If you want to understand the end of a story, you have to start at the beginning. Genesis is the Bible’s beginning – and almost everything else in Scripture grows from seeds planted here: God the Creator, humanity in His image, sin and death, covenant and promise, and the hope of a coming Saviour.

At a glance

• Author: Moses. Jewish and Christian tradition, and Jesus and the apostles, consistently treat the five books of the Law as written by Moses (see Luke 24:27, 44; John 5:46). Moses would have used God-given revelation, and possibly earlier records, all under the Spirit’s inspiration.
• Date: During the wilderness wanderings after the Exodus, around the 15th century BC (on the conservative dating of the Exodus, c. 1446 BC, from 1 Kings 6:1).
• Setting: From creation itself, through the ancient Near East, to Abraham’s family in Canaan, ending with Jacob’s family living in Egypt.
• Original readers: Israel in the wilderness, about to enter the land God had promised to Abraham. Genesis told them who their God is, who they are, and why they were heading for Canaan.

Structure

Genesis divides naturally into two halves.

1. Primeval history (chapters 1–11): the beginnings of the world – Creation (1–2) – The fall (3) – Sin spreads: Cain and Abel to the days of Noah (4–5) – The Flood and God’s covenant with Noah (6–9) – The nations and the tower of Babel (10–11)

2. Patriarchal history (chapters 12–50): the beginnings of God’s people – Abraham (12–25) – Isaac (25–26) – Jacob (27–36) – Joseph (37–50)

Moses also marks the book with a repeated phrase, “These are the generations of…” (for example 2:4; 5:1; 6:9; 11:27; 37:2), like chapter headings running through the story.

Key themes

God is the Creator

Genesis opens with no argument for God’s existence; it simply announces Him: “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth” (Genesis 1:1, NASB 1995). He creates by His word, in six days, and everything is “very good” (1:31). That means the world belongs to Him, and so do we.

John MacArthur, in the first sermon of his Genesis 1 series, put it this way: “Christianity does not begin with accepting Jesus Christ as Savior, Christianity begins in Genesis 1:1.” (Creation: Believe It or Not, Part 1, Grace to You)

Humanity in God’s image

“God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them” (Genesis 1:27, NASB 1995). Every person you pass in a Joburg taxi rank or a Sandton office carries that dignity. Man and woman are equal in worth, created to complement one another, and marriage is instituted by God (2:24).

Sin and its spreading ruin

In chapter 3 Adam and Eve doubt God’s word and disobey. The results spread fast: shame, blame, pain, a cursed ground, exile from Eden, and death. By chapter 6, “every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually” (6:5, NASB 1995). Genesis is honest about us.

Grace and covenant

And yet, at every turn, God shows grace. He clothes Adam and Eve, preserves Noah, and calls Abram out of an idol-worshipping family. He binds Himself by covenant promises: a land, a people as many as the stars, and blessing for the whole world through Abraham’s offspring (12:1–3; 15; 17).

Faith, not works

“Then he believed in the LORD; and He reckoned it to him as righteousness” (Genesis 15:6, NASB 1995). Paul builds his teaching on justification by faith on this very verse (Romans 4:3; Galatians 3:6). Abraham was not saved by being impressive – the stories show he often wasn’t – but by trusting God’s promise.

God’s sovereign providence

The Joseph story shows God ruling even through betrayal, slavery and injustice. Joseph tells his brothers: “As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good in order to bring about this present result, to preserve many people alive” (Genesis 50:20, NASB 1995). God also chooses whom He will – Isaac, not Ishmael; Jacob, not Esau (see Romans 9:10–13) – a theme we’ll return to in our Doctrines of Grace series.

How Genesis points to Christ

• The promised seed. After the fall, God says to the serpent: “And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; He shall bruise you on the head, and you shall bruise him on the heel” (Genesis 3:15, NASB 1995). This is the first gospel promise. Jesus, born of a woman, was “bruised” at the cross and there defeated Satan (Hebrews 2:14; 1 John 3:8).
• The last Adam. Adam brought sin and death; Christ brings righteousness and life (Romans 5:12–19; 1 Corinthians 15:22, 45).
• The ark. God shut Noah’s family into the one place of safety from judgment. Peter connects the Flood with salvation in Christ (1 Peter 3:20–21).
• Abraham’s seed. “In you all the families of the earth will be blessed” (Genesis 12:3, NASB 1995). Paul says the seed is ultimately Christ (Galatians 3:16), and the blessing reaches the nations – including South Africa – through Him.
• The substitute on the mountain. In Genesis 22 God stops Abraham from sacrificing Isaac and provides a ram in his place. “God will provide for Himself the lamb” (22:8, NASB 1995). Centuries later God did not spare His own Son (Romans 8:32).
• The ruler from Judah. Jacob’s blessing promises that “The scepter shall not depart from Judah” (49:10, NASB 1995), pointing to David’s line and to Jesus, the Lion of the tribe of Judah (Revelation 5:5).
• Joseph. Rejected by his brothers, exalted to the right hand of the king, and the means of saving the very people who betrayed him – Joseph is a beautiful picture of our Lord.

Key verses to underline

• Genesis 1:1 – God the Creator
• Genesis 1:27 – made in God’s image
• Genesis 3:15 – the first gospel promise
• Genesis 12:1–3 – God’s call and covenant with Abraham
• Genesis 15:6 – righteousness by faith
• Genesis 50:20 – God’s good purpose through evil

Learn – Grow – Change

• Learn: Read Genesis 1–3, 12, 15, 22 and 50 this week. If you have time, read the whole book – it reads like a gripping family saga.
• Grow: When you pray, begin where Genesis begins: thank God as your Creator, and confess your sin honestly, as Genesis 3 shows us.
• Change: Where are you, like Joseph, facing a situation others meant for evil? Genesis invites you to trust that God is still sovereign and still good.

Going deeper

• Sermon series: John MacArthur, The Battle for the Beginning (Grace to You) – a verse-by-verse series through Genesis 1.
• Local church: Sermons from Antioch Bible Church, Honeydew – for example, Tim Cantrell’s sermon “A World Ripe for Judgment” (Genesis 6:1–8).

Next in the series: Exodus – the God who rescues.