Many years ago my friend and I went to see the movie Saving Private Ryan. We enter the theatre and it had already started. After about 10-15 minutes into watching the movie I was really struggling following the plot of the movie. The movie wasn’t establishing the characters like a movie tends to do at the beginning. There was not a sense of drawing the audience into plot. In fact, the longer we watched it started to feel like we are at the end of the story rather then the beginning.
And then we came to a scene that clearly indicated that we were in the final moments of the movie.
And I turned to my friend and said, “I think we are watching the end of the movie.” And he then revealed he was having the exact same thoughts and we both realized we had walked into the wrong theatre and were now watching the very end of Saving Private Ryan.
And now all of the confusion made sense. We were trying to understand the plot of the story without knowing the beginning of the story.
This is how many people live their lives. They are trying to understand the story of humanity without truly understanding or knowing the beginning of the story of humanity. They are trying to find meaning and purpose in humanity without knowing who gives them that meaning and purpose.
And so in that confusion, in that disconnectedness, in that search for meaning, people create their own meaning, their own understanding, their own truth trying to make their own life story make sense within the greater story of humanity. But often what happens is their search for purpose continues to leave them unsatisfied.
Because without the beginning, the story simply doesn’t make sense.
As believers in Jesus Christ who believe the Bible to be the written word of the One True God, we don’t have to have a sense of confusion when it comes to the story of humanity or even our own life story. Because the ultimate beginning to this world and all of creation has been clearly made known to us in the very first book of the Bible, the book of Genesis.
It is the book of Genesis that gives us the context and perspective to understanding everything else in the Bible. In fact, without Genesis, our lives do not truly make sense.
Without Genesis, we are left trying to create our own meaning, our own understanding of truth which as many people have discovered ultimately leaves us confused and unsatisfied wondering if in fact, life has any value, if life has meaning, if life has any greater purpose then simply living and dying.
And if we come to the conclusion that life doesn’t have meaning, we begin to develop a worldview that quickly disregards life, leading us down roads of devastating moral consequences.
What Genesis, the first book of the Bible, does for us is that it gives us a worldview, a perspective in which to view all other issues in this world. It gives us the starting point to be able to answer the foundational questions in life.
How did life begin? Why am I here? Is there a purpose beyond just being born, learning stuff, acquiring stuff, experiencing stuff and then dying?
And so I want to invite you to join me in going back to the beginning and re-discovering God’s purpose and plan for humanity. And as we walk through this book I hope you will rediscover God’s purpose and plan for you.
The author of Genesis
As we enter into the very first book of the Bible, I would like us to begin with the author of Genesis. This is an important place to start because of who the author was writing to. The original audience of Genesis is significant because it gives us a glimpse into the original purpose for this book. It is not simply an account of how things began but it is a book of great hope and of great encouragement to a group that desperately needed hope and encouragement.
Although no author’s name is attached to this book, Jewish tradition (long before Jesus came into this world) said that Moses was the author of Genesis. In fact, Jewish tradition said that Moses was the author of the first 5 books of the Bible: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy.
And Jesus this affirms this belief.
The Jews typically divided up what we call the Old Testament into three sections: The Law (which were the first 5 books), The Prophets and the Psalms. And listen to how Jesus references the three sections of the Old Testament.
In Luke 24:44, Jesus said, “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.”
How does Jesus refer to the law? As the law of Moses. Jesus, himself, attributes the writing of the first five books to Moses. The reason that authorship is important is because of who Moses was writing to.
When we think about the ministry of Moses it began when he was around 80 (in leading the Israelites out of Egypt) and ending at his death shortly before they entered the promised land.
And so Moses most likely wrote the book of Genesis while the Israelites were wandering in the desert after being delivered from captivity in Egypt. Moses is writing the words of Genesis in a very difficult season in the life of Israel. They are a people who did not have a land to call their own. They did not have a city to settle in within walls that could protect them. They have been in slavery for 400-years. For the Israelites who came out of Egypt they would have been born as a slaves. They would have seen their parents born as slaves. In fact, they would have seen their grandparents and great grandparents born and die as slaves.
Their identity had been in their captivity.
Sit with that for a moment. This a people who knew only one of two things. Either being slaves or being a nomads. They didn’t have a sense of freedom in their identity. They didn’t have a sense of security in their identity. They didn’t have a sense of purpose. Or a sense of future.
You wouldn’t blame Israel if they had struggled with identity.
Who are we? What is our place in this world. Are we simply Egypt’s slaves? Are we simply nomads in the wilderness?
You wouldn’t blame Israel if they struggled understanding their place in God’s plans in this world. You wouldn’t blame Israel if they had given up believing in God or were simply angry with him. You wouldn’t blame Israel if they lived life with no sense of a hope and a future.
It is in this context that Moses writes the book of Genesis. And this writing he is saying to Israel, ‘This is your history. This is the story you belong to.’ Moses wants Israel to know: You are a part of God’s unfolding story. You are in fact God’s chosen people. You will no longer be slaves and wanderers but God’s holy people. You have been set apart for God’s holy purposes.
