Scratching the Surface of Genesis

Kopp Disclosure

(John 3:19-21)

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Scratching the Surface of Genesis

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    My grandfather Jacob often warned, "Don't miss the forest for the trees!"

    That was his way of saying it's easy to miss the big picture if you're caught up in the details; or as one of the few seminary Bible professors who made any simple sense said to me, "You can't build faith on broken pickle jars!"

    For example, looking at the start of everything, does it really matter what happened on which day of creation?  Does it really matter if God used evolution to move us from slimy tadpoles to Calvin, uh, Kleins or just winked us into being?  Does it really alter the course of anyone's destiny not to mention just keep keepin' on if we've memorized who begat whom?  What difference does it make to know if the chicken or egg came first?

    While Genesis is about firsts for everyone and everything - universe, world, nations, time, gender, family, sin, suffering, and all of the below by way of all of the above - the most important first is God.

    God was/is/remains first.  No one nor no thing was ever before God.  He was before everyone and everything.

    Simply, God is Source, Starter, and Sovereign.

    Stop!

    Now go back to the first paragraph before reaching for some Advil.

    Really, thinking too hard about how or why or whatever is a rabbit trail with no end.

    Simply, again, God is Source, Starter, and Sovereign.

    So the first big message of Genesis is God.

    Don't even try to wrap your head around it/Him.

    It's impossible for the made to understand the Maker.

    The distance between Source (God) and product (us) is so far beyond our calculations that it's silly to even try.

    That's why Luther often said, "Let God be God."

    Stop trying to figure out what's/Who's beyond us in every emotional, intellectual, spiritual, and physical way; unless, as Dr. Metzger often warned the academically constipated, you're into useless discussion.

    The message of Genesis isn't how or why or whatever.

    The message is God.

    Source.

    Starter.

    Sovereign.

    God as Source, Starter, and Sovereign - for reasons that we'll never understand no matter how hard we try - turned nothing into everything and everyone.

    Here's the really, really, really good news about it/Him.

    He put us on the top of the charts; saying to Himself as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit - which we don't really get either apart from some hints by reading the rest of the book - "Let us make people in our image and let them rule over everything else."

    Simply, God made us for Himself.

    So the big message of the big message in Genesis is God with an affection for us that is more acknowledged than understood.

    Think about it/Him.

    It means He really, really, really likes/loves/cares about us.

    While there are stories in Genesis and from our lives illustrating how people mess up what He designed and made as good by not paying attention to Him, no one nor no thing change His mind about us.

    While too many people who don't get it/Him - particularly the obvious connection that we're all part of the same family because we've got one Source, Starter, and Sovereign - and don't like/love/care about us, He always has from Genesis.

    Please take some time to read the book itself.

    There are lots of interesting stories about how we've always messed up relationships between Him and His.

    Yet, as Grandpa Kopp always warned, "Don't miss the forest for the trees!"

    No matter what anyone tries to do, God's still inviting and welcoming us back home to Him.

    Later on in the book, somebody who finally got it/Him put it/Him this way, "I am convinced nothing can separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord."

    Jesus sealed the deal that began at the beginning when God made us for Himself as Source, Starter, and Sovereign.

    It's/He's the end of His story that has always included us from Genesis.

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Blessings and Love!