If you’ve grown up in the church, the stories of Genesis may be some of the most familiar to you. Or maybe you have distinct memories of learning about Noah and the flood. But did you ever think about how they point us directly to the cross? Or consider the story of Sodom and Gomorrah. If you asked the average church goer what the story is about, most would answer that it’s about God’s judgment against two cities for their sins. But what if it’s one of the greatest illustrations of God’s grace in all of Scripture?
These are just a few examples, but this pattern is repeated over and over again throughout the stories in Genesis and the Old Testament. It’s because the Bible isn’t a collection of stories, each with its own moral principles and rules to add to the long list of things we must do to please God. Rather, the Bible tells us One Grand Story–the story of the one and only God who created humanity, humanity’s rebellion against Him, and the ruins that were left in the wake of our rebellion.
But the story continues, and Genesis through Revelation tell about God moving heaven and earth to re-create His world and make all things new. The story of the Bible isn’t primarily about all the things we must do to be good and moral people. It’s the story of everything God has done to bring us back to Himself. Through the Book of Genesis, we see that Christ didn’t come to earth to make bad people better; He came to make dead people alive. Genesis provides one of the clearest illustrations of the gospel in the Bible.
Regardless of our presuppositions, it’s critical to realize that though the New Testament reveals the fulfillment of the gospel in Jesus, the Old Testament reveals the foundation for the very same gospel. Nothing better will help you understand the gospel of Jesus and the purpose of the cross than studying the Old Testament. Therefore, it’s important that we dwell in the complete Word of God–God’s One Grand Story. The words we read in Genesis are the same words that provided hope for hungry Israelites in the wilderness, breathed courage into the heart of David in the most difficult moments of his life, and fed the soul of Jesus Himself during His time on earth. God’s promises are as relevant today as they were “in the beginning.”
Adapted from Creation Unraveled: The Gospel According to Genesis by Matt Carter & Halim Suh, a Bible study by Threads.