Michael DiMarco - GW God Guy Bible

Navigational Listing of Bible Books

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GENESIS

Know the Beginning

In the beginning God created heaven and earth.

Author: Moses

Time: Around the fifteenth century BC

Place: The wilderness of Sinai

Written to: The children of God

The gist

The purpose of Genesis is to tell the story of Gods people. It teaches us about Gods nature, omnipotence, and omnipresence and shows us how he first formed his covenant with Abraham. It lays out the history of the children of God and proves Gods faithfulness to his people.

Things to look for

• The story of creation and the first sin (see )
• The account of Noah (see )
• The story of Abrahams life (see )
• The creation of the twelve tribes of Israel (see )
• The covenants of God (see )

In the beginning, God. In the middle, God. And in the end, God. As you read the Bible you will see that the real story is God: all that he is, all that he does, and all that he loves. In the beginning God created heaven and earth and everything that lives in them. His character is so generous and so loving that he gave humans and animals all that they needed to have life and love. And though the first man and woman made a mess of things in the garden, God still didnt stop loving them.

Genesis reads like a great adventure novel. Those who lived in the beginning of time have gone down in history. As you read Genesis, notice how many times God saves his people from their sins. See that he is a just God who cant tolerate evil but oftentimes uses peoples sins to lead them to salvation. Read about the covenants God made with his people, promises that he never broke and never will.

Knowing this history is very important for the life of the God Guy. Some people say that if you dont know the history of your people, then you are sure to repeat their mistakes in your life. So take the words from Genesis and read them as the history of your people, the people of faith. Learn about their lives and more importantly about God and how he interacts with his people. Take your time as you go through the stories. Know that they are not fairy tales but truth, and learn more about the God who calls you his own.

Genesis is the foundation of all of Scripture; it sets the scene for the rest of the Bible. The old covenant between God and man has been updated by the new covenant with the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus, and we now look at the Old Testament through the lens of the New Testament. But all of Scripture is valuable and important, even today. Look at it in light of Jesus, and the Old Testament will come to life and mean more to you than you ever thought it could.

The Creation

In the beginning God created heaven and earth.

The earth was formless and empty, and darkness covered the deep water. The Spirit of God was hovering over the water.

Then God said, Let there be light! So there was light. God saw the light was good. So God separated the light from the darkness. God named the light day , and the darkness he named night . There was evening, then morningthe first day.

Then God said, Let there be a horizon in the middle of the water in order to separate the water. So God made the horizon and separated the water above and below the horizon. And so it was. God named what was above the horizon sky . There was evening, then morninga second day.

Then God said, Let the water under the sky come together in one area, and let the dry land appear. And so it was. God named the dry land earth . The water which came together he named sea . God saw that it was good. Then God said, Let the earth produce vegetation: plants bearing seeds, each according to its own type, and fruit trees bearing fruit with seeds, each according to its own type. And so it was. The earth produced vegetation: plants bearing seeds, each according to its own type, and trees bearing fruit with seeds, each according to its own type. God saw that they were good. There was evening, then morninga third day.

Then God said, Let there be lights in the sky to separate the day from the night. They will be signs and will mark religious festivals, days, and years. They will be lights in the sky to shine on the earth. And so it was. God made the two bright lights: the larger light to rule the day and the smaller light to rule the night. He also made the stars. God put them in the sky to give light to the earth, to dominate the day and the night, and to separate the light from the darkness. God saw that it was good. There was evening, then morninga fourth day.

Then God said, Let the water swarm with swimming creatures, and let birds fly through the sky over the earth. So God created the large sea creatures, every type of creature that swims around in the water and every type of flying bird. God saw that they were good. God blessed them and said, Be fertile, increase in number, fill the sea, and let there be many birds on the earth. There was evening, then morninga fifth day.

Then God said, Let the earth produce every type of living creature: every type of domestic animal, crawling animal, and wild animal. And so it was. God made every type of wild animal, every type of domestic animal, and every type of creature that crawls on the ground. God saw that they were good.

Then God said, Let us make humans in our image, in our likeness. Let them rule the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, the domestic animals all over the earth, and all the animals that crawl on the earth.

So God created humans in his image.

In the image of God he created them.

He created them male and female.

God blessed them and said, Be fertile, increase in number, fill the earth, and be its master. Rule the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, and all the animals that crawl on the earth.

God said, I have given you every plant with seeds on the face of the earth and every tree that has fruit with seeds. This will be your food. I have given all green plants as food to every land animal, every bird in the sky, and every animal that crawls on the earthevery living, breathing animal. And so it was.

And God saw everything that he had made and that it was very good. There was evening, then morningthe sixth day.