We know that everything in the Law was written for those who are under its power. The Law says these things to stop anyone from making excuses and to let God show that the whole world is guilty. God doesn’t accept people simply because they obey the Law. No, indeed! All the Law does is to point out our sin. Now we see how God does make us acceptable to him. The Law and the Prophets tell how we become acceptable, and it isn’t by obeying the Law of Moses. God treats everyone alike. He accepts people only because they have faith in Jesus Christ. All of us have sinned and fallen short of God’s glory. But God treats us much better than we deserve, and because of Christ Jesus, he freely accepts us and sets us free from our sins. (Romans 3: 19-24)

By faith we have been made acceptable to God. And now, because of our Lord Jesus Christ, we live at peace with God. Christ has also introduced us to God’s undeserved kindness on which we take our stand. So we are happy, as we look forward to sharing in the glory of God. (Romans 5:1-2)

We know that the Law is spiritual. But I am merely a human, and I have been sold as a slave to sin. In fact, I don’t understand why I act the way I do. I don’t do what I know is right. I do the things I hate. Although I don’t do what I know is right, I agree that the Law is good. So I am not the one doing these evil things. The sin that lives in me is what does them. I know that my selfish desires won’t let me do anything that is good. Even when I want to do right, I cannot. Instead of doing what I know is right, I do wrong. And so, if I don’t do what I know is right, I am no longer the one doing these evil things. The sin that lives in me is what does them. The Law has shown me that something in me keeps me from doing what I know is right. With my whole heart I agree with the Law of God. But in every part of me I discover something fighting against my mind, and it makes me a prisoner of sin that controls everything I do. What a miserable person I am. Who will rescue me from this body that is doomed to die? Thank God! Jesus Christ will rescue me. (Romans 7:14-25)

If you belong to Christ Jesus, you won’t be punished. The Holy Spirit will give you life that comes from Christ Jesus and will set you free from sin and death. he Law of Moses cannot do this, because our selfish desires make the Law weak. But God set you free when he sent his own Son to be like us sinners and to be a sacrifice for our sin. God used Christ’s body to condemn sin. He did this, so that we would do what the Law commands by obeying the Spirit instead of our own desires. (Romans 8:1-4)

We have a great high priest, who has gone into heaven, and he is Jesus the Son of God. That is why we must hold on to what we have said about him. Jesus understands every weakness of ours, because he was tempted in every way that we are. But he did not sin! So whenever we are in need, we should come bravely before the throne of our merciful God. There we will be treated with undeserved kindness, and we will find help. (Hebrews 4:14-16)

Jesus is the high priest we need. He is holy and innocent and faultless, and not at all like us sinners. Jesus is honored above all beings in heaven, and he is better than any other high priest. Jesus doesn’t need to offer sacrifices each day for his own sins and then for the sins of the people. He offered a sacrifice once for all, when he gave himself. The Law appoints priests who have weaknesses. But God’s promise, which came later than the Law, appoints his Son. And he is the perfect high priest forever. (Hebrews 7:26-28)

Christ did not have to offer himself many times. He wasn’t like a high priest who goes into the most holy place each year to offer the blood of an animal. If he had offered himself every year, he would have suffered many times since the creation of the world. But instead, near the end of time he offered himself once and for all, so that he could be a sacrifice that does away with sin. (Hebrews 9:25-26)

The Holy Spirit also speaks of this by telling us that the Lord said, “When the time comes, I will make an agreement with them. I will write my laws on their minds and hearts. Then I will forget about their sins and no longer remember their evil deeds.” When sins are forgiven, there is no more need to offer sacrifices. My friends, the blood of Jesus gives us courage to enter the most holy place by a new way that leads to life! And this way takes us through the curtain that is Christ himself. We have a great high priest who is in charge of God’s house. So let’s come near God with pure hearts and a confidence that comes from having faith. (Hebrews 10:15-22)

Already you can see the ‘foreshadow’ of what’s coming: Israel being freed from Egypt*) as a picture of the redemption of the world; the Law and all instructions following as a picture of Jesus, the perfect man; God coming down as a picture of the Holy Spirit living in the believers.

Then the cloud covered the Tent of Meeting, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle. Moses could not enter the Tent of Meeting because the cloud had settled upon it, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle.

*) Don’t get me wrong: I don’t mean to say that Egypt is the devil. Read here to find proof that Egyptians are the most peaceful people in the world

I think Joseph is an interesting character. Much unlike his dad Jacob he díd have character, that he showed when his boss’s wife tried to seduce him. He had humility, as he showed when giving glory to God for explaining dreams. But he also had pride, as he showed when talking about his own dreams. He was a smart businessman, as he knew exactly how to deal with the challenge of the famine that would come. And in many ways, he typifies Christ, for example when after being humiliated Farao raises him to be the first man in the kingdom.

Yes. I really like Genesis!

To make sure I’ll do my homework, I started downloading the Bible in mp3 from www.downloadbijbel.nl, so I can listen while waiting in traffic. And Ralph started to blog about Spread the Word here, and I already read some interesting thoughts. Let me add one or two here, without promising to do this every time.

When listening and reading the first 11 chapters of Genesis, it struck me how mysterious the creation of the world and the early years of creation are. It is as if you read just a very small portion of a much greater story. To some, this might indicate that it is all not true – for me, it is the opposite. Genesis seems not to be a general story of creation, but a very specific and personal one. God is interested in telling a certain story line that happens to start right at creation of man, that has to do with specific people and specific actions. Only between the lines you can learn about the physical and natural development of the world as such. For example: if you look at a map it is easy to see that the continents once fit together. A physicist probably wants to know how this happened, but the Bible does not tell a whole lot about it, apart from a sideline in Genesis 10:25 (‘in Peleg’s time the earth was divided’). Another example is Genesis 6: who are the sons of the gods, the heroes of old, men of renown?

A second thing that struck me (especially when hearing the Bible read) are the many repetitions in the story. Creation of man is told 3 times (in chapter 1, 2 and 5), and a number of times the pedigree of Noah and others are repeated. I think this has to do with the Jewish oral tradition, in which repetition was needed for accurate transfer. This tradition makes up for a special poetic style that is also an explanation for the different way of presenting a historical account. In our western tradition we like to see truth as a set of verifiable facts, but maybe in Jewish tradition it is not so much about the facts as it is about the meaning and the message.