In the beginning
With these words, many a New Year resolution, a sermon, a bible reading plan, and even an argument have begun. Beginnings are important, the beginning of the Scriptures is no exception to this rule. This book marks the beginning of all time, the beginning of God’s relationship with humanity, the beginning of Satan’s dominion over the world, the beginning of God’s redemptive work among His people, and the beginning of the eternal story of Christ, the promised seed (Gen 3:15). But this beginning is a long one, with its events spanning the course of thousands of years, or in the case of Old Earth creationists, billions. In Genesis, Moses is retelling the story of God’s creating and recreating grace as it had been told for hundreds, even thousands of years already in his own time. And what a story it was. In the beginning, God created all things good, man included. But man fell into sin having been tempted by the serpent in the garden to themselves become like God. But God did not leave mankind in a fallen state with no hope. Rather, He made a promise to them that day, that the seed of the woman would come and would crush the head of the serpent, their source of sin and suffering. And so it began, mankind left the presence of God in the Garden of Eden and went out into the wilderness to go and multiply, to fill the earth and subdue it, as they had been originally commanded to do before they had become sinners. But this sin had tainted everything within and about them. The earth was cursed, they were cursed, their hearts sick and their intentions corrupt at best. It didn’t take long for the first death to happen and by murder no less! The moral fibre of the human race began to rapidly degenerate from that point on. They disregarded God, they murdered, raped, abused, and brought chaos and violence to the world that they were commanded to bring order and peace to. And then it happened. God, saw what had become of this world full of sinners. It was rotten to the core. So He threw it out. Or rather, He baptized it (1 Pet 3:20b-21). He flooded the whole earth with water so that these vile sinners would be drowned and die, their sins and evil lusts along with them. But this was far from the end, for God was doing here a new thing through this world-baptism and brought Noah and his family along with a pair of each kind of animal out of this flood by an Ark, to once again set them loose in the world to be fruitful and multiply and to subdue the earth, this time, promising to never again destroy it for the sins of man. But it did not take long for Noah to realize that drinking was fun, and from this came dishonour and curses within his family. But once again out of the darkness God brought light, this time through Abraham, who was righteous before God, not by works, but by faith which was counted to Him as righteousness. It was Abraham who was promised again a seed through which the whole world would be blessed. But not just any seed, it of course had to be a seed given in the midst of impossibility, a child promised to a 100-year-old Abraham and his 90-year-old barren-for-life wife. Thus came Isaac, the impossible seed. And from Isaac, came two sons. God, of course, chose the younger, less favourable one to be his vehicle to continue this seedly line, namely Jacob, also called Israel from whom would come the true promised seed who is Christ Jesus our Lord and our God, who is also the Word. The same Word with whom God spoke at the beginning of creation to create all things. The same pre-incarnate God who walked with Adam and Eve in the Garden. The same God who destroys and builds up, the maker of life, the taker of life, and now the redeemer of life and all things. Indeed, the book of Genesis is the story, many stories in fact, of Satan’s repeated attempt to take dominion over us through sin and death, and of God’s success in foiling Satan’s plan, through promise, through Baptism, and through faith.
The climax of this story is not found within the pages of this first book of the Old Testament but is found in the first four of the New. The climax of the epic story of God’s creation, your fall, your enslavement, and His making all things new is found in the life, the death, and yes of course the resurrection of our Lord and saviour Jesus Christ. It is here, through Christ surrendering Himself to be crucified by the same sinners His death would pardon, that death itself dies. It is here that eternal life begins in Christ Jesus our Lord. He is risen indeed, Alleluia.
