THE START
How does Genesis and the Bible start (1 v1) “In the beginning God”. God was the
creator of all things and it soon became clear that man was the pinnacle of his
creation, made in his own image. Although made from the dust of the earth God
breathed into man the breath of life (2v7). There was a wonderful friendship between
God and man until man chose to walk away from through disobedience. Then we see
the consequences of this sin (3v16)-life was never going to be easy again, there was
going to be pain and death. It was not long before the first son Cain killed the second
one in a fit of jealousy (4v8).

AWAY FROM GOD’s PRESENCE
We learn that there are consequences to sin-in (4v16) Cain had to go away from
God’s presence to the land of Nod. And you could say that this is the theme of the
whole bible. We do wrong and are separated from God but that Jesus, through the
cross, has made a way back for us. In Revelation we a read that God’s presence one
day will be fully back among his people.

GOD STILL INTERESTED IN PEOPLE
Adam and Eve had another son, Seth (5v3), and the important family line is through
him rather than Cain. And you soon see that God is still interested in people. Genesis
is full of people, some we know a lot about, some we know nothing apart from their
name. It is the odd comment about these people that sometimes is significant. The
oldest person to have ever lived was Methuselah (5v27) who at 969 years did not
quite make the 1,000. “Enoch walked with God” (5v27). “Noah (6v9) was a
righteous man… walked with God”. God has not changed-he is still looking for
people to have friendship with him, walk with him and lead good lives.

PRESSING THE SELF-DESTRUCT BUTTON
And then we see the tendencies of people to do wrong. Left to their own devices
there is a tendency for people to get more and more evil and violent (6v5)- “every
inclination of the thoughts of the heart was only evil all the time”. And in 6v6 are
those classic words “God’s heart was filled with pain”. God is emotional about us,
our sin pains him-so much so that he almost gave up on us and put an end to the world
by a flood. Only the righteousness of Noah gave God a semblance of hope. Often the
history of the old testament is used as a picture for us as Christians. So the
floodwaters, at the time of Noah, speak of the drowning of our old life in baptism and
the ark of Noah our hope of salvation through faith in God, in our case through the
death and resurrection of Jesus Christ (1 Peter 3v30).

COVENANT OF ALL COVENANTS
We find out in Genesis that God loves covenants. Covenants are agreements with
people when God promises things, sometimes on certain conditions . The first of
these was to Noah when he promised, with a rainbow, that he would not totally flood
the earth again (9v12 onwards).
Watch the family lines-good and bad things come down the generations. There is a
main family line in the Bible and this continues through Shem (ch11), one of Noah’s
2 sons, down to Terah (11v27) and more significantly, Abram his son. Notice that the
family was in the wrong place-living, not in Israel but way East in the Ur of the
Chaldees, modern day Iraq. Terah decided to go to Canaan but only ended up half
way there at Haran, farther up the Euphrates river and it was there he eventually died
(11v31).
It is to Abram that God makes another covenant (12v3) which is so significant that it
shaped the future of not only Abraham, but the birth of a great nation and finally
blessing for the whole world:
1. God would make Abram, and his descendants, into a great nation, blessed by
the Lord.
2. Abram would personally be great and a blessing to others.
3. Those who blessed him would also be blessed.
4. Finally all people of the earth would be blessed through him.
So Abram then became the father of the Jewish nation, historically. If we read
Galatians 3v6-9 we see clearly that the last promise means that we Gentiles would be
included and if we believe, like Abraham, the man of faith, we will also be blessed.
Praise God, that includes me and you. We the church are now God’s blessed and
favoured people- both Jews and Gentiles.
And in terms of personal blessing Abraham accumulated massive possessions (13v6),
flocks and entourage. As did Isaac and Jacob after him. We also know that those
who blessed God’s people, like Pharoah blessed Joseph, were also blessed.

