In the Beginning . . .

Every journey has a starting point.

Ours begins in Genesis, the first book of the Bible. The word Genesis means “beginnings.” There we get a glimpse of what it was like when Adam, the first man, walked closely with God. God deeply loved Adam, and Adam responded warmly to that love. They both took great delight in the openness, trust and companionship they experienced in their relationship with each other.

Work was different from today. It was productive and satisfying – free from stress, anxiety, corruption or ethical lapses.

But, sadly, Paradise was short-lived. What happened then has touched each of our lives.

We learn from the Bible that mankind inherited a fatal defect when Adam gave in to temptation and rebelled against God. At the root was Adam’s choice to walk independently, forsaking the extraordinary bond he had with God at the beginning. From that point, including Adam and Eve’s own children, man’s nature has been ruled by violence, greed, jealousy, hatred and rebellion.  The Bible calls this sin.  Its result: death.

The Old Testament is an account of man’s struggle against sin and its consequences.  God established temporary methods to cover for this now-fallen nature, but these methods did nothing to change that nature.  It remained the same.  Nor has it been improved by the passage of time or increasing education or scientific discovery or economic prosperity.  Man’s basic or “fallen” nature is unaltered from the time of Adam.  

Shortly after sin entered the human race through Adam, God foretold the coming of one who would remedy the fatal defect.  He then identified a people group, the Hebrews, as the family from whom this person would come.  Over hundreds of years, Hebrew prophets gave insight into the one who would restore the fractured relationship.

The Remedy>