Page 17 - Old Testament Survey Student Textbook

GENESIS

Genesis forms the Foundation of history. While the Bible would be considered
the book that has had the greatest impact on the world it is really a compilation
of many books and the book of Genesis is at the foundation of them all.

If the book of Genesis were removed from the bible, the rest of the bible would
be incomprehensible. It would be like a building with no foundation or a bridge with no support. The
books of the Old Testament chronicle the way that God dealt with the children of Israel. However,
without the foundation of Genesis, God seems capricious, bigoted, and provincial. It is through Genesis
that we are able to contextualize God’s progressive plan of redemption through Israel for all of mankind.
In the New Testament we see God’s implementation and execution of His redemptive plan for mankind.
However, this plan can only find meaning when grounded in man’s fall and resultant depravity of
Genesis. The need for salvation and ultimately a savior is established and recorded in the primeval
history of man in Genesis.

The word Genesis means “origin”. In it we find the information about the origin of all things. When we
know the origin of something, we can understand the meaning for its existence. Further to understand
where we are going – our future, we must understand where we have come from – our past. In Genesis
we find the most accurate an authoritative account of the origin of:

A. Origin of the universe
The book of Genesis is alone as an account of the actual creation of the space-mass-time continuum of
the physical universe. Genesis 1:1 is unique in all of literature, science, and philosophy. All other forms
of thought or systems of cosmogony start with eternal matter or energy in some form, from which other
entities gradually form through some process. Only the book of Genesis even attempts to account for
the ultimate origin of all matter, all space, all time. It does this uniquely through special creation.

B. Origin of order and complexity
As we observe the physical universe, we notice that there is order, specificity, and complexity. We also
notice that all systems tend to wind down and move from order to chaos. We observe nothing becoming
more orderly. The tendency is toward decay, disorder, simplicity. Order and complexity never arise
spontaneously they are always generated by a prior cause programmed to produce such order. The
Primeval Programmer and His programmed purposes are found only in Genesis.

C. Origin of the solar system
The earth, sun, moon, and stars were brought into being by the creator in Genesis. It is ironic that
modern scientists and cosmologists are unsuccessful and attempting to devise plausible naturalistic
theories to explain the origin of the universe and solar system.

D. Origin of the atmosphere and hydrosphere
The earth is unique in the known universe for its abundance of water and breathable atmosphere. We
find a balance of Oxygen-Nitrogen gaseous atmosphere infused with liquid water and water vapor.
These elements and these concentrations are necessary for the sustenance of life. It has not developed
anywhere in the rest of the known universe and will never be found to have. The earth system did not
randomly develop. It was purposefully created as was the rest of the universe.

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