Formed in God’s story: Genesis

If you’ve been around church for any time, you’ve heard of Adam and Eve, Cain and Abel, Noah and the flood, Abraham and Sarah, Jacob and his sons. You’ve probably heard debates about creation and evolution. You know about the snake and the fall. You may have heard of Nimrod or the Nephilim, or compared our time to the days of Noah.

These topics are in Genesis, but they are not the message of the book. Why was Genesis written? What is the theme at the core of the book? What is this book doing at the start of the Bible’s narrative?

Genesis is far more than a collection of fascinating stories. There’s something grander going on, a narrative that is greater than the sum of its parts.

So what is it? How does the story work, and where is it going? Here’s the macro story, the big picture of how the story flows in Genesis, what it says about God and us, and how this draws us into the whole Bible narrative:

• Part 1: Genesis (PDF, 1 MB).

We’ll provide you with one of these each week for the next six weeks, covering Genesis — Esther as a single narrative dealing with the relationship between heaven and earth. Isn’t that what the first verse establishes?

Six weeks from now, you’ll know how the first 17 books of the Bible form a single story. That’s everything in the historical section of the Old Testament, including the Torah. That’s the backdrop that gives you context for everything else in the developing story of Scripture: the Psalms and the prophets, the Messiah and his people, how everything God established in the beginning comes together in the end.

I do think Scripture has a single purpose. It is the revelation of God. Knowing God shapes us. Our identity and purpose come from who God is and what God is doing. That’s the reason for the title: Formed in God’s Story.

This series was originally prepared for Riverview Church in Perth, Western Australia. Since we’re all being formed in God’s story, we’re sharing it with everyone. No charge. No need to register (unless you wish to attend in person).

If you want more detail on a specific chapter, the Scripture Index will help you locate another 90 posts on Genesis.

If you want less detail to see how it fits together, check out the Bible Project videos on Genesis 1–11 and Genesis 12–50 (8 minutes each).

Next week we’ll provide you with “Part 2: Exodus.”