Israel only knew the middle of the story. They were slaves. They had forgotten or had never been told the beginning. God created you in His own image. God wants you to know him. God wants a relationship with you. God told your forefather Abraham that he is going to make him into a great nation (which is you) and that nation is going to be a blessing to every other nation.
You may be in the middle of your story and you may have forgotten, if you are believer in Jesus Christ, that called call you to himself before the world began. You may have forgotten that God created you in His own image, that he knit you together in your mother’s womb and that He has placed purpose on your life even in the midst of your suffering and pain.
When Moses wrote these words in Genesis he was placing identity upon the people of Israel, He was placing meaning upon them, purpose upon them, a future upon them but most importantly he was inviting them into a relationship with the one true God who started the world in the beginning and has a purpose for the people of Israel. This is a purpose that would reveal his plan of redemption and salvation for the entire world.
The Lord told Israel shortly before he brought them our of Egypt, “I am the Lord, and I will bring you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians. I will free you from being slaves to them, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with mighty acts of judgment. I will take you as my own people, and I will be your God.”
Many of the Hebrews probably didn’t have a deep and rich understanding of who this God was and the relationship that they were called to have as His people. Genesis begins the process of God more fully revealing himself to Israel.
And so we could say that the purpose for Genesis was to encourage and instruct Israel by giving them a true understanding of 1) who the one true God is 2) to tell them that this God wants a relationship with them and 3) show them what it means to walk by faith before God.
It is through those three purposes we will enter into this book.
(PAUSE)
The other thing I want to briefly look at is the genre in which Moses wrote. Because knowing the genre helps us understand how Moses wants us to read his words.
Typically when we pick up a book it is written in one specific genre: a biography, a memoir, historical, fiction, it’s a how-to book, its poetry, etc.
But when we pick up the Bible it is not one book but a collection of 66 books all divinely inspired by one God telling one story of God’s redemption and salvation of humanity. And within these 66 books, they are written in different genres. 1 Kings is a different genre then 1 Corinthians. Psalms is a different genre then the Gospel of Matthew. While they are all the word of God proclaiming the truth of God, they are using different literal forms to tell the story of God and the truth of God.
Sometimes the genre is communicating historical events like we see in 1 Kings. Sometimes the genre is encouragement and instruction in Christian living as we see in 1 Corinthians. Sometimes the genre is a collection of poems and songs as we see in the book of Psalms.
And so when we come to Genesis, it is important to ask what genre are we reading?
The reason this is an important question to answer is because some people come to Genesis and read about the creation of the world in 6 days, about Adam being formed from the dust of the ground, Eve being formed using the rib of Adam, we read about a talking serpent, a worldwide flood and they find that it is easier to read this not as historical fact but rather as an allegory or as a parable.
But when we open up to Genesis chapter 1 verse 1 it is important that we recognize that Moses was writing an historical account of how the God of Israel, the one true God created the earth and everything in it. Genesis chapter 3 is an historical account of how sin entered into this world.
While there is allegory in the Bible, that is not what Moses was writing. While there are parables in the Bible, that is not what Moses was writing. He was writing an historical account of the beginning of the world and the establishment of Israel.
All throughout Genesis, Moses clearly emphasizes that this his purpose. In Genesis 5, Moses begins with these words: “This is the book of the generations of Adam”. Other translations say “This is the written account of Adam’s family line”.
And then chapter 5 verse 1 continues, “When God created man, he made him in the likeness of God. Male and female he created them, and he blessed them and named them Man when they were created.
He is making a reference back to the first two chapters and is saying, ‘I am talking about an historical account that actual happened.” And then the rest of chapter 5 is the genealogy of Adam all the way through Noah and his three sons.
And Moses continues in this historical style of writing.
Genesis 6:9 says, “These are the generations of Noah.” And then it gives us the account of Noah.
Genesis 37:2 says, “These are the generations of Jacob.” And then goes on to give us the account of Jacob.
Moses is saying, “I am recording for you the accounts of history.” And so when we come to Genesis 1, from Moses’ perspective, he was writing an historical account of the creation of the world and the beginning of humanity.
As we study this book, I want us to recognize that we are reading history. And so as people who place themselves under the authority of the Word of God we can approach Genesis with confidence that it is an account of all created things on this earth giving us the ability to answer the questions of life
- Where did we come from?
- What’s our purpose?
- Is there a God?
- Is there a standard of truth?
- Why are there males and female?
- How are we to think about sexual identity?
- Why is there evil in this world?
- What’s the purpose of marriage.
- Where did the various languages of the world come from.
- And so many other questions that humanity has wrestled with for generations.
While the account in Genesis may focus on Israel’s history, Genesis also tells us that God called Abraham to be a blessing to the nations. As we continue to the Gospel of John we see God so loved the world. As we see in Matthew that God called his Jewish disciples to make disciples of all nations. And Acts tells them to go into all the world to be witnesses of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
We see that beginning of Genesis is also our beginning. The story of Genesis is also our story. That our relationship with God is also found in Genesis. Our story of redemption and salvation also begins in Genesis. And so while Moses’ initial purpose was for the encouragement and instruction of Israel, it is also for our encouragement and instruction. Through Genesis, you and I can learn about who God is and that He invites us into a relationship with Him.