AN OVERVIEW OF THE BOOK OF GENESIS

TEXT: "In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth" (Gen. 1:1).

INTRODUCTION 

1. God, the Omnipotent, Omniscient, Omnipresent, All-Righteous One that is full of justice and marcy, grace and compassion, but also wrath, fury, and judgment, begins His revelation to mankind with this great book: Genesis.

2. What kind of power does this book have?

3. Science "proves" that for something to physically exist then there must be time, force, action, space, and matter: Which are all seen in Genesis 1:1:

a. Time: "In the beginning"

b. Force: "God"

c. Action: "created"

d. Space: "the heaven"

e. Matter: "and the earth"

4. It has also been suggested, and rightly so, that Genesis 1:1 refutes six principle philosophies that have been popular throughout history:

a. Atheism - "In the beginning God"

b. Polytheism - "In the beginning God"

c. Fatalism - "In the beginning God created"; where is the chance in that?

d. Evolution - "In the beginning God created"; where does that leave room for things to "just happen"?

e. Pantheism - "In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth"; if God created the universe (the heaven and the earth) then God and the universe cannot be identical.

f. Materialism - "In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth"; if God created all that is matter (physical existence) then matter cannot be eternal.

5. What a powerful book the Bible must be to present such powerful items in its very first verse; truly of this book it can be said:

GOD'S WORD

I paused last eve beside the blacksmith's door,

And heard the anvil ring the vesper chime;

And looking in I saw upon the floor

Old hammers, worn with beating years of time.

"How many anvils have you had?" said I,

"To waer and batter all these hammers so?"

"Just one," he answered. Then with twinkling eye:

"The anvil wears the hammers out, you know."

And so, I thought, the anvil of God's Word

For ages sceptics' blows have beat upon,

But though the noise of falling blows was heard,

The anvil is unchanged, the hammers gone.

--John Clifford

6. In this sermon we examine the book of Genesis in overview looking at:

a. BACKGROUND INFORMATION ABOUT GENESIS

b. AN OUTLINE OF GENESIS

c. THE ONE WORD THEME OF GENESIS

d. THE PICTURE OF CHRIST IN GENESIS

I. BACKGROUND INFORMATION ABOUT GENESIS

A. TITLE

1. Nearly the entire Old Testament was originally written in Hebrew, and Genesis is no exception.

2. The original Hebrew title of Genesis is bereshit, which means "in beginning" (see 1:1a).

3. This is an appropriate title, for the book of beginnings.

4. But our English Bibles do not follow the Hebrew title; we follow the Greek title.

5. The Hebrew Old Testament was translated into Greek about 250 years before the time of Christ; the Greek translators then gavce their own title, "Genesis" to the first book of their Old Testament text.

6. The Greek word geneseos means "origin, source, generation, or beginning"--Geneseos is a translation of the Hebrew word toledot ("generations," 2:4).

7. This title is also quite appropriate because Genesis is indeed a hisotry of origins, births, genealogies, and generations.

B. AUTHOR

1. Although Genesis does not directly name its author; Jesus and the writers of Scripture clearly believed that Moses was the author of the Pentateuch (the first five books of the Bible); see Exo. 17:14; Deu. 31:24; 1 Kin. 2:3; Ezra 6:18; Neh. 13:1; Dan. 9:11-13; Mal. 4:4; Mark 12:26; Luke 16:29; John 1:17; 5:44-47; 7:19, 23; Acts 26:22; Rom. 10:5; 2 Cor. 3:15; etc.).

2. Luke reminds us that Moses was trained in the "wisdom of the Egyptians" (Acts 7:22).

3. In God's sovereignty and providence, Moses had been prepared to integrate and understand all the available records, manuscripts, and oral narratives with which he penned the Pentateuch - and beyond that he, as with all other writers of Scripture, was inspired by the Holy Spirit (2 Pet. 1:20-21).

4. There was no more prepared or qualified man to tkae on this immense task of writing Israel's history.

C. DATE AND SETTING

1. Genesis spans more time than any other book in the Bible, covering about 2,500 years.

2. It covers mankind's and the world's (the material/physical existence) history from the creation until the exodus.

3. The date of Genesis is sometime after the exodus during the 15th century B.C. - approximately 1,450 B.C.

4. The setting of Genesis divides neatly into three geographical areas:

a. The Fertile Crescent, 1-11: spanning more than 2,000 years and 1,500 miles.

b. Israel, 12-36: spans about 200 years and moves from the Fertile Crescent to the land of Canaan.

c. Egypt, 37-50: where Joseph is sent ahead by God's providence to creat a safe haven for the "seventy souls" that grow into the nation of Israel - spans roughly 300 years.

D. AUDIENCE

1. The immediate audience of Genesis was the Hebrew nation, Israel.

2. The writing would have served as a comfort and reminder of the promises given to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; of whom that nation descended.

