Sola Scriptura

When we began our study of Genesis, I emphasized my own foundational view of the Bible as the very Word of God Himself, given by His Spirit to the human authors He chose as His scribes. This isn’t to say that God dictated the scriptures verbatim to them. If that were the case, God wouldn’t have needed to use human scribes at all. God’s Spirit gave the stories, concepts, and commands He wished to impart to those whom He chose and allowed them to use their own words to share them with the world.

I only bring this up as a reminder that the words we read from the written page are mere symbols to represent the ideas that God’s Spirit imparts through them. Therefore, when we approach the study of God’s Word, we must continually seek the illumination of God’s Spirit if we are to “rightly divide” His Word either for our own edification or to teach His Word to others.

God gave His Word to mankind for a specific purpose as He said through the prophet Isaiah:

The indispensable key to understanding God’s Word is the realization that the entire Bible was given by God to share with us the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Therefore, throughout our study of Genesis we sought out how each passage we studied serves to clarify the Gospel. My fondest hope is that we may take the lessons we have been taught by God’s Word and share them so that God may use us as His instruments to spread the joyous news of salvation in Christ to all mankind as we await His soon return to gather His Church to Himself in glory as Jesus foretold.

Furthermore, I shared my conviction from the beginning of our study that the best expositor of God’s Word is God’s Word itself. Therefore, I deliberately refrained from consulting external Biblical commentaries or teachings except where my own studies hit a dead end. I also made a concerted effort to minimize expressing my own opinions. When a given passage was subject to multiple interpretations, I tried to offer all of them fairly and to consistently warn my readers on those rare occasions when I chose to share my own opinions. No doubt I occasionally failed in these efforts.

More Than Just A History Book

Without doubt, Genesis is a book of history – particularly the foundational history of God’s chosen people Israel from the Creation, through God’s calling of Abraham from Ur of the Chaldeans to the land of Canaan, to the beginnings of Israel’s sojourn in Egypt. But Genesis is far more than just a history book. In Genesis we find the establishment of many fundamental tenets of orthodox Christian belief and practice – among them:

• The eternal existence of the triune God אֱלֹהִים ‘ĕlōhîm by whose Word the entire universe was created.
• The fall of mankind from God’s grace through sinful rebellion against Him, causing death to enter God’s hitherto perfect creation.
• God’s eternal plan to redeem mankind out of death in our sins through the birth into human flesh, perfectly sinless life, sacrificial death on the cross, resurrection, and promised return of Jesus – God the Son.

A thorough familiarity with Genesis also provides us an indispensable key for unlocking the treasures God has given us in the remainder of His Word. Many of the words spoken by God’s prophets, Jesus’ disciples, and even by Jesus Himself pertain to people and places we first learn about in Genesis. For example, when Stephen was accused before the high priest of speaking blasphemy (Acts 7), he began his defense with a summary of the events we read about in Genesis.

What Now?

I hope that you have benefited from our study of Genesis together with deeper insight into God’s Word, and more importantly a deeper conviction of the Truth of Jesus’ Gospel, and an improved desire and ability to share that Good News with those around us who may not know Him as Lord and Savior.

If so, please share your encouragements and insights either by commenting on the website lessons directly, or by contacting me. Please do the same if you wish to offer a critique of the study or corrections to it.

In the meantime:

Love in Jesus’ Name,

brian