Searching for the Christ

By Tony Hunt

Written for teenagers and adults, Searching for the Christ is a Bible storybook that explains how the subject of the Word of God from Genesis to Revelation is the Christ. The Biblical accounts in the Old Testament have truths revealed in the New Testament woven into them, the narratives of Jesus Christ's life reflect an accurate harmony of the four Gospels and the stories of the rise and expansion of the Christian Church are infused with truths regarding the rights, privileges, and abilities that are made known in the Church Epistles.

• Language: English
• Publisher: BookBaby
• Release date: May 15, 2024
• ISBN: 9798350953503

Book preview

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Copyright 2023

All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

ISBN: 979-8-35092-082-6

For the children, grandchildren,

and great-grandchildren of those who have

faithfully stood on God’s rightly-divided Word

Contents

Preface

Acknowledgements

The Beginning

The Fall of Lucifer

A New Heaven and Earth

The Fall of Man

God’s Promise of a Savior

The First Children

The Preacher of Righteousness

The Tower of Confusion

The Story of Job

The Friend of God

The High Priest of God

Abram Learns a Great Truth

Abram and Sarai Try to Help God …

But God Ends Up Helping Them

Abraham Saves His Nephew and the Christline

God Keeps Teaching His Friend

The Father of All Who Believe

Isaac and Rebekah Have Twins

God Appears to Jacob

A Man with the Spirit of God in Him (Part 1)

A Man with the Spirit of God in Him (Part 2)

A Man with the Spirit of God in Him (Part 3)

Jacob’s Prophecies

Hard Times

Moses Makes a Decision

God and Moses Have a Talk

God Teaches a Lesson

The First Passover

God Makes a Way Where There is No Way

Moses Reminds the People of God’s Plan

God Gives His People Rules

A Tent for God

Keeping the Promise of the Christ Alive

Israel Reaches the Promised Land

A Greedy Prophet Foretells the Christ

A New Leader for Israel

God Again Shows That He Always Keeps His Promises

An Unlikely Leader

A Man with Super Strength

A Woman Who Wanted God More Than a Husband

The Last Judge

Samuel Hears From God

Israel Learns a Lesson the Hard Way

Israel Asks for a King

A Man after God’s Own Heart

The Name of the Lord of Hosts

David’s Hope in the Christ

David Learns of God’s Mercy

A House for God

A Wise Son

The Kingdom Splits

A King Who Relied on God for Years

Decision Time for Israel

A Strange Partnership

Help From the Lord

No One Can Keep a Secret from God

The Lord Sends a Prophet and a Fish

It’s Hard to Fight the True God

The Sufferings of the Coming Christ

The One Who Controls the Sun

The Amazing Mercy of God

The Revealer of Secrets

Our God is Able

A Night with the Lions

God Saves the Christline with a Young Woman

A Mind to Work

God’s Law of Prosperity

The Only One Ever Born With Spirit

The Conception of the Christ

The Birth of Jesus

Welcoming the New King

A Visit from Far Away

Jesus as a Youth

A Light in the Darkness

The Baptism of Jesus

Tempted in the Wilderness

Jesus Christ’s First Disciples

Miracle at a Wedding

Born of Spirit

The Woman at the Well

The Son Can Do Nothing of Himself

The Kingdom of God is at Hand

Jesus Christ’s Mission

Preaching and Teaching in Galilee

Jesus Christ Teaches the Heart of the Law

Jesus Christ Teaches How to Pray

God Gets the Glory

The Sabbath Was Made for Man

Jesus Christ Chooses Twelve Apostles

The Two Families

The Parable of the Sower

What Kind of Man is This?

A Man from the Graveyard

A Feast with Sinners

Healings after the Feast

Jesus Christ Sends Out the Twelve Apostles

Jesus Christ Feeds a Multitude

Walking on Water

The Bread from Heaven

Respect for God’s Word

Spiritual Senses

A New Topic

The Transfiguration

If You Can Believe

More Lessons

The Feast of Tabernacles

A Woman Taken in Adultery

Two Very Different Fathers

A Man Born Blind

Jesus Christ Sends Out the Seventy

Martha and Mary

Another Teaching on Prayer

Beware of the Pharisees

Beware of Coveting

More Healings on the Sabbath

No One Gives More than God

Joy in Heaven

Increase Our Believing

Keep Praying

The Feast of the Dedication

The Land beyond Jordan

Jesus Christ Raises Lazarus from the Dead

Servants of All

Seek and You Will Find

Two Anointings

Two Entries into Jerusalem

The Law of Believing

Temptations in the Temple

The Last Supper

After the Last Supper

Jesus Christ Comforts His Disciples

The Garden of Gethsemane

The Arrest of Jesus Christ

The Trials of Jesus Christ

Jesus Christ Meets the Roman Rulers

The Crucifixion of Jesus Christ

The Burials of Jesus Christ

He is Risen!

