Answers in Genesis

No, this is not about the organization of the same name or evolution. Just for clarification at the outset.

A lot of Christians like to think that the Old Testament isn't as valuable as the New. They tend to think the Old is replaced. I mean, when we have it all so clear in the New Testament, why bother with the Old? I'm here to tell you that it's just not true. I'm currently reading through Genesis and I was fascinated to see so much of basic Christian doctrine built into the first 10 chapters of the first book of the Bible.

Take, for instance, the "bad news" that makes the Gospel so much "good news". In Romans Paul spends almost 3 chapters telling how sinful mankind is. Genesis does it in a much space. We start with paradise, the perfect opportunity for human beings to never ever sin. Adam has a perfect relationship with God without any knowledge of evil. God walks with him in the garden. He has a purpose and he has a wife and life is as perfect as it gets. He has no guy friends urging him to "go off track" and no society pressuring him to deviate from holiness. He is without excuse. So when the first opportunity arises to do the only thing he could possibly do in violation of His Maker ... he does it. That does not bode well for mankind. The result is that in one generation there is murder and by chapter 6 God describes humans this way:

The LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually (Gen 6:5).

What an accusation. Every intention was "only evil continually". That's what we have come to. Even after saving Noah and his family we read God's certainty about mankind that "the intention of man's heart is evil from infancy" (Gen 8:21). That's what Paul explains in Romans. The natural condition of Man is only evil.

The Gospel, of course, responds to that problem with two key aspects of God: Grace and mercy. Are these found in Genesis? Very much so. We start with the Creation and in that process is the creation of Man. God bestows special favor on Man, selecting him above all other creation to be in His image and giving him dominion. There is nothing in Man that merits that favor, but God bestows it. And of course there is the clear statement, "Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord" (Gen 6:8). Don't buy that "Well, he earned it; he was blameless". "Blameless" doesn't mean "sinless" because we know "all have sinned". That just meant that he acknowledged his sin to God. He didn't deserve favor.

Next comes mercy. Mercy (not applying punishment when punishment is deserved) cannot occur until punishment is deserved. So when God warns them not to eat of the fruit and " in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die", what does justice demand when Adam and Eve eat the fruit? Obviously it is death. While Adam and Eve surely died spiritually, God extended mercy. They didn't die on the spot. And although they faced consequences (Gen 3:16-19), God's first act after pronouncing those consequences is an act of mercy. He made covers for them (Gen 3:21). (Remember, the first thing that occurred to them when they sinned was that they were naked. God remedied that.) After that, well, it's more mercy. God didn't put Cain to death for murder, but sent him away and protected him (Gen 4:9-16). Instead of putting Noah to death with the rest of sinful mankind, God saved him and his family. Mercy. And even though God knew that Man's intention was evil from childhood, He promised to "never again curse the ground because of man." Mercy.

God's grace and mercy are the two characteristics that form the basis for the Gospel. The means by which God provides grace and mercy is, of course, Christ. Now, we don't find Christ in Genesis, do we? Well, yes, we do. It is, in fact, right there in God's first declaration after Adam and Eve have sinned. God first addressed the serpent, and in that address He made a promise.

"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" (Gen 3:15).

Before Adam and Eve have even finished digesting their sinful fruit, God has made the promise of a Messiah, a man who will suffer injury at Satan's hand, but will crush Satan's head. The promise of a genuine remedy is right there at the beginning.

So in the first chapters of the book of Genesis we have all the makings of essential Christian doctrines. We have the Fall (Original Sin) and we have the plan of salvation. We have God's grace and mercy and His promised Messiah. We see the Trinity laid out in its earliest forms (Gen 1:2 - the Spirit of God; Gen 1:26 - the plurality of the one God ... "Let us make man ..."). And we're just beginning.

There is a lot of good stuff right there in Genesis. Some people find the Old Testament boring or unnecessary. I would suggest otherwise. Read about Abram and you cannot avoid the doctrine of election. Read about Joseph and you are hit between the eyes with the doctrine of God's sovereignty. Read about Ishmael and Isaac and you already have the makings of the conflict that still exists today in the Middle East between Israel and her Arab neighbors. Read about Jacob, the usurper, and see God's amazing grace and mercy at work in a scheming, conniving man who ends up the father of God's chosen race. There's hope for you there. And that's just in Genesis. Don't miss out on a lot of excellent truth and life lessons that you'll find there in the Old Testament. It was, after all, the "Word of God" that Jesus endorsed.