Faithful on Fridays Blog

Have you ever read the Bible and walked away knowing you didn’t understand it? Reading, with understanding, is critical to knowing Him since He reveals Himself in scripture. When we care for our soul, as I talked about last week, scripture is a vital component. It speaks life into our soul and helps us every day. Reading scripture is not just a task to perform or a box to check off for our day but it will aid us in filling that God-shaped hole in our soul. Getting to know God through His Word and prayer is essential.

The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul; the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple; (Psalm 19:7 ESV)

I want to give you a birds-eye view of each book of the Old Testament for the next few Fridays. I may take one or several books at a time but my goal is to aid you in seeing Jesus in each book. I’ll use the word Messiah, Christ is the Messiah, as we pursue Him each week. Let’s begin.

In the book of Genesis we find lots of beginnings. The beginning of creation, mankind, sin, nations, faith, and even the gospel of Jesus Christ.

And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.” (Genesis 3:15 NIV)

Did you get that? Maybe, maybe not. That obscure passage is the first time we see the gospel in scripture. Let me give it to you in a nutshell. After sin entered the world through Satan God made him a promise. There is One coming Who will defeat him. This Offspring or Seed of a woman is Jesus Christ. God is coming in the flesh, at the precise time, to crush and strip him of authority. He will try to stop it but to no avail. That’s good news.

Another key in Genesis to watch for is His names. I counted 17 different names of God in Genesis; I’ll just give you some of them. These names are important because they reveal His nature, His character, and His ways so you can fill your soul.

Chapter and name:

1- Elohim, Creator
2- Yahweh (LORD), covenant-keeper
14- El Elyon, God Most High
15- Adonah, Lord
16- Lahai Roi, Living One Who sees me
17- El Shaddai, All-sufficient One
21- El Olam, Everlasting God
22- Yahweh Yireh, Provider
31- Pachad, Fear of Isaac
49- Abbir Yacov, Mighty One of Israel, Ro’eh, Shepherd, and Eben, Rock of Israel

I challenge you this week; read through Genesis. I know it’s long but you won’t regret it if you read with a spiritual eye watching for Christ. God had a Plan of Redemption in play and we see it in one chosen family: Abraham. This Jewish family will carry the bloodline of Messiah into the time of Jesus’ birth and the family of a virgin named Mary. Enjoy the book of beginnings.