Savage Street Church of Christ

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The Book of Beginnings in the New Testament 

See the connection between the beginning and the end 

Matthew 22.23–33 

Don Ruhl • Savage Street, Grants Pass, Oregon • June 16, In the year of our Lord Christ, 2019 

Prelude: 

1. Do you want to have the fullest and richest life possible? 
   1. If you do, 
      1. you must do what New Testament writers and leaders did, for 
      2. if you do, 
         1. you live a fuller and richer life. 
2. The Holy Spirit either 
   1. moved New Testament leaders, or 
   2. approved of what they did, and 
      1. if you want the Holy Spirit backing you, 
      2. you will also do this thing. 
   3. What did the New Testament teachers, preachers, and writers do? 

Persuasion: 

1. Matthew 22.23–33 The Beginning, Now, and the End 
   1. In Matthew 22, the Sadducees approached Jesus with a question 
      1. that they believed proved the resurrection of the dead 
      2. cannot happen,
         
         23 The same day the Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, came to Him and asked Him, 24 saying: “Teacher, Moses said that if a man dies, having no children, his brother shall marry his wife and raise up offspring for his brother. 25 Now there were with us seven brothers. The first died after he had married, and having no offspring, left his wife to his brother. 26 Likewise the second also, and the third, even to the seventh. 27 Last of all the woman died also. 28 Therefore, in the resurrection, whose wife of the seven will she be? For they all had her.” 29 Jesus answered and said to them, “You are mistaken, not knowing the Scriptures nor the power of God. 30 For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels of God in heaven. 31 But concerning the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what was spoken to you by God, saying, 32 ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’ ? God is not the God of the dead, but of the living.” 33 And when the multitudes heard this, they were astonished at His teaching.
         
         – Matthew 22.23–33
         
   2. The Sadducees believed 
      1. that a woman could not have seven husbands simultaneously, and 
      2. that God did not have the power to raise people from the dead. 
   3. Jesus pointed out to them 
      1. that marriage does not continue after death, and 
      2. that they had not read what God spoken to them, causing them 
         1. not to know the Scriptures and 
         2. not to know the power of God! 
   4. Jesus quoted Exodus 3.6, where the Lord spoke to Moses, telling him 
      1. that Yahweh is the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, 
      2. pulling together references from Genesis 17.7; 26.24; 28.21. 
   5. If we fail to read Genesis and Exodus, 
      1. how can we do better than the Sadducees? 
      2. As for me and my house, we want to know 
         1. the fullness of the Scriptures and 
         2. the fullness of the power of God, 
            1. so that the Lord Jesus will not say to us at the Judgment, 
            2. “You were mistaken during your life on earth, 
               1. not knowing the Scriptures 
               2. nor the power of God,” but 
                  1. we want to hear Him say, 
                  2. “Well done, good and faithful servant 
                     1. for having known the Scriptures and 
                     2. for having known the power of God!” 
   6. We just looked at a New Testament Book 
      1. that used the first two Books of the Bible, Genesis and Exodus, and 
      2. what Jesus said should be of prime importance to us for this reason: 
         1. Jesus took those men Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, 
         2. not only placing them in the present with His teaching, but 
            1. He put them in the future with us in another passage,
               
               11 “And I say to you that many will come from east and west, and sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven.”
               
               – Matthew 8.11
               
               1. Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob are our brethren. 
               2. Do not look at them as separate from us 
                  1. since they are in the Old Testament, because 
                  2. Jesus made them relevant for us 
                     1. pertaining to the resurrection, and 
                     2. pertaining to going to heaven! 
   7. Now see how much the Book of Genesis is in the New Testament. 
2. The Book of Genesis in the New Testament 
   1. The New Testament quotes from, refers to, and alludes to Genesis 
      1. about 100 times (Some scholars say 200 times), including 
      2. about 60 times from chapters 1–11. 
   2. Therefore, what you believe and interpret in the Book of Genesis 
      1. will determine how you interpret and believe the New Testament. 
      2. What the Book of Genesis says, we must value, because 
         1. it was important to the New Testament Books of 
         2. Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Acts, Romans, First and Second Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Colossians, First Timothy, Hebrews, James, First and Second Peter, First John, Jude, and Revelation. 
      3. The New Testament Books of Philippians, First and Second Thessalonians, Second Timothy, Titus, Philemon, Second and Third John, 
         1. did not include Genesis, because 
         2. they had no need to quote it. 
            1. Those writers did use Genesis in their other writings, 
            2. so we can say that every New Testament writer used Genesis, because 
               1. Every New Testament preacher 
               2. preached the Old Testament. 
   3. Consider samples from the New Testament Books that use Genesis. 
3. Samplings of Genesis in the New Testament 
   1. In Matthew 24, starting at verse 36, Jesus spoke of His Second Coming,
      
      36 “But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but My Father only. 37 But as the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. 38 For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, 39 and did not know until the flood came and took them all away, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be.”
      
      – Matthew 24.36–39
      
   2. The four Gospels show Jesus using the Book of Genesis 39 times, 
      1. proving that He was under the impression 
      2. that the Book of Genesis is important. 
   3. In Acts 14, Paul spoke to non-Jews about 
      1. the living God who made the universe, 
         1. alluding to Genesis 1, and 
      2. kept people from worshiping erroneously,
         
         15 “Men, why are you doing these things? [Worshiping Paul and Barnabas] We also are men with the same nature as you, and preach to you that you should turn from these useless things to the living God, who made the heaven, the earth, the sea, and all things that are in them.”
         