3. Since the book announces that all peoples of the earth will be blessed through Abraham (12:3), it seems fair to conclude that all people can benefit from the Genesis account.

E. THE THREEFOLD PURPOSE

1. First, it was written to its immediate audience as a comfort and reminder of the promises of deliverance from their bondage.

2. Second, Gensis begins the revelation of God's nature. He is "Creator, Preserver, and Lawgiver, ... Rightrous Judge, and Merciful Sovereign over all."

3. Third, Genesis lays the foundation for the later unfloding of God's plan for the redemption of mankind.

II. AN OUTLINE OF GENESIS

A. CREATION (1, 2)

1. The portrayal of creation (1)

2. The summary of creation (2)

B. THE FALL (3, 4)

1. Temptation (3:1-5)

2. Trangression (3:6-13)

a. Conceded (3:6-7)

b. Concealed (3:8-10)

c. Covered (3:11-13)

3. Trial (3:14-24)

a. Curse (3:14)

b. Covenant (3:15)

c. Consequences (3:16-24)

4. Perniciousness of creation (4)

C. THE FLOOD (5-9)

1. Pedigree (the line of Seth - 5)

2. Perverseness of creation (6)

3. Purification of creation (7)

4. Preservation of creation (8)

5. Promise of creation (9)

D. THE TOWER OF BABEL (10-11)

1. The People (10)

2. The Pride (11)

E. THE CHOSEN FAMILY (12-38)

1. The life of Abraham (12-25)

a. Promise, Plan, and Protection (12-14)

b. Promise reaffirmed, Progeny, and Circumcision (15-17)

c. Plea for Sodom and the origins of Moab and Ammon (18-19)

d. Pretense, Posterity, and Proving (20-22)

e. Pain, Pursuit, and Parting (23-25)

2. The life of Isaac (26)

3. The life of Jacob (27-36)

F. THE DESCENT INTO EGYPT (37-50)

1. The purchase of Joseph (37)

2. Preservation of Judah (38)

3. Pursuit and prison of Joseph (39)

4. Perception of Joseph (40)

5. Promotion of Joseph (41)

6. Payback, Party, Plot, and Presentation of Joseph (42-45)

7. Pleasure of and Present to Joseph (46-47)

8. Promises of Jacob (48-49)

9. Passing of Joseph (50)

III. THE ONE WORD THEME OF GENESIS: ORIGINATION

A. The origin of time.

B. The origin of space.

C. The origin of matter.

D. The origin of light and darkness.

E. The origin of life - plant, animal, and human.

F. The origin of marriage.

G. The origin of the family.

H. The origin of work.

I. The origin of sin.

J. The origin of rain and seasons.

K. The origin of seagoing vessels.

L. The origin of nations, languages, etc.

IV. THE PICTURE OF CHRIST IN GENESIS

A. Genesis moves from general to specific in its Messianic prophecies:

1. Christ si the Seed of woman (3:15).

2. Christ is from the line of Seth (4:25).

3. Christ is the son of Shem (9:27).

4. Christ is the descendant of Abraham (12:3).

5. Christ is the descendant of Isaac (21:12).

6. Christ is the descendant of Jacob (25:23).

7. Christ is the Shiloh of Judah - the rest-giver (49:10).

B. Christ is also seen in people and events that serve as types:

1. Adam is "the figure of Him that was to come" (Rom. 5:14).

a. Both entered the world through a special act of God (a miracle).

b. Adam is the head of the "old" creation; Christ is the Head of the "new" creation.

2. Abel's acceptable offering of a blood sacrifice points to Christ, and there is a parallel in his murder by Cain.

3. Melchizedek ("righteous king") is "made like unto the Son of God" (Heb. 7:3): He is king of Salem ("peace") who brings forth bread and wine, and is the priest of the Most High God.

4. Isaac is a type of Christ.

a. Both were resurrected (see Heb. 11:17-19).

b. Both were sons of promise.

c. Both were responsible for bringing forth descendants of Abraham.

d. Both are their father's only begotten son.

e. Both were sacrificed in Moriah.

f. Both carried the wood for their own sacrifice.

g. Both were willing sacrifices - obedient to their fathers to the point of death.

h. Both were raised by the power of God.

5. Joseph is also a type of Christ.

a. Jospeh and Christ are both objects of special love by their fathers.

b. Both are hated by their brethren.

c. Both are rejected as rulers over their brethren.

d. Both are conspired against and sold for silver.

e. Both are condemned though innocent.

f. Both are raised from humiliation to glory by the power of God.

CONCLUSION

1. There can be no doubt God is the author, Moses is the penman, and Christ is the subject of this book.

2. We see in Genesis the lofty place where man was created, the desolate place to which man fell, and the promise of redemption given to man by God.

3. What is your state?