"In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth" (Gen. 1:1).
The book of Genesis bursts open with these now-legendary words. They immediately conjure thoughts, ideas, emotions, and even questions in many of us. The story of the Bible, and in essence, every single creature that has ever walked the face of the earth, begins here, with God. A single being, standing over a formless, empty, and void reality (Gen. 1:2). And into the darkness, he speaks: "Let there be" (Gen. 1:3). Ex-Nihilo: out of nothing, God speaks all of life into existence, creating order and beauty, giving meaning and purpose to life itself. And it was good (Gen. 1:31)! At the heart of this story is God’s good purpose for his creation–to know and enjoy the very Creator of the cosmos. Made in the image of God (Gen. 1:27), humanity was blessed with the unique gift of living in relationship with and in representation of its Creator (Gen. 1:28-30).
Unfortunately, the story doesn't end there. Humanity’s willful and rebellious disobedience thwarted this divine and good purpose (Gen. 3). And the consequences are devastating. Instead of life, there's death; instead of relationship, hostility; instead of blessing, curse; and instead of order, chaos. The evidence of this reality is all around us. It's inescapable. We experience it in the diagnosis of a terminal illness. We see it on the news in images of war, natural disasters, and countless injustices. We invite it into our homes as we foster children abandoned by their families. We grieve its sorrow as we bury a loved one into the depths of the earth. In one way or another, we all feel it deep down in our bones. Things are not the way God intended. We're seemingly so far from the good he declared in the beginning. And worst of all–we've been separated from the God we were created to know and enjoy.
But the story continues. Rather than disown humanity or isolate himself from creation, God makes a promise to restore all things back to their good and rightful purpose (Gen. 3:15). He chooses to work through their failings and imperfections by graciously binding himself in a promise-keeping and oath- bound affirmation to bless the cursed world (Gen. 12). Sin will not frustrate God's plans. Death will not have the final word. What the enemy meant for evil, God will use for good (Gen. 50:20). From Adam and Eve to Noah, Abraham, Jacob, and Joseph, each story in Genesis is a continuation of his redemptive plan to reconcile creation back to its intended purpose: relationship and representation. And this promise finds its ultimate culmination in the reconciling cross of Christ (Col. 1:19-20), restoring God’s people to know him, love him, and represent him to the world he loves (1 Pet. 2:9-10).
While many Christians are familiar with the stories in Genesis, we too often read them in isolation, disregarding the larger narrative found throughout the book's entirety. In this series, God's Good Purpose, we'll walk through each of the stories in Genesis and consider how they all come together to unveil God's redemptive plan to restore His good creation back to its designed purpose. We will often find ourselves in the circumstances and precarious positions of many characters in these stories. Flawed, broken, and sinful individuals in need of rescue but who somehow are never too far from the grace of God. Yes, we can attest with Scripture that in God, "all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose" (Rom. 8:28).
Join us as we marvel at God's Good Purpose found throughout the book of Genesis and in each of our personal lives.