CHRIST IN GENESIS | Lesson 1 | Lesson Notes / Talking Points

Read Genesis 1.1-2.3

INTRODUCTION TO ‘CHRIST IN GENESIS’

1/ We are beginning a new course: ‘CHRIST IN GENESIS.’ Over the next six months, we will be conducting a summary/survey study of the Book of Genesis. But we won’t even attempt to do any kind of exhaustive study of Genesis and the detailed histories contained in this book. Not because they are not important, but rather because it isn’t within the parameters of the time we have … nor is it going to be our purpose. Rather, our purpose will be to seek and find how ‘CHRIST’ is revealed ‘IN GENESIS.’ And CHRIST is revealed IN GENESIS – even from the very first words and sentence, as we shall see.

2/ What we are going to do is divide the Book of Genesis into its defined sections of primaeval and patriarchal history. Some of them will be longer than others. But in those longer lesson sections from the text of Genesis, we will have to do some major summaries of the events that are taking place in the historical narrative, and then pursue our theme: show how CHRIST is revealed in those Old Testament events IN GENESIS … using as our guide the fulfilled revelations of CHRIST from the teachings of the New Testament.

3/ We promise we’re not going to do any ‘stretching’ or ‘bending’ of the Genesis texts – we don’t have to. There are enough clear New Testament references to CHRIST IN GENESIS to guide and occupy our attention and interest.

I / SOME GUIDING NEW TESTAMENT SCRIPTURES TO ‘CHRIST IN GENESIS’

1/ We must remember that the whole Bible – all of the Scriptures – have but one theme: CHRIST! As the angel said to John in Revelation 19.10, “For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.” ‘Prophecy’ meaning ‘God’s proclaimed message’ – ALL of it, from Genesis to Revelation [see Revelation 22.18-19]. It’s all about ‘the testimony of Jesus’! ALL Scripture, in one way or another, bears ‘witness’ to Jesus Christ!

2/ So, that being said, let’s ask Christ and the New Testament authors for warrant to see CHRIST IN GENESIS…

• Christ Himself said that what is written in Genesis [‘Moses’] are ‘things concerning Himself’ and ‘that everything written about Me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled’ [see Luke 24.25-27 & 44-45]. NOTE: it is my prayer and hope that Christ Himself will be our Divine Interpreter also from these very same texts … and that we, too, will testify as those two disciples did: “Did not our hearts burn within us while He talked to us on the road, while He opened to us the Scriptures?” [Luke 24.32].
• But there is another Scripture in 1 Peter 1.10-11 that is even more indicative of Christ’s Presence and preeminence in all the Old Testament Scriptures. We know from the teachings of Scripture that all the human authors of the Old Testament Scriptures were inspired by the Holy Spirit [2 Peter 1.20-21]. But, in 1 Peter 1.11, Peter explicitly says that the inspiration of the Holy Spirit was ‘the Spirit of Christ in them.’ So although we may marvel and stand amazed at the miraculous unity of the Old Testament and its inerrant accuracy, we don’t have to wonder how it can be: CHRIST HIMSELF was unfolding the progressive narrative ABOUT HIMSELF from the first words of Genesis to the concluding words of Malachi. Moses may have been the human author, but the Divine Author was THE SPIRIT OF CHRIST HIMSELF!

3/ There are so many more that we will discover and point to as we proceed through these upcoming lessons of CHRIST IN GENESIS – as we recognize the ‘seeds’ of Christ being planted … and watch the Master Artist begin to sketch out the outlines of the The Christ who was to come – and then did come ‘in the fullness of time’!    

II / WHAT ARE THE MARKERS WE WILL LOOK FOR TO SEE ‘CHRIST IN GENESIS’?

1/ There are so many ways CHRIST is revealed IN GENESIS … I won’t try to itemize them all. What I want to do is keep it simple enough that we can remember them and refer back to them over the next months and lessons. So let me give you the most prominent of these ‘Christ-markers’ we will look for to see CHRIST IN GENESIS.

2/ Keep in mind: [1] CHRIST is not revealed by Name and Person in Genesis … that fulfilled revelation will come when Christ Himself comes in the flesh. [2] And, some of these ‘Christ-markers’ will be explicit [meaning, the Genesis ‘marker’ will be explicitly revealed and referred back to Genesis in the New Testament Scriptures]; while others will be more implicit [meaning they will be obvious to see from the whole scope of Scripture, but not so clearly pin-pointed by specific Scripture references].

