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Where Does It All Begin?
Genesis 1:1-Revelation 21:22
Jim Davis
Have you ever walked into a church and asked yourself, “Where are
these people coming from?” Or, “What’s at the center of what
they are doing?” This is not unusual. We need a reference point
so we can put it all into perspective. It may be hard to engage,
if I don’t really know the general scope of all that is going
on. I need a reference point to begin the journey. This may be
why Bible study is so difficult for the beginner
Church doctrines seek to give points of reference, but all too
often a person starts trying to fit the entire scope of biblical
teaching into a few steps of a predigested formula. All too
often the simple steps are followed without understanding or
even investigating the full scope of what God desires to
accomplish through his relationship with those seeking him.
The history revealed between Genesis chapter one and Revelation
chapter twenty-two manifest the full scope of salvation’s
history. The Bible reveals the full historical scope of God’s
activity among human kind. The Scriptures reveal the story about
God creating the world and placing his children in it. In the
book of Genesis the story begins with the creation and the fall
of humanity. Humanity is cut off from Eden’s paradise and the
tree of life. The first six chapters of the Bible reveal the
devastating power of evil as the world is destroyed by a flood.
The very last chapters of the Bible, in the closing of the book
of Revelation, John’s vision portrays a new Eden as God’s
children regain access to the tree of life. Salvation’s
historical story is unfolded before our eyes from its conception
to its culmination. The beauty of it all is that God desires for
us to be included in his book of life.
The main character throughout the Bible is God. The Bible is a
story about God’s work to reclaim our lives to his original
purpose—restoring what we lost in Eden. The creator of life is
working through all the mess evil creates in our lives, to give
us back the life he intended for us to have before creation. His
work will culminate in eternal life for those who listen to him.
It will be a life without evil, for evil will be destroyed.
If we miss heaven we will miss everything this life was meant to
be—much more than we can ever imagine.
Discovering God’s Mercy
You have seen religious imagery in cathedrals of biblical
characters molded into beautiful stained glass windows. It
leaves the impression that the true followers of God on earth
live in a surreal realm far removed from the temptations of
ordinary people. Contrary to the opinion of many, none of God’s
people of the past ever lived in a stained glass world. God’s
people live under his rule, but they are not impervious to the
realities of living on planet earth.
What you actually see throughout salvation history is God
working in the lives of murders, adulterers, swindlers, thieves,
homosexuals, drunkards, slanderers, idolaters, etc., to salvage
their lives (1 Corinthians 6:9-11). Many of the books of the
Bible are written by murders—Moses, David, Paul. These men take
innocent lives deliberately. Moses writes the first five books
of the Bible. David is responsible for a major portion of the
Psalms. Paul writes at least thirteen books of the New
Testament. A nameless thief is dying on a cross beside Jesus. He
asks to be remembered by Christ; Jesus simply says, “Today you
shall be with me in paradise” (Luke 23:43). Moments before he
was cursing Christ as they both hung on their crosses (Matthew
27:44) These individuals are typical examples of God’s
willingness to salvage his creation.
It is important that I strive to understand this basic message
as I begin Bible study. Bible study will bring me face to face
with the evil in my life. God doesn’t want me to turn and run
from him every time I discover a new facet of evil in my life
that I’ve never seen before. He is simply asking me to recognize
it and turn from the evil and run to him so he can redeem the
situation in which I find myself. God doesn’t want me sewing fig
leaves together to cover my nakedness; he wants me to turn to
him. God gave Adam and Eve animal skins to cover their
nakedness; today he gives me his son, Jesus Christ, to cover my
nakedness.
The theme of the Bible reveals that God doesn’t save us because
we are righteous, but because he is merciful. In the story of
Daniel we find Daniel praying to God, not because Daniel is
righteous, but because God is merciful. He cries out in prayer,
“We do not make requests of you because we are righteous,
but because of your great mercy. O Lord, listen! O Lord,
forgive! O Lord, hear and act!” (Daniel 9:18-19 NIV) A
merciful God sent angels to answer Daniel’s prayer. This is the
major theme of salvation history.
Studying the Bible will allow me to see the entire scope of
God’s work in the lives of those who failed miserably. I learn
what God has done for others he will do for me for he does not
esteem one person over another (Acts 10:34-35). God wants me to
know he has provided for the forgiveness of every wrong that has
ever been done or will ever be done; if only we could accept his
forgiveness.
