God’s Word to Mankind –
Bible Summary
I. CREATION AND THE REBELLION
II. CONTINUED REBELLION AND THE FLOOD
III. CONTINUED REBELLION AND DISPERSAL
IV. THE SELECTION OF THE ISRAELITES
V. GOD AMPLIFIED HIS PROMISE OF A RESCUER OF MANKIND
VI. GOD KEPT HIS PROMISES!
VII. A SUMMARY OF THE TESTIMONY OF ONE OF THE WITNESSES – PETER
VIII. WHAT SHOULD WE DO?
I. CREATION AND THE REBELLION
God created all things in six days (Exodus 20:11).
God also created our first parents, Adam and Eve (Genesis 1:27).
Our Creator commanded our first parents not to eat from one of the trees in the Garden that He gave them (Genesis 2:16-17).
Our first parents disobeyed their Creator and followed God’s adversary, Satan who appeared to Eve in the form of a serpent (Genesis 3:1-6).
God announced curses on mankind because of their disobedience.
But He also promised that the “Seed” of the woman would destroy the Serpent and his work (Genesis 3:14-19 4001 B.C.).
II. CONTINUED REBELLION AND THE FLOOD
In spite of this gracious promise, mankind became increasingly rebellious and violent. As a result, 1656 years after Creation God destroyed all mankind and all air-breathing land animals with a global flood; but He saved one righteous man named Noah, his family, and pairs of animals to repopulate the earth.
III. CONTINUED REBELLION AND DISPERSAL
After the Flood the descendants of Noah’s sons again rebelled against God. So, God confused the language of the people and dispersed them to all parts of the earth.
IV. THE SELECTION OF THE ISRAELITES
God selected the descendants of one particular family to be the carriers of His message to mankind and to be the ethnic group from which the promised “Seed” would come. These were the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob – the Israelites.
V. GOD AMPLIFIED HIS PROMISE OF A RESCUER OF
MANKIND
God promised Abraham a “Seed” in Whom all of the nations would be blessed. (Genesis 22:15-16,18 Abraham lived from 2051-1876 B.C. This event was 1926 B.C. (if indeed Isaac was 25 years old when this event took place, as Josephus records).
As mankind continued waiting for the “Seed” to come, God spoke periodically through Hebrew prophets. Along with His commandments and warnings about the behavior of His people, He revealed more and more information about this “Seed.”
God promised that this “Seed” would –
- destroy the Serpent and his work (Genesis 3:15, 4001 B.C.),
- come from Abraham and in Him all of the nations would be blessed (Genesis 12:3,1945 B.C.),
- be a descendant of King David (2 Samuel 7:12,13),
- be His own Son (Psalm 2:7,8),
- be born of a virgin (Isaiah 7:14),
- be born in Bethlehem of Judea (Micah 5:2),
- proclaim a message of salvation in Galilee (Isaiah 9:1,2),
- heal people from many diseases (Isaiah 53:4),
- be pierced for our transgressions and crushed for our iniquities (Isaiah 53:5,6,10),
- die (Isaiah 53:8),
- be buried in a rich man’s grave (Isaiah 53:9),
- not be in the grave long enough for His body to decay (Psalm 16:10),
- establish a great kingdom when a fourth great empire ruled over Israel. (Daniel 2:44,45), and
- reign as King over all creation forever (Daniel 7:13,14 577 B.C.),
Mankind waited for this promised “Seed” to come for almost 4,000 years!
All of these promises were given hundreds of years before the “Seed” actually arrived.
VI. GOD KEPT HIS PROMISES!
After mankind had waited for nearly 4000 years, in 6 B.C. “the Seed” of the woman appeared. Jesus Christ, God’s Son, was born of an Israelite virgin named Mary, a descendant of Abraham and King David, in Bethlehem of Judea. He was born during the time of the fourth Empire to rule over Palestine, the Roman Empire.
When grown up, He went about Galilee, proclaiming a message of righteousness and salvation. He healed all kinds of diseases, cast out demons, raised the dead, and performed many miraculous signs.
On a Friday in the spring of 30 A.D., the fifteenth day of the first Jewish month (April 5th in our calendar), He took upon Himself the curse of our rebellion. He was falsely accused, condemned, beaten, and scourged. He was crucified in our place on a cross outside Jerusalem. His battered body was pierced with nails and later with a spear.
He finished the work of suffering for mankind and then died.
His crushed body was buried in the grave of a rich man named Joseph from Arimathea in Judea.
However, He rose to life again on the following Sunday, before His body could decay.
He appeared to His followers numerous times over the course of the next 40 days.
Many witnesses saw all of these things, and have left their eye-witness testimony of these things on the pages of New Testament.
He ascended into heaven. There He reigns as King over all things forever alongside God the Father.
His Kingdom has spread over the entire world!
VII. A SUMMARY OF THE TESTIMONY OF ONE OF THE WITNESSES – PETER
Here is the way one of Jesus’ followers summarized what he and the others heard and saw:
Acts 10:34-35, 38-43
34 Opening his mouth, Peter said: “I most certainly understand now that God is not one to show partiality,
35 but in every nation the man who fears Him and does what is right is welcome to Him.
39 We are witnesses of all the things He did both in the land of the Jews and in Jerusalem.”
38 You know of Jesus of Nazareth, how God anointed Him with the Holy Spirit and with power, and how He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him.
39 They also put Him to death by hanging Him on a cross.
40 God raised Him up on the third day and granted that He become visible,
41 not to all the people, but to witnesses who were chosen beforehand by God, that is, to us who ate and drank with Him after He arose from the dead.
42 And He ordered us to preach to the people, and solemnly to testify that this is the One who has been appointed by God as Judge of the living and the dead.
43 Of Him all the prophets bear witness that through His name everyone who believes in Him receives forgiveness of sins.”
Acts 2:38-39
38 Peter said to them, “Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
39 “For the promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off, as many as the Lord our God will call to Himself.”
The Promises were fulfilled!
- The Seed of the woman came!
- Although temporarily wounded Himself, He fatally wounded the devil and began to undo the devil’s work!
- God’s Servant suffered and died for our sins!
- The Holy One was not in the grave long enough to decay!
- The Son of Man now reigns as a great King!
- In Abraham’s Seed all of the nations of the world are blessed!
VIII. WHAT SHOULD WE DO?
- Repent! Turn away from all misbelief and misbehavior. Turn to belief in the truth and the behavior that God desires.
- Believe! Believe God’s good news for mankind that is presented in the Bible.
- Be baptized! Be baptized with water together with your repentance for the forgiveness of your wrong-doings
- Receive the gift of the Holy Spirit! The gift of the Holy Spirit is promised to all who believe. He empowers us to do supernatural things for God.
© copyright 2011
Lyra Publications
Preston, Minnesota