Genesis

Gensis is the first book of the Bible and it’s the foundational book for understanding the Bible. Moses was the author of this book. Keys to understand the book of Genesis:

Creation

(Genesis 1:1) In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Everything we can see and can’t see was created by God. Mankind was God’s crowning achievement because it says we were created in the image of God. That means we are eternal, we have a will, and an ability to communicate with God.

Corruption

Why is there so much evil and bad things happening if God created everything? The answer is sin entered the picture. Genesis 3 tells us that man disobeyed God and sinned. Death, sickness, and evil had its beginning because of the entrance of sin into the world.

Condemnation

Genesis 6 tells us of a great flood that God brought upon this world in judgement because of the extreme wickedness of man. Our world that we live in today is not like the perfect world that God once created.

Abraham

In Genesis 12 Abraham enters the picture. God called Abraham to be the father of the nation of Israel. God used Israel to give us the Word of God and to bring the Messiah, Jesus Christ, into the world. Most of the Old Testament is about the nation of Israel. These passages are for us to learn about God and the things we need to avoid and things we need to practice.

Divisions of the Old Testament

1. The books of the law: Genesis through Deuteronomy
2. The books of History: Joshua through Esther
3. The books of poetry: Job through Song of Solomon
4. The books of the prophets: Isaiah through Malachi

The New Testament

The New Testament is divided into 4 sections.

1. The Gospels
2. The Book of Acts
3. The Epistles (Roman through Jude)
4. The Book of Revelation

The Gospels – Matthew through John

The gospels tell the story of Jesus Christ coming to this earth to be the redeemer for mankind.

• His birth at Bethlehem
• His public ministry
• His miracles
• His teachings
• His crucifixion
• His resurrection
• His ascension

The cornerstone of understanding the Bible is to understand that Jesus died on the cross to pay the penalty for our sins. He died in our place. The resurrection of Christ authenticated who He was and what He accomplished was from God. The Bible is about Jesus. The Old Testament points to the coming Messiah and the New Testament tells us the Messiah is Jesus.

The Book of Acts

The book of Acts starts after the ascension of Jesus back to Heaven and tell us about the church and its spread though out the world in the first century. Key parts of the book:

• The ascension of Christ
• The beginning of the church at Pentecost
• The leadership of the Apostle Peter
• The early persecution of the church
• The conversion of the Apostle Paul
• The missionary journeys of Paul taking the gospel around the world.

The Epistles (Romans through Jude)

The epistles are letters from the Apostles to the early church. Most of our Christian doctrine are from these letters. They give us an understanding of the person of Christ and how we should honor Him as a believer. They also define the mission of the church. One of the most important messages from these books is the teaching that Jesus Christ is going to return one day for His church. The church are those who have put their faith in Jesus.

The Book of Revelation

The book of Revelation is the last book of the Bible written by the Apostle John at the end of the first century. It was written to 7 churches of that day and is the greatest book of prophecy in the Bible. Topics of Revelation:

• The message to the 7 churches – chapters 1-3
• The rapture – chapters 4-5 The church in Heaven
• The tribulation – chapters 6-19 This takes place upon earth.
• The return of Christ to reign upon this earth – chapter 19.
• The 1000-year millennial reign of Jesus on this earth – chapter 20
• The description of the new Heaven and new Earth – chapters 21-22

Reasons why I should read the Bible

• The Bible is truth. You can trust what the Bible says because God can not lie.
• The Bible is relevant for any time. It is never outdated.
• The Bible will introduce you to the redeemer.
• The Bible will teach you how to be free from a sinful stronghold.
• The Bible can give you wisdom for life’s difficulties.
• The Bible can help you build a strong Christian home.
• The Bible can be a source of comfort when you are going through a tough time.
• The Bible can help you make sense of the times that we are living in.

I hope you will get into the Bible and start reading it. You won’t understand everything at first but as you read on a consistent basis God through His precious Holy Spirit will give you understanding. I suggest you start reading the New Testament first. The gospels would be a good place to start and then the little book of 1 John is a great place to understand what it is to be a believer. In the Old Testament the Psalms is a great book of comfort and the book of Genesis will give you great knowledge of God and His workings.