THE FUTILITY OF MAN'S OWN GENESIS
(HOW WE NEED GOD'S DIRECTION)

April 4, 2004 pm Mike Blume What I mean by "Man's own Genesis" is man's self-acclaimed position as god, making decisions as though he was god, himself. Let us study how man tried to be his own god, and how it led to death and sorrow. God decided to work creation into being, and man later is seen trying to be his own god in making his own sort of Genesis. We need to allow the One true God to be God, and not think of ourselves as our own gods. Watch the contrast between the people of Genesis 11 and Abram in Genesis 12 Genesis 11:1-9 (1)  And the whole earth was of one language, and of one speech. (2)  And it came to pass, as they journeyed from the east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar; and they dwelt there. (3)  And they said one to another, Go to, let us make brick, and burn them throughly. And they had brick for stone, and slime had they for morter. (4)  And they said, Go to, let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven; and let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth. (5)  And the LORD came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of men builded. (6)  And the LORD said, Behold, the people is one, and they have all one language; and this they begin to do: and now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do. (7)  Go to, let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand one another's speech. (8)  So the LORD scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of all the earth: and they left off to build the city. (9)  Therefore is the name of it called Babel; because the LORD did there confound the language of all the earth: and from thence did the LORD scatter them abroad upon the face of all the earth. Genesis 12:1-8 (1)  Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will shew thee: (2)  And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: (3)  And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed. (4)  So Abram departed, as the LORD had spoken unto him; and Lot went with him: and Abram was seventy and five years old when he departed out of Haran. (5)  And Abram took Sarai his wife, and Lot his brother's son, and all their substance that they had gathered, and the souls that they had gotten in Haran; and they went forth to go into the land of Canaan; and into the land of Canaan they came. (6)  And Abram passed through the land unto the place of Sichem, unto the plain of Moreh. And the Canaanite was then in the land. (7)  And the LORD appeared unto Abram, and said, Unto thy seed will I give this land: and there builded he an altar unto the LORD, who appeared unto him. (8)  And he removed from thence unto a mountain on the east of Bethel, and pitched his tent, having Bethel on the west, and Hai on the east: and there he builded an altar unto the LORD, and called upon the name of the LORD. We see a contrast between the world and a single man's life, named Abram. While the world journeyed and set out on their own pathways to decide where they would settle down, God finds a man and gives instruction. The world goes their own way. God gives direction for a man. God leads Abram to a land God will show him. The bible makes a statement that is not mentioned much, but I found to be very familiar with many believers. That makes me glad. Pro 14:12 (12)  There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death. Pro 16:25 (25)  There is a way that seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death. Jeremiah 10:23-24 (23)  O LORD, I know that the way of man is not in himself: it is not in man that walketh to direct his steps. (24)  O LORD, correct me, but with judgment; not in thine anger, lest thou bring me to nothing. Man is not created to go his own way. When God created us, He created us without that one ability. We require God's direction. And it seems that man sets out to accomplish his own Genesis! (3)  And they said one to another, Go to, let us make brick, and burn them throughly. And they had brick for stone, and slime had they for morter. (4)  And they said, Go to, let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven; and let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth. It reminds me of: Genesis 1:26-27 (26)  And 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 fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. (27)  So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. Man is acting like God, here. Man is calling the shots. Man is deciding the decisions. Man is describing his plans. They set forth to make their own name great, as though they were gods. It is as though Satan's lie is rejuvenated again in another new world. Adam heard God give him instruction in the newly made world. Genesis 1:28-30 (28)  And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth. (29)  And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat. (30)  And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to every thing that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is life, I have given every green herb for meat: and it was so. God did the same thing with Noah: Genesis 9:1-4 (1)  And God blessed Noah and his sons, and said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth. (2)  And the fear of you and the dread of you shall be upon every beast of the earth, and upon every fowl of the air, upon all that moveth upon the earth, and upon all the fishes of the sea; into your hand are they delivered. (3)  Every moving thing that liveth shall be meat for you; even as the green herb have I given you all things. (4)  But flesh with the life thereof, which is the blood thereof, shall ye not eat. And in this new world of Noah, as though another Adam and family of humanity began all over again, the serpent steps in and once again encourages man to be his own god. Genesis 3:4-5 (4)  And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: (5)  For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil. In Adam's day as well as Noah's day, nakedness, cursing and sin all occurred, along with man actually acting as though he were his own god, just as the serpent tempted the woman to think. Adam's nakedness brought him shame after his sin in the Garden, and God covered him. Genesis also tells us that Noah became drunken after over-indulging in his wine, and his sons covered him. Noah's son, Ham, had mocked his father's nakedness, and Noah cursed Ham's descendents, Canaan, just as we find the serpent, the woman and the ground cursed in Eden. So many similarities! Genesis 11:3-4 (3)  And they said one to another, Go to, let us make brick, and burn them throughly. And they had brick for stone, and slime had they for morter. (4)  And they said, Go to, let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven; and let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth. It's as though the serpent tempted man once again to "Act like God, yourself!" "Forget his direction." "Make your own direction." Talk like God and say, "Let us do this and let us do that," for God said, "Let us make man in our image." The Serpent managed to get into the picture again to reinforce his purpose and spirit of self-will and self-direction. Man was truly being turned more and more into the image of the beast, rather than the image of God. Lucifer's spirit was finding itself in people everywhere. Isaiah 14:12-14 (12)  How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations! (13)  For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: (14)  I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High. Isaiah 14:15 (15)  Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit. Isaiah 14:16 (16)  They that see thee shall narrowly look upon thee, and consider thee, saying, Is this the man that made the earth to tremble, that did shake kingdoms; Lucifer thought to rise to heaven, but GOd said he'd be brought down to hell. Lucifer said he'd sit on the sides of the north, whereas God said he would be brought down to the sides of the pit! What a self-exaltant spirit Lucifer had! It's interesting that modern day IRAQ is where the Garden of Eden was located. It's also where BABEL and BABYLON were located! THE SERPENT WAS STILL WORKING THERE! He got into the Garden there, and continued his identical plot there with humanity, tempting them to be like God, as he sought to be like the most high. Though God squashed this spirit from the land of BABEL, the devil got it rooted again in Babylon. Dan 4:30 (30)  The king spake, and said, Is not this great Babylon, that I have built for the house of the kingdom by the might of my power, and for the honour of my majesty? However, God made mankind in such a way that man is required to follow His leading. The end of all these self-proclaimed great men ended in tragedy. The ends of man's own ways are death. It's not in us to direct our own pathways. We need to recognize that God intended and created us to be led by His Spirit. But we read God instructing Abram. Where man wanted to make his own name great at his own doing, God would make Abram's name great. Genesis 12:1-3 (1)  Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will shew thee: (2)  And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: (3)  And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed. While man said GO TO LET US MAKE BRICK.... we read GOD SPEAK: Genesis 11:7 (7)  Go to, let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand one another's speech. Abram is a different man. He trusts God. He is a man of FAITH. FAITH is such a vital element, While men make a tower to reach God. Genesis 11:4 (4)  And they said, Go to, let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven; and let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth. Abram builds something else. Genesis 12:7 (7)  And the LORD appeared unto Abram, and said, Unto thy seed will I give this land: and there builded he an altar unto the LORD, who appeared unto him. God came down to see Babel, but GOD APPEARED to Abram. Notice the difference in the terminology, as noted elsewhere when dealing with sinners. Genesis 18:20-21 (20)  And the LORD said, Because the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is very grievous; (21)  I will go down now, and see whether they have done altogether according to the cry of it, which is come unto me; and if not, I will know. Man was spiritually lower than what God intended, and HAD TO GO DOWN. But God appeared to Abram, and did not GO DOWN to Abraham. Because GOD WAS WITH ABRAHAM, while the sinners were BELOW their proper place WITH God. Everytime Abram let go of worry and running his own show, God appeared to him. He followed God and left home, to have GOD APPEAR TO HIM. You see, Abram did not lay down something precious for the first time when Isaac was laid on the altar. He laid his life down when he followed God's direction. And God's reward was to APPEAR TO HIM. And Abram laid down another precious element of his life when he discussed a certain issue with Lot. Genesis 13:7-11 (7)  And there was a strife between the herdmen of Abram's cattle and the herdmen of Lot's cattle: and the Canaanite and the Perizzite dwelled then in the land. (8)  And Abram said unto Lot, Let there be no strife, I pray thee, between me and thee, and between my herdmen and thy herdmen; for we be brethren. (9)  Is not the whole land before thee? separate thyself, I pray thee, from me: if thou wilt take the left hand, then I will go to the right; or if thou depart to the right hand, then I will go to the left. (10)  And Lot lifted up his eyes, and beheld all the plain of Jordan, that it was well watered every where, before the LORD destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, even as the garden of the LORD, like the land of Egypt, as thou comest unto Zoar. (11)  Then Lot chose him