Understanding the Journey Back to the Beginning with Jesus
So That We May Discover Who We Already Are and How We Are to Live as New Creations in Christ (Article 1)
Jesus Christ is both the beginning and the end of God’s purposes.
Through Him all things were created.
In Him all things hold together.
Through His death and resurrection God has begun His new creation.
And through faith we have been united with Him.
We are already new creations in Christ.
That simple truth shapes the way Christians read the whole Bible.
We do not come to Genesis merely as students investigating an ancient document.
Nor do we come simply as historians attempting to reconstruct the world of Moses.
We come as those who already belong to Jesus Christ.
The One through whom the world was created.
The One who fulfilled the Scriptures.
The One who reveals the Father.
The One who is restoring all things.
For that reason, these studies invite us to understand a remarkable journey.
Not our journey to Christ.
But Christ’s journey back to the beginning.
Again and again Jesus, and later His inspired apostles, return to Genesis.
They return to creation.
To Adam and Eve.
To marriage.
To the image of God.
To sin and death.
To Abraham.
To the beginning of God’s unfolding purposes.
As Christians, we accompany them on that journey—not because we need to become new creations, but because, being new creations already, we want to understand more fully who we are and how we are to live in Christ.
That raises an important question.
How should Christians read Genesis?
Genesis is one of the most studied books in history.
Yet it remains one of the most debated.
Christians who equally affirm the authority of Scripture often reach very different conclusions about creation, humanity, the image of God, men and women, marriage, work, rest, sin, death, and God’s purposes for His world.
The problem is not a lack of scholarship.
Nor is it a lack of sincere faith.
Perhaps the more fundamental question is not simply,
“What does Genesis mean?”
Perhaps we should first ask,
“How should Christians read Genesis?”
Before considering Genesis itself, however, we should remember two simple principles that govern the reading of every book.
First, we do not read books like dictionaries.
A dictionary tells us what individual words can mean.
Authors use those words together to communicate what they do mean.
Second, our goal is therefore not merely to discover the lexical meaning of individual words, but to understand the author’s intended meaning.
Meaning belongs to sentences, paragraphs, arguments, narratives and complete books—not simply to isolated words.
These principles are neither controversial nor unique to this project.
They are simply the ordinary principles of careful reading.
The Bible is no exception.
God did not reveal Himself through a theological dictionary.
He inspired narratives, poetry, law, prophecy, wisdom, Gospels, letters and apocalyptic visions.
Each was written by real authors communicating through ordinary human language under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.
Our task is therefore to understand what those inspired authors intended to communicate.
Genesis, however, occupies a unique place within Christian Scripture.
We do not read it merely as Moses’ first readers did.
We have something they did not yet possess.
We have Jesus Himself.
We have His completed work.
We live in the age of His resurrection.
We possess the completed canon of Scripture.
We have the teaching of our Lord.
We have the inspired witness of His apostles.
They do not replace Genesis.
Nor do they correct Moses.
Rather, they show us how God’s purposes revealed in Genesis unfold throughout the rest of Scripture and reach their fulfilment in Christ.
For that reason, this project is built around one controlling question:
How do Jesus and the inspired apostles read Genesis?
Instead of beginning with later theological systems, modern controversies or speculative reconstructions, Genesis2Paul begins by carefully observing how the biblical authors themselves understand, develop and apply Genesis.
Their reading becomes our primary guide for learning how Christians should read the opening book of Scripture.
The studies that follow present the principal methodological observations that have emerged from asking that question.
They are not offered as a new interpretive system.
Nor are they intended to be an exhaustive list of interpretive rules.
They are simply the principal observations that have emerged from this research so far.
As the study continues, further observations may emerge.
That possibility is not a weakness.
It is one of the strengths of the project.
The aim is not merely to present conclusions.
It is to encourage every reader to become a more careful observer of Scripture.
As we accompany Jesus and His apostles back to the beginning, we learn not only how they read Genesis, but how God’s purposes from creation find their fulfilment in Christ.
And as we see that unfolding more clearly, we discover more deeply who we already are and how we are to live as new creations in Him.
Welcome to the journey.
Continue Exploring
This opening study has introduced the journey back to the beginning with Jesus and His inspired apostles.
The first methodological question is therefore unavoidable: who should explain Genesis?
Who Should Explain Genesis? → Explore this study →
The next study asks how Christians should order the Bible itself, historical investigation, theological systems, and modern scholarship when interpreting Scripture’s foundational story. → Explore this study →