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Genesis - Rock Solid

Why Does Genesis Matter?

Why does Genesis matter? I mean really, what you think about Genesis, Creation, and the Flood is not an issue of salvation, is it? Jesus died on the cross, and what He did for me is what secures my salvation. Right?

Yes, right! But if your approach to Genesis is that it isn’t necessary for your salvation, then you are ready to be tripped up: your trust in all that the Lord has spoken will be shaken. Let me show you.

Why Genesis Matters

Genesis: Beginnings

Firstly, Genesis is the story of “beginnings.” That’s where the title of the book comes from. In Hebrew, the title is “Bereshit,” literally, in the beginning. If God tells us that this is the record of beginnings, then I need to be careful as to how I read it. It is more than a creation myth. And the implications of veering from that, well, I’ll go into that later.

Genealogies and Chronology

Secondly, the ages of Adam and Eve’s children is precisely recorded. No, it doesn’t give a date. But Genesis does record in what year of life that certain children were born. This is a very precise genealogy and chronology. You can easily trace where different people wove in and out of history, and the events that surrounded their lives based on these genealogies. Why does this matter? Keep reading…

Those who Trusted Genesis

Thirdly, there are some VIPs who stood firmly on what Genesis said as truth. Peter used the Flood to help explain our salvation.

• 1 Peter 3:20-22: Peter speaks of Noah’s Ark saving eight people through water, using the example to draw parallels with salvation
• 2 Peter 2:5: Peter references the Flood as a real event, and Noah as a real person

• 2 Peter 3:5-7: Peter speaks of God creating the world out of water, and then destroying the world through water with the Flood 

Paul spoke of the reality of Adam in 1 Cor. 15:45. And he related the truths of marriage to Adam and Eve, Eph. 5:31. Gal. 3:6-9 shows Paul’s firm belief that Abraham was a real person who interacted with God. This is the Abraham of Genesis.

And Jesus. Jesus treated Genesis as absolute truth. In Luke 17:26, Jesus references Noah and the Flood. In Mark 10:7-8, He affirms marriage based on Adam and Eve.

Why it Matters

So, let’s tie this all together as to why it matters. And it all ties into the genealogies and chronologies. These give us a precise time frame for when the patriarchs of the Old Testament lived and died. But they also trace the lineage of them – the famous “begats.” In other words, which father was the father of which sons, and who their children were, and so on. These genealogies run from Creation, through the Flood, and into the time of Abraham.

And these genealogies are important not just for the dating, but because they trace the lineage of the Messiah. Jesus. And if we are unable to trace the lineages, then we can’t be sure just who the Messiah is, or if He has even come to our world yet. But we are able to trace them, and we are able to trace that Jesus comes from that lineage. We do have a Messiah that can be traced back into the book of Genesis.

So why does it matter? If you are unable to trust what Genesis has spoken about the beginnings, unable to trust the genealogies and chronologies which, by the way, go all the way back to Adam,  then you are not going to be able to say with confidence that the Messiah is who He said He is. This will not affect your salvation, but it will affect your ability to share confidently the truth of salvation as revealed through Jesus. And you likely will doubt other things that the Lord has revealed, simply because your foundation in Genesis, if not destroyed, is at least crumbling.

If you want to stand strong in your faith, to be able to stand against false teachings, you will do well to trust all that the Lord revealed in Genesis. It is real history. And it is OUR history.

READ MORE! Build Your Faith Through Geology

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