What the Bible is All About

At my church we've been preaching through the first 11 chapters of Genesis. Here are a few reflections.

5 Great Realities from Genesis 1-11
1.) God himself: Genesis begins with God, and it really couldn’t be any other way. The Bible tells us that God is the ground of all being – everything that exists only exists because he exists. If this is true, then we’ll never really understand the meaning of life unless we begin by seeking God (Prov 9:10). It’s like buttoning a shirt: if you start with the wrong button, you’ll always be off.

2.) The created world has meaning and purpose: The world was made by God, and because it was made, it has meaning and purpose. Perhaps the most persuasive case for this was made by an atheist – Jean Paul Sartre. In his essay “Existentialism is a Humanism” Sartre uses the example of a paper-knife. A paper-knife has a designer, and the designer makes it with a purpose (to cut paper). The knife can be said to be good or bad only because it has a purpose (if it cuts paper, it is good; if it doesn’t, it’s bad). If humans were created by God, then they (like the paper-knife) were designed with a purpose. So we can talk about right and wrong, good and evil. But if there is no God, then there is no such thing as human nature, or right and wrong. As Dostoyevsky wrote: “If there is no God everything is permitted.”

3.) The reality of human sin: What is wrong with the world? How you answer that question determines what you will do to try and make the world better. The Bible says that sin has marred the world that God originally created as good. Genesis 3 tells us of Adam and Eve’s rebellion against God. In chapter 4 the sin spreads from the parents to the children. And then throughout civilization, so that by the time we get to chapter 6, violence has filled the earth. In chapter 11, the first great civilization is founded and has as its first principle, rebellion against God.

4.) God’s judgment: God is holy and just, and is not indifferent about the spoiling of his world. The Bible tells us that God judges sin. Sometimes that judgment is active, as when God expels Adam and Eve from the Garden, destroys the world in the flood, or scatters the people in Babel. At other times God’s judgment is the removal of his blessing, allowing sin to run its course. Shame, guilt, violence, and death are realities in a world tainted by sin.

5.) God’s grace gets the final word: Even in the most severe of judgments, Genesis points us to God’s grace. Adam and Eve are expelled from the Garden, but they are clothed by God and sent out with a promise that God will someday send a Redeemer (Gen 3:15). Cain is sent away, but is marked by God for his protection. God sends a flood but, in Noah, preserves a people. Shortly after Babel, God calls Abraham from among the scattered peoples and tells him that he will be blessed, and through him all the nations of the earth will be blessed.

For a longer treatment of these things, check out this sermon.