3/ So here are the most prominent ‘Christ-markers’ we will use as our guides as we go through Genesis:

• PRESENCE OF CHRIST: Christ will be present and appear in Person in the true historical narrative, though He is not named until He comes in the flesh.
• PURPOSE OF GOD IN CHRIST: [see especially Ephesians 1.9-10 & Colossians 1.15-20.]
• PICTURES & TYPES OF CHRIST [Pre-encactments]: there are many to be found in Genesis. I call them ‘pre-enactments’ … meaning, they were real people in their own real time doing real things and experiencing their own real events. But in so doing, in God’s pre-planned and sovereign purposes, they were ‘pre-enacting’ Christ’s coming ‘in the fullness of time’ to fulfill God’s eternal purposes.
• PROMISES / PROPHECIES OF CHRIST: The promises of Christ will begin from Genesis 1.1 [and especially in chapter 3.15]. Just compare that summary creation account with Revelation 21.1. Those two verses alone will cover the whole arc of creation and redemption history from beginning to end.
• ‘PININGS’ FOR CHRIST: These are wistful and wishful ‘longing’ for a Redeemer to come (Luke 2.25, 38) … chiefly from the failures of man to fulfill their hopes. Only CHRIST can fulfill the pining yearnings of the whole creation!

4/ So with those ‘Christ-markers’ in mind, let’s watch as God brings them into our view…

III / “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.” [Genesis 1.1]

1/ That statement is meant to be a summary in itself of everything else that follows in this first narrative from Genesis 1.1–2.3. [Genesis 2.4 begins a new narrative as we shall see in our next lesson…] Everything that follows ch 1.1 will be a day-by-day narrative of how God created the heavens and the earth.

2/ But before we even get into that day-by-day account, looking back at our text from the fuller New Testament revelation, do we not see that CHRIST IS PRESENT IN THIS ACT OF CREATION? Yes, “God created the heavens and the earth” [meaning the whole created universe] – but we know CHRIST is ‘God-Creator’! We need to remind ourselves of these explicit Scriptures of the Presence of Christ in the creation as the Creator:

• John 1.1-3: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. ² He was in the beginning with God. ³ All things were made through Him, and without Him was not any thing made that was made.
• Colossians 1.15-17: He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. ¹⁶ For by Him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through Him and for Him. ¹⁷ And He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.
• Hebrews 1.1-3: Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, ² but in these last days He has spoken to us by His Son, whom He appointed the heir of all things, through whom also He created the world. ³ He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of His nature, and He upholds the universe by the word of His power.
• / How did God create the universe? Let’s look at the restatement of this creation account in…
• Psalm 33.6-9: By the word of the Lord the heavens were made and by the breath of his mouth all their host. ⁷ He gathers the waters of the sea as a heap; He puts the deeps in storehouses. ⁸ Let all the earth fear the Lord; let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of Him! ⁹ For He spoke, and it came to be; He commanded, and it stood firm. [see also Psalm 148.5-6]

God created the universe ‘by the Word of Yahweh’ [whom we now know is ‘Christ, the Word’] and by the ‘breath [ruwach] of His mouth.’ This same ‘breath of His mouth’ is the Genesis 1.2 “And the Spirit [ruwach] of God was hovering over the face of the waters.” Holy Spirit = ‘Spirit of Christ’

3/ What does this account [Genesis 1.1-2.3] teach us about God – and therefore, CHRIST?

• God is the first, main, central, preeminent character in all of His creation, all of Scripture, all of history – and from pre-creation when there was ONLY God – and so is CHRIST! [see Acts 17.22-31; Colossians 1.16-18; Revelation 4.11]
• “God is not an impersonal force but a personal being of majestic power who simply speaks and the universe comes to exist.” [Christ from Beginning to End | Trent Hunter & Stephen Wellum]  – and so is CHRIST! NOTE: 10 times in this creation narrative, “And God said…And it was so.”
• God is the omnipotent Source of all things and the sovereign Authority over all He has created – and so is CHRIST!
• God is present in His creation … and at the same time is separate from all He has made – and so is CHRIST!
• God is the sovereign Determiner and Judge of what is ‘good’ [7 times here in our lesson text] and also what is ‘not good’ [as we shall see in following lessons] – and so is CHRIST!
• God is perfectly satisfied with His creation [“And God saw everything that He had made, and behold, it was very good!”] – and will be satisfied in the end for all eternity through the reconciliation and redemption that CHRIST will accomplish when He comes! [see Ephesians 1.9-10]

IV / WHAT DID GOD CREATE … AND IN WHAT ORDER?

Day 1 / vv 3-5 / “And God said, ‘Let there be light,’ and there was light.”

