READING GENESIS TO FIND GOD
Reading Genesis to Find God
Genesis Chapters 1-2 teach us a foundational truth about God; He is gracious. The fact that God created everything proves this. The world was made and continues to exist by His grace, and everything we have is because He is gracious.
This leads to an important question. Why would an infinite God who needs nothing create a world? While we are not given a precise answer, we do know that everything was created according to His will. Scripture confirms this in John 1:2–3 and Revelation 4:11. Ultimately, we do know that He created because He is gracious, and the world was created with man in mind. We are also made in His image. There could be no greater or more gracious way to create us than this.
In Genesis 3, God demonstrates His mercy. When sin enters the world and ruins what God created, we are faced with the question of how He will respond. The first time God appears in the chapter is in verse 8, where He is walking in the garden. He is not running or acting in haste. He is approaching Adam and Eve as they hide from Him.
God then asks Adam and Eve questions in verses 9 through 13. These questions are not for His benefit, but for theirs. He is helping them understand what they have done. This reflects the actions of a good parent who disciplines while also making sure the child understands the reason for correction. Rather than destroying them, God shows mercy. He allows them to live, removes them from the garden, and foretells the coming of His Son (Genesis 3:15). Jesus would come to die so that we might live, as seen in John 1:29 and Isaiah 53.
The angel with the flaming sword in Genesis 3:24 is also important to understand. It was not placed there to create a permanent barrier between God and man or to cast man aside. It was placed to guard the way to the tree of life as verse twenty-four teaches. Sin does separate us from God, but it does so because we choose to walk away and hide from Him. God continues to seek after mankind, just as He did with Adam and Eve. If Genesis 3 is misunderstood, it can lead to an incorrect view of God. Instead, it clearly shows that God is merciful, just as He proclaims.
Genesis 4 is not ultimately about Cain and Abel, but about God. The acceptance of Abel’s offering and the rejection of Cain’s show that God had already revealed what was required. Hebrews 11:4 tells us that Abel offered by faith, and Romans 10:17 teaches that faith comes from hearing. This means instruction had been given. I John 3:10–12 also shows that Cain’s deeds were evil.
After rejecting Cain’s offering, God speaks to him and asks questions, just as He did with Adam and Eve. Even when Cain is angry, God comes to him and gives him an opportunity to respond correctly. After Cain kills Abel, God still shows mercy. Genesis 4:15 shows that although Cain is punished, God protects him so that no one will harm him. His sin is not excused, but mercy is still present.
As Scripture unfolds, we see that God’s plan to redeem mankind has been in place since sin entered the world, as Romans 5:12 teaches. This plan ultimately leads to Christ, through whom redemption is possible. God has always been working to redeem mankind. He is gracious, merciful, and long-suffering in goodness and truth, and He always will be.
This is why reading the Bible for yourself is so important, as reading it to find and understand God is crucial in our daily life. This article was written to emphasize that it doesn’t take long when reading the Bible to find/know God, it can be done from the beginning!
~Cole LeBlanc