Genesis 1 – In the Beginning…

“In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.  The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.  And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.  And God saw that the light was good. And God separated the light from the darkness…”

The most important thing for people to know about the bible is that it contains one unified message that describes God`s Project of Salvation for us through Jesus Christ.  Jesus Christ is described as both the beginning and the end of this project.  We find even in these opening verses, just as we can also find Him in the closing verses of the bible (Revelation 22:21). 

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Genesis 3:9-10 – “…But the Lord God called to the man and said to him, “Where are you?” And he said, “I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself….”

God spoke to the first man (Adam) and continues to speak to man today, because He is a living God.  We worship our living God who has conquered death for us.  In these verses we see God’s very frst question to man: “Where are you?“ God asked this question to Adam, not because He did not know, but rather because He wanted Adam to recognize his situation.

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Genesis 4:3-7 – “In the course of time Cain brought some of the fruits of the soil as an offering to the Lord. But Abel brought fat portions from some of the firstborn of his flock. The Lord looked with favor on Abel and his offering, but on Cain and his offering he did not look with favor. So Cain was very angry, and his face was downcast.  Then the Lord said to Cain, ‘Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast? If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must master it…’”

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Genesis 5:18-21 - “…When Jared had lived 162 years, he became the father of Enoch. And after he became the father of Enoch, Jared lived 800 years and had other sons and daughters. Altogether, Jared lived 962 years, and then he died. When Enoch had lived 65 years, he became the father of Methuselah…”

These verses are part of the genealogy from Adam to Noah.  When people read the Bible, they might to temped to gloss over, or completely skip these kinds of details which are less interesting for them. Yet even in these parts of the Bible, the Lord wants to teach us about His Project of Salvation for humankind through Jesus Christ.  When we read this section of the genealogy, we find a theme repeated thhroughout: someone was born, lived for a time, but later on died. Enoch, the son of Jared, was one exception.

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Genesis 7:1 – “…Then the Lord said to Noah, “Go into the ark, you and all your household, for I have seen that you are righteous before me in this generation…”

This verse talks about the account of Noah’s Ark, which should be something everyone, even those who have never stepped foot inside a Church build, has heard about.  In the day of Noah, God was upset with all the great wickedness He saw happening on the earth, and decided to wipe away everything on the earth through the judgment of the flood.  Yet God also remembered to be gracious and merciful.  We see this in the ark that He had Noah construct.  Noah’s Ark prophetically foreshadows our salvation through Jesus Christ. Salvation is God’s Project.

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Genesis 7:13 - On that very day Noah and his sons, Shem, Ham and Japheth, together with his wife and the wives of his three sons, entered the ark. 

Matthew 24:37-39 - As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark; and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man.

 Jesus said that the days before the Rapture would be similar to the days of Noah.  It comes on the world unexpectedly, when everyone is still making plans for the future (getting married) and celebrating.  Only Noah and his family knew what was coming; they had the revelation.

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Abraham saved Lot three times: first, he brings him from the land of Haran to the Promised Land; second, he rescues him when he was taken captive by the kings of the North; third, he intercedes for him when Sodom is about to be destroyed.  Through these three events, we see the operation of the Trinity in our own salvation.   continue

“…And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”  - Genesis 12:3

God wants to bless each person individually with salvation and a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.  In addition, the Bible teaches that God has special blessings he intends to give to families as a whole, not just to individuals in isolation.  

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Genesis 29:7-10 – “Look,” he said, “the sun is still high; it is not time for the flocks to be gathered. Water the sheep and take them back to pasture.”

“We can’t,” they replied, “until all the flocks are gathered and the stone has been rolled away from the mouth of the well. Then we will water the sheep.”

While he was still talking with them, Rachel came with her father’s sheep, for she was a shepherdess. When Jacob saw Rachel daughter of Laban, his mother’s brother, and Laban’s sheep, he went over and rolled the stone away from the mouth of the well and watered his uncle’s sheep…

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Genesis 20:12-13 (KJV)

“And yet indeed she is my sister; she is the daughter of my father, but not the daughter of my mother; and she became my wife.  And it came to pass, when God caused me to wander from my father’s house, that I said unto her, ‘This is thy kindness which thou shalt shew unto me; at every place whither we shall come, say of me, He is my brother.’”

Twice during his wanderings in Genesis, Abraham encounters situations where the local ruler takes Sarah into his harem (pagan kings back then had a large collection of wives, of course).  The first time was with Pharaoh in Genesis 12, and the second was with Abimelech in Genesis 20.  In each case, before any harm comes to Sarah at all, the Lord intervened and rebuked the ruler, so that Sarah came back to Abraham immediately.  Prophetically, this illustrates how we as believers are both Christ’s brothers, as well as the Bride of Christ collectively.   continue