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In Monday's blog, Katie did an excellent job of explaining what the word "genesis" means and why the first book of the Bible is titled as such. It is certainly the beginning of history, as in there was nothing before it. You may certainly choose to believe something existed before God, or even that God doesn't exist at all. But if you believe what the Bible says, there are no history books that talk about anything before the events described in Genesis 1 because this world wasn't even here! So even though God existed before it, Genesis really does describe the beginning of the world as we know it. And with the beginning of this world comes the beginning of God's story of redemption.

I think it is fair to say that most Christians associate redemption specifically with the cross, and rightfully so. However, the downside to that is that so many have forgotten the work that God was doing "in the beginning". In the Old Testament, the Jews looked forward to the Messiah and were saved by grace through their faith. In the New Testament and ever since, we are saved by grace through faith in the Messiah that already came to this earth and died for our sins. But even while most Christians would agree on these truths, I think that many see the God of the Old Testament as more wrathful and just and the God of the New Testament as gracious, loving, and merciful. Whether it is intentional or accidental, this is basically what is taught in Christian circles. In theology class in seminary, we learned that this is a form of heresy known as either "dualism" or "modalism", depending on whether your view asserts 2 different gods or 2 different modes of the same God. We must remember that the God of the Old Testament and the God of the New Testament are one in the same! That means that if the God of the New Testament is all about redemption, so is the God of the Old Testament. We find a ton of evidence to support this truth just in the book of Genesis alone.

Webster defines "redeem" as "to make something acceptable or pleasant in spite of its negative qualities or aspects". Wow! I was blown away by that definition. Is that not the best description of what God loves to do in our lives? The truth is, He did it before any human being was even here. Genesis 1:2 tells us that "the earth was formless and empty and darkness was over the surface of the deep". The rest of Genesis 1 reveals how God created everything that was "good" out of this initial darkness and emptiness. God loves to redeem! He loves to bring order from chaos! But that was just the beginning. Genesis 3 is littered with examples of redemptive work. While Adam and Eve suffer consequences for their sin, they don't die right away. God gives them the ability to make garments to cover their shame. He also promises that the serpent will always be under mankind. He then allows Adam and Eve to continue in their marital bliss and child-bearing even though they have sinned. In Genesis 4, God spares Cain even after Cain was guilty of murder. In Chapter 5, we see that Cain's son Enoch "walked with God". Let me just tell you that as an investigative caseworker for child protective services, I know what a miraculous work of redemption it is when a son does not follow in the dysfunction of his father because it is so rare and only the grace of God can help break such a terrible cycle. In Chapters 6-9, God redeems the earth by ridding it of all wickedness and giving mankind a fresh start. He also promises to never destroy the whole earth by a flood again and declares that the sign of this promise would be a rainbow, which is often still visible to us today. In Chapter 11, God deals with mankind's plan to put themselves above Him by scattering them and confusing their languages, rather than killing them because of their rebellion. God redeems them from the trap of thinking they can get themselves to a point where they won't need Him anymore. Hopefully, you see my point.

Friends, this is literally just the beginning. I just picked out some things from the first 11 chapters, and I'm sure I missed some examples of redemptive work even in that section. The rest of the Book of Genesis tells of God's redemptive work in the lives of Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Lot, Rebekah, Jacob, Joseph, Joseph's brothers, and even Pharaoh and Potiphar as they observed Joseph's faith in his God. Again, I only named a few as there are many more examples of God's desire to redeem in Genesis. I urge you to read it and experience the beginning of not just everything Katie talked about, but also the specific examples of redemption.

Remember that Christ has been here since the beginning and the redemptive nature of our Lord has been on display since before we were even walking this earth. As you seek to grow in knowledge of the truth of God, consider His nature and how everything that has ever happened since the beginning of time, including the horrible tragedies that were not a part of His will, has been used to advance His plan of redemption. This can be a tough thing to accept because we wonder how God can allow such horrible things to happen if His plan is to redeem. Remember, we brought the darkness, the chaos, the negative qualities or aspects into our lives when we decided to sin. There are consequences for this and sometimes God doesn't choose to take them all away. But He is always offering a path to redemption, a path that makes what is chaotic pleasing and acceptable. Read the Bible and see for yourself, starting with Genesis.