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The Book of Genesis

Explore the first book of the Bible, Genesis, which covers the time known as Primeval History. Discover the creation of the universe, the purpose of life, and the story of Adam and Eve. Delve into the philosophical questions behind creation and the importance of reflecting God's image in our actions.

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The Book of Genesis

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  1. The Book of Genesis “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth” Gen. 1:1

  2. Genesis: The Beginning • The Book of Genesis is the first book of the Bible and deals with the time known as Primeval History. Primeval History is the time in history prior to the invention of writing and recording of historical data. • The beginning of the Book of Genesis chronicles the creation of the universe and of man. Before we begin looking at the creation stories, let us first consider a very important philosophical question: why is there something rather than nothing? • Think about it! What are some possible answers? • There is only one real possibility, that is, our life has a purpose because a good and loving God created us to share in His life and His joy. • So lets look at creation …

  3. The 1st Creation Account Genesis 1:1-28 is the creation account of the seven days of creation. It is not meant to be a step-by-step account of the scientific process of creation, rather, its main point is to reveal that God is behind the creation process and His act of creation is the expression of His love for us. Lets look at the seven days: Day 1 – Light (Gen.1:3) Day 2 – Sky and Earth (Gen. 1:6) Day 3 – Dry land and plants (Gen.1:9-12) Day 4 – Sun and Moon (Gen.1:16) Day 5 – Animals (Gen.1:20) Day 6 – Man (Gen. 1:26) Day 7 – God rested (Gen. 2:2)

  4. 1st Creation Account: Highlights Anthropology & Typology • There are a few things to notice about the first creation account: • 1.) Its not a perfect scientific account, there is a certain primitive scientific logic to it, but the main point of the creation story is to show how God is behind the act of creation. • 2). When God creates man He says, “Let Us make man in Our Image and after Our likeness.” (Gen.1:26). The Father of the Church have seen this passage as an early foreshadowing of God as a Trinity of Persons. • 3.) We were originally created to reflect God in our bodies and our actions. We were like God, we acted like Him, we thought like Him, we had a perfect relationship with God and all creation. • 4). On the seventh day God rests. Does God need to rest? Of course not! He was giving us an example to follow; Sunday is a day of rest.

  5. 2nd Creation Account • First of all … why a second creation account? Two different stories does that mean that one of them isn’t true? • No! • The second creation story is really a continuation of the first but the focus in the second story is not on the order of creation but on the creation of man and woman. • The 2nd creation account contains a more detailed “creation of man” – “Then God formed man out of the dust of the ground , and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life and man became a living soul.” (Gen. 2:7). • There are three important aspects to this passage: • 1.) We were formed from dust, obviously we are not really dust so God must be trying to tell us something – we are meant to be humble. • 2.) “God breathed …” – the Hebrew word used for breath is ruahwhich is used in the Old Testament to designate the Holy Spirit. • 3.) Notice what it takes to make us truly alive… a body, soul, and the Holy Spirit.

  6. Man and Woman: Co-workers • After God creates for Adam all the plants and animals, Adam is still not complete (cf. Gen. 2:20). • God creates for Adam a helper, “"It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him." (Gen. 2:18). • So God casts a deep sleep on Adam and removes a rib and fashions Eve, and Adam exclaims: “This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.“ (Gen. 2:23). • Lets notice a few things about woman: • 1.) She is the helper of man – man does not rule over woman, but they work together in communion with God. • 2.) She is fashioned from the side/middle of man – God could have taken a head bone or a toe bone, but He chooses a bone from the middle of the body to symbolize equality. • 3.) Woman and man together are the image and likeness of God (cf. Gen. 1:27) we are co-workers.