• CHRIST is PRESENT, PICTURED, AND PROMISED here as ‘The Light of the World’ [see John 1.1-5 & 8.12].
• [Of course, CHRIST IS PRESENT in all these acts of creation as the ‘all things were made through Him and without Him nothing was made that has been made’ New Testament Scriptures reference above tell us.]
• This Light shines out of the darkness beforethe heavenly lights/luminaries are created on Day 4.
• What is this Light? It is the Glory of the Presence of God Himself. See Revelation 21.23.
• As the ‘Light of the world,’ CHRIST shines to reveal the Glory of God – both in creation and in salvation and redemption: see 2 Corinthians 4.3-6.

Day 2 / vv 6-8 / “And God said, ‘Let there be an expanse in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters’…And it was so.”

• This ‘expanse’ [or ‘firmament’] is the sky or ‘lower space’ that is immediately above the earth, even though the ‘dry land earth’ will not be revealed and appear until the following Day 3.
• Remember this reference when we get to the Flood narrative in Genesis 7.11: “…on that day all the fountains of the great deep burst forth, and the windows of the heavens were opened” … indicating that great stores of water were also stored in the upper atmosphere in the creation.

Day 3 / vv 9-13 / “And God said, ‘Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear.’ … And it was so.”

• So now the waters here under the expanse were gathered into their Seas, and God made the Earth terrain and topography ‘appear,’ and named them both respectively.
• God also commanded the Earth’s vegetation of all kinds to grow – plants and seeds growing with their seeds in them to assure reproduction.

Day 4 / vv 14-19 / “And God said, ‘Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night…’ And it was so.”

• Now, on Day 4, God creates all the heavenly lights and luminaries [see Psalm 8; 136.7-9; 147.4]. All of these ‘lights’ are sourced from ‘the Light of the world’ of Day 1. There was the Light of God’s [CHRIST’s] Presence and Glory even before the heavenly luminaries bodies were created.
• God does not give the sun and moon names–He just calls them “the greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the night.” There is a good reason for this: by the time Moses wrote the words of Genesis, the pagan nations were already worshiping the sun and moon as deities. God wants to enter it into the record – He is the only Deity, and these lights are His creations.
• All of the earthly ‘appointed times’ were set: “to separate the day from the night. And let them be for signs and for seasons [appointed times], and for days and years.” Those days were the same kinds and lengths of days that are still keeping and measuring time now.

Day 5 / vv 20-23 / “And God said, ‘Let the waters swarm with swarms of living creatures, and let the birds fly above the earth across the expanse of the heavens.’”

• The sea creatures were all created to inhabit the seas God separated on Day 3.
• ‘Blessed’ is now introduced into the narrative to be repeated to show God’s favor on those creatures who follow His commands and fulfill His creative will, design, purpose, and pleasure.

Day 6 / vv 24-25 / “And God said, ‘Let the earth bring forth living creatures according to their kinds – livestock and creeping things and beasts of the earth according to their kinds.’ And it was so.”

• God creates all the land creatures to inhabit the Earth He has separated from the seas on Day 3.

vv 26-31 / “Then God said, ‘Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.’ So God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.”

• God created the man [Hebrew: adam] in His own image [James 3.9; 1 Corinthians 11.7]. This is not a physical likeness – but with a spiritual nature that can be in a relationship to know and fellowship with God. Since Christ is ‘the express image of His Person’ [Hebrews 1.3], and we are redeemed and re-created in CHRIST [2 Corinthians 5.17] to be ‘renewed in knowledge after the image of its Creator’ [Colossians 3.10-11 – which is CHRIST], CHRIST IS PRESENT IN THIS ‘IMAGE.’
•  With this creation of man to rule over the creation under God’s sovereign rule, will, and pleasure – and for God’s Glory – we have the introduction of the Kingdom of God into the history of the world and the narrative of Scripture. “Genesis 1 relates that God created this earth as His Kingdom and that He created human beings in His image to manage this world on His behalf. Human beings were to obey the great King without question (Genesis 2.15-17).” Preaching Christ from Genesis / Sidney Greidanus.
• This Kingdom of God was given to CHRIST [1 Corinthians 15.24]. The Kingdom will be corrupted through disobedience and sin; but CHRIST will come to redeem and restore it through the Gospel of the Kingdom of God, and give it back in Glory to the Father [Revelation 11.15].

Day 7 / ch 2.1-3 / “Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. ² And on the seventh day God finished His work that He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work that He had done. ³ So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it God rested from all His work that He had done in creation.”

• CHRIST is also the PROMISE and fulfillment of God’s ‘rest’ [Hebrews 3-4, especially 4.3-11].