Why Genesis Is So Important

We, as Christians, have heard the stories and accounts from the book of Genesis. The creation, Abraham, Noah and the flood, Jacob and Joseph as well as the other important historical accounts. But why is Genesis so important? Would the rest of the Bible be able to stand on it's doctrines without the Genesis account? Would there be a solid foundation for why we believe what we believe about marriage or the sanctity of human life or even something as simple as the seven day week?

One of the most argued topic over the last twenty years, or even longer, has been the belief of marriage being only between a man a woman. Genesis addresses this topic early on in Gen. 2:24,

Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.  NKJV

So, how is this supported by later Biblical writings? How about when Jesus refers to this verse in Matt 19:4-5?

 And He answered and said to them, “Have you not read that He who made them at the beginning ‘made them male and female,’  and said, ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’? NKJV

Jesus himself quoted this verse from Genesis to support His answer as recorded in the scriptures above. Now, the counter argument to these type of quotes from scripture have been they are outdated and our thinking needs to come into the 21st century. And that can be expected from those who don't believe in God and don't have a relationship with Him. They are not saved and therefore do not have the indwelling of the Holy Spirit within them who, enables us to understand the word of God.

It also does not allow them to know that God never changes ( “For I am the Lord, I do not change Mal 3:6) and what He has said 6000 years ago is still valid today. Regardless of what man wants Him to say or wants to interrupt what He says, in their own words, does not apply to Him. In Genesis 2:24, the Lord established the institution of marriage and even the New Testament writers referred back to it. How could Paul have written 1 Corinthians 7 if there were no basis for marriage? Paul covers a wide range of marriage topics in this chapter. He states in verses 10-11 of this chapter the following concerning divorce,

Now to the married I command, yet not I but the Lord: A wife is not to depart from her husband.  But even if she does depart, let her remain unmarried or be reconciled to her husband. And a husband is not to divorce his wife. NKJV

Notice what Paul makes very clear in verse 10, 'not I but the Lord' and that makes it very clear that God has established this back in Genesis and Jesus confirmed this in Matt 19:6,

 So then, they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate.”  NKJV

There is no place in the Bible which states that marriage is anything but between a man and a woman. It also doesn't say, "Go and be happy and live together." Marriage is not a tradition, it's an institution initiated by God in Genesis. Just in my lifetime, I have seen the institution of marriage deteriorated in a process which has gone from proper marriage to living together to gay marriage to who knows where next. I guess I skipped over the trans couples and I'm not sure what is what or who is who in those relationships.

So, what about the sanctity of life or just how precious life is? Why is it illegal to commit murder? The first murder recorded in the Bible was Cain killing his brother Abel. God put a curse on Cain for this murder but later in Genesis 9:6, God declared capitol punishment as the penalty for committing murder,

 If anyone takes a human life, that person’s life will also be taken by human hands. For God made human beings in his own image. NLT

This established the punishment for committing murder. In our society today, the sanctity of life is meaningless to so many. People are killing other people for some of the dumbest reasons. I read a news story the other day of a killing of one man by another man. The reason given was because at a basketball game, as one man climbed the steps of the bleachers, his foot brushed the foot of the other man and he took it as a sign of disrespect! Are you kidding me? This escalated into a shoot out with the death of one of them. Respect? Where is the respect for life? Our prisons are filled with people who have committed murder and the penalty was put in place back in Genesis.

What about the seven day week? How was all this determined? I'm not a scientist and will not claim to know all the answers concerning astronomy, but Genesis does give us the creation account. Here is where the evolutionist and those who believe a big bang created everything, stand firmly against this account in Genesis. God created everything that exists, (Gen 1:1, Col 1:16) and He placed the stars in the sky, the sun and the moon in the sky (Gen 1:14-17). Consider the following statement:

"There is no secular basis for a seven day week. All other units of time have a foundation in astronomy; a day is the moment of time for earth to rotate once with respect to the sun, a month is the amount of time for the moon to go through all its phases, and a year is the amount of time it takes earth to orbit the sun." -Jason Lisle, Why Genesis Matters

There have been arguments concerning the length of a day in this account but one thing needs to be remembered when interpreting scripture and that is context. Without going into the entire study of the Hebrew word usage and the breakdown, the context of the passage in Genesis 1, it is a 24 hour day. Considering the statement above and the fact that God has placed the sun and moon in the sky and the fact, I repeat, the fact that earth's rotation in respect to the sun is 24 hours, then many things in the creation of the earth, sun and moon would have to change to accommodate another length to a day.

