVOLTGENESIS

3–11(pg. 24)

PEOPLEGENESIS 12 to

MALACHI(pg. 266)

INTERTESTAMENTAL

PERIOD(pg. 1508)

SAVIORGOSPELS to

ACTS 1(pg. 1560)

CHURCHACTS 2 to

REVELATION 20(pg. 1736)

FOREVERREVELATION

21–22(pg. 1996)

Note: When italics are used in the Scripture references above, they have been added by the author to show emphasis.

12


Adam and Eve represent a profound paradox. They are simultaneously the crowning achieve-ment of God’s creation, created in his very image, and the symbol of mankind’s greatest failure. In verse 1 the serpent appeared in Paradise with no introduction. The serpent symbolizes something both fascinating and loathsome. Yet neither Adam nor Eve saw the danger embodied in the serpent. The danger of this creature was quickly realized in verse 8 after Adam and Eve were enticed by its suggestion and drawn into the depth of sin. According to his custom, God came walking through the garden in the cool of the day, and for the first time Adam and Eve hid from him in shame because of their sinful disobedience.

In Romans 5:12 – 21 Paul takes his readers back to this very moment in history and offers a divinely inspired interpretation. He explains that Adam’s sin led to the downfall and death of the entire human race. Through one man (Adam), death came. Yet through one Man ( Jesus Christ), grace and the gift of God (eternal life) was given.

The works of these two men, Adam and Jesus, are not merely opposites of one another. Christ’s work — the work of redemption accomplished on the cross — is far greater, for it brings God’s life and redemption to those who are spiritually dead. The death of Adam spread to all, but the life of Christ overcame it. Through Adam’s disobedience, death reigned and the world stood condemned before God.

In the face of this condemnation, Jesus offered humanity the free gift of salvation by faith that resulted in justification. That is to say, the aim of this gift is to justify (remove condemnation) from those who stood condemned. This glorious promise provides remarkable hope for those who are “in Christ.” They have been reborn, by the power of God, and their status is transferred from being “in Adam” to “in Christ.” In turn, they receive the inheritance promised to all those who are “in Christ” and avoid the wrath of those who are “in Adam.” So much greater is the work of Jesus than the sin of Adam!

GENESIS 3:1 – 7

THE FIRST ADAM AND THE RUIN OF HUMANITY


17 To Adam he said, “Be cause you lis tened to your wife and ate fruit from the tree about which I com mand ed you, ‘You must not eat from it,’

“Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat food from it all the days of your life. 18 It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field. 19 By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return.”

20 Adam a named his wife Eve, b be cause she would be come the moth er of all the liv ing.

21 The Lord God made gar ments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them. 22 And the Lord God said, “The man has now be come like one of us, know-ing good and evil. He must not be al lowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live for ev er.” 23 So the Lord God ban ished him from the Gar den of Eden to work the ground from which he had been tak en. 24 Af ter he drove the man out, he placed on the east side c of the Gar den of Eden cher u bim and a flam ing sword flash ing back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life.

Cain and Abel

4 Adam a made love to his wife Eve, and she be came preg nant and gave birth to Cain. d She said, “With the help of the Lord I have brought forth e a man.”

2 Lat er she gave birth to his broth er Abel.Now Abel kept flocks, and Cain worked the soil. 3 In the course of time Cain

brought some of the fruits of the soil as an of fer ing to the Lord. 4 And Abel also brought an of fer ing — fat por tions from some of the first born of his f lock. The Lord looked with fa vor on Abel and his of fer ing, 5 but on Cain and his of fer ing he did not look with fa vor. So Cain was very an gry, and his face was down cast.

6 Then the Lord said to Cain, “Why are you an gry? Why is your face down-cast? 7 If you do what is right, will you not be ac cept ed? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouch ing at your door; it de sires to have you, but you must rule over it.”

8 Now Cain said to his broth er Abel, “Let’s go out to the field.” f While they were in the field, Cain at tacked his broth er Abel and killed him.

9 Then the Lord said to Cain, “Where is your broth er Abel?”“I don’t know,” he re plied. “Am I my broth er’s keep er?”10 The Lord said, “What have you done? Lis ten! Your broth er’s blood cries out

to me from the ground. 11 Now you are un der a curse and driv en from the ground, which opened its mouth to re ceive your broth er’s blood from your hand. 12 When you work the ground, it will no lon ger yield its crops for you. You will be a rest less wan der er on the earth.”

13 Cain said to the Lord, “My pun ish ment is more than I can bear. 14 To day you are driv ing me from the land, and I will be hid den from your pres ence; I will be a rest less wan der er on the earth, and who ev er finds me will kill me.”

15 But the Lord said to him, “Not so g; any one who kills Cain will suf fer ven-geance sev en times over.” Then the Lord put a mark on Cain so that no one who

a 20,1 Or The man b 20 Eve probably means living. c 24 Or placed in front d 1 Cain sounds like the Hebrew for brought forth or acquired. e 1 Or have acquired f 8 Samaritan Pentateuch, Septuagint, Vulgate and Syriac; Masoretic Text does not have “Let’s go out to the field.” g 15 Septuagint, Vulgate and Syriac; Hebrew Very well

had done far more than strike the heel of the Son of God as Jesus hung lifeless on a cross. But God would have the final word. Through Jesus’ victorious resurrection, he would crush the head of Satan — perma-nently declaring victory over sin and death and fulfilling the promise made at the outset of the Bible.

(The Promised One, continued)

14 // GENESIS 3:17


Documents

The Jesus Bible, NIV Edition NIV - Parable · The Jesus Bible, NIV Edition ... 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 A ... five books of the Bible (the Pentateuch), Moses