More Appearances on Sunday

The Next Thirty-Eight Days

The Ascension of Jesus Christ

The Days before Pentecost

The Day of Pentecost (Part 1)

The Day of Pentecost (Part 2) – The New Birth

The Day of Pentecost (Part 3) – The Righteousness of God

The Church Grows

The Name of Jesus Christ

Arrested for Preaching in the Name of Jesus Christ

The Renewed Mind

God Raises Up New Leaders

They Went Everywhere Preaching the Word

Paul Meets the Lord Jesus Christ

Paul Meets Peter

The Door to the Gentiles is Opened

The Saints

Antioch Becomes the Center of Outreach to the Gentiles

Tragedy and Triumph in Jerusalem

The Word Spreads Out From Antioch

Church in the Home

God’s New Home

Saved by Grace (Part 1)

Saved by Grace (Part 2)

The Good News of Jesus Christ Reaches New Lands

The Good News of Jesus Christ Continues to Spread

The Hope of Christ’s Return

The Lord Has Many People in Corinth

Learning to Properly Manifest the Gift of Holy Spirit

The Word of God Grows Mightily in Asia

The Mystery is Fully Revealed

Caring for God’s People

Paul Goes to Jerusalem

Paul in Prison

A Prisoner with Great Authority and Power

Paul in Rome

God’s Love Letters

A New Heaven and a New Earth

Preface

It was in November of 1978 when I first heard the statement that Jesus Christ is the subject of the Word of God from Genesis to Revelation. That truth thrilled my soul that day and continues to do so to this day. The notion that there was a plan behind the Scriptures — that there was a reason why the various stories and details are included — not only gave meaning to the Bible, but also to life. As someone who has always been concerned with the why behind the way things are, I was inspired by this truth to spend the next four decades studying the Bible to learn about Jesus Christ. Searching for the Christ is a result of that study.

Stating that Jesus Christ is the subject of the Bible does not mean that every verse from Genesis 3:15 through Revelation 22:21 is talking about him. It means that all of the scriptures are connected in some way to the Christ. Understanding that the Old Testament is concerned with the coming of the Christ is so important that God says those who read the writings attributed to Moses (Genesis through Deuteronomy) without knowing and believing in the Christ are reading with a veil over their hearts and are blinded (II Corinthians 3:14-16). They can read and even understand the words, but they cannot see what those words really mean, which means that they cannot know God for it is in knowing the Christ that people gain an understanding of God. The Old Testament reveals God’s promise to send a savior, what Satan did to prevent the savior from being born, events that affected the bloodline of the promised savior, stories of and writings by people who believed in that promise, what happened when people did not believe in that promise, and what God did to keep that promise. Of course, right after the Old Testament come the four Gospels which tell many of the details of Jesus Christ’s ministry. The Gospels are followed by the Book of Acts and the New Testament epistles which explain what Jesus Christ’s life, death, resurrection, ascension, and lordship mean to those who believe in him. Finally, the Book of Revelation deals with Jesus Christ returning to earth to carry out the judgment of God as the king of kings and lord of lords.

My quest to understand the Christ in the Scriptures was not primarily an intellectual endeavor. It was a search for identity, for purpose, and for power. It was evident to me as I read the Book of Acts and the Church Epistles that Jesus Christ was real to the believers of the first century. They literally believed that they represented him and that he was supporting them. Serving Jesus Christ was the passion of their lives. They carried themselves as people who had Christ’s authority and power. I wanted all of that in my life. I wanted Jesus Christ to become so real to me that his love for me would become the driving force in my life. I wanted to represent him with the confidence of someone who knows the lord over heaven and earth is on his side. I wanted to bring honor to his name by making known the Scriptures and by using his power and authority to help people. I wanted to live up to the word God uses to describe His people: believer. I have not yet fully attained my goal, but I’m closer than when I began my quest, and by God’s grace, I’ve been able to help others get closer as well.

***

The basis for the stories and insights included in this volume is the Bible. No attempt was made to promote the views of any denomination. There are points that are presented with each Biblical record, but to the best of my ability, I have tried to set forth points that are supported by considering the Bible as a whole. I began this project with only one assumption: if the Bible is the Word of God, then there can be no errors in it. If God really is the author, then all of the scriptures must fit together perfectly. In seeking to see how individual scriptures fit together, I have endeavored to read exactly what is written in the verses, to consider words that have been used in light of their Biblical usage, to make sure that all scriptures related to the same topic are in agreement, and to examine multiple records when one record only tells part of the story. In addition, I have considered the various scriptures in light of the context in which they are written, and I have studied God’s previous uses of a word for help in determining what He means. I have also considered to whom the various scriptures are addressed as well as the Biblical time periods in which scriptures were originally set forth. I have also considered the use of figures of speech, as well as Orientalisms which refer to manners and customs from the lands and times of the Bible. These are some of the crucial steps that a workman of God’s Word must take if he or she is to see the beauty and accuracy and reliability of the Bible.

