In the Word: Genesis 1-5
Join us as we read through the Bible. We will post questions and thoughts to help guide you in your reading.
Books usually start by introducing their main theme, main character(s), main antagonist, or main plot point. The Bible does all of this within the first few chapters of Genesis. We learn in these chapters the beginning of all things - that “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth”. This sets a context for our reading of the Bible - that the Bible deals with real things in our universe.
Contrary to a work of fiction or myth, the Bible deals with reality. Reality is a main theme introduced in Genesis 1-5. The main characters in the Bible are quickly introduced. God is first introduced, and His character as the creator of good things is revealed. 7 times in the first chapter, God describes His creation as “good”. At the end of chapter 1 and throughout chapter 2, we’re told of all the things God created (matter, time, space, living species of the air, water, and land). Humanity is the crowning achievement of God’s creative work, as humanity alone is said to be made in God’s image. You and every other person you’ve ever known, heard of, or read about have this unique God-given quality - we as humans have been made to represent God in creation.
The main antagonist of the story is introduced in chapter 3 as the serpent who tempts Eve and lies about God’s character, God’s agenda, and humanity’s purpose. As Adam and Eve rebel against God, exchanging the truth of reality for the lies of the serpent, sin enters as the greatest problem of the Bible. Though Adam and Eve were expelled from the special garden of God’s presence, God promised to someday crush the serpent through one who would be born of a woman. The rest of the book of Genesis and the Bible is about God’s gracious work in time, space, and history to fulfill that promise and thereby redeem a people to dwell again in His presence without sin or any of its byproducts.
Genesis 4 and 5 tell us of the proliferation of the human race through the lives of the children of Adam and Eve (chapter 4) and with a genealogy from Adam to Noah (chapter 5). These ancient events reveal a situation that is still the case today - there is still harsh betrayal in families today, and death takes every generation. In the midst of all the tragic sin that leads to death, there is a glimmer of hope with the witness of Enoch. The grace of God comes to us, bringing us hope with these few words about Enoch, teaching us that there is eternal life awaiting the faithful of God. Death does not have the final say, and sin does not reign. God is gracious, and though the wickedness of humanity is great, God’s redeeming purposes are greater still. More on that next week as we come to the life and times of Noah and the people of Babel.
