The Foundational Importance of Geneses 1 & 2

This year during WIRED our teaching series has been called “What Does the Bible Say About…?” In this series, we have been alternating weekly between an attribute of God and a particular topic or theme. For example, we have looked at what the Bible says about the justice of God, the faithfulness of God, the wrath of God, and many others attributes. Additionally, we have looked at what the Bible says about dating/relationships, about slavery, about work, about technology, and many others topics. 

It has been a very instructive time and, after over twenty such talks, certain patterns have become evident. One such pattern is the foundational importance of the first two chapters of God’s Word, Genesis 1 and 2. 

Prior to my entry into full-time ministry eight years ago, I spent seventeen years in residential construction.  During that time, I was involved in the construction of over 1,000 homes and was a certified SBCCI building inspector so i know how critical a solid foundation is.

Throughout those years, I had a few opportunities to respond to significant warranty claims where homes were actually sinking (very slowly, mind you) due to either bad foundations or bad soil under the foundations. If you start out wrong, the only place you will ever end up at is wrong!

This same truth applies to how we think about so many of the ethical and moral issues of our day. The proper foundation for a Christian to think properly is to always go back to Genesis 1 and 2. Whether we are talking about work, about sexuality issues, or about abortion, we must start with the proper foundation. 

When we look at the first two chapters of Genesis a number of truths and realties can be gleaned which a follower of Christ should use to inform and shape how they construct the foundation for their thinking about moral and ethical issues. 

First, these chapters establish that what God has made is very good (Gen 1:31). It is very good that God made work, that God made males, that God made females, that God made life. Certainly the fall has major implications in how we view work and maleness and femaleness and life, but it doesn’t change the reality of their inherent goodness. 

Second, we see that mankind is made in the image of God (Gen 1:26). This means that men and woman have special value and dignity and worth because God chose to imbue them with His very image. We are different, and more valuable, than animals because of this reality!

Third, we see that because God is the creator of everything and because He has made mankind in His image, He has the final authority over all that He has created. It is His prerogative to tell His creation how they should live and what they can and cannot do. 

If the foundation of a Christian’s thinking isn’t built with the reality that all that God made is good, that mankind is made in God’s image, and that God has the right to tell His creation how they are to live, then their foundation is off. Such a foundation is not solid nor will it stand against the winds and pressures the cultural storms will surely throw against it. Have you considered the foundational significance of these two chapters before? If not, give them a read again and ponder the implications of a good God creating, caring for, and commanding His creation.