ODJ: in the beginning

December 10, 2013 

READ: Genesis 1:1-31 

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth (v.1).

In the film, The Sound of Music, Sister Maria sings: “Let’s start at the very beginning. A very good place to start. When you read, you begin with A-B-C. When you sing, you begin with do-re-mi.” Where do we begin in understanding what life is all about? Genesis, the book of beginnings, provides the answer.

Genesis 1 begins with the presupposition that God exists. It doesn’t argue for the existence of God; it simply begins with God.

In the next 30 verses we see the power of God and the purpose of man. God spoke and the universe—with all its amazing biodiversity—came into existence. But the crowning glory of God’s creation was man. Both male and female were created in God’s image (v.27). They were created to live in God’s provided place, under God’s rule and to enjoy His blessings. The apostle Paul sums it all up in one sentence: “For everything comes from him and exists by his power and is intended for his glory” (Romans 11:36).

Over the next 49 chapters in Genesis, centuries of human history took place. It tells of how sin entered the world and of its catastrophic effects and of God’s plan to restore blessing to the world through His chosen people.

Genesis lays the foundation for Jesus to come and provide the way for us to experience new life in Him. You’ll find the book quoted more than 165 times in the New Testament.

Bible teacher Ray Stedman wrote: “The thread that runs throughout all fifty chapters of Genesis is that there is a secret to living . . . The secret of life is a personal, daily relationship with the living God who was in the beginning, who made the heavens and the earth, who created the human race in His own image and who wants to have fellowship and a living relationship with the people He has so lovingly created.” —Poh Fang Chia