BELIEVE: PART ONE

Both Judaism and Christianity view believing God's Word as the single, most important thing a man can do. After all, if His Word cannot be believed, why should we worshiped and obeyed Him? As I have written before, a person is only as good as his word. If you cannot believe what he says, he is untrustworthy. That is why the psalmist wrote, "I will worship toward Thy holy temple, and praise Thy name for Thy lovingkindness and for Thy truth: for Thou hast magnified Thy Word above all Thy name" (Ps. 138:2). God knows His name is only as good as His reputation.

Man's failure to believe God began with the very first man God created. Adam and Eve had it made. All they had to do was believe God when He warned them about eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (Gen. 2:16-17). But instead, they believed the "father of lies," and Adam and Eve died spiritually that very day, just as God said they would (Jn. 8:44; Gen. 3:6-11). And like his father, Cain did not believe it necessary to follow the instructions of the Lord; he tried to offer vegetables as a sacrifice for his sin (Gen. 4:2-7). God could not hold Cain responsible for bringing the wrong sacrifice if He had not instructed Adam and his family about bringing a blood sacrifice.

Throughout the Word of God, when men believe God, things go well for them; when they do not believe His Word, the end is always tragic. Abraham believed in the LORD; and He counted it to him for righteousness" (Gen. 15:6). Noah believed God and he spent about one hundred years building the largest "wake-up, the world is about to end sign." Apparently no one believed him. Moses told the Jews that God would take them to the land of promise, and at first, they believed and followed him (Ex. 3:18; Num. 16:14). Yet, because they repeatedly failed to believe God over the next forty years, all but two adult males of those who came out of Egypt died in the wilderness (Num. 14:30).

Throughout the Old Testament, God repeatedly told His prophets to tell His people about the Anointed One, the Messiah of Israel. As early as Genesis 3:15, God was telling mankind about the Savior of the world. Here are some examples:

He was the "seed of a woman" -- Gen. 3:15 and fulfilled: Gal. 4:4.
He was a descendant of Abraham -- Gen. 12:3 and fulfilled: Matt. 1:1.
He was from the tribe of Judah – Gen. 49:10 and fulfilled: Lk. 3:33.
He was the heir to the throne of David – Isa. 9:7 and fulfilled: Lk. 1:32-33.
He was born in Bethlehem – Mic. 5:2 and fulfilled: Jn. 1:2, Lk. 2:4-5, 7.
He was born of a virgin – Isa. 7:14 and fulfilled: Lk. 1:26-27, 30-31.
He was rejected and killed -- Ps. 22; Isa. 53 and fulfilled: Jn. 19; Acts 2:36
He was raised -- Ps. 16:10 and fulfilled: Matt. 28; Mk. 16; Lk. 23; Jn. 20.

It is amazing the enemies of Christ believed the prophecies about Him, but the nation as a whole did not believe (Matt. 2:1-16; 27:62-66; Jn. 1:11).

To be continued, Lord willing.