The Structure of Genesis

Structure: Genesis is divided into two main parts, Chapters 1-11 and 12-50.

A.    1-11 focus on 4 central events:

1.                  Creation

2.                  The Fall

3.                  The Flood

4.                  The Dispersion of Nations

B.     12-50 focus on 4 primary people:

1.                  Abraham

2.                  Isaac

3.                  Jacob

4.                  Joseph

Creation and the Christian Life

Have you ever noticed the similarities between Genesis chapter one and the Christian life? Imagine yourself as the world in this passage and then think about the order God did things from the first day till the last.

God created all things and we owe our very existence to the fact that God has given us life. However, before we became a Christian our lives were darkened and separated from God’s light. We hid in the darkness but God chose to shine His light into our lives. He is the One who opened our eyes to understand and He revealed to us who and where we are apart from Him. He said in both creation and our salvation experience, “Let there be light” (Gen. 1:3; 2 Cor. 4:6), and there was light.

In the same way that He found this world lost in the darkness, so too He found us. Completely unable to see our path or even ourselves for that matter, we were consumed in the darkness of our depravity and were utterly incapable of producing even the slightest spark. God is the one who illuminated the darkness and exposed us for who we were so that He alone would receive the glory of our salvation as we placed our faith in His Son.

Now that we are His children what does He do for us? He grows us. He is spending our lives beautifying us as His bride. This is the picture of creation because, after day one of His entrance into planet Earth and rescue of our souls, He pours out His blessings upon us and makes us even more beautiful in order to bring us to completion.

Take note of the verbs contained in Genesis 1:1-5 and compare them with the passages speaking of our salvation and God's calling on our lives.
 

1.      God created (Gen. 1:1).                                           Psalm 139:13; Jer. 1:5

2.      God said (Gen. 1:3).                                                Acts 17:30; 2 Tim. 3:16; 2 Pet. 1:21

3.      God saw (Gen. 1:4a).                                               Acts 9:10-12

4.      God separated (Gen. 1:4b).                                    Psalm 4:3; Tit. 3:4-7; Eph. 2:4-5

5.      God called (Gen. 1:5).                                             2 Tim. 1:9; 1 Pet. 2:9-10

Notice what God is doing. Genesis chapter one represents a beautiful picture of His dealings with us. He made us. He gave us His Word and urged us to repent. He saw our faithful response to His message. He separated us out of the darkness and into His marvelous light and He called us to a holy calling. The account of creation is a beautiful parallel of the Christian life.

The Epic Account of Genesis

The book of Genesis answers man’s four biggest questions: Who am I? Where did I come from? Why am I here? Where am I going? It is a narrative of love and romance, betrayal and agony, violence and hatred, war and peace, people and nations, kings and kingdoms, and ultimately an account of some of God’s greatest dealings with man.

The name Genesis means “origins.” It is the first book of the Bible because, more than any other text, this gives the most detailed look into the beginning of all things. Within the very first chapter God tells us exactly where we came from. He lays out for us in chronological order each step that He took in bringing all things into being.

He then goes on to clear up any confusion we may have about why He has allowed death and suffering to reign over all natural existence. We learn that not too long after the creation of the world, our ancestors chose to commit spiritual suicide which has resulted not only in their deaths, but also the deaths of each one of their descendants.

Genesis, however, is much more than a mere account of these things, it presents us with an amazing view of who this God really is because throughout this book we are given a clear picture of God wanting to be with mankind even though we have turned our backs on Him.

Man has rejected God and excluded Him from our lives. We have brought on ourselves diseases and hurt, sickness and death, and we recognize the suffering as our bondage that we must forever face. But God, out of the richness of His mercy chose to separate for Himself a people whom He could use to bless the nations.

God promised to one day send the greatest warrior of all who would finally conquer sin and the grave. This is Who the book of Genesis is looking forward to. This is Who the book of Genesis is about—the Conquering Seed!