the INTRODUCTION

And so I think I'd like to wrap up Genesis at this point and — for the sake of the larger narrative at play — resist the urge to dive into all the little questions and details that are so intriguing with the stories of Jacob and Joseph.

But, just as I did with what I called “the Preface”, I'd like to use this moment to take a deep breath and review how the story is coming together and where we are at in it.  I recommend going back and reviewing the video I made to review what I call the “Preface”, or Genesis 1–11.

God is telling a great story (and has been throughout all of human history, for that matter).  If we believe in the God-breathed nature of the Scriptures, then understanding this written revelation well would be one of the items at the top of our priority list.  What is this story that God has been telling?  Does it all work together?  Does it have certain themes that run throughout?  Do we see a different God in the Old Testament than we do in the New Testament?  What is the narrative arc of the story God is trying to communicate to us?  Hearing and perceiving God's story given to us would help us understand some of the deepest truths of our world, our God, and ourselves.

So, God begins His story with a preface.  Genesis 1–11 becomes God's invitation to reframe the way we see the world.  Before we even begin to try and understand God's story, we are being invited to see the world the way the Author sees it.  Imagine the tales of Harry Potter or any other fantasy world.  Before the reader can begin to enjoy the story, they need to understand something about the world they are reading about.  What are the deepest truths of this reality?  What are the parameters?  What are the realities of the world the characters interact with?

God takes the assumptions of the world that the readers of Genesis carry with them and He turns them on their head.  Who is God?  In God's story, it is not many gods or competing gods or confused gods.  They are not angry gods demanding appeasement, playing with the cosmos at will, seeking bribery from their subjects.  It is one mysterious Creator God who loves to create and loves His creation and, despite all the things that appear to go wrong with it, keeps insisting in its inherent goodness and His desire to partner with mankind to restore and enjoy it.

The difference between the stories of fantasy and God's story is that God is insisting that the reality He's outlined in His preface is the truer true.  He's suggesting that it is MORE REAL than our assumptions.  He's implying that our assumptions are wrong.

And He invites mankind to trust the story He's telling.  But, as we see in the Preface, mankind has a hard time trusting the story.  We're pretty sure that the world is horribly broken at its core and doomed to destruction.  But the Author has told us that this is what is true about the world He has created.  And He dares us to trust Him.

What are we being invited to trust?
God is FOR us.
Creation is inherently GOOD and loaded with potential.
There is a place of REST that God desires us to dwell in.
God is looking for partners to help Him steward creation well.

And so then we are led into what I describe to my students as the INTRODUCTION.  If God is telling a grand story, and if Genesis 1–11 is its preface, then the rest of Genesis (chapters 12–50) is its introduction.  We are introduced to the main characters and how they form the background to the story that God will begin in the book of Exodus.  In essence, God is setting the stage for His narrative.

God's story is going to be what I call “A Tale of Two Kingdoms”.  It will be a great story of how God will use His people to be bringers of peace in a world of chaos.  This story will always be about a holy nation, a royal priesthood — a kingdom of priests who have a role to play in the world.  But before we can dive into this story of nations, we need to bridge the gap between the Preface and the narrative.  Where did this nation come from?  What kind of nation is it and why does God partner with them?

The introduction has shown us that before we had a nation, we had a family.  It began with one man and his barren wife who set out for a world that God promised them.  Learning as they went, they discover more and more about this land, this God, and this partnership to redeem the world.  They have children who have children who have children and through this story, we find a tenacious, stubborn, strong-willed people that are willing to wrestle with the Creator of the cosmos in order to be a part of something big.

God's been looking for partners to put the world back together and He loves the chutzpah demonstrated in this family.

But He didn't extend the hand of partnership because of their chutzpah.

He partnered with them because they were willing to trust the story.  And because they trusted the greater reality described in the Preface, they are able to lay their life down on behalf of others.  Because they realize that God is FOR them and they have all the love and acceptance they need, they don't have to prove anything or produce anything for anyone.  Because they see the good and potential in the creation, they can find a place of REST rather than anxiety and they can pursue what is RIGHT rather than what is secure.

This is who the people of God are.  This is their stock, their pedigree.  It's in their DNA.

Now let's turn the page to CHAPTER ONE of God's great narrative and see where the story begins with this Kingdom of Priests...