Genesis Reminds Us to Rest in Christ
September 3, 2026 | by: Dale Thiele | 0 Comments
Posted in: Pastoral Encouragement
At Oak Hills we will return to our sermon series on Genesis this Sunday for the final eight chapters. Over our two and a half years in this series, we have seen many different themes highlighted: God’s sovereignty and rule in creation, the nature of mankind and marriage, sin and judgment, and covenant and grace. As the name indicates, Genesis really does lay out the “beginnings” or foundations for our life with God.
From chapter 12 through the end, Genesis focuses on one family line: Abraham to Isaac to Jacob and his twelve sons. This does not mean that God is ignoring the rest of the families of earth. This does not mean that God has a plan for only this one family line. This family line was God’s chosen people to bring the snake crusher into the world. The promise of Genesis 3:15 is for all people. But the seed of the woman who would crush the head of the serpent and so rescue humanity from the tyranny of the devil would be a descendent of a specific family. And that is the family of Abraham.
God tells Abraham so much in Genesis 12:2-3, “I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” That last line links the story of Genesis to every single one of us. In Abraham’s family line, all the families of the earth, including yours and mine, shall be blessed. The apostle Paul makes this explicit in Galatians 3:8-9, “And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, ‘In you shall all the nations be blessed.’ So then, those who are of faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith.” Paul says that the gospel was preached in Abraham in Genesis 12:3. The blessing that comes to all of us is that we can be justified by faith in Christ. Jesus is the descendent of Abraham who crushes the head of the serpent and brings the hope of redemption to the whole world.
This is the framework that has shaped our reading and study of Genesis 12-50. This is a family just like yours and mine. There are heartaches. There are quarrels. There are jealousies. There are tragedies. Sin wreaks havoc in the individuals and in the interpersonal relations. But God in his grace says I will be your God, and you will be my people (Gen. 17:7-8). God forgives. God provides. God protects. God sustains. In spite of the family’s shortcomings and failings, God remains faithful to his promises. And it all points ahead to Christ.
The final chapters share the story of Joseph and his brothers. We’ve already seen how Joseph was betrayed and sold by his brothers into slavery. Joseph suffered for 13 years in slavery and prison in Egypt. But in God’s designs it was all for the deliverance of his brothers and the whole family. For a severe famine struck the land and threatened to kill the family line. God raises up Joseph as a deliverer to provide food in a time of need and so rescue the family. If they haven’t figured it out yet, Jacob and his sons should have learned that “Salvation belongs to the Lord” (Ps. 3:8; Rev. 7:10). Only God could have worked out the circumstances of Joseph’s story to be in a place to rescue the family.
As we return to our study of Genesis, we will be asking ourselves: “Do we see and receive and rest in God’s provision for our salvation?” Too often we are like Jacob and his sons, seeking to secure our own salvation and well-being by our own effort. We might be professing believers in Jesus Christ, but our hearts and actions do not rest fully in Jesus Christ alone for our salvation. In our restlessness, we seek and try to invent other means to make ourselves acceptable to God. But our righteous deeds are like filthy rags (Is. 64:6). We cannot add to our salvation. Just like the famine Jacob and his family endured and were refined by, perhaps the famines in our lives will also bring us to our knees to see that “Salvation belongs to the Lord.”
Article 21 of the Belgic Confession states this clearly, “We find all comforts in his wounds and have no need to seek or invent any other means to reconcile ourselves with God than this one and only sacrifice, once made, which renders believers perfect forever.” Through the one descendent of Abraham’s family God is reconciling the world unto himself. Will we rest in him?
I pray, as we wrap up our study of Genesis over these next three months, that we would be brought into a deeper enjoyment of and rest in Christ. He is our only hope for salvation from the famines in our lives and in this world.
