Genesis opens with the breathtaking declaration that God is the origin of all beauty, order, and life. In the midst of darkness and chaos, God speaks, and light invades, creation flourishes, and everything that exists finds its beginning in Him. This is not just a story about the world’s start, but about the One who needed nothing to create everything, whose presence and creativity are the foundation of all that is good and beautiful. As you reflect on the world around you, let your imagination run wild with the wonder that God’s story starts so strong, and that His beauty is the true starting point for all things. [16:29]
Genesis 1:1
In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. (ESV)
Reflection: As you look at the world around you today, what is one aspect of creation that fills you with awe and reminds you of God’s beauty? How can you intentionally pause to marvel at it and give thanks to God for it?
Genesis 3 reveals the heartbreaking moment when sin enters the world, rupturing the trust and intimacy between humanity and God. What was once a place of joy and presence becomes a place of hiding and shame, as Adam and Eve withdraw from the God who lovingly seeks them. Yet, even in this darkest moment, God does not abandon His creation; instead, He promises a future rescue, a Redeemer who will make things right. This passage invites us to grieve the reality of sin, but also to cling to the hope that God’s grace is greater, and His plan for redemption is already at work. [21:12]
Genesis 3:8, 15
And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. … I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel. (ESV)
Reflection: Where do you find yourself hiding from God—out of shame, fear, or regret? What would it look like to bring that area into the light and trust in His promise of redemption today?
The beauty and hope that begin in Genesis find their ultimate fulfillment in Jesus Christ. John 1 reveals that Jesus, the Word, was present at creation, and that in Him is life and light that darkness cannot overcome. All things were made through Him, and He is the One who brings order, meaning, and restoration to our brokenness. As you consider the story of Genesis, see how it points forward to Jesus—the One who redeems, reconciles, and invites us to belong to God’s family. [18:16]
John 1:1-5
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. (ESV)
Reflection: How does knowing that Jesus was present at creation and is the source of life and light change the way you see your own story and your relationship with Him today?
From the earliest chapters of Genesis, God invites His people to belong to Him, to call upon His name, and to find rest in His presence. This invitation is echoed by Jesus in Matthew 11, where He calls the weary and burdened to come to Him for rest. God’s desire is not just for us to know about Him, but to be with Him—to worship, to rest, and to be set apart as His people. In a world that often drives us to strive and hide, God’s invitation is to come, to learn from Him, and to find true rest for our souls. [27:06]
Matthew 11:28-30
Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light. (ESV)
Reflection: What is one practical way you can accept Jesus’ invitation to rest in Him this week—whether through worship, prayer, or simply being still in His presence?
The story of Genesis and the gospel is not just something to observe, but to enter into. God invites us to respond—to rejoice in His story, to remember our own origin with Him, to delight in His creation, and to confess our sins rather than hide. Confession brings us out of isolation and into the light, where God’s grace and the support of His people can bring healing and freedom. Whether your journey with Jesus began long ago or you sense Him calling you today, let this be a week where you step into new rhythms of honesty, worship, and belonging. [36:15]
1 John 1:7-9
But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (ESV)
Reflection: Is there a sin or struggle you’ve been hiding that you need to bring into the light—first to God, and perhaps to a trusted believer? What step can you take today to begin that journey toward freedom and fellowship?
As we begin our journey through Genesis, we are invited to reflect on the power and significance of origins—those starting points in our lives that shape who we are and where we are headed. Genesis is not just the beginning of the Bible; it is the foundation from which all of God’s story with humanity flows. We are drawn to origin stories because they help us understand ourselves, our wounds, our joys, and the ways God is at work in the midst of it all. Each of us has many beginnings—some beautiful, some painful—but all of them are places where God is present and inviting us into his grace.
Genesis, written by Moses during Israel’s wilderness years, is both a look back at what God has done and a look forward to what he will do. The first eleven chapters lay out the origin of the human race, while the rest of the book focuses on God’s invitation to a family—Abraham’s line—to belong to him. Genesis covers more time than any other book in the Bible, setting the stage for the entire biblical narrative. It is the origin of families, conflict, promise, provision, hope, and warning. It is also where we see the beginnings of many of the issues that still shape our world today—creation, marriage, gender, violence, and more.
At its heart, Genesis is a story about God’s beauty and his relentless invitation to belong, even in the face of human rebellion and sin. The beauty of creation in chapters 1 and 2 is quickly marred by the tragedy of sin in chapters 3 and 4. Yet, even in the darkest moments, God promises rescue and redemption. The story points forward to Jesus, who is present at creation and is the fulfillment of all God’s promises. In him, the brokenness that began in Genesis finds its healing.
