Reading... Genesis

"In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth."

Genesis 1:1

The book of Genesis is a genuine pleasure to read.

From the majestic, poetic opening as God forms and fills the universe, to the embarrassing nitty gritty of a broken (but still blessed) family, Genesis tells the beginning of God's epic love for human families in all their sin and struggle.

You're familiar with many of the stories, for sure, but there are so many sides to them that jump out - something new every time you revisit it.

You know God created the universe and calls it good, but did you know that he waits until humanity is created to say that it is very good?

You know that the flood devastates the earth, but did you know how carefully God instructs Noah to make sure his family will be saved?

You know that Abraham has faith, but did you know how faithfully God sticks with him even when he's behaving awfully?

Genesis tells these grand stories of God's amazing interventions in history for the sake of his people. With God as the author and main character of history, we see how incredibly faithful God is to his people even when they're faithless.

But here's the really amazing part, the part I'd bet you never noticed: it all leads to the story of Joseph.

Genesis as a book follows the same pattern that the whole Bible follows - the same pattern that history itself follows.

God creates the world good, with a special plan and a special place for human beings, but they fall. Humanity and the world are touched by and twisted by sin. Against that evil, God affirms his justice and righteousness, but also stays faithful in grace and love to flawed men and women. Finally, God's people are redeemed, saved from death by their father's son, a brother to them whom they had betrayed, but who despite being brought low by men, is raised to power at the king's right hand.

Joseph is a "type" for Christ, a figure who prefigures Christ and shows us in a temporary way some aspects of what our eternal savior is like.

I invite you to read Genesis with new eyes, and to be prepared to be entranced by it.

3 questions to consider while reading Genesis:
    1. Are people doing the right thing in this situation? (Just because someone's in the Bible doesn't mean they're a good example)
    2. How is God showing love in this situation?
    3. How can that love of God be shown in my daily life?

Happy reading!