I should add that, since my goal was to grow in my love and believing, I wanted to do more than simply see how the scriptures fit with each other. I wanted to understand how they fit with life. To rightly divide God’s Word, we need to have more than an academic appreciation of the Scriptures. We need to know how to apply them in our lives. That’s one reason why studying the Bible is not primarily an intellectual endeavor; it is a spiritual endeavor. It requires spirit. It requires having a deep, intense respect for God. It requires having God work within us to help us understand. The right dividing of the Bible will always produce, among other things, greater reverence for God, greater appreciation for Jesus Christ, greater love of the brethren, and greater passion to help those that are not yet part of God’s family. If we are not seeing these results when we study God’s Word, then we are erring in our studies.

The King James Bible was the starting point for my reading and study, but I have consulted numerous other texts whenever I thought I might be able to glean additional insights into a verse or record. In telling the story of the Christ, I have tried to write simply and concisely. I am firmly convinced that if the Scriptures are truly understood, then they can be presented in a way that even young people can understand. Truth is always simple. Error is very complicated. In an attempt to present the story in a simple, yet pure form, I have modernized the language and selected words that better communicate the original intent. For example, the dialogue that is included is not taken word for word from any translation. Rather it is an attempt on my part to capture the original heart by incorporating insights from the context and other scriptures that relate to the topic. In each case, I have sought to handle the verses honestly and with the utmost respect for my heavenly Father Who had these words written down many years ago.

I should add that most of the work included in this text is not original. (I cannot tell you how many times I have thought I was seeing something new in God’s Word only to learn sometime later that I had read or heard that same truth in a teaching years before!) However, I have endeavored to search the Scriptures to see whether or not what others have taught is true. Thus, although I have been introduced to many truths through many individuals’ ministries, none of what is included is done so because someone else said it. As any workman who wants to stand approved before God must do, I have only included what I have worked for myself and believe to be true.

The person whose research has had the greatest influence on me is Dr. Victor Paul Wierwille. He is the one from whom I first heard that Jesus Christ is the subject of the Bible from Genesis to Revelation. (I should point out that Dr. Wierwille made it very clear that much of what he taught was not original.) I have borrowed extensively from Dr. Wierwille’s teaching series Power for Abundant Living, which encompasses his books Power for Abundant Living and Receiving the Holy Spirit Today, as well as his other research books, most notably Jesus Christ Our Promised Seed, Jesus Christ Our Passover, and Are the Dead Alive Now?. Other works that were particularly helpful were Reverend Walter Cummins’ The Acceptable Year of the Lord — the chronology of Jesus Christ’s life found in my text is largely from that magnificent work — and A Journey through the Acts and Epistles. In addition, Reverend John Schoenheit’s work on the Old Testament was very enlightening, especially in my study of the records involving the Tower of Babel and the sin of Moses, Reverend Ken Petty’s work on the book of Romans, particularly as it applied to the records involving Abraham, was extremely beneficial, and Reverend Christopher Geer’s works have provided wonderful insights into many topics. Most notable among the others who have opened my eyes to truths in God’s Word that are a part of Searching for the Christ are Reverend Joe Armstrong, Reverend Jerry Carr, Reverend Bob Chatten, Reverend Michael Gilmore, and Reverend Steve Zolezzi. The points of understanding these men have offered me are far too numerous to mention here. To the men and women whose efforts I’m omitting, I apologize; however, God will never forget their work and labor of love.

***

At the end of every chapter is a list of scripture references that were used in composing the story. This is so readers can search the verses themselves to check if what they are reading is accurate. It also provides a greater opportunity to grow in understanding of God and His Word. (Searching for the Christ is NOT meant to replace the Bible. The Bible is The Word of God. It alone reveals God and His will for mankind. Through the knowledge of God revealed in His Word, all who believe can be enriched in every aspect of life and grow to have an intimate relationship with Him.) Of course, there are cases in which, for the purpose of brevity, I have not included all of the scriptures that apply. For example, when I say that God is holy, I only include two references that indicate that truth even though there are many others.

