Why Genesis is a very important book to read
When a structure is being built, the first and most essential part of the building is the foundation. The foundation is constructed first and provides for a solid, stable platform on which to construct the rest of the building. Jesus, a carpenter by occupation said,
“Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do what I tell you? Everyone who comes to me and hears my words and does them, I will show you what he is like: he is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock. And when a flood arose, the stream broke against that house and could not shake it, because it had been well built. But the one who hears and does not do them is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. When the stream broke against it, immediately it fell, and the ruin of that house was great.” (Luke 6:46-49, ESV)
The book of Genesis is the first book of the Bible and lays the foundation for understanding the Bible message. For example, in the first three chapters of Genesis, we are introduced to:
- God, the Creator
- The creation of the earth, the sun, moon, stars, plants, land animals, fish, birds, humans
- The spirit and the soul
- Life, death, free will, temptation, sin
- Good and evil
- Sacrifice and forgiveness
- Marriage between a man and a woman
These concepts are used throughout the Bible and further developed as one continues to read. In addition, many of these topics continue to be discussed and debated today, perhaps because they are not well understood or people choose not to believe the Biblical account regarding them.
Jesus believed in the Genesis creation, and by extension, the concepts the book contains. There are two accounts, both recorded in the Gospel of Mark, which demonstrate this point. In the first case, the Pharisees, one of the leading Jewish religious parties, asked Jesus if it was lawful (according to the Law of Moses) for a man to divorce his wife. They did this to test Jesus. In answering, Jesus refers the account in Genesis where God announces that a man and women are to be joined together,
“But from the beginning of creation, ‘God made them male and female.’ ‘Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.’ So they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate” (Mark 10:6-8, ESV, cp. Genesis 2:24).
In his reply to the Pharisees, Jesus is demonstrating that he believes the book of Genesis to be true and from God. He also shows that he believes in the creation account of Adam and Eve in referring to God joining them together.
The second reference to Jesus’ belief in the Genesis creation is when some of his disciples asked him when the temple would be destroyed and he would come again. This account is found in three Gospels (Matthew 24; Mark 13; Luke 21), but Mark’s record most clearly demonstrates Jesus’ belief.
“For in those days there will be such tribulation as has not been from the beginning of the creation that God created until now, and never will be” (Mark 13:19, ESV).
Jesus was the “word (of God) made flesh” (John 1:14) and he is termed, “the Word of God” in Revelation 19:13. He said that he only spoke his Father’s words and that the word of God is truth (John 17:17). The Bible is the “word of God” and it was made alive in the life, death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus quoted from Genesis and many other Old Testament books, showing that, he not only believed the words to be true, but also that the message remains relevant.
The Bible is a very old book and contains a library of books: 66 in total from Genesis to Revelation. It can be difficult to understand at times; however, if you begin at the beginning and let the Bible speak to you, this will greatly assist you in coming to a better understanding of its wonderful message of salvation and hope, as well as unlocking the many difficulties people experience regarding concepts such as life, death, good, evil, temptation, sin, and redemption.
