God’s Story in You: In the Beginning

God is writing his story in you. He is an amazing God, and he is writing an amazing story. The apostle Paul describes Christians as “a letter from Christ” written by the “Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts” (2 Cor. 3:3). The chapter God is writing in you today is preparing you for the next chapter of God amazing story in you. God never wastes his work in our lives. Today we start a journey through the Bible that will introduce us to the Person of God and how he writes our story.

There are sixty-six books of the Bible, and each book should be read and studied. But in our time together, we are going engage with seven books that, I believe, help us best understand the Person and Work of God.  We’ll consider the book of Job that teaches us how God writes his story in our suffering. The prophet Isaiah will show us how God keeps our story fresh as we anticipate what’s ahead. In the Gospel of John, we’ll see God’s story in our Savior—Jesus is always the center of our story. In Romans God will teach us that our identity is grounded in Jesus. And in the book of Revelation, we’ll see how the story ends; or rather, how our eternal story begins. After the study of each book, we’ll spend time in the Psalms—Israel’s book of worship—and learn how to talk with God about his work in our lives.

We are asking you to invest fifteen minutes each day in God’s Word. After we consider each book, we’ll provide a time to reset. You are invited to join a digital zoom call to discuss what we’ve learned, share your questions, and encourage each other. No pressure for you to join the calls. But we’d love to build a community committed to meaningful engagement in God’s Word.

So, Job, Isaiah, John, Romans, Revelation and Psalms. But you know where we have to start…at the beginning of God’s story.

[The book of Genesis introduces us to Elohim, the Creator God, who spoke the world into existence, and Yahweh Elohim—the Lord God, who stooped down to breath into man the breath of life. In Genesis we will learn about El Elyon—God Most High, the Exalted One who works in power, and we will learn about El Roi—the God who sees us in our weakness and comes always comes to our aid. We will meet El Shaddai—God Almighty, the All-Sufficient One and we’ll meet Yahweh Yireh—the God who provides everything we need. ]

The book of Genesis teaches us about the Person and Work of God. We will consider the whole book. But let’s get started with two verses that serve as bookends for the book.

Let’s get started.

Genesis 1:1
In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.

The first three words of Genesis, “in the beginning” is a translation of the Hebrew word that is pronounced ber-a-sheet. If you read the Hebrew Bible, that’s what this book is called. We use the name that came from the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Old Testament. The Greek word for “in the beginning” is geneseos—Genesis.

The first three words, “in the beginning,” establish time as we know it.  And notice that “in the beginning,” God already existed. God has always existed. There was never a time when he was not. There will never be a time when he is not. Moses, the writer of Genesis, wrote in the psalms, “Before the mountains were brought forth,

or ever you had formed the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God” (Ps. 90:2).  “From everlasting to everlasting.” That well explains the eternality of God.

The Hebrew word translated “God” in Genesis 1:1 is Elohim. El is the name for God and Elohim is the plural form that super charges the name.  Elohim is called a “plural of intensity” or a “plural of majesty” and is used over 2500 times in the Bible.  Elohim, describes God as the all-powerful Sovereign over all things. That absolute power is demonstrated in his action. Elohim who created the heavens and the earth.

The word translated “created” is bara. It is used six times in the creation account and is exclusively used to describe God’s action. Only God is the Creator. Apart from him nothing has been made.  As we work our way through the Genesis 1, we’ll see that God created from nothing—ex nihilo. He spoke the world into being!  Such is his indescribable power.

So, in the very first verse of the Bible we learn that God is eternal, all-powerful, and that power is proved by his creative acts. And here’s the amazing thing—the Creator of the heavens and earth desires a personal relationship with you! God desires to personally work in your life.

Throughout the book of Genesis, we will follow the lives of men and women who experienced great blessing and deep disappointments. They had trouble with their marriages and challenges with their children. The grieved the loss of loved ones. Sometimes they became impatient with God and took matters into their own hands. They blamed God and others for their shortcomings and bad decisions. They experienced anxiety, sleepless nights, temptation, and failure. And they experienced God—his love, grace, forgiveness, and restoration.

Let’s fast forward to the last chapter of the book to see how God uses all the stuff of life to write our stories. The last fourteen chapters of Genesis, focuses on a man named Joseph. We’ll cover his story in more detail later in our study but for now here’s a quick overview.

Joseph was his father’s favorite son and, as you can imagine, that partiality did not sit well with Joseph’s brothers. One day they decided to kill him but at the last minute sold him into slavery instead. Joseph was bound and taken to Egypt where he was purchased by an Egyptian ruler. He quickly gained the ruler’s favor and was put in chare of his entire house…until one fateful day when he was unjustly accused of sexual harassment by the ruler’s wife. One day Joseph was overseeing the rulers house; the next day he was sitting in prison.

Joseph was in prison for at least three years, probably longer. Finally, God directed his release and allowed him to gain favor with the Pharaoh. Joseph was moved from prison to the palace and placed in charge of Egypt’s food supply. During a severe famine that impacted Egypt and Joseph’s father and brothers, Joseph was able to provide Egypt and the ones who had sold him into slavery. Joseph told his brothers,

Genesis 50:19-20
Do not fear, for am I in the place of God? As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today.

God used all the ups and downs, blessings and disappointments, mistreatment and false accusations to write Joseph’s story. He does the same thing for us. He never wastes our time. Whatever is happening today in your life is preparing you for tomorrow. You can trust God to write your story well.

Today’s Reading:

Genesis 1:1—As your read and re-read this verse, reflect on the Person of God.

• God is eternal, self-existent. He has no limits.
• God is all-powerful. He delivers on all his promises.

What is it that you desire God to do for you? Tell him the desires of your heart.

Genesis 50:19-20—As you read this verse, reflect on God’s work in your life. Thank him for working in all things—even what others mean for evil—to write his amazing story in your life.