Overview of Genesis

GENESIS

The first questions most people ask are: ‘Where did this book come from? Who wrote it, and how can we know it is True and accurate?’ These are all reasonable questions; and as we search God’s Word in Genesis, we will discover answers that should change our way of thinking, acting and our very thought processes. First, it IS possible to test the accuracy of what was recorded. The Bible has been preserved down through the centuries. The discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls and other authenticated ancient documents proves the accuracy of the Bible. Yet, we also can carefully read the Word and then note how often we, ourselves, can prove that what was written is absolutely True.

There are only two world views: Either everything is a result of a cosmic ‘accident’ or we are the result of a deliberate design by a Designer. Every thinking person should ask themselves these questions: Who am I? Where did I come from? Why am I here? What happens to me when I die? The answers to these questions directly depend on your world view! So how exactly do we come to believe in a particular world view? By what we perceive to be True and untrue. We know that Truth is REALITY, and untruth, or lies, are outside of reality. Anyone who believes and acts outside of reality, we refer to as insane. Thus it is crucial that we know the Truth and act on it.

The Bible is an Integrated Message System, written over thousands of years by 40 different individuals, which can be proven to have had its origin from outside our time domain. How? By proving that what was stated would happen in the future, actually happens. Only Someone who exists outside of our time domain can possibly know what will happen in our future with absolute certainty. This accurate written record of future events is referred to as Prophesy.

Augustine stated this Integrated Design Truth: The New Testament is in the Old Testament concealed. People who lived in the Old Testament times did not know, or understand, what would happen in the New Testament time, it was hidden and concealed from them. And yet, the Old Testament history and foreshadowing is revealed in the New Testament times and life of Jesus Christ. Therefore, to understand the New Testament, one must have a clear understanding of the Truth of the Old Testament. To understand the times we live in, we must also be able to understand and discern the Truth of both the old and new Testaments.

Genesis is an account of the Creation of the entire Universe, including mankind, by a Supreme Being called God; the Creator. It also gives us God’s Purpose for His Creation; His Eternal Glory. All of Creation is designed by God to function with perfect preciseness. God carefully and perfectly designed Creation to function with physical and spiritual laws. These laws were designed by God to keep all Creation in perfect order. God carefully explained His simple law to man with the warning that to disobey meant certain death. Genesis reveals the failure of man to obey God’s simple law. This resulted in the need of a Deliverer to redeem man, and all creation, from this certain death. In fact, whenever we think and act outside of God’s laws and His Perfect Will, we are turning toward certain death. We are told that these thoughts and actions are all called SIN. The future for all of mankind is carefully revealed in Genesis through Prophesies related to the coming Deliverer. The O.T. shows the formation of a Nation, chosen by God. The New Testament reveals the Creator God becoming a Man, fulfilling prophesies, and His action plan of being our Deliverer. Our Creator chose to willingly sacrifice Himself and die, to purchase our freedom from certain eternal death and suffering. The N. T. Reveals the privilege of knowing Him as our personal Deliverer. The entire Bible is all about our Creator/Deliverer, Jesus, our Messiah!

Historically, we know there was a time when the world began. No one would be so naive as to believe the Earth always existed. The first and second laws of thermodynamics prove that the Earth had to have a beginning, and that it had to be created. Many of the Truths given in the Biblical records weren’t even proved by science until our own time! The most recent realization is that our sun is in all probability, actually Plasma. We were taught in school that matter existed in only three forms: Solid, Liquid, or Gas. We now know that it also exists as Plasma. Plasma has no ‘form’ and seems to be everywhere and yet nowhere! It is void of something we can clearly identify. The sun’s solar flares are now recognized as Plasma behaving in a way even scientists do not understand! And yet, when we examine Genesis, we will see that God told mankind that His first creation of earth was formless and void! So, if scientists are just now ‘discovering’ this form of material known as Plasma, with these exact same properties, how did the writer of Genesis know that?? There are other ‘secrets of science’ hidden in God’s Word that we have not yet discovered. For example; Exactly what causes and keeps Gravity working? How does the earth, and the entire solar system continue to have such tremendous energy, moving through space in precise orbits? Exactly what is electricity? What happens between an egg and a sperm to create a new life; and how does this new embryo know to attach itself to the mother’s uterus? Where do our thoughts come from? Scientists don’t know the answer! I’m certain you can add your own questions to the list.