As mentioned earlier, this work attempts to show how the Scriptures apply to life, so each Biblical record will also include a lesson that can be learned from it. This is not intended to claim that this is the only lesson that can be learned from the record. While there is only one right way to fit the various scriptures together when we let them interpret themselves, there are often many lessons that can be learned from one record. Therefore, while I may have emphasized the forgiveness of God in one account, I could just as easily have emphasized the compassion of Jesus Christ, or the need for humility.

In cases where I felt that the records needed a deeper explanation in order for the reader to get the most meaning from them, I have included additional notes or commentary in the stories. These have been set in italics so that they are easily distinguishable from the Biblical record. I trust that they will prove helpful to the reader who wants to grow in his or her understanding of God, His Word, and life.

***

Finally, I feel I should address the question that will surely be raised by some: What gives me the right to speak with authority on the subject of the Bible?

It’s worth noting that worldly credentials have never been one of God’s considerations for calling people. The Apostle Paul actually had impressive worldly credentials, but he considered them dung compared to the knowledge of Jesus Christ. Melchizedek’s only credential for being a high priest of God was that God called him. It had nothing to do with his bloodline or education. Likewise with the twelve men that Jesus Christ called to be apostles. A number of them were fishermen; however, Jesus Christ gave them the authority to speak for him, and that was the only credential they needed. This is not an attempt on my part to put myself into the category of these men, or any of the other great men and women whose believing and service are recorded in the Scriptures. Nevertheless, I am very much like these individuals in that I also, along with all other Christians, am a recipient of God’s calling and grace. According to the Scriptures, Jesus Christ has given all those who have believed on him the authority to speak for him. We are to be witnesses of him and ambassadors for him.

As far as my background goes, I have been a student of God’s Word for over forty-four years. I have served as an overseer who cares for God’s people for forty of those years. Over the decades, I have sought to apply the truths from the Bible in my everyday life, and every time I have been hungry to know and understand His Word, God has faithfully fulfilled His promise to teach me. As a result, I have not only had the remarkable privilege of seeing how God’s Word applies to every aspect of my life; I have also seen God do wonders in my marriage, my family, my jobs, and my fellowships. Moreover, by God’s grace and mercy, I have been able to help many others see God work in their lives.

Ultimately though, the best way to judge Searching for the Christ is to read it. If it does not make sense of the Scriptures, if it does not agree with what the Scriptures say (not necessarily what different denominations say), if it does not increase your respect for and belief in God, if it does not enable you to appreciate the significance of the life of Jesus Christ more than ever before, if it does not help you to understand and believe more of what God says about you in His Word, if it does not inspire you to treat others with greater love and forgiveness and compassion, then discard it. If it does those things, then enjoy it and share what you’ve learned with others. In other words, the true test of this book is whether or not it helps you to know Christ and become more like him. My prayer is that all who read Searching for the Christ will find him and live in the freedom and power that he has made available.

Acknowledgements

I want to thank my wonderful wife, Kimberly, for her patience and support and believing during the many years I have worked on this project. Thanks to Jill Cinardo for giving me the computer I used when I began work on this. Thank you to Liz Gilmore for her words of encouragement several years ago when I was ready to scrap this project. Thanks also to Helen Gocher for proofreading. (Note: I made several changes after Helen proofread it so any errors are on me.) Thank you to Dorsie Foley for another helpful set of eyes. A very special thank you to Bob Chatten and Michael Gilmore for the many painstaking hours they invested in going over the manuscript and offering suggestions. I can never repay them, but I trust that God will reward them handsomely. Also, my heartfelt thanks to Joe Armstrong, whose teaching of the Scriptures has made God so much more real in my life, and to Jerry Carr, who has faithfully fought for the Word in my life for over four decades. Lastly, to all those who have prayed for me and for this book, my deepest appreciation. Be assured that any good that comes from this book is due in part to your efforts.

The cover art was done by Jodie Leah Rizzo. The front depicts Mary Magdalene looking into the empty tomb of Jesus Christ. The back depicts the eleven Galilean apostles looking up to the sky after the ascension of Jesus Christ.

The Beginning

God created the heaven and the earth in the beginning.

When the Bible says God created, it means that God made something out of nothing. He didn’t start with water or dirt or air. He didn’t start with anything. He made the heaven and earth out of nothing. Our minds cannot imagine how that is possible, but God is greater than our minds. People cannot create, but God can.

There are different ideas about when the beginning was, but no one can know for sure. We also have no way of knowing how long this heaven and earth lasted. However, in the Bible, which God calls His Word, God tells us everything we need to know to enjoy life and have a great relationship with Him. Therefore, if God doesn’t tell us when the beginning was, we don’t need to know.