all the plain of Jordan; and Lot journeyed east: and they separated themselves the one from the other. While he let LOT choose where to go... Abram was living by faith! He was allowing Lot to to choose land, and allowed GOD TO CHOOSE FOR HIM. And God always gives us more than what we could ever search out for ourselves. He laid down his decision of where he should choose to go. He let Lot choose. But he was also letting GOD CHOOSE FOR HIM, by letting Lot choose! He trusted God for his future. While Lot merely looked EAST to the land of Sodom, we read it was Abram's turn to lift up his eyes: Genesis 13:14-15 (14)  And the LORD said unto Abram, after that Lot was separated from him, Lift up now thine eyes, and look from the place where thou art northward, and southward, and eastward, and westward: (15)  For all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed for ever. Sodom would not last forever due to the destruction and wrath of God years later as fire and brimstone would be poured upon it. Lot saw how well watered it was. It looked like Eden's garden! But how many know it was certainly no innocent Garden of Eden? Look what we see later: Genesis 19:28 (28)  And he looked toward Sodom and Gomorrah, and toward all the land of the plain, and beheld, and, lo, the smoke of the country went up as the smoke of a furnace. It was not well watered enough to keep out the fire and brimstone! Whereas Lot saw the east and took it, and lost it forever, Abram saw north, south, east and west and would get it forever! Notice the words: (10)  And Lot lifted up his eyes, and beheld all the plain of Jordan, that it was well watered every where, before the LORD destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, even as the garden of the LORD, like the land of Egypt, as thou comest unto Zoar. Everything looks so good to the flesh BEFORE IT'S FINALLY DEALT WITH ONE DAY. Rest assured, it is going to be dealt with one day. If it's man's direction that originated our choice of dwelling, IT WILL NOT LAST. IT WILL BE DESTROYED! It's not in man to choose his own way. The end is DEATH! Abram had to lay down worry and HIS OWN plans, to let Lot choose and to then experience GOD SPEAKING AGAIN! God came on the scene again ONLY AFTER ABRAM SHOWED FAITH AND PUT HIS FUTURE INTO GOD's HANDS by letting Lot choose. And when Lot is captured with the people of Sodom and Abram garners an army to defeat the forces of four cities, Abram sees the wealth of Sodom offered to him. Abram had YET ANOTHER opportunity to lay something down on the altar and live for God instead by FAITH! Genesis 14:21-23 (21)  And the king of Sodom said unto Abram, Give me the persons, and take the goods to thyself. (22)  And Abram said to the king of Sodom, I have lift up mine hand unto the LORD, the most high God, the possessor of heaven and earth, (23)  That I will not take from a thread even to a shoelatchet, and that I will not take any thing that is thine, lest thou shouldest say, I have made Abram rich: Why? BECAUSE OF FAITH in what God told him way back in Genesis 12! Genesis 12:1-3 (1)  Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will shew thee: (2)  And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: (3)  And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed. God spoke to this man a long time ago, and Abram STOOD UPON THAT PROMISE. Abram could not see the reward, BUT GOD SAID IT WAS HIS, and ABRAM TRUSTED IN FAITH! GOD WOULD BLESS HIM. Oh, we need to live by faith! God saw Abram lay down his own decision-making power ONCE AGAIN! And THEN GOD SHOWED UP ONCE AGAIN! Genesis 15:1 (1)  After these things the word of the LORD came unto Abram in a vision, saying, Fear not, Abram: I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward. But the greatest test came later: Genesis 22:1-2 (1)  And it came to pass after these things, that God did tempt Abraham, and said unto him, Abraham: and he said, Behold, here I am. (2)  And he said, Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of. Genesis 22:4 (4)  Then on the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes, and saw the place afar off. Genesis 22:9-18 (9)  And they came to the place which God had told him of; and Abraham built an altar there, and laid the wood in order, and bound Isaac his son, and laid him on the altar upon the wood. (10)  And Abraham stretched forth his hand, and took the knife to slay his son. (11)  And the angel of the LORD called unto him out of heaven, and said, Abraham, Abraham: and he said, Here am I. (12)  And he said, Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou any thing unto him: for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from me. (13)  And Abraham lifted up his eyes, and looked, and behold behind him a ram caught in a thicket by his horns: and Abraham went and took the ram, and offered him up for a burnt offering in the stead of his son. (14)  And Abraham called the name of that place Jehovahjireh: as it is said to this day, In the mount of the LORD it shall be seen. (15)  And the angel of the LORD called unto Abraham out of heaven the second time, (16)  And said, By myself have I sworn, saith the LORD, for because thou hast done this thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only son: (17)  That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies; (18)  And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice. To this day people who believe in Christ and trust Him enough to allow HIM to make their decisions, and not to choose their own way, ARE CALLED THE CHILDREN OF ABRAHAM. If you do not hear from God, and God does not "appear" to you in whatever way He chooses, then it may be because you choose your own paths and do not seek God's direction for your life. This can occur with Christians!  They never think to seek God's will! It is not in man to direct his own steps. Live by Faith, and that requires you to TRUST IN HIS DIRECTION.