The Caffeinated Christian

  Summary God gives Noah careful instructions on who, how, and when to enter the ark. Noah obeys “all that the LORD commanded him (7:5). The Lord floods the earth (7:11-24). The only survivors were the people and animals in the ark (7:15, 21-23).  Key Verse He blotted out every living thing that was on the face of the ground, man and animals and creeping things and birds of the heavens. They were blotted out from the earth. Only Noah was left, and those who were with him in the ark. Genesis 7:23 (ESV) Gospel Truth God has the power to completely destroy the earth in judgment. He has done it before and warns us that He will do it again (2 Peter 3:1-13). Sin will not prevail. Only those who respond to God’s command for sinners to repent and turn by faith to Jesus Christ for salvation will escape the coming wrath (2 Peter 3:9).  Devotional Commentary What do the following have in common: Star Wars Episode 1: The Phantom Menace, Johnny Manziel, New Coke, and the Segway?   They didn’t live

  Summary The multiplication of people increases their number, power, and evil (6:1-4). The LORD reacts with regret over that depraved state of humanity and determines to rid the earth of them (6:5-7). However, God favors a man named Noah and gives him instruction on how to escape the coming judgment (6:8-21). Noah obeys the Lord and enters into a covenant with Him (6:18, 22). Key Verse But I will establish my covenant with you, and you shall come into the ark, you, your sons, your wife, and your sons’ wives with you. Genesis 6:18 (ESV) Gospel Truth Humans are powerful, and our advancements are amazing, but we have a problem. We are depraved in sin, so where people increase evil increases. The world as we know it is confined to judgment just as it was in Noah’s day (2 Peter 3:5-7). As God saved Noah through the ark, so will He save everyone from the coming judgment who will enter into covenant with Him by repentance from sin and faith in Jesus (2 Peter 3:9). Devotional Commentary The o

  Summary Chapter 5 serves to transition the book of Genesis from the generations of Adam (5:1) to the generations of Noah (6:9). The paragraphs are repetitive. A man will live several centuries, father sons and daughters, and die. The phrase “and he died” occurs eight times in the chapter. Despite this dark rhythm of the curse of sin, there are two significant notes of hope. First, Enoch walks with God and doesn’t die (5:24). Later, Noah is born with the expectation that he will bring relief from the cursed toil of working the ground (5:29).  Key Verse And called his name Noah, saying, “Out of the ground that the Lord has cursed, this one shall bring us relief from our work and from the painful toil of our hands.” Genesis 5:29 (ESV) Devotional Commentary Genesis 5 contains creation’s first obituary entry. Adam died. Can you imagine what it must have been like for the ancients to hear that the first human has succumbed to the curse? But, unlike Abel, no one murdered Adam. Adam just liv

  Summary Adam and Eve have two sons, Cain and Abel (4:1-3). The Lord rejects Cain’s offering (4:4). Cain’s response to the rejected sacrifice is to murder Abel (4:8). God curses Cain because of his sin (4:9), and Cain multiplies his generations while wandering east of Eden in Nod (4:10-24). Adam and Eve conceive another son, Seth, who begins another generation that calls upon the name of the LORD (4:25-26). Key Verse To Seth also a son was born, and he called his name Enosh. At that time people began to call upon the name of the Lord. Genesis 4:26 (ESV) Gospel Truth Despite the curse (Gen. 3), God remains faithful in that the images of God can be fruitful and multiply. But what comes from man and woman are not saving sons, but sinful ones. Because we are sinful, we are not suitable to save ourselves. Therefore, our only hope of salvation is to do as the sons of Seth and “call upon the name of the LORD (Gen. 4:26, Rom. 10:13).” Devotional Commentary Genesis 4 begins with hope. Despite

Summary What starts as a conversation ends in a curse because Adam and the woman eat the forbidden fruit (3:1-6). Sin  changes critical relationships between humans and God  (3:16); between men and women (3:7). People will still multiply, but it will be painful (3:16). The curse even impacts man’s relationship to the ground (3:17-18). The man created from dust will die and return to dust (3:19). Despite all the bad news, there is good news. A saving son will be born from the woman’s offspring (3:15). Adam responds to this good news by naming the woman Eve (3:20). God covers Adam and Eve with animal skin and casts them out of the garden lest they live under the curse forever (3:20-24). Key Verse I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel. Genesis 3:15 (ESV) Devotional Commentary The danger of temptation is not in the question but the conversation. As amazed as we are that a crafty se

  Summary Genesis 1 gave us the creative rhythm of day and night. Genesis 2 introduces us to the rhythm of work and rest by sanctifying the Sabbath day (2:1-3). The remainder of the chapter is about relationships. We see man’s relationship to the earth (2:4-16), to God (2:7), good and evil (2:17), and to the woman as husband and wife (2:18-25). What God created is perfect, and the relationships within His creation are purposeful. Key Verse Then the Lord God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature. Genesis 2:7 (ESV)  Devotional Commentary The Significance of Sabbath The God who can do all things doesn’t do them all at once. Instead, he works day by day, and then he takes time to rest. God never sleeps (Psalm 121:3-4), so the Sabbath isn’t about sleep. It’s about ceasing. Sabbath isn’t about doing nothing but about doing something else. Sabbath is about doing something with God.  We will become more a

  Summary The opening scene of Scripture is that of ominous, formless earth cloaked in darkness. As God speaks, the chaos gives way to order, and He fills the emptiness with life. Day by day, God forms the world by His Word. The crown jewel of all creation is the male and female humans who hold the distinction of being the images of God. Key Verse Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. Genesis 1:26-27 Devotional Commentary Genesis 1 introduces us to God, the main character of the Bible. The darkness does not overcome Him, nor does the chaos confuse Him. As He speaks, chaos comes to order, word by word, line by line, day by day. Nothing He says is denied (1:1-27).  And G