ABRAHAM GOES IN FAITH
God tells Abraham to leave his country and home, Haran, and go. He ended up next
to the great tree of Moreh at Shechem. Notice Hebrews 11 says that Abrams faith, his
trust in God, was exceptional because he went at God’s prompting, not even knowing
where he was going. It is there that God now gave him a bit more of the covenant
promise(12v7)-this is the land that I will give to your offspring-land which at the time
was occupied by the Canaanites.
Sometime after this Abram, in rescuing Lot (ch14), courageously wins a battle against
4 kings and afterwards comes across the mysterious king called Melchizedek who
Hebrews tells us was a picture of Christ, an eternal priest (Hebrews 14v18).

JOSEPH
In chapter 15 God appears to Abram again and this time he was told about the future
enslavement in Egypt for 400 years (v13). So why was God to allow that to happen-
Exodus, next month, will be all about Egypt, slavery and their escape. Genesis ends
with Joseph, in Egypt, along with the party of 66 (46v26) of Jacob’s family that had
come from Canaan. Did God want them to go there? Did God want Joseph to be sold
to Ishmaelites to be taken as a slave into Egypt, to be humiliated and imprisoned for
many years. Ultimately, though, becoming next to Pharoah the most important person
in the land. What did Joseph himself think? In Genesis 50v19 he says to his brothers-
“you intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now
being done, the saving of many lives”. Yes, a lot of Egyptian lives would be saved
during the seven year famine but more importantly, the lives of Jacob and his family
were saved. I have no doubt in natural circumstance they would have died. They
were out of food in the second year of the seven year famine. God had promised to
bless the whole earth through their family line and so had to keep it going. Interesting
that when he died, chapter 49v29, Jacob wanted his his bones taken back to Canaan.
Egypt was not the place of God’s promise, only a step along the way. The last verse
in Genesis talks about Joseph dying at the age of 110 but his bones stayed in Egypt
v24. More about that later.
So what can I say about all the chapters from Genesis 15 to Joseph in chapter 37.
None of the patriarchs personally saw the great nation promised but they certainly
saw God’s personal intervention in their lives. Isaac (ch26) and Jacob (ch28) both
were in the same family line as Abraham and God repeated his promises to them.
Eventually, Jacob’s 12 sons with Joseph’s 2 sons became the 12 tribes of Israel.
Notice that makes 14-Simeon and Levi were left out of Jacob’s blessing (49v5-7).
Levi’s inheritance was not going to be in land but his inheritance was in the Lord.

FAMILY INTRIGUE
Abraham had faith in God, in his promises-including that of a son in his old age,
Isaac. We read about all the family issues-jealousy between wives (Sarah and Hagar),
squabbles between children, choosing the right wife (Isaac and Rebekah, Jacob &
Rachel). There is Jacob and his deception of Esau, Laban’s deception of Jacob and
rape in the family (Dinah). Also, Abraham and Lot, the destruction of Sodom and
Gomorrah, the tower of Babel. Genesis is a great book of family intrigue-yet amongst
it all we see God in sometimes the most unlikely circumstances working out, slowly
by slowly, his purposes for the world. Remember from one of Jacob’s sons, Judah,
would come the lineage that leads to many kings including King David, but would
finally lead to our Saviour Jesus, the king of kings.

GOD’S FRIEND
Although, in Genesis, Joseph probably had the most remarkable life, it is Abraham
who shines out as a man close to God and James 2v23 mentions that Abraham was
called God’s friend because he believed God and he credited it to him as
righteousness. You see Abraham, in his trust and faith, actually believed the promises
of God. Remember when asked to sacrifice his son he did not doubt because he
believed God’s word was so certain that he would have had to raise his son Isaac from
the dead, if necessary. And God wants people like us today to have faith in him, just
like Abraham did. And if we do we will be known as a friend of God. We will
inherit God’s blessing promised to Abraham and his descendants. Furthermore we
will become a blessing to others.
If you feel uncertain, unsure of your life and its future, you can take important
encouragement from Genesis. Our lives may not always be easy, even though God
delights to bless his people. Actually, we are involved in a greater purpose than our
own lives in isolation. God is building his kingdom, he is building his church and the
gates of hell will not be able to prevail against it. Matthew 6.. says don’t worry about
your life but seek first his kingdom and his righteousness and all these things will be
given to you as well.