This week, we begin a new sermon series titled Bookends. In part 1 of the series, we will spend 15 weeks in Genesis, the very first book of the Bible. Then, in part 2 of the series, we will spend 15 weeks in Revelation, the very last book of the Bible. When taken together, Genesis and Relation indeed form a kind of bookend on scripture, functioning as a push and pull on our lives. Genesis, serves to push us from behind, by bringing us backwards into the earliest stories of God’s dealing with his creation. These stories in Genesis function like a narrative fabric, helping us understand who we are and where we have come from. It stands behind us, pushing us forward on solid grounds of our identity.
Revelation on the other hand, as the last book of the Bible, serves as a pull on our life, pulling forward into ultimate things. Due to the popular Left Behind book and movie series, many people believe that Revelation is simply an outline for end times, a description of events that will take place in the final days before Christ’s return. But this view of Revelation fundamentally misses the point. Revelation is not so much about what will happen in our future, but it is about what God is ultimately doing in the Church Age, from the moment of Christ’s ascension to the moment that he returns. It is the story of Satan’s defeat at the cross, his efforts to persecute the church, the church’s unstoppable dominion over the forces of evil, and the lamb’s ultimate victory. Revelation is the story of ultimate things, the vision of what is really happening spiritually behind our physical reality.
As we begin this week with the book of Genesis, I wanted to offer a few guiding principles for our series. Each of these principles are simple to understand, but there is enough debate around them—even among well intentioned Christians—that I thought it would be helpful to put them in writing so as to help the entire series be most profitable.
Genesis is Literal History
First, we believe that Genesis is literal history. It is not allegory, or simply mythology that teaches important principles like Aesop’s fables. Rather, Genesis recounts an accurate telling of the history of the world. God did indeed create the world in six days and then rest on the seventh, not out of some exhaustion from creation, but as a model of sabbath for mankind to follow. Adam and Eve were indeed the first two humans who were created from the dust of the ground. Mankind did not evolve slowly and accidentally from the animal kingdom. Rather, he was created by God, as unique and set apart, bearing the image of God. Likewise, the great “herald of righteousness” Noah truly built an ark, and God flooded the world in judgment for their wicked deeds.
But how do we know that these events are intended to be read literally, and not intended to be read allegorically. The answer is that the Bible tells us so. Not only are the passages themselves clear on this issue, referencing cities, places, and events that are well documented historically. But the New Testament affirms the historicity of the Genesis accounts. Jesus taught that Adam and Eve were the first people and the first marriage (Mark 10:6-7, Matthew 19:4-5). Romans teaches us that Adam was our old federal head who failed in his responsibility to represent us before God, but Christ Christ is our new federal head, who perfectly succeeded in his responsibility to represent us before God (Romans 5:15). Further, the New Testament regularly references Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and other Genesis stories as actual historical people and events.
And so, we will unashamedly preach Genesis as literal history.
We Read Genesis in Light of the New Testament
Second, we will see that Genesis is to be read within the larger framework of Redemptive History. What this means is that every sermon in Genesis, though written thousands of years before Christ’s incarnation, ultimately tell us something about the person and work of Christ. What the Old Testament saints saw in shadows as they read their Old Testament and waited for their Messiah, we read through the clear lens of the New Testament which helps us interpret the shadows and see the substance to which they point, namely Christ. There are a few to do this.
Prophecy Fulfilled: In some passages, the clearest way to see Christ in the Genesis passage is by prophecy which is fulfilled in Christ. The earliest example of this is in Genesis 3:15 when God curses the serpent who tempted Adam and Eve. God says to the serpent, “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.” This prophecy, of an offspring of Adam that would destroy the work of the serpent, but be wounded by him in the process, is fulfilled in Christ. On the cross, Satan believed he was killing the Son of God, but indeed he only bruised him. But through Christ’s death, the death blow was given to Satan.
Type & Antitype: In other passages, we see what theologians call types and antitypes. This is technical language for stories that have one immediate meaning within the Genesis account, but a deeper significant meaning when read through the light of the New Testament. An example of this is in Genesis 22, when Abraham is commanded to sacrifice his son Isaac. In this story we have a father, who takes his son up a mountain, and is prepared to sacrifice him, only to be commanded to stop at the last moment where a ram is offered as substitutionary offering in place of the son. This story, while absolutely historically accurate, is also a type pointing forward to the ultimate son, who would be led up a mountain by the ultimate father, who would become the ultimate substitutionary offering, for the people of God.
Law & Gospel: In other passages, we see the law of God, which when properly understood reveals our great need of a Savior. While there not an abundance of “law passages” in the book of Genesis, God’s directive Word does appear regularly. To Adam and Eve, the law is given not to eat from the fruit of the tree in the center of the garden (Genesis 2:17). To Noah, the law is given regarding civil justice (Genesis 9:4-5). These laws are God’s good moral code for humanity. They instruct us how we ought to live, what is good and right and true. But they also reveal that each one of us ultimately falls short of the legal standard God has set. Whenever the law of God is preached, our hearts should be pricked to feel the weight of our sin. But in light of the New Testament, we then look up, and see Christ on the cross, bearing the weight of our sin on our behalf. A proper reading of the law of God, elevates our eyes to the glory of Christ and his gospel.
Redemptive History: Lastly, we discover Christ when we properly consider how each story fits into the much larger framework of redemptive history. As Bryan Chappel has said so eloquently, “God’s revelation is not simply cataloging his attributes or randomly relating events from human history. God is revealing himself through his interaction with his people in the context of a redemptive history that ultimately displays his gracious nature.” Therefore, as we read the storyline of Genesis, with each of its story arcs, we see the seeds of the great meta-narrative of redemptive history, and interpret the individual chapters in light of the much larger story. We cannot properly understand Jacob’s wrestling with God in isolation from God’s rescue of unworthy sinners. We cannot properly understand Joseph’s suffering in Egypt in isolation from the faithful God of justice who secures his people by his providence. Redemptive History is often the key to fully understanding the ultimate purpose of any given text.
Conclusion
Oh, I cannot wait to begin this series with you. I have already spent significant time outlining the shape of the doctrines we will be covering through the end of December as we study Genesis. They include: creation, marriage, complementarianism, sin, false worship, baptism, common grace, theonomy, mission, calling, covenant, sexuality, hospitality, substitutionary atonement, prayer, and more. These are doctrines that can shape our life, and our understanding of how to live faithfully in our own day. These stories are bedrock identity forming narratives that ultimately tell us who we are as a people of God.
May God get the glory!