As we move through Genesis, we are called to marvel at God’s beauty, grieve the reality of sin, and rejoice in the hope of redemption. We are invited to remember our own origin stories with Jesus, to worship him in the beauty of creation, and to step out of hiding through confession and community. The journey through Genesis is ultimately an invitation to rest in Jesus, the one who makes all things new and calls us to belong.
Genesis 1:1–5 (ESV) —
> In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. And God saw that the light was good. And God separated the light from the darkness. God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day.
- Genesis 3:8–15 (ESV)
> And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. But the Lord God called to the man and said to him, “Where are you?” And he said, “I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself.” He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?” The man said, “The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate.” Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this that you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.” The Lord God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this, cursed are you above all livestock and above all beasts of the field; on your belly you shall go, and dust you shall eat all the days of your life. I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.”
- John 1:1–5 (ESV)
> In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
It is a pivotal book. It is a book full of starting points, full of origins. We get the starting point for families and for conflict. The word genealogy is kind of a big deal in the book of Genesis, as God is protecting and preserving his family and his line to fulfill his promise. And it shouldn't surprise us that God's story, our story starts with God creating a family, a man and woman. And they walk in the garden in the presence of God. And they're this beautiful family. [00:11:46] (38 seconds) #FamilyAndPromise
There is an origin of hope and of warning, of hope in that God is going to provide a way, that God is going to protect, that God is going to be patient. There is a lot of hope in the future in Genesis. But there's also a lot of warning that sin is deadly and God's judgment against it is severe. And we will see that as we journey through the book. And so there's our starting point for both hope and warning come in the book of Genesis. [00:13:47] (33 seconds) #HopeAndWarning
As we read and then teach through it on Sunday mornings, I want you to enjoy the beautiful origin of light invading darkness, of chaos becoming order, and the word creating life. I want your imaginations to run wild as you read chapters 1 and 2. It is so beautiful. God's story starts out so strong and out of nowhere. God needed nothing to create everything because this is a story about him. [00:16:11] (36 seconds) #LightFromChaos
Things in Genesis 1 and 2 are going to be beautiful. We're going to see this incredible wedding take place. We're going to see a family get established. And just at the height of, it can't get any better than this, it feels like it takes a dive off a cliff. As in Genesis chapter 3 and 4, we get the origin of sin and brokenness. We hit mankind's starting point with sin, brokenness, and our need for rescue and redemption. [00:18:51] (31 seconds) #FallAndRedemption
Almost on every page in Genesis, after Genesis 3, there's going to be this question that kind of nags at the reader of, is it this guy? Is it Noah? No, it's not Noah. Is it Abraham? No. Isaac? Jacob? Joseph? No. Moses? No. That's into Exodus. We'll have to get there eventually. But the question is always going to be, is this the one? Until we finally get to Jesus. And the answer is found, yes and amen. In him, we find our yes. [00:23:26] (31 seconds) #WaitingForTheOne
How do we get back to the origin story that I think so many of us long for? We come to Jesus. We learn from Jesus. We rest in Jesus. He says his yoke is easy, and his burden is light. And so as we go through Genesis, we are going to see that Jesus is the one who fulfills God's beautiful plan. He is the one who redeems our sin. He is the one through whom we belong and are invited in to belong. [00:27:37] (28 seconds) #JesusFulfillsGenesis
Genesis is a book about Jesus. It is going to foster and compel and further our faith and our desire to follow him and so at the onset the question is well what do we do what is our response as we enter into this adventure of studying the origin story of Genesis well this week I want to give you three things but because I'm a preacher it's really five and it might be seven we'll see as I go. [00:28:23] (34 seconds) #FaithInTheOrigin
So much better is coming and then lastly and probably most challenging but we're a church that can do hard things I want to invite you to obey the Lord by confessing your sin and being with Jesus what we will see very early on in Genesis is that sin takes us into hiding and it isolates us and my very real fear and concern for our modern day culture is we continue to hide why I think Genesis 3 verse 8 is so heartbreaking is because it reads so often like my own story where I hide from the presence of the Lord and so my invitation to you this week is to begin a pattern of confession take time to confess start with the Lord go vertical first go to him and say Lord these things are are in the way of me having a right relationship with you he already knows them anyway be honest with him bring it into the light. [00:34:22] (70 seconds) #FaithfulDespiteSin
Find someone who knows and loves Jesus. And if they are safe, lay that before them so they can help fuel your obedience. That is not a step to be taken lightly. So again, start asking the Lord, is there someone in my life that I can do this with? But you for sure can go to him. [00:36:36] (24 seconds)
But church, as we start this story, my hope and prayer is that we would marvel at the beauty of God's plan and his faithfulness despite our sin to do a great and incredible work. [00:37:00] (20 seconds)
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