Print Sermon

The purpose of this website is to provide free sermon manuscripts and sermon videos to pastors and missionaries throughout the world, especially the Third World, where there are few if any theological seminaries or Bible schools.

These sermon manuscripts and videos now go out to about 1,500,000 computers in over 221 countries every year at www.sermonsfortheworld.com. Hundreds of others watch the videos on YouTube, but they soon leave YouTube and come to our website. YouTube feeds people to our website. The sermon manuscripts are given in 46 languages to about 120,000 computers each month. The sermon manuscripts are not copyrighted, so preachers can use them without our permission. Please click here to learn how you can make a monthly donation to help us in this great work of preaching the Gospel to the whole world.

Whenever you write to Dr. Hymers always tell him what country you live in, or he cannot answer you. Dr. Hymers’ e-mail is rlhymersjr@sbcglobal.net.






CHRIST AUTHENTICATES THE BOOK OF GENESIS

(SERMON #9 ON THE BOOK OF GENESIS)

by Dr. R. L. Hymers, Jr.

A sermon preached on Saturday Evening, August 4, 2007
at the Baptist Tabernacle of Los Angeles

“And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself” (Luke 24:27).


Dr. Henry M. Morris said, “It is significant that when the greatest Bible teacher – in fact the Author of the Book – taught Biblical truths, He began at the beginning. Genesis is the foundational book of the Bible, and it is essential that we understand and believe God’s revelation in Genesis if we would understand the rest of Scripture” (Henry M. Morris, Ph.D., The Defender’s Study Bible, World Publishers, 1995, note on Luke 24:27).

Let us note several places where the Lord Jesus Christ proclaimed the authenticity of Genesis. Please turn in your Bible to Matthew 19:4-6. Jesus said,

“Have ye not read, that he which made them at the beginning made them male and female, And said, For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and they twain shall be one flesh? Wherefore they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder” (Matthew 19:4-6).

Here the Lord Jesus Christ referred to Genesis 1:27, “male and female created he them,” and quoted Genesis 2:24,

“For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and they twain shall be one flesh?”
       (Matthew 19:5).

Now turn to Luke 11:51. Here the Lord Jesus Christ said, “From the blood of Abel.” This is a direct reference to Genesis 4:10,

“The voice of thy brother's blood crieth unto me from the ground” (Genesis 4:10).

The reference to the blood of Abel in the fourth chapter of Genesis shows that the Lord Jesus Christ fully accepted the Book of Genesis as historical fact.

Now turn to Luke 17:26-32.

“And as it was in the days of Noe [Noah], so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man. They did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noe [Noah] entered into the ark, and the flood came, and destroyed them all. Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded; But the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all. Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed. In that day, he which shall be upon the housetop, and his stuff in the house, let him not come down to take it away: and he that is in the field, let him likewise not return back. Remember Lot's wife” 
      (Luke 17:26-32).

This passage shows that Jesus believed the historical accuracy of the Flood, recorded in Genesis chapter six through chapter seven. Christ used the history of the great Flood in Genesis to show what the conditions of the world would be like at the end of this age. In this same passage in Luke 17, Christ showed His belief in the historical accuracy of the account of Lot and his wife in the city of Sodom, recorded in Genesis, chapter nineteen. Christ said, “Remember Lot’s wife” (Luke 17:32). This is a direct reference to Genesis 19:26,

“But his wife looked back from behind him, and she became a pillar of salt” (Genesis 19:26).

Also, turn to John 7:22. The Lord Jesus Christ said,

“Moses therefore gave unto you circumcision” (John 7:22).

Turn back to Genesis 17:9-11.

“And God said unto Abraham, Thou shalt keep my covenant therefore, thou, and thy seed after thee in their generations. This is my covenant, which ye shall keep, between me and you and thy seed after thee; Every man child among you shall be circumcised. And ye shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskin; and it shall be a token of the covenant betwixt me and you” (Genesis 17:9-11).

So, when Jesus said, “Moses therefore gave unto you circumcision,” He was making a direct reference to that passage in the seventeenth chapter of Genesis. Notice also that Christ attributed the authorship of Genesis to Moses when He said, “Moses therefore gave unto you circumcision.” Thus, the Lord Jesus Christ told us that Moses was the author of the Book of Genesis.

Jesus also spoke of Moses as the author of the first five books of the Bible, which He called “the law,” in John 7:19. Christ said, “Did not Moses give you the law…?” (John 7:19). The “law” refers to the Pentateuch. Jesus spoke of “the law and the prophets” in Luke 16:16. The law refers to the first five books of the Bible – Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. So, when Jesus said, “Did not Moses give you the law?” He was affirming that Moses was the human author of the first five books of the Bible, starting with the Book of Genesis. Notice this division of the Old Testament in Jesus’ account of the rich man and Lazarus. The rich man in Hell asked for Lazarus to be sent back from the dead to testify to his lost brothers. Then Jesus gave Abraham’s answer to the rich man. Turn to Luke 16:29-31. Let us stand and read this passage aloud.

“Abraham saith unto him, They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them. And he said, Nay, father Abraham: but if one went unto them from the dead, they will repent. And he said unto him, If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead”
      (Luke 16:29-31).

You may be seated. Jesus tells us that Abraham said, “They have Moses and the prophets, let them hear them…If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead” (Luke 16:29, 31). Here Christ affirms the Mosaic authorship of the first five books, including Genesis, as well as the writings of the prophets.

So, we see that the Lord Jesus Christ authenticated the historical reliability of the Genesis record – and that Christ taught that Moses was the human author of the Book of Genesis. When He had risen from the dead, He spoke to His Disciples,

“And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself” 
      (Luke 24:27).

Now, you may ask, “How did Moses know what to write?” That is a good question. The simplest way to answer it is to give II Peter 1:20-21. Please stand and read those two verses.

“Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation. For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost” (II Peter 1:20-21).

You may be seated. The men who wrote the Old Testament Scriptures, including Moses when he wrote the Book of Genesis, “spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.” Their minds were carried along by the Holy Spirit to write the sacred Scriptures. Another important verse is in II Timothy 3:16. Please turn to that verse.

“All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness” (II Timothy 3:16).

Dr. J. Vernon McGee said,

When God says, “All scripture,” He means all of it, from Genesis to Revelation…The word inspiration means “God-breathed”…Through these men [the authors of the Scriptures] God has given us His Word. He has nothing more to say to us today (J. Vernon McGee, Th.D., Thru the Bible, Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1983, volume V, page 473; note on II Timothy 3:16).

Dr. M. R. DeHaan said, “The evidence is so overwhelming, that to the spiritually enlightened mind there is no question whatsoever concerning the authenticity, and the authority, and the historicity of the five books of Moses [Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy]. This is particularly true of the Book of Genesis” (M. R. DeHaan, M.D,. Portraits of Christ in Genesis, Zondervan Publishing House, 1966, Introduction).

Therefore, let us study the Book of Genesis with great humility and faith – since the Lord Jesus Christ Himself put His stamp of approval on it, and recognized Moses as the man through whom God gave this sacred book.

“And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself” 
      (Luke 24:27).

(END OF SERMON)
You can read Dr. Hymers' sermons each week on the Internet
at www.realconversion.com. Click on “Sermon Manuscripts.”