         – Acts 14.15
         
   4. In Romans 15, Paul referenced the promises to the three patriarchs, 
      1. upon which every good thing we have in the New Testament is built,
         
         8 Now I say that Jesus Christ has become a servant to the circumcision for the truth of God, to confirm the promises made to the fathers.
         
         –Romans 15.8
         
      2. The promises made to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob 
         1. have their confirmation in Jesus Christ. 
         2. The Old Testament has it confirmation in the New Testament. 
   5. When Paul wrote First Corinthians 15, four times he used Genesis 
      1. to teach something about the resurrection: 
         1. vv. 21–22 uses Genesis 3 speaking of Adam, 
         2. v. 38 uses Genesis 1 and 2 referring to our created bodies, 
         3. v. 45 uses Genesis 2, stating that Adam became a living being, and 
         4. v. 47 uses Genesis 1 and 2 confirming that Adam was made from dust. 
      2. If believing that there is a resurrection is important—and 
         1. Paul wrote First Corinthians 15 to make the point that it is—
         2. then reading and knowing well the Book of Genesis is important. 
   6. In Second Corinthians 4, Paul explained 
      1. that the God who created light in the universe, 
         1. an obvious reference to Genesis 1, 
      2. is the same God who creates light in the heart,
         
         6 For it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
         
         – 2 Corinthians 4.6
         
   7. Galatians 3 connects the promises to Abraham and their fulfillment in Christ,
      
      16 Now to Abraham and his Seed were the promises made. He does not say, “And to seeds,” as of many, but as of one, “And to your Seed,” who is Christ.
      
      – Galatians 3.16
      
   8. Paul quoted Genesis 2.24 as the foundation for marriage,
      
      31 “For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.”
      
      – Ephesians 5.31
      
   9. Colossians 1 reminds us of what God did in the beginning,
      
      16 For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him.
      
      – Colossians 1.16
      
   10. Paul revealed the reason for male leadership in the church,
       
       13 For Adam was formed first, then Eve. 14 And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived, fell into transgression.
       
       – 1 Timothy 2.13–14
       
   11. Hebrews 12 has the thirteenth of fourteen quotations from Genesis,
       
       16 …lest there be any fornicator or profane person like Esau, who for one morsel of food sold his birthright. 17 For you know that afterward, when he wanted to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no place for repentance, though he sought it diligently with tears.
       
       – Hebrews 12.16–17
       
   12. In James 2, the preacher argued for justification by faith and works,
       
       21 Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered Isaac his son on the altar? 22 Do you see that faith was working together with his works, and by works faith was made perfect? 23 And the Scripture was fulfilled which says, “Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.” And he was called the friend of God.
       
       – James 2.21–23
       
   13. First Peter 3 shows that baptism is comparable to something in Genesis,
       
       20 …who formerly were disobedient, when once the Divine longsuffering waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight souls, were saved through water. 21 There is also an antitype which now saves us—baptism (not the removal of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God), through the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
       
       – 1 Peter 3.20–21
       
   14. Peter used Noah and the Flood again in Second Peter,
       
       5 For this they willfully forget: that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of water and in the water, 6 by which the world that then existed perished, being flooded with water.
       
       – 2 Peter 3.5–6
       
   15. John warned in First John 3 not to be like a certain Old Testament man,
       
       11 For this is the message that you heard from the beginning, that we should love one another, 12 not as Cain who was of the wicked one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his works were evil and his brother’s righteous.
       
       – 1 John 3.11–12
        
   16. The 25-verse Book of Jude uses Genesis four times, including this one,
       
       7 …as Sodom and Gomorrah, and the cities around them in a similar manner to these, having given themselves over to sexual immorality and gone after strange flesh, are set forth as an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire.
       
       – Jude 7
       
   17. The last three chapters of Revelation show 
       1. that what humanity lost in the first three chapters of Genesis 
       2. God shall restore,
          
          2 In the middle of its street, and on either side of the river, was the tree of life, which bore twelve fruits, each tree yielding its fruit every month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.
          
          – Revelation 22.2
          
       3. By God showing in the last three chapters of the Bible 
          1. that what was lost in the beginning shall be restored in heaven 
          2. demonstrates that the entire Bible is one story, and 
             1. we do damage by telling people they do not need to 
             2. read, study, and know the Old Testament. 

Exhortation: 

1. The Jesus Freaks said, “Give me Jesus, but not the church.” 
   1. The feelings crowd says, “Give me Jesus, but not the Bible.” 
   2. The New Testament-only group says, “Give me Jesus, but not the Old Testament.” 
2. Read the Old Testament as much as you do the New Testament, because 
   1. all the teachers, preachers, and writers of the New Testament 
   2. used the Old Testament and were well-versed in it. 
      1. If you want to be what they were, 
      2. you will have to embrace the entire Bible as they did. 
3. If you read regularly from both Testaments of the Bible, 
   1. you will find help when you have no power, 
   2. you will find strength when you are weak, 
   3. you will find counsel when you have no wisdom, and 
   4. you will find sound advice for yourself and others, because 
      1. you will be hearing all the words of the God of heaven, and 
      2. you will be submitting yourself to Him who 
         1. gives His Holy Spirit 
         2. to those who delight in every word that proceeds from His mouth.