One truth that God reveals about the heaven and earth is that there were spirit beings called angels. Angels were servants to God, but each one of them had free will — they could choose what to think and do. God also said that He created the earth to be lived on, so it’s likely that there were many creatures on the earth. This idea is supported by the many bones that people have found that appear to be many thousands of years old. Still, we cannot be certain of what these creatures were like. When we look at the universe today, though, we can be very sure of a number of truths. The heaven and earth God made in the beginning displayed great variety, breathtaking beauty, brilliant planning, and wonderful order.

(Genesis 1:1; Psalms 9:1, 26:7, 104:1-5, 24, 111:2; Isaiah 40:13-14, 45:18, 55:8-9; Malachi 3:6; Matthew 19:26; Mark 10:27; Luke 1:37; Romans 11:33-36; Ephesians 3:10-11; Colossians 1:16-17; Hebrews 11:3; James 1:17; II Peter 1:3; Revelation 4:11)

The Fall of Lucifer

The second verse in most Bibles says that the earth was without form and void. The word was should be translated became. God did not create the world that way. It became that way. Here is how it happened.

One of the leaders of the angels that God made was Lucifer. Lucifer was known for his great beauty and brightness. He was called the morning star. With God as his power source, Lucifer was a light that shined throughout the heaven and earth, so there was no need for a sun and moon.

However, Lucifer made a terrible decision that would end up ruining the world. He decided that he was not happy being under God’s authority. He wanted to be God. He wanted to be the one in charge. He started a war in an attempt to take over heaven. He even got one third of the angels to follow him and to help him try to gain the rule over the heaven and earth.

Another leader of the angels, Michael, led the angels who fought against Lucifer and his angels. In the end, Lucifer and his angels were defeated and cast out of heaven onto the earth. The results were tragic. Every living thing on the earth was killed, even creatures too small to be seen by the human eye. In addition, the heaven and earth was covered in water and darkness. The heaven and earth was no more.

(Genesis 1:2; Isaiah 14:12-14, Ezekiel 28:12-18; II Peter 3:4-6; Revelation 12:3-4, 7-9, 21:23, 22:16)

A New Heaven and Earth

What God did to restore the creation is recorded in the first book of the Bible, Genesis. God’s first step in setting up a new heaven and earth was to restore light. He did not need to create it because whatever light is made of was already in existence. God said, Let there be light, and light appeared. Then God separated the light from the darkness. He called the light day and the darkness He called night. That first night and day was the first day. That day also established the pattern that God would follow in forming this new world. Whenever He wanted to add something, He said what He wanted and it came to pass. That’s how powerful God’s Word was and is.

On the second day, God placed a firmament in the midst of the waters. The firmament included the earth’s atmosphere and outer space. In this way, God separated the waters under the firmament from the waters above the firmament. God called the firmament heaven.

On the third day, God gathered all the waters under the firmament into one place and made the dry land appear. He called the dry land earth and the gathered waters He called seas. Then He set about restoring life to the earth. God made different kinds of plant life grow. Each one had life that was stored in its seeds and He made every seed after its kind. In other words, the seed of a pine tree could only become a pine tree, the seed of a rose bush could only grow into a rose bush, and the seed of a tomato could only grow into a tomato plant. God followed that rule as He made all living things, not just plants.

On the fourth day, God put the sun, moon, and stars in the firmament to give light upon the earth. These lights were not only for marking days and years, but also for reminders of great events that would come to pass in the future. Later on, God would teach men who respected Him about how the different groups of stars could be seen as pictures. Each picture represented different events involving the one who would take Lucifer’s place in heaven and save mankind.

On the fifth day, God introduced a new kind of life to the earth: soul. It enabled animals to breathe and move by giving life to all the systems in their bodies. God placed this new life in all the creatures He made in the sea as well as in all the different birds he made to fly in the sky. He also told the sea creatures and the birds to multiply, which meant to have babies. As with the plants, each one was after its kind. Whales gave birth to baby whales and eagles gave birth to baby eagles.

On the sixth day, God made all the animals that moved about on the land. Again He put soul in each one and again he made each after its kind. Then God made man. God formed man’s body from materials that He took out of the ground and He put soul, or breath life, into man, making him alive. God also put something very special in man. He put a second kind of life in man — a life that was similar to God’s own life — spirit. He put this spirit in both the man and the woman that He made.

The spirit that God gave the man and the woman made them very different from all the other animals. It enabled them to talk with God and listen to God. It enabled them to be aware of God wherever they were and have an intimate relationship with Him. They were free and loved in His presence. They had great joy and peace as they lived in the garden that God had prepared for them. They also had great power and authority. With their spiritual connection to God, they could carry out God’s plan of having rule over all the creatures on the earth.

When God saw everything that He had made, He said it was very good. Then God rested on the seventh day. He did not rest because He was tired, but because the work He had done was complete. There was nothing more to be added. It was a perfect work. The second heaven and earth was complete.

(Genesis 1:3 - 2:8, 25; Psalms 147:4; Isaiah 40:26, 43:7; John 4:24; I Thessalonians 5:23; Hebrews 4:10)

The Fall of Man

God and man had a wonderful time together in the garden. The man was simply called Man. (When the ancient Hebrew word for man is translated into English, it’s spelled Adam. That’s why we call the first man Adam. Adam called the companion that God made for him Woman, but he later gave her the name of Eve.) God brought all the animals from the land and sky to Adam, and Adam gave each type of animal a different name. Adam also worked in the garden, taking care of it in the way that God instructed him. Everything that he and Eve did, they did with God. In this way, Adam and Eve enjoyed their lives with God for many years.

The Word of God is to be accepted literally whenever and wherever possible, but when statements are not literally true, they are usually figures of speech. Figures of speech are intentional departures from literal language to draw attention and emphasize points.

When Adam and Eve began their life in the garden, God figuratively compared all the different things that they could do to eating from trees. He emphasized the great freedom and abundance they had by telling them that they could freely eat from every tree in the garden. (Like the angels, Adam and Eve had free will.) He warned them, though, that they should not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil because if they did so, they would certainly die. (That must have gotten their attention because the knowledge of good and evil does not grow on a tree.) God knew that Lucifer and the rest of the fallen angels were still on the earth so Adam and Eve were going to face evil. He lovingly prepared them so that they would be ready. Lucifer had no power over Adam and Eve because they had rulership over the earth, but God knew how deceptive Lucifer could be. As long as Adam and Eve followed God’s instructions, they would be protected from any and all of Lucifer’s lies.

God’s Word has different names for Lucifer dependent on what he’s doing. In Genesis, he’s called the Serpent because of how good he is at deceiving people. Over time, the Serpent approached Eve and led her to think about the one thing God had said not to do, instead of thinking about all the things God had said that they could do. The more Eve thought about what the Serpent said, the less she thought about what God had said. In her thinking and in her conversation with the Serpent, she left out part of what God said and she added to what God said. In doing so, she changed God’s Word to the end that she no longer believed it. When Eve got to that point, the Serpent told her that God had lied about their dying. The Serpent said that if she ate of the forbidden tree, she would know good and evil just like God. It was exactly the lie that God had prepared her and Adam for, but she was no longer thinking about what God said. She ate of the tree, and then she went to Adam and persuaded him to eat of it too.

The results were awful. Both Adam and Eve died that day. They still had their soul life, but they had lost their spirit life. They no longer had a connection to God. They were separated from Him. They no longer felt comfortable in His presence. They were filled with fear and shame, feelings they never felt while living by God’s will. As a result, they made clothes out of fig leaves to cover themselves and they tried to hide from God. To make matters worse, since they had chosen to obey Lucifer rather than God, they gave their authority over the world to Lucifer. They now had to live without spirit in a world run by the enemy of God. It was a very, very sad day for God and man.

(Genesis 2:15-17, 3:1-13; Psalms 19:7-11; Luke 4:5-6; Romans 6:16; II Corinthians 4:4, 11:3; Ephesians 2:2-3, 6:12; James 1:13)

God’s Promise of a Savior

God was deeply hurt by Adam’s and Eve’s decisions to disobey Him. He had desired to teach them about Himself and to share His wisdom and love with them, but now their connection to Him, their spirit, was gone. They had sinned. They had chosen not to believe what He had said. They had turned their backs on Him and disobeyed His command. God still loved them just as much because God is love, but now they were afraid of Him. The close relationship they once had was gone.

After Adam and Eve lost their spirit, God had to reveal Himself to them in a way that they could see with their eyes or hear with their ears. God made His presence known to them by way of a voice. God asked the man if he had eaten of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. The man blamed the woman and then admitted that he had eaten. When God asked the woman what she had done, she said that the Serpent had tricked her into eating. God then made a promise to the Serpent and He made sure that Adam and Eve heard Him when He spoke. It was a promise of what God was going to do to set the man and woman free from the power of Lucifer. It was a promise that became the centerpiece of God’s plan for mankind for the next several thousand years.

God told the Serpent that a man would be born of a woman and would one day utterly crush him and win back the authority that Adam had relinquished to him. God added that Lucifer would cause that man to suffer, but that would not prevent the man from defeating Lucifer, or as he came to be called later, the Devil. This promised man, or promised seed, was given many names in the years to come, including the Messiah, the one who would be anointed with spirit like Adam was. (Messiah is the name translated from Hebrew into English. When the same name is translated from Greek to English, it is Christ.) This promised seed became the hope of all future people who wanted to know God and have a relationship with Him.

