The true and living God welcomes you back to the beginning of history—His story. In using the word, story, it must be emphasized that Genesis is not a fictional story. Genesis is the book of ‘firsts’—initiating all patterns of human existence and beginning all major biblical doctrines. The opening book of the Bible begins God’s story from the point of view of the One and Only Eyewitness of the creation scene to His prophet Moses. His purpose for creation, revealed to humanity, begins a personal challenge, open to us, that has been there from the first week. Jesus is there too—thematically known as the scarlet thread of redemption and as deity at the very first word.
The Genesis narrative seen as wisdom has always held its place of value and esteem among those seeking understanding of the foundational issues of the heart and life. Further, it has been said, “Everything in the Bible starts with Genesis and is climaxed in Revelation.” To appreciate the climax of God’s story, it is quintessential to know how His story of creation begins and unfolds. What is God Like? How do people interact with God? What is the essence of Love? These answers and many more begin to take shape in Genesis.
God uses creation to communicate God’s eternal attributes of God’s necessary existence to us as contingent beings to express love to every person who would make objective truth make sense to oneself subjectively. A whole human in the process of becoming all God intends is thus personally challenged to reconcile faith with reason. For twenty-first century truth seekers, this is poignant because faith and reason have been assaulted for centuries, to the point today that both are almost obliterated. Bumper sticker philosophy is one instance of foundational truth mocked and trivialized. On faith, it has been said: “Everyone believes in something—I believe I’ll have another beer.” Added to aphorisms like this are other words looped in a circle—e.g., “circular reasoning works because . . .”
The unfolding revelation of God’s will and God’s creation represents the ongoing challenge to purposefully reconcile one’s faith and reason to forge a unified truth in one’s life. Twentieth Century scientific discoveries show the universe begins at a point in time. Stephen C. Meyer has scientifically re-established the rationality of traditional Judeo-Christian Theism. “Not only does Theism solve a lot of philosophical problems, but empirical evidence from the natural world points powerfully to the reality of a great mind behind the Universe. Our beautiful, expanding, and finely tuned Universe and the exquisite, integrated, and informationally complexity of living organisms bear witness to the reality of a transcendent intelligence—a personal God.” Genesis shows us that men and women knew this personal God. Enoch walked with God (Gen 5:24) and so can you.
Thoughtful interaction with these archetypal lessons from real lives lived with God, leads one to learn more of God’s availability and how one may further enter into a relationship with God. The interaction between God and the individual develops wisdom in their personal walk with God. This forms a basis for future God encounters as far as and as deep as finite beings would go with the Infinite.
Biblical principles do not change, but they do re-apply anew as each generation lives, moves, and has its being. Therefore, as the social sciences observe and analyze the human workings and dynamics of the interpersonal relationships, they have their place in support of His work. Yet, those sciences are only the physical manifestations (which are passing away) of what is actually a spiritual work (everlasting). That spiritual dynamic is Worship—far more than singing— it is living before and in relation with God. The foundation of worship is a relationship with God and a worthy pursuit of worship studies begins in Genesis.
God initiated worship with Adam and Eve by simply creating male and female in His image. Communion began there in the garden. God further clarified worship by making the first blood sacrifice for the first sin. From there, Adam orally communicates and exemplifies God’s plan in his family. Eventually Noah, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob all build altars to worship God. Worship maintains the vibrant distinctions; temporal/eternal, necessary/contingent being, potential/actual, male/female, holy/common and so on.
While these may seem inconvenient or narrow-minded for those who would destroy all binary distinctions, there are distinctions and differences that do exist. “While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal” (2 Cor 4:18). The facts, concepts and truth gained from this book serve us as we seek the ultimate source and discover why worship is our most appropriate response.
Adam, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, and Joseph walk with God and are examples of getting it right despite human fallibility. In Cain and Esau, readers see those who attempt a walk from God and yet His amazing grace extends to them even in judgment. Then, there is the beloved Jacob/Israel who walks both sides of the line at times conniving, then being connived, seeing the face of God, and wrestling with God and yet the overall arc of his life in God’s hands accomplishes all that God intends. God still accomplishes His intentions in these “last days” (Acts 2:17).
The modernists flimflammed themselves believing the primacy of objective, rational thought to the exclusion (or at least the subjugation) of subjective truth. This bifurcation of thought was desirable in their view because they wanted to be free from God’s authority and establish their own authority. In response the intellectual pendulum swung too far the other way to post-modern’s preposterous reactions contained in self-refuting propositions such as, “All truth is subjective.” and “Your truth is not necessarily my truth.” In Genesis 42:16, Joseph shows us that truth is simply telling it like it is when he says, “In this way your words may be tested to see if you are telling the truth.”
Here (and on the near horizon) is meta-modern thought that incorrectly assumes truth is variable and is found through constantly vacillating between subjective and objective without discrimination. This can serve no purpose but to destroy the very imago dei necessary of human experience. No one discovers truth, especially eternal truth, in order to abandon it. Each of us discovers our purposeful, meaningful being within God’s everlasting story through reason and faith reconciled and in conjunction.
As Jacob encountering God directly through experience leaves an imprint on his soul, being forever changed, experiencing God from the pages of Scripture also creates an indelible impression. This encounter of experiencing God awaits you. I pray for your lifelong journey through the Scriptures and that God’s grand meta-narrative opens the relational gateway of your heart and your head to the true and living God. Jump in here with reason and faith awakened to the communion that awaits. He is near at hand, and He is coming soon. Be prepared to be forever changed as you become all that Our Creator intends for you. May God bless your journey into and through His story becoming yours.
David L. Ream, PhD
Director, School of Worship
Calvary Chapel School of Discipleship
Author, Hippie Voices to God’s Heart: Calvary Chapel Encounters God (Wipf & Stock, 2024)