Genesis is a book of beginnings. It is the beginning of time, the beginning of man, and the beginning of God’s revelation to man. Genesis is the first section of theTorah, also known as the Law. It is written primarily in narrative form with interpretivepoems and some short editorially conclusions. It establishes the themes and basisfor the entire Pentateuch. The message of Genesis is foundational for the entireBible. The Christian ideas of grace, atonement, and sin all find their origin in thebook.The primary message of Genesis is God’s desire for relationship with man.This message can be seen in three distinct narratives. This idea of relationship is firstseen in the creation narrative which is told in chapters one, two and three. The bookbegins with the Hebrew word תיִשאֵר. This word is usually translated beginning. Itrefers to the beginning of an unspecified length of time. It could be translated as “atsome time in the past.” The focus of the creation narrative is not to answer thenumerous questions that abound regarding method and date. By using the Hebrewword תיִשאֵר, the author’s intentions are made clear. The focus of the creationnarrative is God. This intention is made clearer with the phrase “heaven’s and theearth.” This phrase is a merism. A merism is a literary form used to define a singlesubject by using a conventional phrase that describes the boundaries of the object.For instance, in English the phrase “searching from head to toe” is used to illustrate athorough or complete search. The phrase “head to toe” are used to describe an entireperson. In verse one the phrase “heavens and the earth” demonstrate that theprimary function of the creation narrative is to define God as the source of allcreation. “Heavens and the earth” create a word picture that captures the entirety of

creation. God is the Creator. The Bible is stating that everything that exists camefrom God’s original creation.The Hebrew word תיִשאֵרְב is used to define this creation. The word תיִשאֵרְבis unique in that God is the only one with whom this word is connected in the OldTestament. God is the only one that can create something from nothing. Thisdemonstrates the creation that takes places in verse one is unique from thepreparation that takes place during the “days of creation.” The Hebrew word used todescribe this preparation is הָָע. This word means to make adequate for or toprepare. So the rest of chapter one is spent defining how God takes great care toprepare the earth for humanity. Because humanity is God’s crowning achievement(Genesis 1:26 says, “Let us make man in our image”), God carefully crafts the worldinto which man will arrive. This shows that from the beginning, humanity is and wasthe focus of God’s creative powers. Because man is created in the image of God,man has capacity and need for relationship. This is demonstrated in 2:18. Godmakes a broad statement that it is not good for humanity to be alone. The textreveals that God is speaking about humanity in general, not just Adam in particular.God did not create Eve to relieve Adam’s loneliness. Instead, just has God hasrelationship within himself (the Trinity), so all human beings have the need of relationship with others like themselves. This need for relationship helps to defineman’s greatest purpose, the worship of God.The creation narrative demonstrates how careful God was in designing andpreparing Eden for man. In spite of the utopian environment in which Adam and Eve

find themselves, they still reject the straight-forward wisdom of God. That decisionresults in sin. Chapter three explains what is commonly described as “the fall.” Adamand Eve reject God’s plan and purpose by choosing to follow their own way. Eve’sdesire for wisdom (the tree of the knowledge of good and evil), on her own terms,establishes the Biblical definition for sin. Sin can be defined as refusing to walk inGod’s way or following one’s own path. As Creator, God is the only one who has theauthority or right to decide the path of His creation. Sin is one’s refusal to allow GodHis rightful place of leadership. This description of sin becomes the basis that is usedthroughout the Old Testament. In later prophetic writings, the phrase “that which wasright in his own eyes” is used to describe when the people of Israel stray fromfollowing the Lord. This narrative is the first of many narratives in the Old Testamentthat demonstrate the folly of surrendering to temptation and rejecting the clear wisdom of God. Chapter three ends with God fulfilling His promise to expel Adam andEve if they ate of the fruit of the tree.The primacy of relationship is next seen in the story of Noah and the flood. In6:5, the people of the earth have once again rejected the wisdom of God and areliving life by their own desires. Their actions have made God grieve to the place of deciding to eliminate all of humanity. In grace, God selects Noah to be the “newAdam.” In many ways the flood story is a repetition of the original creation narrative.The flood is used by God to once again prepare the world for man. God’s desire for relationship with humanity is seen in His election of Noah to continue the humanrace.