The Impact of One Life
The Bible opens with the story of Adam and Eve in Eden. We see
them banished from Eden because of one wrong choice—to eat or
not to eat. It may seem like a trivial choice until we follow
the consequence of that one choice through the first six
chapters of Genesis. There we see God salvaging humanity through
the life of one man seeking to make the right choice—to build an
ark for the benefit of God’s creation. The destruction begins
with Eve’s choice, it led to Cain killing Abel, and ends in the
destruction of the entire human race—except for God’s mercy.
Throughout salvation history we see the impact one person has on
the entire human race. Adam and Eve had another son, Seth, who
began calling on the name of the Lord. Seth’s decision to call
upon the name of the Lord impacted the salvation of humanity
through his descendant Noah. Seth’s choice influenced Noah to
the saving of humanity. As we follow the historical progression
we learn that Abraham’s decision in Genesis twelve is
influencing a lost world today. The apostle Paul says it this
way:
Galatians 3:26-29
26 You are all sons of God
through faith in Christ Jesus, 27 for all of you who were
baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. 28
There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female,
for you are all one in Christ Jesus. 29 If you belong to Christ,
then you are Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise.
NIV
God promised he would bless all nations through Abraham’s
decision to follow him (Genesis 12:1-3). Salvation history
traces Abraham’s descendants to me through Jesus Christ. I am an
heir of the promise God made to Abraham for his faithfulness.
Abraham’s decision is having a direct impact on my life as I
write this message. God’s faithfulness in fulfilling his promise
to Abraham assures me as God offers the same promise to me
through Jesus Christ.
Abraham’s decision reveals how my decision to accept God’s
promise will impact future generations. We know our
environmental decisions are having a devastating impact upon our
planet. The question is, “Will the earth survive?” Transfer this
same concern to all of our moral decisions looking beyond this
world into eternity. Will we survive eternally?
The Bible gives us the historical scope of God’s work as he
seeks to reveal himself to a lost world through one life at a
time. Genealogies of the Bible are filled with unpronounceable
names, but they are there for a purpose. God’s historical record
traces his steps through the lives and hearts of those he
created. He doesn’t blush to trace his work through the life of
a murderer or a harlot. This convinces me that I am blessed to
be able to call upon a merciful God. He desires to salvage my
life from the devastating choices others have made for me. He
will even salvage me from those I have made for myself; and
those I continue to make through my own ignorance.
Where to Begin
Why not begin Bible study in the book of Genesis and trace the
scope of God’s work through the history of humankind? Observe
God at work through lives of real people, in real places as they
live under the devastating consequences of their wrong choices
and the wrong choices of others. Observe how God seeks to turn
them to himself in order to redeem his creation for his own
sake. Be led to dwell upon what this same sovereign God desires
to do through your life to salvage you personally—to salvage
generations yet unborn.
I must remember no one is so good so as to not need God’s
salvaging work—not even Jesus. God is the only one who is good.
Jesus doesn’t claim goodness for himself.
Mark 10:17-18
17 As Jesus started on his way,
a man ran up to him and fell on his knees before him. "Good
teacher," he asked, "what must I do to inherit eternal life?"
18 "Why do you call me good?"
Jesus answered. "No one is good — except God alone. NIV
Salvation history is little concerned about the timeline, the
culture, or the scientific achievements or lack of them or even
the sinfulness of those being called. God is concerned about a
person’s decision to allow him to establish his rule in his/her
heart.
Salvation history traces the lineage of faithful humankind to
the birth of Christ. In Luke the third chapter, Luke turns it
all around as he traces Christ’s birth backwards through David,
Abraham, Noah, Seth and Adam (Luke 3:23-38). I like where he
says, “. . . the son of Seth, the son of Adam, the son of God.”
Imagine, ADAM THE SON OF GOD—this is his relationship with God
in Eden. This makes every person on earth a child of God by
right of creation. If Adam was a son of God so am I, so are you.
Think of the kind of relationship a concerned parent wants with
his/her children. Is it any wonder why God wants to salvage the
lives of all of his suffering sons and daughters? What kind of
God would he be if he didn’t want to bring his children back to
himself?
Conclusion:
There is only one genealogy found in the New Testament. It is
Christ’s genealogy which is traced backward through the hearts
of those who followed God. The apostle Paul tells us when we
allow God to clothe us in Christ’s righteous we become the
offspring of Abraham and heirs with him of the promises of God.
Galatians 3:26-29
26 You are all sons of God
through faith in Christ Jesus, 27 for all of you who were
baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. 28
There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female,
for you are all one in Christ Jesus. 29 If you belong to Christ,
then you are Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise.
NIV
God has purposed that our relationship with him be restored in
Christ who has atoned for our wrong doing with his personal
sacrifice.
This is the scope of salvation history in a nutshell. What will
you decide—remember the future of the world—eternity—hangs on
your decision.
