One of the most generally known passages from the Bible, for both believers and for a plethora of non-believers, is the first three chapters of Genesis. Every story, whether real or fictional, has a beginning. The first three words of Genesis 1, the very first chapter of the very first book of the Bible, read: “in the beginning.” The fourth word, however, sets the tone not only for the chapter or the book of Genesis, but for the whole Bible: “God.” Who is the center of the story? God. Who was there from the beginning? God.
Now for the fifth word, to me it begins to answer the
question of, “well, which god?” (Lower-case G is intentional.) In our world
today, and seemingly more prevalent than at any time in human history, surely at
least since the times in which the Bible itself was being penned, people
worship different gods. People have been worshiping their various different
gods for centuries, nay, millennia, but it seems that today, in 2022, the level
of deception, nay, the levels (plural) of deception are staggering. In
my corner of the world, people worship science. In my corner of the world, outwardly
they say there is no god at all (and they trick others into believing the same at
least inasmuch as to the question: “is there a God?”). In my corner of the
world, the common explanation for how we got here is simply: “things just
randomly happened.” Yeah, sure, things have been randomly happening for, what,
15 billion years. And if things have been randomly happening, then logically,
there is no such thing as choice or free will. If something bad happens to you,
it “just happens.” To finish out this line of thinking, therefore, bad things
have been happening randomly in random places at random times to random individuals,
for 15 whole billion years, and therefore will continue to do so! In other
words, the world has always sucked, and will always continue to suck, and if
there is anything good that happens, it’s just luck. Goodness, thank you for
the uplifting and hopeful message! That obviously convinces me that 2022 will
be a better year than all the others past! …not! š”
I digress. I realize I’ve been making this post about me and
what I’m seeing in the world today and getting it off of God. So, I’m going to get
back on track. The first four words of Genesis 1 are: “in the beginning, God”
which means that the God that is in the Bible was there in the beginning and
from the beginning. The fifth word, the word to answer the question: “which god?”
is: “created.”
Can anyone tell me, is there any other god that creates
other than the God in the Bible? I’ll just wait.
OK, let’s move to the next few words: “…the heavens and the
earth.” This completes the first sentence in the Bible, ten words, to be exact.
This answers the question of: when (in the beginning), who
(God), what (created the heavens and the earth), and where (the heavens and the
earth). We still need answers to “why” and “how,” and we’ll get there in a bit.
I remember in school learning about the five important questions as we were
analyzing something (I couldn’t tell you if it was English class or science
class): “who, what, where, when, why? (And sometimes, how?)”
As for how, I’m going to just copy and paste the passage
from Genesis 1:3-5 (NKJV). This explains how God created the heavens and the
earth:
Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light. And God saw the light, that it was good; and God divided the light from the darkness. God called the light Day, and the darkness He called Night. So the evening and the morning were the first day.
The account in Genesis goes on to describe how God created
everything else, from water, to sky, to land, to stars, to plants, to animals. And
so on. And then a few key lines at different junctures of the creation process:
And God called the dry land Earth, and the gathering together of the waters He called Seas. And God saw that it was good. Genesis 1:10 (NKJV)
And God made the beast of the earth according to its kind, cattle according to its kind, and everything that creeps on the earth according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. Genesis 1:25 (NKJV)
Then God saw everything that He had made, and indeed it was very good. So the evening and the morning were the sixth day. Genesis 1:31 (NKJV)
I want to stop there for a second. I picked the three verses
that included the phrase: “and God saw that it was good.” First off, it’s
already more encouraging than the thought of all existence being a very long
series of random things that happened, over the course of 15 billion years. The
idea – and really, truth – of a God who made everything in existence
with care, deliberation, and intentionality calling everything that He made
good. Secondly, I want to draw your attention to Genesis 1:31, where is says
that “indeed it was very good.” This verse includes the phrase “very
good” whereas the previous two I posted merely mentioned that “it was good,”
without the “very.” This tells me that there is something extra special that God
did that took place between verses 25 and 31. Let’s take a look and see what it
is:
26 Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” 27 So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. 28 Then God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”
29 And God said, “See, I have given you every herb that yields seed which is on the face of all the earth, and every tree whose fruit yields seed; to you it shall be for food. 30 Also, to every beast of the earth, to every bird of the air, and to everything that creeps on the earth, in which there is life, I have given every green herb for food”; and it was so. 31 Then God saw everything that He had made, and indeed it was very good. So the evening and the morning were the sixth day.
Genesis 1:26-31 describes God creating humans, both men and
women. Not only so, but He gave humankind dominion over every animal on the
earth. This contradicts the popular “scientific” teaching that humans are “part
of the animal kingdom.” In Genesis, from the beginning, it clearly states a clear
delineation between humans and animals. Moreover, it also says that God has
given humankind that dominion, that we are to subdue the earth (including the
animals), and to be fruitful and multiply (reproduce, have offspring, have
children, however you want to phrase it).
Genesis 2 continues the story, the truth in the theme of “in
the beginning, God created everything, and it was good.” God sees that Adam
needs a partner, and makes for him a woman, Eve, and declares the following:
Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. Genesis 2:24 (NKJV)
Like with everything else, here is states that God created
marriage. It says that God specifically created marriage for one man and one
woman. If you’re reading this and disagree, know that both Jesus (the Son of
God) and Apostle Paul state this more fully:
Jesus:
3 Some Pharisees came to him to test him. They asked, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any and every reason?”
4 “Haven’t you read,” he replied, “that at the beginning the Creator ‘made them male and female,’ 5 and said, ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh’? 6 So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.”
