7 Big Themes In Genesis

Minister's Letter: July 2023

Dear Grace Church,

I hope this finds you well on this dreich mid-summer day.

On the first Sunday of August we will be starting a new series looking at Genesis. Over seven weeks, we will explore chapters 1-11. And at some point next year, we will return to the book to take up the story of Abraham.

I thought in this month’s letter it might be helpful just to get a helicopter’s view of the book as a whole. Here are 7 Big Themes in Genesis. They aren’t the only ones, but these ones are prominent and prove to be a helpful way of getting our heads around a book that starts with the creation of all mankind and ends with one small family in exile in Egypt.

Maybe in the build up to this new series, you might take the time to read through Genesis, or at least 1-11. Hopefully the below will prove beneficial as we start our pilgrimage through the Bible’s foundational book.

The Preeminence of God

The book of Genesis begins with the One who was there before the beginning. It is first and foremost concerned with God.

God the uncreated One is the One who created everything. He is the Architect and Builder of all the eye can see and everything else beside. The heavens and earth, skies and seas are all “charged with the grandeur of God” (Gerard Manly Hopkins). He is the Source and Sustainer of all life. He is the Alpha. No one or no thing preceded him. Everything proceeds from him. Everything else is secondary and points beyond itself to the One who is was, is and forever will be First.

The Problem of Sin

In the third chapter, the Deceiver slips in stage right to the theatre of creation. The serpent’s subtle whispers subvert the truth of God’s word and turn God’s images away from him.

The first humans allowed their ears to be tickled and reached for the forbidden, transgressing God’s clear word. Sin is breaking God’s law. And the punishment was to be cast out of the garden. And this is the problem of sin, we are separated from the presence of God, the Source and Fountain of life.

The major drama then of rest of the Bible is how people polluted by sin and darkness can enter back into presence of God.

The Provenance of the Gospel Hope

But it is in that same third chapter where the first glimmer of light breaks through.

Provenance is a word that is prominent in the art world. If you were willing to pay large sums of money for a painting or sculpture from an esteemed artist, you would want to verify its authenticity. You want to be able to trace it back from its current seller to the artist it was claimed sold it. You want to know its provenance.

Jesus tells us that he comes to fulfil the Old Testament hopes. And immediately after the fall of humanity in chapter 3, God gives hope of dealing with the problem of sin. He pledges that one born from a woman would crush the head of the Deceiver. Jesus came to defeat our Enemy once and for all. Here is the seed of the gospel hope for God’s people.

The Preservation of that Seed that Saves

The death knell for many Bible reading plans are the genealogies in the Old Testament. Genesis is punctuated by these long list of names. Yet they have a vital purpose. They detail the family line, tracking the offspring (or literally seed) of Eve, the promised Serpent-Crusher. This line is maintained through Seth after Abel’s death and Cain’s banishment in Chapter 4. This line is maintained through Noah and the flood, through the rebellion at Babel, all the way to Abraham and his offspring. And all the way to Jesus, the promised seed of the woman who would save us from our sins (Matthew 1).

The Promises of the Covenant

The covenant that drives the narrative of Genesis and the rest of the Bible is the one made with Abraham (see chapters 12, 15 & 17). A covenant is a set of promises and commitments that bind two parties to one another.

Through Genesis, we see the faithfulness of God as he fulfils the promises of the covenant with Abraham. The promises God made to Abraham were of a new home, a family greater in number than the sand of the sea shore, and that his offspring would be a blessing to the entire world. That blessing came through Christ (Galatians 3.14), who leads us to a new home where people from every tribe, tongue and nation who have have believed in him would gather to worship the Lord (Revelation 7.9-10).

The Priority of Worship

One of the first times we see the explicit use of worship language is in the story of Isaac and Abraham. Abraham was commanded to sacrifice Isaac. And as he set out to travel up the mountain, he said to his travelling party that he was going with his son to worship (Genesis 22.5).

What we see in this episode is that worship is costly. The word for worship literally means to bow down. That posture of the body and heart is acknowledging that God is supreme. He alone is worthy to be first in our lives. Our primary purpose is to glorify God and enjoy him forever. Abraham showed that in his willingness to set aside his desires. And God showed grace in providing a ram who was sacrificed in place of Isaac.

The Providential Rule of God

The book of Genesis closes with the story of Joseph. The one of technicoloured coat fame. It takes up the final 14 chapters and through his life, from the lows to the highs, we see God’s guiding hand.

Due to their envy, Joseph was thrown into a hole by his brothers and then sold into slavery, where he ended up in Egypt, eventually becoming the Prime Minister of the Empire. After a particularly hard famine, Joseph’s brothers travelled to Egypt to beg for food. They stood before Joseph not knowing who he was. Instead of sending them packing, Joseph showed mercy to them, inviting all their families to live with him and share his riches. He declared to them, “You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good” (Genesis 50.20).

Providence means God guides and governs all things according to his purposes. And God works all things together for the glory of his name and the good of his people.

In Christ,

Ciarán R. Kelleher

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July Treats

Each week, Monday through Friday, Sinclair Ferguson releases a short podcast on a particular theme. They are max 6 minutes, but packed full of theological gold and pastoral warmth. Click on the link below to subscribe:

www.ligonier.org/podcasts/things-unseen-with-sinclair-ferguson

And here is a fresh and imaginative retelling of the Bible Story: