Genesis

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Genesis is the book of origins, or beginnings. God himself has no beginning but here we witness the origin of life, of the universe and of sin and all its evil consequences; but we also see the promise of and the early stages of God’s plan of salvation. God wanted the whole earth to be like the Garden of Eden – a place of his Presence, where he could enjoy close relationship with the people he had created, a place of life and fruitfulness. He had created man and woman to reflect his image, to fill the earth with a people like himself and to rule over it on his behalf.

The disobedience of Adam and Eve, their rebellion against his authority and word disqualified them from being his representative rulers on the earth. They are cast out of the garden and barred from the tree of life. The rest of the Bible is about God’s plan to restore things back to his original intention, to fill the earth with a people like himself and in relationship with him. By the end of Revelation we are back in the garden of God’s Presence.

Adam and Eve’s disobedience and all its evil consequences (usually referred to as The Fall) affects everything - our relationship to God, to ourselves, to one another and to the natural environment. It results in all the evil that we see increasingly as we read through Genesis – family conflict and breakdown, anger, hatred, murder, sexual impurity, war, massacres. The theme of God’s judgement against such evil is central in Genesis and is made especially clear in the story of the Flood. But from the beginning when God gave Adam and Eve animal skins to protect them after he had cast them out of the garden, there is the continual hint that the way back to God – salvation - will be through the sacrifice and the shedding of blood.

The need for sacrifice is suggested in the continual reference to the building of altars and it is also connected to the concept of covenant (an agreement that God binds himself to, signalled by the shedding of blood). It is worth noting that his covenant with Noah after the Flood is with all living things, showing that although God judges – separating the righteous from the wicked (as happens at Sodom and Gomorrah) -  his intention is still to restore all things and to fill this earth with his glory.

There are also suggestions of valid and invalid attempts to get back to God – for example in the offerings of Cain and Abel, and the building of the tower of Babel contrasted to those, like Enoch, who simply walked with God. And there is a big contrast between the sons of Abraham, Ishmael and Isaac. Galatians 3 & 4 explain this more fully, but there is a contrast between the naturally born and the supernatural or spiritual born – the son of the promise. The key to true life with God is faith in the promise of God, and experiencing the supernatural life of the Spirit.

The call of Abraham is central as God’s covenant with him - to give him land, and many descendants and to bless all the nations of the world through him – give us a hint of God’s plan of salvation. We will come to find that it is not a matter of ethnic favouritism, for the descendants of Abraham are spiritual - those who have the same faith as Abraham (Romans; Galatians 3: ). The key quality of Abraham is his faith and God’s means of blessing the nations and achieving his original purpose is going to be through a people of faith. The life of faith is a life of pilgrimage and we see this in the lives of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. People of faith do not belong in this world but are looking for God’s restored, heavenly world, and for the city of God (Hebrews 11J The idea of the passing on of an inheritance to sons, and of continuing in the way of the God of our fathers is also a key theme.

In the rags to riches story of Joseph, we see that God is sovereignly working his purpose out, no matter what happens to us. What other people mean for harm God turns to good and works out his purpose through it all. In the fall and rise of Joseph we can also see the way of Christ that he pioneers and leads us in – down to the cross experience and then up  to the throne and to glory.

The seven doctrines that we have noted, run throughout Genesis, but we can also look out for other themes and consider how they fit into the whole landscape of spiritual truth and what it tells us about God’s plan of restoration. Consider: