Genesis is a book of snapshots of a family tree. A family that God chose. Love, romance, wealth, travel, kings, beautiful women, arranged marriages, infertility, shame, blame, murder, sibling rivalry (and lots of it), drunkenness, betrayal, deceit, fornication, incest, jealousy, and so on describe the people God chose to call His people in the book of Genesis. It sounds like the content you would find in a daytime drama. May I suggest this book could be subtitled All My Children? The book of Genesis seems to be the story of a very dysfunctional family line. Yet, God chose these people to be the family that his own son would be linked to. It wasn't God's intent for some of the choices Abraham's family made, but God did use it for His good. We can see by their example of living how important it is to live walking in the Spirit and not in the flesh.
As I read Genesis, it occurred to me that this book with all of it's drama was written with generations past and present in mind. God knew that even in the 21st century, we would still be struggling with these same issues. The fall of man begins as early as the third chapter. The book of Genesis is really an encouragement to us to know that no matter what kind of earthly family we come from, His ultimate plan is for us to be identified as children of God. Ephesians 1:4-7 says "For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love 5he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will— 6to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves. 7In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace 8that he lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding." Think about that, it truly does not matter what kind of heritage you have come from, the bottom line is that God loved us so much that He wanted us to be apart of His family. For that reason, He sent Jesus, His one and only Son to become flesh and blood, so we could share this life and our eternal life together. (John 3:16)
We have all come from different families. Some might say their family is very dysfunctional and others might say they are very functional. Whatever kind family you have come from, know this, if you have accepted Jesus as your Savior, you have a new family tree. One filled with honor and glory. You are now royalty and have a great inheritance. Paul says in Galatians 3:29, "If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise."
Personally, I think the book of Genesis was really written for us to know that no matter where we come from, that God can use anyone to accomplish His plan. I do have to give Abraham's family the benefit of the doubt, they did not yet have the law to live by. To sum it all up, the book of Genesis is a reminder that way back in the beginning, man needed a Savior. I say all of this because even as followers of Jesus, we can get so caught up in our own drama that we forget that we are no longer to live by our flesh, will, and emotions, but are to live by the Spirit. Galatians 5 says it all. Jesus came to set us free, let us live that way because we are all His children.