So with this kind of future knowledge being revealed before the writers themselves even knew what they meant, we can safely conclude that the repeated statement that the Words written in the Bible were inspired by the Holy Spirit, is True. That means that a Supreme Being outside our time domain, has somehow given that unknown information to the humans that were directed by God, to write down the inspiration. With this proven documentation, we can be certain that this is a True record of the History of the World. There were written records which were no doubt written by Adam, and his descendants. These records were kept by Noah which were handed down and later compiled and written by Moses some four thousand years ago. As an Israelite educated in the palace of the Pharaoh, Moses was very aware of his people’s history as the ‘chosen people of God’. In fact, we can read what happened when he tried to take matters into his own hands rather than waiting for God’s direction and perfect timing. (See Exodus 2:11-21) We, as True Believers in our Father; His Son, Jesus Christ; and the Holy Spirit; know and fervently believe God’s Word is absolutely True. Jesus also quotes Genesis more than any other book of the Bible. Thus, since Jesus indicates Genesis is True, we can safely trust that the Book of Genesis is actually God’s Word. As we study this marvelous book of Genesis, we will discover other irrefutable proofs that Genesis gives insight, truth and wisdom that man could never have known outside of God’s revelation. God IS Truth, and He cannot lie; thus we have the assurance that all the Bible is True!

So exactly why should we study Genesis?

1. Genesis is the Book of beginnings (the Law of First Mention):
God’s first spoken word: “Let there be Light.” God’s Word is powerful: God created by His spoken Word. First Mentioned: ~ Creation ~ Man ~ Woman ~ Sabbath ~ Marriage ~ Home ~ Childhood ~ Sin ~ Murder ~ Sacrifice ~ Grace ~ Trade ~ Agriculture ~ City life ~ Nations ~ Languages ~ Chosen people, etc.

2. Genesis anticipates all false philosophies which are LIES:
Atheism, teaches there is no God. (Truth: God created the world); Pantheism (T: God is transcendent and distinguishable); Polytheism, many gods (T: There is only One God); Materialism (T: All matter had a beginning); Humanism, man is ‘god’ (T: God is the ultimate reality, not man); Evolutionism, all came mysteriously from ‘nothing’ (T: God created everything); Uniformism (T: God intervenes in His creation).

3. The major Truth Doctrines of Christianity all have their beginning in Genesis:
Sovereign election ~ Salvation ~ Justification by faith ~ Believer’s Security ~ Separation ~ Disciplinary chastisement ~ Divine Incarnation ~ Rapture of the Church ~ Death and Resurrection ~ Priesthoods (Aaronic and Melchizedex) ~ The antichrist ~ Palestinian Covenant.

4. The Jews have always known and believed that the Torah was written by Moses. The Torah is actually the Five Books of the Bible that we call: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. Even Jesus Christ, Himself, confirmed that Moses was the author in several scriptures: Luke 24:27 “And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, He (Jesus) expounded to them all the scriptures that concerned Himself.” John 5:45-47 “Do not think that I (Jesus) shall accuse you to the Father; there is one who accuses you~ Moses, in whom you trust. For if you believed Moses, you would believe Me; for he wrote about Me. But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe My Words?”

All scriptures are Jesus Christ Centered: Jn 5:39; Ps 40:7; Mt 5:17, 18.
See also: Mt. 8:4; 19:7, 8; 23:2; Mk 1:44; 10:3, 4; 7:10; Lk 5:14; 16:19, 31; 20:37; 24:27, 44; Jn 3:14; 5:39, 45, 46; 6:32; 7:19, 22,23.

Genesis is quoted by the New Testament writers in 165 direct quotes; and alluded to in 200 others. So, we need to know and understand the context of these references in relation to the New Testament. We pray for God’s wonderful, exciting blessings of a deeper, closer relationship with Jesus our Savior (Deliverer), as you diligently study, and apply to your own life; His ~ God’s ~ Book of Beginnings ~ Genesis.