Genesis
Creation, Sin, and Covenant
Central Teaching
God creates the world, banishes Adam and Eve from the garden due to their rebellion and sin, and then begins restoring people to relationship with him through his covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
Memory Verse
Setting
The opening chapter of Genesis takes place at the beginning of time. While we do not know exactly where the Garden of Eden was located, it was probably in Mesopotamia. The story of Abraham (Gen. 12) begins in Mesopotamia. Suggested dates for Abraham vary from around 2000 BC to around 1800 BC. Abraham migrates to Canaan, spends a short time in Egypt, and then returns to Canaan. Later, Jacob (Abraham’s grandson) moves to Egypt, and Genesis ends with the family of Jacob living in Egypt.
Message
God brings people into existence, blessing them with life and giving them a chance to know him personally. But we mess it up, sinning against God and rejecting him and his blessings. This action separates us from God and ultimately results in death. God, however, works to restore our relationship with him—a relationship that provides life. This is the story of Genesis and, indeed, the story of the Bible. It is also your story and my story.
In Genesis 1–2, the story begins with God’s creation. God creates a wonderful garden and places humankind into the garden where they can have close fellowship with him. How does humankind react to this wonderful blessing? Genesis 3–11 narrates a series of tragic events illustrating how people sin and rebel repeatedly against God, which separates them from God and leads to death. By Genesis 11 the situation of the world is grim. What will happen? How will humankind ever be saved and restored again to close fellowship with God?
A view of Africa and the Middle East from space
Genesis 12 introduces the answer and begins the exciting story of redemption. God makes a covenant with Abraham in Genesis 12, 15, and 17. It is this Abrahamic covenant that provides the framework for God’s unfolding plan of salvation for everyone in the world who will believe. The fulfillment of the Abrahamic covenant drives the story throughout the Old Testament and even the New Testament.
The promises of this covenant are passed down from Abraham to Isaac to Jacob throughout the remaining chapters of Genesis. Yet Genesis closes with Jacob and his twelve sons residing in Egypt, with the Abrahamic promises largely unfulfilled.
Outline
Interesting Features
- Genesis answers the big questions of life: Why am I here? Who has brought me into being? What is life all about?
- Genesis tells the story of creation.
- God creates man and woman and institutes marriage.
- God makes a covenant with Abraham that impacts the rest of the Bible.
The Negev, one of the regions in which Abraham lived and traveled
Connections
Genesis is the introduction not only to the Old Testament but also to the entire Bible. Thus the story of Genesis is representative for both Israel and all people. God creates a good place for people to live where they can take part in a close relationship with him. These people, however, repeatedly rebel and sin against God, which results in separation and death. This is the story of humanity. God in his great mercy provides a way of salvation, a story that starts in Genesis 12 with Abraham, climaxes in the New Testament with Jesus, and reaches its final consummation in Revelation 21–22 with the re-creation of the new heaven and earth.