Starting today and going on for the next five weeks (Lord willing), I will be looking at the first eleven chapters of Genesis, focusing on the question: Why it matters. Why are the first eleven chapters of Genesis important? Does it matter what we believe concerning these opening chapters in the first book of the Bible? Do they have any relevance to Christian theology and the Christian faith? Let me answer these questions very briefly. Yes, yes, and yes.
The genesis (pun intended) of this series goes back to September of 2023 and a church trip we had to northern Kentucky to visit the Creation Museum and the Ark Encounter. As a Christian, though it took me some time, I eventually came around to a literal understanding of the Bible (in general) and in Genesis 1-11 (in particular). By “literal understanding,” I mean I believe that God created “the heavens and the earth” in six 24-hour days roughly 6,000 years ago. I held to these convictions because it was what I believed the Bible to be plainly saying. Even though I had gotten into some heated discussions with both unbelievers and believers on this subject, I never really wavered from this position. However, because of being “battered and bruised” in some of these debates, I toned down my outspokenness on these issues. Fast forward some years and I am currently a minister of word and sacrament at Emmanuel Reformed Church (ERC) in Sutton, NE. ERC is an organic member of the Reformed Church in the United States (RCUS) and the official position of the RCUS on the issue of creation is that the heavens and the earth were created in six 24-hour days. Thus, I am required to hold to and teach this position.
However, while I am constitutionally, confessionally, and Scripturally obligated to believe and teach biblical creation, my focus has always been more on proclaiming “Jesus Christ and Him crucified” (1 Corinthians 2:2; Colossians 1:28). Yet it was during this recent trip to the Creation Museum and Ark Encounter that the importance of Genesis 1-11 impressed me anew. I want to emphasize this was no change to what I had always believed concerning biblical creation. Rather it was a reinforcement and recommitment to seeing the indissoluble connection between Genesis 1-11 and the gospel of Jesus Christ. Answers in Genesis,[1] the organization that owns and operates the Creation Museum and Ark Encounter, has what they call The Seven C’s of History: Creation, Corruption, Catastrophe, Confusion, Christ, Cross, and Consummation. These “seven C’s” form a “chronological framework” that describes the “world-shaping events of biblical history.” Note how the gospel (Christ, Cross, and Consummation) rests on the foundation of Genesis 1-11 (Creation, Corruption, Catastrophe, and Confusion). So, far from Genesis 1-11 being at best irrelevant to the gospel and at worst myth or legend, these opening chapters of the Bible are the beginning of a beautiful story of redemption that reaches its climax with the coming of Christ and its ultimate culmination at the return of Christ in glory at the end of the age.
With that said, the plan going forward is to look at each of the first four C’s in subsequent articles with a concluding article that looks at the final three C’s. As I go through each of these seven C’s, I hope to draw out the vital connection of each of them to the gospel, and in the process show you that the entire Bible, from Genesis to Revelation, is God’s inspired, inerrant, and infallible word. Whether this is new for you or simply review, I hope you will join me on this adventure and marvel at the importance of the opening chapters of Genesis.
~ Pastor Carl
[1] You can find them here: https://answersingenesis.org/.
