Back to Basics: The First Three Chapters of Genesis

The main reason why I got involved in blogging originally, was a desire to "fan the flames" of reformed doctrine. This is something that is badly needed among Christians. The doctrinal content of the faith is absolutely essential and reformed Christianity offers a rich content of the faith. Christianity is not simply an emotion, it is not just a way of life, but it is faith which is built on truth. It is the truth that God is the Creator and Redeemer. This is one of the reasons why the first three chapters of Genesis are vital to the Christian message and the Christian church. Let me summarise the first three chapters of the Bible

Genesis Chapter 1

God created everything, out of nothing, and in the space of six days. Genesis 1:1 reads: "In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth". In Genesis 1:1, 1:21, 1:27 and 2:4, the word "created" is used six times. There is not the slightest hint of evolution or a compromised hybrid to somehow combine evolution and creation together. God is the Creator and sustainer of all things. This Creation narrative is repeated in summary in Genesis 5:1-2.

Genesis Chapter 2

This chapter reveals what life was like in the Garden of Eden for Adam and Eve. We are told facts about the Creation of Adam and his wife who was called "woman" prior to the Fall. Adam and Eve are historic persons, they are never treated as myth in the Bible. The Garden of Eden was a real, historic place where a "covenant of works" bound Adam to perpetual obedience to the Lord. Genesis 2:16-17 reads: "And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, “You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”

Genesis Chapter 3

Here we learn of the historic Fall of humanity. Eve ate of the fruit and then gave it to her husband. They broke the one law which God gave them to obey and sin entered the world. All humanity are descended from Adam and Eve and therefore all humanity are affected by their Fall. People are not sinless but they are born in sin and their nature is to live in sin and rebellion against God Almighty. In Genesis Chapter 3 we get the first Gospel promise when the Lord preached to the serpent and Adam and Eve were the congregation. The Lord God said: "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”.

The Christian message cannot be rightly understood without these biblical foundations. So much more could be said of God's plan for marriage and the family which are also plainly taught in these opening chapters of the Bible. I recommend that any person reading this blog, that they should simply go back and read the first three chapters of Genesis and think of how many biblical truths are contained in these chapters.