God, himself, made the statement, "So, the evening and the morning were the first day...." and the second day and the third day and so on. This account sets the basis for recorded time into the remainder of scripture and time. Jesus was crucified and rose on the third day. Is there any question of how many days or how much time passed before Jesus rose from the grave? God established all of this back in genesis.

How about the gospel? Is there anything in Genesis that indicates anything about the gospel? Yes there is. Adam was given specific instructions, a command, not to eat of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Adam and Eve were created in perfection; the world was perfect and Adam and Eve could have enjoyed perfect fellowship with God forever. But Eve was tempted by the serpent and then she in turn, after tasting the forbidden fruit, invited Adam to do the same. So what happened here? What did Adam and Eve do that brought such a harsh response? It's simple, they disobeyed God's command and it broke that perfect fellowship with God.

Disobedience to God is sin; when we are not obedient to God's command, we are in sin. But where did this all come from? When Adam disobeyed God's command, sin entered into the world and everything suffered from sin as a result. God had told Adam if he ate from that tree, he would die. What that means is he would not die immediately, there was no poison or special powers in the fruit. It was the effect of sin not only on Adam and Eve and every other human born following this event, but also on the earth and every living thing.

Adam was in charge, he was the ruler of the creation or a steward of everything God had created. When he disobeyed God and sin entered in, it affected everything because he was over everything. Because God had given Adam authority over the creation, everything within the creation would have to suffer from the effects of sin or God would be made a liar and lose His integrity. So, all creation suffers under the affects of sin,

Against its will, all creation was subjected to God’s curse. But with eager hope,  the creation looks forward to the day when it will join God’s children in glorious freedom from death and decay.  For we know that all creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time.  Rom 8:20-22

But God didn't stop at the point of sin entering the world. He knew He would have to provide a redeemer and a savior to provide a means of salvation for not only Adam and Eve but for humanity. It would be 'the Seed of the woman' who would pay the price for sin. We know this is Jesus and we know He died on a cross to pay that debt and it is available to those who are lost in that sin.  But where do we see this in the Genesis account? How did God find Adam and Eve following the breaking of the commandment? And, it wasn't like God was surprised by what they had done, He knew the moment they did it.

 When the cool evening breezes were blowing, the man and his wife heard the Lord God walking about in the garden. So they hid from the Lord God among the trees.  Then the Lord God called to the man, “Where are you?” He replied, “I heard you walking in the garden, so I hid. I was afraid because I was naked.” “Who told you that you were naked?” the Lord God asked. “Have you eaten from the tree whose fruit I commanded you not to eat?”  Gen 3:8-11  NLT

Their sin had exposed their nakedness which they had not even been aware of before. It has had that same affect on us as well. But the Lord killed an animal or animals to cover their nakedness or their sin. It is the first recorded sacrifice in the Bible and it is recorded in Genesis. It covered the sin of Adam and his wife Eve and as you continue to read on through the Old Testament and the Law, it is obvious that animal sacrifices were made for the temporary covering of sin. But more important, these sacrifices pointed to the future messiah who would bring a one time sacrifice for our sin. The writer of Hebrews in 9:12-14 states it this way,

 

With his own blood—not the blood of goats and calves—he entered the Most Holy Place once for all time and secured our redemption forever.  Under the old system, the blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer could cleanse people’s bodies from ceremonial impurity.  Just think how much more the blood of Christ will purify our consciences from sinful deeds so that we can worship the living God. For by the power of the eternal Spirit, Christ offered himself to God as a perfect sacrifice for our sins.   NLT

Jesus is the one time sacrifice for us all; His death on the cross superseded all the animal sacrifices and that was stated back in Genesis. So, why is Genesis so important to us as students of the Bible? Why is it important to understand that there is more to Genesis than just the account of the creation? We need to understand that all Bible doctrine originated in Genesis. Evolution has made so many inroads into our education system and Christians need to understand not just what the Bible says but why and where.

Just having a simple understanding of what is really involved in the creation account or why everything that exists is because Jesus created it. It is important to understand the basics of why there are 24 hours in a day or seven days in a week. When unsaved people denounce the Bible as some old, out of date crusty book, you want to know how to explain why it isn't out of date. Why is marriage between a man and a woman only? We have to be students of the Bible and it starts back in Genesis.