Did the Shred kick you in the teeth today? That’s okay! You are building the momentum. Tell us it was a hard day in the comments and people reading along will encourage you!
Here’s a video takeaway or a written takeaway from Day 1! Whatever is better for you!
What did it say about God?
You see so much about God in Genesis 1-42 that is foundational. The fact that he is Creator sets the precedent for His authority over everything through the rest of scripture. You see Him promise Jesus in chapter 3 and begin working in that direction through Noah, Abraham, Issac, and Jacob.
But what I saw so so so clearly in these 42 chapters is that God is the initiator. He is the one with the idea and catalyst for creation, He is the one who initiates relationship with Adam and Eve, He is the one who corrects and still protects Cain, He is the one who chooses Noah, He is the one who calls Abraham, He is the one who wrestles with and renames Jacob.
God is the initiator of Covenants, revelation of Himself, and of relationship with us. This just gives me some pause for how I interact with Him, because I tend to operate as though I am the initiator and I set the agenda for our time and discussion, or even the agenda for my sanctification. I need to sit back pause and let Him initiate my next steps. He has led me in every other step why would that change now?
What did it say about people?
If we see God be faithful in Genesis to humanity then we see the exact opposite from humanity. We are faithless and unfaithful to Him, and that starts in the garden but spirals out of control leading to the Tower of Babel. Even the heroes like Abraham and Issac don’t trust God enough to protect them so they keep pretending that their wives are their sister. Genesis shows a super inconsistent humanity where some revel in evil and others can’t help but succumb to it, but either way the blame and fault is clear - we are the problem.
This is where Genesis stands in contrast to other creation narratives circulating at the time Moses wrote this. The other narratives blamed evil on the evil of the gods who couldn’t help but impart that on their creation. Here we see a pure God who is blameless and good in EVERY way and humanity that continues to choose and bring about evil.
We are the problem and we can’t fix it. But fortunately God has already initiated a plan to save us.
What did it say about the Kingdom of God?
I think it is so cool and beneficial for us that the very first people who were God- people in the beginning of the story of scripture were still faith people. Noah believes God and builds an ark. Abraham trust God and leaves home and then he has faith that God will keep his promise. Jacob has multiple faith building encounters with the living God. You even get the characters we don’t know much about like Melchizedek and Enoch who also clearly had faith based relationships with God.
The way to be in relationship with God has always been faith. This is not a New Testament thing but very real all the way at the beginning of relating to God.
What is your takeaway? Leave it in the comments below!
It was such a refreshing read. I had it on audio + let it play while I tackled some tasks and it was about a few hours to finish it up. Genesis puts into perspective that god grieves our unfaithfulness to him yet he still faithful through and through. Which I found to be sad and hopeful at the same time.
Good read while house is quiet.
God had a plan for the world regardless of our human frailties. He is in control. We have the choice to trust him in this life.