Genesis gets its name from the first line in the beginning. Beginning is another word for Genesis. This Book spans across more years of human history than all the other 65 books of the Bible combined. In 4,100 years of recorded Bible history over one-half of it (2,286 years) is recorded in Genesis. 2,000 of the 2,286 years are covered in Genesis 1-11. All this to say so when turning the page can be an accelerated progression of human history!
Chapters 1-11 involve 4 major events:
Chapters 12-50 involve 4 key people:
IN THE BEGINNING GOD:
Genesis 1:1-5 In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. 2 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. 3 And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. 4 And God saw that the light was good. And God separated the light from the darkness. 5 God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day. ESV
In the beginning, God:
Nothing makes sense unless you begin with God. Your day won’t make sense. Your life won’t make sense. Unless you begin with God, your marriage won’t make sense. Unless you begin with God your family won’t make sense. Nothing makes sense until you begin with God. Without starting here, you won’t understand yourself, others or anything happening to you or around you. The beginning of everything starts with God. What Genesis does for us is it reorients us and says, always begin with God.
The problem most people have daily is they simply don’t start their day with God. Take the Turn The Page challenge and let your day begin with God. https://www.destinyokc.com/turn-the-page-challenge
Most of us would say that we want to be spiritually strong. But we cannot be spiritually strong if are not spiritually fed. If the only time we’re eating spiritually is when someone else is feeding us, then we are spiritually malnourished and living in a weakened state of spiritual warfare. Every day begin with God. Don’t just read the book. Sit with the Author.
In the beginning, God. Compare these first five verses in Genesis to the first five verses in John.
John 1:1-5 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made. 4 In him was life, and the life was the light of men. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. ESV
Jesus is absolutely central to everything! Without Christ there was not anything made that was made. This is why JESUS is so central that we find him in every book of the Bible.
Jesus, Himself, even said in John 5:39 the Scriptures speak of me!
Of course, the New Testament speaks of Jesus, but the Old Testament is richly furnished and dimly lit. Here are messages from each of the 66 books of the Bible pointing to where Jesus can be discovered in each and every book. https://www.destinyokc.com/jesus-in-the-bible
Interestingly in Genesis 1 we find that the 4th word of the original Hebrew manuscript is never translated into English. It is actually not a word. It is simply two letters and they are significant! It doesn’t just say, “In the beginning God.” It says God (Alef (א) Tav (ת)). These are the first and last letters of the Hebrew Alphabet. This would be the Hebrew equivalent to the Greek letters Alpha and Omega found in Revelation 1:17 where Jesus declares, I am Alpha & Omega, the first and the last… This is the same concept in a different language.
This is remarkable when you consider that John 1 speaks of the integral involvement of Christ in Creation. Another place this is found is actually a prophecy about the crucifixion of Christ.
Zech 12:10….They will look on (Alef (א) Tav (ת)) me whom they have pierced… NLT
Genesis 1:1-2 In the beginning, (Alef (א) Tav (ת)) God created (forming from nothing) the heavens and the earth. 2 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. ESV
Without form and void really speaks of unshaped potential and darkness that exists until the light comes. We will look more into this next week. Right now we want to reflect on how chaos continues to exist when God isn’t first.
What is first in my daily rhythms? (time, attention, prayer, Word) What is first in my home? (shaping culture, conversations, values) What am I intentionally building into my children that points them to Christ as foundation?
You’ll never leave a legacy until you first live a legacy! True legacy involves eternity. Legacy is less about what we leave behind and more about what we set into motion.
Imagine generations into the future where thousands of people knowing God and loving Jesus, all because of the choices you made to be faithful with what God has entrusted to your care in this vapor of a life that appears for a little while and then vanishes.
GP2RL: Listen to the “Jesus in the Bible on Genesis” message this week. https://www.destinyokc.com/jesus-in-the-bible