God wasn’t done talking though. He also had to share some bad news with Adam and Eve. When they had listened to God, they had known only good. Now, they would come to know evil. Their lives would be hard and full of labor. He also informed them that they would die someday. (They were going to die because their sin poisoned the soul life within them.) Their bodies would go back into the ground from which they were made. Still, before He removed them from this beautiful garden, which is also called paradise, He did something to remind them of His promise of a savior. He made clothing out of the skins of dead animals. Adam and Eve had tried to cover their sin and shame with their own works (the fig leaf clothing), but God wanted them to know that He had covered their sin. He wanted them to know that they did not have to be afraid of Him and that He still desired to take care of them. He also wanted them to understand that animals had to die to cover their sin, but one day the promised seed would die, not to cover their sin, but to cleanse them of it. Every day that Adam and Eve put on the clothing God had made for them, they could be reminded of God’s promise of a coming savior.

(Genesis 3:7-24; Psalms 32:1, Ecclesiastes 3:20; Romans 4:6-7, 14:23; I Corinthians 15:22-26; II Corinthians 11:3; Ephesians 1:9-10, 3:11; Hebrews 2:14, 9:22-26, 10:11-12; I John 1:7, 3:8, 4:8, 16)

The First Children

God did not say when the promised child would be born of a woman. He just said the child would be born. Not surprisingly, there was great excitement when Eve became pregnant and gave birth to her first child. Eve said that she had gotten a man from the Lord so they named him Cain, which means gotten, but Cain was not the promised seed. In fact, he chose to be a follower of the Devil, not the true God.

Sometime later, Eve gave birth to another son. He was named Abel. When Cain and Abel were older, they worked at different jobs. Cain was a farmer while Abel was a shepherd, one who takes care of sheep. It came to pass that both men brought a gift to God. Cain brought crops that he had grown and Abel brought the finest of his newborn lambs. God was pleased with Abel’s offering, but not with Cain’s. However, God’s reaction was not due to the kinds of gifts that were brought. God looks on people’s hearts. God’s reaction was due to why Cain and Abel brought the gifts that they did.

When Cain decided to bring food that he had grown, he never thought about what would please God. Cain simply did what he himself wanted to do. He showed no consideration for anything God had said or done. In other words, Cain’s offering showed no respect for God. Abel, on the other hand, was thinking about God’s promise of a savior. He was thinking about how the promised savior would sacrifice his life to rescue mankind. When Abel sacrificed the lamb, he did it because he believed God’s promise. That’s why God was pleased with Abel’s offering. Abel’s gift was in response to what God had said and done, thereby showing great respect for God.

God was so pleased that He still speaks of Abel’s sacrifice today. Abel’s offering is the first recorded act of believing after the fall of man. This account of Cain’s and Abel’s offerings is also important because God established for all time how He would respond to the gifts of men. If people decide to do something for God without any regard for what God has said or done, that gift will not be acceptable to God, no matter how much time or money or effort went into it. If people decide to do something for God because they believe what God has said or done, that gift will be pleasing to Him.

How did Cain react when God was not pleased with his gift? Not well. Rather than changing his thinking in order to respect God, Cain became very angry with God. He decided to take his anger out on his brother. While he talked with Abel out in a field one day, Cain attacked and killed him. From that day on, Cain stayed away from the presence of God. For Adam and Eve, it was like losing two sons in one day. However, Adam and Eve did have another son, and they called his name Seth. (Since the life in people is in their blood, when a man passes his life on to his children and grandchildren and great-grandchildren and beyond, all those descendants are called the man’s bloodline.) It was through the bloodline of Seth that one day, thousands of years in the future, the promised seed, the Christ, would be born. (From this point forward, this book will refer to the bloodline of the promised Messiah as the Christline.)

(Genesis 4:1-16; I Samuel 16:7; Matthew 23:35; Luke 11:50-51; Romans 9:30-33, 10:2-3; Hebrews 11:1, 4, 6, 13-16; I John 3:12; Jude 11)

The Preacher of Righteousness

Adam and Eve ended up having many sons and daughters. Over time those sons and daughters married each other and had families of their own. Then those children married and started families of their own. This continued for many generations. The world’s population went from ones to tens to hundreds to thousands to many thousands. However, as the population grew, so did sin. The more people sinned, the more corrupted their blood became. People today do not marry their brothers or sisters or even their first cousins because our blood has become so polluted over the centuries that marrying close relatives can lead to birth defects. Back then, though, people’s blood was still pure enough to marry close relatives without any problems. One other effect of the extremely pure blood in those days was that people lived a long time. It was not unusual for people to live hundreds of years. Adam and some of his descendants are recorded as having lived over nine hundred years! In fact, Seth was not even born until Adam was 130 years old!

