28 Aug The Incredible Book of Genesis

The book of Genesis is sometimes despised by people because of its origin stories. It has also been picked apart with suggestions that its not internally coherent, and wasn’t written by one person but by four.

However the book of Genesis is a brilliant book, internally coherent, full of amazing features and careful thought, and clearly written by one author. It is right for believers to feel satisfied that it is part of God’s inspired word, which does rightly speak to us today.

Here let me outline five brilliant (of many) features found in the book of Genesis.

1. In the very first chapter of Genesis, God creates humans in his image. For a book written in the ancient world, the concept of being made in God’s image stands in stark contrast to the thought of the day. Only Pharaohs and Kings considered themselves in the image of “god,” but the book of Genesis has all humans made in the image of God. This is an astounding idea to find in the very first chapter of the Bible, and especially coming from an ancient human pen, and clearly indicates the inspiration of God.

2. The same chapter also says that both male and female are made in God’s image. This is also unusual coming from a time when in the world at large, men were considered more important than women. Yet the book of Genesis shows God’s hand in what it describes. Such thoughts would not have come from the mind of man, but do come from the mind of God.

3. In the same chapter as God describes His making of humans in His image, He uses first person plural language. God says “Let ‘us’ make mankind in ‘our’ image.” This is surprising because before the revelation of Jesus as the son of God, when the concept of the trinity was first clearly introduced, Jewish believers didn’t understand that God was a community within Himself. Yet here in the very first chapter of the Bible we are seeing the community of God, and their cooperation in making men and women.

4. After Adam sinned, the Lord from the very foundation of the world proclaims the gospel, and promises a Saviour. In Genesis 3:15, God says to them that in times to come the offspring of the snake will strike the offspring of the woman on the heel, but the offspring of the woman will crush the head of the snake. Here we see the promised Messiah (the seed off the woman) struck by Satan and crucified, but the snake ultimately crushed by the Saviour. So here in the very first part of the Bible is not only creation and the fall, but also the promised redemption.

5. Finally, after Adam sinned, they realised they were naked and the Lord provided clothing for them. He clothed them with the skin of a slain animal. Here we see the amazing idea of a sacrifice providing a covering for people right up front in the Bible. Additionally, we see that God provides for his people. If we love and trust God, we will find in Him a covering through His sacrifice for us, and also the provision of our needs in Christ Jesus.

The book of Genesis is an old book, written thousands of years ago, and its contents show a very different set of values and beliefs to those of the cultures of the world at that time. They indicate the amazing hand of God at work, writing down things for us today.