Paul:
28 So husbands ought to love their own wives as their own bodies; he who loves his wife loves himself. 29 For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as the Lord does the church. 30 For we are members of His body, of His flesh and of His bones. 31 “For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” 32 This is a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the church. 33 Nevertheless let each one of you in particular so love his own wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband.
The point of my focusing on this verse is two-fold: 1.) God
instituted right and acceptable marriage in His eyes in the very beginning. 2.)
this truth is critical, considering the destruction of marriage in our country
and in our world, and as a consequence, the destruction of families, and as a
further consequence, the destruction of society. We don’t have a right society
without right families, and we don’t have right families without right
marriage. On our own strength we can do nothing, but with God we can do
anything, including what seems impossible.
It begs the question though, if you still happen to be
reading: if everything was very good in the very beginning, then how did our
world become so corrupted? Why is there pain, suffering, war, famine, pestilence,
hatred… (fill in the blank)? Genesis 3 answers that particular “why” question:
1 Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, “Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’?”
2 And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden; 3 but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.’ ”
4 Then the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. 5 For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
6 So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate.
Then, eventually, God held Adam, Eve, and the serpent (aka Satan) accountable:
9 Then the Lord God called to Adam and said to him, “Where are you?”
10 So he said, “I heard Your voice in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; and I hid myself.”
11 And He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you that you should not eat?”
12 Then the man said, “The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I ate.”
13 And the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?”
The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”
Then, because the effects of what Adam and Eve had done was
irreversible, God enacted discipline.
14 So the Lord God said to the serpent: “Because you have done this, You are cursed more than all cattle, And more than every beast of the field; On your belly you shall go, And you shall eat dust All the days of our life. 15 And I will put enmity Between you and the woman, And between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, And you shall bruise His heel.”
16 To the woman He said: “I will greatly multiply your sorrow and your conception; In pain you shall bring forth children; Your desire shall be for your husband, And he shall rule over you.”
17 Then to Adam He said, “Because you have heeded the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree of which I commanded you, saying, ‘You shall not eat of it’: “Cursed is the ground for your sake; In toil you shall eat of it All the days of your life. 18 Both thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you, And you shall eat the herb of the field. 19 In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread Till you return to the ground, For out of it you were taken; For dust you are, And to dust you shall return.”
And, for anyone who thinks that my comment that “what Adam
and Eve had done was irreversible” is off-base and that I “might” be adding to
the Bible, I present to you the below passage:
22 Then the Lord God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of Us, to know good and evil. And now, lest he put out his hand and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever”— 23 therefore the Lord God sent him out of the garden of Eden to till the ground from which he was taken. 24 So He drove out the man; and He placed cherubim at the east of the garden of Eden, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to guard the way to the tree of life.
The world has been this way ever since.
Growing up Episcopalian, the Advent season (the 4 weeks
leading up to Christmas) was a big deal. At the particular churches I attended,
one of the biggest services all year that we had was “Advent Lessons and Carols,”
which, as the title suggests, means hymns, choral anthems, and Bible verses,
all Advent-themed, of course. For those who don’t know, Advent is the “anticipation”
season, where we anticipate both Jesus’s birth (at Christmas) as well as
His return at the end of time. The Lessons (aka Bible verses) are chosen
to piece together a narrative – but not just a narrative; also the truth
and, I believe the idea that we do need Jesus, hence we anticipate His arrival.
As such, the first Lesson details when Adam and Eve disobeyed God in the garden.
(One year, I even got to read it out loud!)
What I don’t like about what the Episcopal church chose to
do was to stop the passage right after God gives the serpent (aka Satan) his sentence.
There’s discipline for Adam and Eve as well, and the fact that that has been omitted from public reading at that service doesn't sit right with me. Yes, what the serpent (aka Satan)
did was horribly wrong, and we should not forget that; however, Adam and Eve also played along. In Genesis 3:3, when asked by the serpent (aka Satan), Eve repeats what God had told them previously: to not eat or even touch the
fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, because the consequence is
death. But the allure of the idea that, if the fruit were eaten, that one could
become like God, became too much for Adam and Eve to resist. As the rest of
Genesis 3 plays out (and consequently, the rest of the Bible, and of human
history since the book of Revelation was written), Adam, Eve, and the rest of
humankind has had to pay that price.
How quickly we went from: “in the beginning, God created the
heavens and the earth,” and “it was very good,” to God “drove out the man” and
placing an angel to guard the tree of life. This all took place in the
beginning of time. For everything that has gone wrong in this world, it’s been
this way the entire time. OK, one might ask, “so how is this any better than
the narrative of the universe’s history being a sequence of random events?”
The answer is: Jesus.
Before Jesus came, God revealed through the prophet Isaiah of
His first coming:
1 “Comfort, yes, comfort My people!”
Says your God.
2 “Speak comfort to Jerusalem, and cry out to her,
That her warfare is ended,
That her iniquity is pardoned;
For she has received from the Lord’s hand
Double for all her sins.”
3 The voice of one crying in the wilderness:
“Prepare the way of the Lord;
Make straight in the desert
A highway for our God.
4 Every valley shall be exalted
And every mountain and hill brought low;
The crooked places shall be made straight
And the rough places smooth;
5 The glory of the Lord shall be revealed,
And all flesh shall see it together;
For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”
Then, when Jesus came and walked among us, He shared the
following truths and messages of hope:
For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. John 3:16-17 (NKJV)
The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly. John 10:10 (NKJV)
Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” John 14:6 (NKJV)
I anticipate that occasionally I will blog about things I read in the Bible that either jump out to me, or that God prompts me to reflect and post, as I go through my 2022 Bible reading project. Let’s roll.
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