GENESIS
IN THE BEGINNING GO D CREATED
THE HEAVENS AND THE EARTH.
GENESIS 1:1
INTR OD U CTI O N
God had just created planet earth. The land teemed with animals, colorful plants stretched as
far as the eye could see, and cool rivers meandered through the landscape. But something was
missing. So the Lord scooped dust from the ground, fashioned it into a man, and breathed life
into his nostrils. A short time later, He caused the man to fall into a deep sleep, took one of his
ribs, and created a woman from it. Now the creation was complete. It had God’s crowning jewel—
humans—living in it. They would do what no animal could: serve as God’s “managers” to carry
out His decrees and care for His world. Finally, with all the elements of this new world in place,
God rested.
B ACKGR O U N D
“Genesis,” a Greek word meaning “origin,” is a fitting title for the book containing this story, for it
is the book of beginnings. Indeed, Genesis lays the groundwork for all that follows in Scripture. It
shows that the universe was created from nothing, ex nihilo, by the decree of God. And it estab-
lishes that before space, time, or matter came to be, God existed. Genesis even provides an early
glimpse into the foundational doctrine of the Trinity. For God the Father decided to create; His
Word, later revealed to be Jesus Christ (John 1:1–18), accomplished the creation; and His Spirit “was
hovering over the waters” (Genesis 1:2). Traditionally the authorship of Genesis has been ascribed
to Moses in the second millennium BC, along with the other four books of the Pentateuch. Indeed,
Jesus Himself credited Moses with writing these books (Mark 7:10; John 5:46).
CONTE NT
Genesis can be divided into two major sections: Chapters 1–11 depict the history of the world be-
fore Abraham. That includes God’s creation of the universe, humanity’s catastrophic decision to
sin and the resultant curse on creation, a flood that destroyed all humanity except one man and
his family, and humanity’s prideful rebellion against God at the Tower of Babel.
Chapters 12–50 begin the story of God’s dealings with one family. The Lord revealed Himself to
the first patriarch, Abraham, in Genesis 12, promising to give him land, make him a great nation,
and bless all peoples of the earth through his descendants (Genesis 12:1–3). The remainder of
Genesis shows how God began to fulfill those promises to Abraham’s son Isaac, Isaac’s son Jacob,
and Jacob’s twelve sons, especially Joseph. The book ends with Jacob’s entire family moving to
Egypt to gain relief from a great famine.