Renewing the Covenant
Ray of Hope Christian Church
January 3, 2012
Exalting the Savior
People of the Book
The main thing is Knowing God!
Philippians 3:10
Our aim in this study is to:
 Know God more fully through the study of His
Word.
 Understand our Covenant relationship with
Him.
 Understand who we are as members of the
Church, his body, specifically Ray of Hope
and the unique privileges and responsibilities
that are ours.
Vision of the Ray
To become a city of hope where persons will
impact and transform this present world into
the Kingdom of God.
Mission
Transforming your world through a personal
relationship with Christ.
Core Values:
 Exalt the Savior through Worship
 Equip the Saint through Study
 Evangelize the Sinner through Witnessing
 Empower through Stewardship through
Giving
 Elevate Society through Serving
Overview of the Bible
The Bible is God’s written
revelation of His love and
will for humankind.
 II Timothy 3:16-17, All scripture is God
breathed
 II Peter 1:21, For prophecy never had
its origin in the will of man, but men
spoke from God as they were carried
along by the Holy Spirit
The central theme of the
book is Jesus Christ.
Genesis 1:1
The word for God is
Elohim and it is in the
plural, and refers to the
Trinity.
John 1:1-3
Revelation 1:8
Revelation 22:21
Bible Facts
The Bible:
 Contains 66 books, written by 40 authors
covering approximately 1,600 years
 1,189 chapters
 31,373 verses
 775,693 words in the KJV
 Longest chapter is Psalm 119
 Shortest chapter is Psalm 117
 Longest book in the Old Testament is Psalms
 Longest book in the New Testament is Luke
Bible Facts
The Bible:
 The Old Testament was written mostly in
Hebrew (a few passages are in Aramaic)
 The New Testament was written in Greek
 The word “Testament” means “Covenant” or
“agreement”
Galatians 3:19-25
Structure of the Bible
Old Testament-39 books are traditionally
divided into three sections: The Law, the
Prophets and the Writings.
The Pentateuch (which means “five”) comes
from two Greek word meaning “five scrolls”.
It consists of the first five books written by
Moses, called “The Law”.
Structure of the Bible
They are redemptive and historical in nature:
• Genesis
• Exodus
• Leviticus
• Numbers
• Deuteronomy
The Writings
Containing books that are both
historical, Joshua through
Esther, as well as individual and
experiential—Job through the
Songs of Solomon.
The Prophetical Books
•
•
•
•
•
Major Prophets:
Isaiah
Jeremiah
Lamentations
Ezekiel
Daniel
The Minor Prophets-Hosea through Malachi
The New Testament
The Foundational Books-Matthew through Acts
The Epistles of Paul
• Church Epistles-Romans through
II Thessalonians
• Pastoral/Personal - I Timothy-Hebrews
• General Epistles (named after their authors)
James - Jude
• The Book of Prophecy-Revelation
The Book of Genesis
Genesis means “origin”
In the beginning God…
Genesis tells the beginning of
everything except God.









Sin
The Promise of Redemption
Family Life
Civilization
Nations
A Chosen People
Judgment
Altars/Worship
Death
The Structure of Genesis
The Primeval history of humankind includes
four major events (1:1-11:26)
The Creation (1:1-2:25)
The Fall of Humans (3:1-5:32)
The Flood (6:1-9:29)
From the Flood to Abraham (9:30, 11:26)
The Patriarchal History of Israel
(11:27-50:26)
• Abraham, the man of faith, the father of the
people of Israel (11:27-25:10)
• Isaac, the beloved son (25:11-28:9)
• Jacob, whose name was changed to Israel
(28:10-36:43)
• Jacob’s sons, especially Joseph, whose life
evolved from the pit to the palace.
(37:1-50:26)
The Creation
Humans-created the crown of God’s creation.
Male and female, God created us in his
image and likeness!
“Image” refers to being a
“representative of” and “likeness”
talks about “being similar to”.
We are a Trinity just as God isbody, soul and spirit
I Thessalonians 5:23
The Fall – Genesis 3
The Tempting
The cravings of sinful humans,
the lust of the eyes and the
boasting of what he or she has
and does.
I John 2:16
Therefore just as sin entered
the world through one man
and death through sin, in the
same way, death came to all
men and women because all
have sinned.
Romans 5:12
The Results-Genesis 3:7-24
 Self-conscience-7
 Shame and fear-10
 Sorrow-17
 Curses-17
 Thorns-18
 Sweat-19
The Grace of God- Genesis 3:9,15
And I will put enmity between
you and woman, and
between your offspring and
hers; he will crush your
head, and you will strike his
heel. Genesis 3:15
God made him to be sin for us
who knew no sin that we might
be the righteousness of God in
Him. II Corinthians 5:21
For as in Adam all die, so
in Christ all will be made
alive! I Corinthians 15:22
The Call of and Covenant with
Abraham
 The Call- Genesis 12:1, Acts 7:2
 The Covenant – Genesis 12:2-3, Acts 7:3
 Covenant Promises:
* I will make you into a great nation
* I will bless you
* I will make your name great
* You will be a blessing
* I will bless those who bless you
* I will curse those who curse you
* Through you all people on earth will be blessed.
Abraham believed the
Lord, and he was
credited to him as
righteousness.
Genesis 15:6
Therefore the promise comes by
faith, so that it may be by grace
and may be guaranteed to all
Abraham’s offspring-not only
those who are of the law but
also to those who are of the
faith of Abraham. Romans 4:16
Exalting the Savior through
Worship
Genesis 12:4-7
So he built an altar
there to the Lord who
appeared to him.
God can accomplish all of this
through us as we worship.
The ancient English word for
worship is “weorthscripe” which
incorporates the idea of
“ascribed worth”.
We most honor the God
who created us and the
Lord Jesus who redeemed
us when we ascribe the
right value to Him.
Jack Hayford
God desires our
worship.
God prefers from
us, not something
brilliant but broken.
The sacrifices of God are a
broken spirit; a broken and
contrite heart, O God, you
will not despise.
Psalm 51:17
God prefers from us
worship that is
passionate.
God welcomes
those who
treasure his
presence.
Worship is also a
gift from God
to us.
God designed worship so that
we might know Him. Enter into
the abundance of His fulfilling
and fruitful purpose for our lives
and find the joy of His realized
will for us and through us.
Abram didn’t just build
this altar at the great
tree of Moreh at
Shechem, but
everywhere he went.
Genesis 12:8
Genesis 13:3-4
Genesis 13:14-18
Build an altar
wherever you are.