As the number of people increased in the 1,500 years after Seth’s birth, so did the evil in the world. The evil grew to the point where God said that people’s thinking was continually evil. That means that people’s thoughts were against God and against God’s will. It was a very sad time for God. He had created people so that He could take care of them and build a relationship of love with them. Now those people wanted nothing to do with Him.

Since God gave humans free will, he could not and would not force people to do the right thing. He could only watch as the people that He brought into existence hurt themselves and each other. Plus, Adam had given rulership over the earth to the Devil so God could not take that rulership away. The world finally got so bad that God knew He would not be able to protect the human race from Lucifer and the other fallen angels, also known as evil spirits or devils or devil spirits. It looked as though Lucifer would be able to prevent the promised seed from coming by destroying everyone that lived on the earth.

In all the earth, God could find only one man who cared about His promise of a savior, so God showed special kindness to this man. The man had not done anything to deserve this special treatment. (When God gives special treatment to people who do not deserve it, the Bible calls that grace.) However, God knew that this man would listen to Him and do what He said. God told the man that there was a plan to destroy the world, but that He had a plan to rescue mankind so that one day the Christ could still come. The man’s name was Noah.

God told Noah that everyone and everything on the earth would be destroyed by a flood. Then God told Noah to build a boat called an ark. He said to make the ark 450 feet long, 75 feet wide, and 45 feet high with three levels. He said to put a roof on the ark so that it would be completely enclosed and to put a window in the roof and a door in the side of the ark. God also told Noah to gather pairs — one male and one female — of every kind of animal on the earth. He told Noah to gather seven pairs of some animals and two pairs of other animals. God also told him to gather food for all the animals. (He had to gather enough food to last for over a year!) It took many, many years (at least a hundred) to carry out God’s instructions, but Noah did everything that God told him to do.

During the time that Noah was building the ark, many people came to ask him what he was doing and why. Noah told them that God had warned him that the world would be destroyed by a flood of waters. Noah exhorted them to return in their hearts to God. He told them that God had promised to send a savior to rescue them from this evil world. He told them of a future life where everyone who believed in the promised seed would live in joy and peace forever. However, not one person believed what Noah preached.

The idea that the earth would be destroyed by a flood of waters made no sense to people. They had never even seen it rain. Up until that point on earth, God had made a mist come up from the ground to water all the earth. However, God knew that certain of the fallen angels were going to release water from above the firmament. No man or animal on land or in the air would survive. God would gladly have saved anyone who turned back to Him and wanted His help and protection, but as God knew, and as Noah found out, no one wanted His help. Even though God knew the people would reject Him, He still told Noah to warn them. God is always kind, even to the unthankful and evil.

Noah and his wife had three sons: Shem, Ham, and Japheth. Each of Noah’s sons also had a wife. Thus, when God told Noah to get on the ark, there were only eight people who boarded, besides the animals. By that time, Noah was 600 years old!

When the windows of heaven were opened, the rain came down for forty days and forty nights. There was so much rain that the entire world was covered in water, even the highest mountains. Every living thing on land and in the air was destroyed, but Noah and all those with him on the ark were saved. The world remained covered in water for 150 days. Finally, the waters began to go down, but it was not until they had been on the ark for over a year that Noah, his family, and the animals were able to leave the ark. Afterwards, just as He had told Adam many years before, God told Noah to be fruitful and multiply and fill up the earth.

God also told Noah that he could now eat animals, but not to eat the blood because the soul life was in the blood. (Prior to this time, both people and animals ate food that grew out of the ground.) God also made a promise to Noah and all the living creatures on the earth. He promised that He would never again allow the world to be destroyed by a flood of waters. As a sign of His promise, God placed a rainbow in the sky. To this day, whenever a rainbow can be seen, it serves as a reminder of God’s promise.

Thanks to God’s grace, Noah was able to receive God’s Word and carry it out. The human race was saved and the promise of the coming Christ was still alive.

(Genesis 1:28-30, 2:6, 5:28 - 8:19, 9:1-4, 9-17; Luke 6:35; Colossians 2:14-15; Hebrews 11:7, 13-16; I Peter 3:18-20; II Peter 2:4-5)

The Tower of Confusion

The Devil knew that if he could prevent the Christ from coming, then he would continue to rule the world forever. With the flood, the Devil tried to stop the promised seed of God by destroying the entire human race. As the years passed after the flood, the Devil tried to kill specific individuals or families after God revealed that the promised seed would come from them. Certainly the Christ had to come from Noah because everyone on the earth at this point except his sons’ wives was a descendant of Noah, but which