  7. Gen. 3 – Where it All Goes Wrong • God gives Adam and Eve the Garden of Eden (Paradise) where they have all their needs taken care of: food, companionship, total friendship with God. • Then the serpent enters the garden and strikes up a conversation with Eve. Please notice the “steps” in the conversation: • “Did God say, 'You shall not eat of any tree of the garden'?" Gen. 3:1 • Eve responds that they may eat of any of the trees but notice what the serpent/Devil did – he made her question God’s commandment. Eve explains that the punishment for breaking God’s law is death. • “Surely you will not die. For God knows that the moment that you eat of the fruit your eyes will be opened and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” Gen. 3:4-5 • Satan calls God a liar. Then, he makes a false promise, “you will be like God.” Adam and Eve are already like God … but notice what he is saying between the lines, “you don’t need God anymore, you can choose for yourself what you want to do.” • Eve takes the fruit and so does Adam and they commit the original sin. • Original sin is the sin of pride, in that, Adam and Eve thought they knew better that God – the Creator of the universe. • EPIC FAIL!

  8. Truth and Consequences • After the fall, Adam and Eve run and hide from God like scared little children. This begs the question, can you hide from God? (cf. Gen 3:9) • Of course not! But we act the same way when we do something wrong, we try to hide it! • Adam then says to God, “I was afraid because I was naked” How odd, has anyone randomly noticed they were not clothed? • Of course not! There must be symbolism here. • Nakedness = total openness and honesty – nothing to hide. • Clothing = cover up, try to hide it. Think …

  9. Eviction … yet a promised restoration • Of course God keeps His word, they die not physically, but spiritually. • They must now live separated from God, thus they are expelled from the garden. (cf. Gen. 3:24) • Also, now we have to struggle with sin and have an attraction toward it. The attraction to sin is called concupiscence. • However, God does not leave them abandoned – He immediately promises to send someone who will restore what they had lost: • Speaking to the serpent He says, “I will put enmity between you and the woman, between her offspring and yours; He shall crush your head, while you lie in wait for His heel.” Gen. 3:15

  10. Protoevangelium • This is the first good news (Protoevangelium). God promises to send a savior and He through a woman (Mary) will crush the head of the serpent forever.

  11. Conclusions The story of creation and original sin sets the stage for the rest of the Bible. The rest of the story of salvation history will be God offering friendship and salvation through covenants. A Covenant is a binding agreement between God and man. It is like a contract in which God gives us something which we could never pay for – salvation. And all we have to do is keep the commandments. Lets summarize the covenants in the Book of Genesis:

  12. Noah • Gen. 6-9 tells the story of Noah’s ark, which is one of the most familiar stories in the Bible. • God promises to save Noah from the flood. • Noah builds an ark and saves the good of creation. • God establishes a covenant with Noah and promises not to flood the earth again. • All Noah/Creation has to do is keep God’s commandments … what does Noah do? • “Noah was the first tiller of the soil. He planted a vineyard; and he drank of the wine, and became drunk, and lay uncovered in his tent.” Gen. 9:20-21 • EPIC FAIL!

  13. Abraham • Abraham was known as Abram, he was a righteous man. • He and his wife Sarah have no children and God approaches him with a covenant. • God promises that Abraham’s descendants will be as “numerous as the stars.” Gen. 22:17 • All Abraham/Creation have to do is trust in God and keep His commandments. • What does Abraham do? • “Then Abraham fell on his face and laughed” Gen. 17:17 • Abraham doubts God, the God who was speaking to him as clearly as I am speaking to you! • FAIL!

  14. A Second Chance • To test Abraham’s faith He asks Abraham to sacrifice his only son – Isaac. (Gen. 22:22). • An angel stops Abraham at the last moment – God never intended the sacrifice to go on – He was testing his faith. • This story is full of typology – typology is events in the Old Testament which point to Christ. • God is going to send His only Son into the world to be sacrificed for the sins of the world. • Jesus freely chose to lay His life down for us to show us the lengths that God was willing to go through to gain for us Eternal Life.

  15. The People of Israel It is through the descendants of Abraham that the story of salvation continues. Abraham’s grandson Jacob will be given the name Israel and he will have 12 sons. The 12 sons of Israel will have children of their own and their descendants will make up the 12 tribes of Israel. The people of Israel will be the prime movers in the story of salvation history and move us into the next chapter.

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