Monday, January 7

To download an audio version of this, click here.

Genesis 1:1-31

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.

And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness. God called the light “day,” and the darkness he called “night.” And there was evening, and there was morning—the first day.

And God said, “Let there be an expanse between the waters to separate water from water.” So God made the expanse and separated the water under the expanse from the water above it. And it was so. God called the expanse “sky.” And there was evening, and there was morning—the second day.

And God said, “Let the water under the sky be gathered to one place, and let dry ground appear.” And it was so. God called the dry ground “land,” and the gathered waters he called “seas.” And God saw that it was good.

Then God said, “Let the land produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants and trees on the land that bear fruit with seed in it, according to their various kinds.” And it was so. The land produced vegetation: plants bearing seed according to their kinds and trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good. And there was evening, and there was morning—the third day.

And God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let them serve as signs to mark seasons and days and years, and let them be lights in the expanse of the sky to give light on the earth.” And it was so. God made two great lights—the greater light to govern the day and the lesser light to govern the night. He also made the stars. God set them in the expanse of the sky to give light on the earth, to govern the day and the night, and to separate light from darkness. And God saw that it was good. And there was evening, and there was morning—the fourth day.

And God said, “Let the water teem with living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the expanse of the sky.” So God created the great creatures of the sea and every living and moving thing with which the water teems, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. God blessed them and said, “Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the water in the seas, and let the birds increase on the earth.” And there was evening, and there was morning—the fifth day.

And God said, “Let the land produce living creatures according to their kinds: livestock, creatures that move along the ground, and wild animals, each according to its kind.” And it was so. God made the wild animals according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, and all the creatures that move along the ground according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good.

Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.”

    So God created man in his own image,
    in the image of God he created him;
    male and female he created them.

God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground.”

Then God said, “I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds of the air and all the creatures that move on the ground—everything that has the breath of life in it—I give every green plant for food.” And it was so.

God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning—the sixth day.

Have you ever seen a movie that is called a prequel? Usually, when a movie like “Star Wars” or “Batman” is a hit, it’s just a matter of time until we see ads for the sequel, “Star Wars II” or “Batman Returns.” But in recent years movie makers have taken to producing what they call prequels, that is, the story before the story; or the story that provides the background for the movie we’ve already seen.

Well, in a way, the book of Genesis is the prequel to the movie we’ve already seen. Genesis is the prequel to the story of the world that we live in; the prequel to our individual lives. Genesis, in fact, is the prequel to everything!

The word “genesis” itself is a Latin word meaning “beginning”; and comes from a Greek word meaning “to be born”. When used as the title of the first book of the Bible it points to the beginning of all things; the birth of both the whole universe as well as life as we know it.

D. James Kennedy writes:

“Genesis presents to us the foundational underpinnings of everything else in the Bible: the origin of the universe; the origin of order and complexity; the origin of the solar system; the origin of the atmosphere and hydrosphere; the origin of life; the origin of humanity; the origin of marriage; and the origin of evil. Genesis explains to us the origin of language; government, culture, nations and religion. 

“If Genesis were removed from the Bible, the rest of the Bible and most of life itself would become incomprehensible.”

Now, while all this is true, it is also true that the Bible is not written as a science textbook; nor is it intended to be read simply as a piece of historical literature. 

The book of Genesis contains elements of scientific interest as well as human history, but if we try to read it for its scientific insights or for its historical contents, we will miss the point.

As Frederick Buechner puts it:

“To read the Bible as literature is like reading Moby Dick as a whaling manual, or “The Brothers Karamazov” for its punctuation.”

The Bible, and therefore the book of Genesis, is primarily concerned with telling the story of God, declaring the gospel of God, and pointing to the glory of God.

As we begin this study of Genesis, our focus is not going to be on the myriad arguments and controversies that swirl about regarding the first book of the Bible; whether those debates be in the secular scientific community or in the Christian community. We will touch on some of those issues; like evolution and creationism; but our primary focus in this study will be the gospel.

The gospel is the good news that God has reconciled the world to himself through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ – and we will find that this gospel pervades both the great book of Genesis and all creation itself.

I hope you will stay with us as we study “The Gospel According to God: the good news in Genesis.”

Pastor Brian Coffey