Genesis means origin. It’s the source, the beginning, where every single thing got its start. I’ve always loved the book of Genesis, for one simple reason … it was the book of the Bible I was able to flip right too. I always felt so proud of myself when a preacher would say, “Turn to the book of Genesis”, and boom, I would be the first one there.
Genesis is not only the beginning of our Bible, it’s the beginning of everything. It is our origin. And really, it’s pretty wild that we get to read about God’s amazing and miraculous acts to create everything we see today. No human was alive to see these acts. We only have this account today because God revealed it later to the author to record for us.
Moses wrote the book of Genesis, but he likely used much earlier writings to gather his information. Perhaps writings from the first human, Adam. And perhaps Adam received directly from God the account of creation there in the Garden of Eden. The words of God were written so that we could read them today.
To understand the Bible, you must first understand one thing – You won’t understand everything. There are some things that won’t make sense. Some things that we have absolutely no proof of. Some things that seem totally impossible. Faith will be required on your journey through the Bible. I’ve found one thing that has greatly helped me in my studies – I believe 2 Timothy 3:16, “All scripture is inspired by God and useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives.”
As you commit to either begin studying your Bible, or continue your studies, remember ALL SCRIPTURE IS INSPIRED BY GOD. Every word of our Bible is inspired by God and it’s useful to us. Lean into it with faith instead of pulling away in doubt. There will be things you don’t understand, don’t get hung up on them. There will be things you don’t agree with, but keep reading. There will be things that even seem contradictory to science or common sense – In those cases you must make a choice. Either believe that God is beyond our understanding, or struggle to make an infinite God fit in our limited little box.
There’s a whole lot of the Bible I don’t understand – heck, there’s a whole lot of the very first chapter of Genesis I don’t understand, and I simply don’t have to. But there’s so much that can help me see the truth and help me realize what may be wrong in my life.
Together, we’re going to dive all-in on the book of Genesis. Today is day 1. I’m sure God will take us on several detours along the way and we’ll be all over scripture, so it will never be boring or dull. Remember, it’s me – I don’t do boring! This isn’t your typical devotional. In every day of our study, let’s keep coming back to ask 2 things:
1. What truth am I learning?
2. How does this show me what may be wrong in my life?
Now, let’s get started.
Genesis 1:1-2 (go ahead and dare to flip there now in your Bible with confidence – you can find it!), “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was formless and empty, and darkness covered the deep waters. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters.”
God’s holy word literally begins with an opening sentence that challenges our human minds. “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” We will never understand a power that could do that. We will never know precisely when or how. It’s beyond our human capacity to even assign that thought a proper place in our inventory of historical events.
Do you know how big the heavens and the earth are? This means EVERYTHING. Every distant galaxy, every unknown planet,