Jesus in the Genesis

I'm working on a book. I finished my initial draft of chapter 1 last night. It's long for a blog, but if you're interested give it a shot and let me know what you think. Many believe early Christianity unnaturally created the emphasis on Jesus and His sacrifice for our sins, but I believe the entire Old Testament points to Christ. Below is chapter 1, Jesus in the book of Genesis.

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When mankind fell (Genesis 3:6a) and sin began spreading (3:6b) God’s plan to defeat sin and Satan through His Son Jesus was already prepared (3:15). God said to the serpent, ‘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.’ The Apostle John made reference to this passage when he said, ‘the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work’ (1 John 3:8). Even from as far back as Genesis 3, a divine response to the fall was foreshadowed. The rest of the Old Testament serves the purpose of pointing to that response. The response was Jesus, and, more specifically, His death on the cross and resurrection from the dead.

After Adam, the next key character in Biblical chronology is Noah. By Noah’s day, sin had spread so rapidly that a new beginning was necessary. ‘The LORD saw how great man's wickedness on the earth had become, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time’ (Genesis 6:5). Only Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord (6:8). So God judged mankind for its sin(s). He judged seriously and severely. Sin was no laughing matter to God. Noah and his family made refuge in a large ark. Only those within the ark survived. The only way into the ark was the door. Jesus would later say, ‘I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved.’ Only eight were saved in that day, all who enter through Jesus can be saved today. As the waters of judgment buried sinful mankind, they also raised the ark to safety. Jesus would later say that He, ‘when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to myself.’

It didn’t take long, however, for man’s pride to provoke further intervention from God. At Babel mankind united in foolish disobedience (Genesis 11:4). God scattered them (11:8) and selected one man to bring about His redemptive plan. God promised Abram that he would become a great nation and a blessing (12:2), but Abram had no heir (15:2). When God finally did provide an heir in Isaac (21:2), He baffled Abram (Abraham at this point) by asking that he take Isaac and ‘Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains I will tell you about’ (Genesis 22:2). Abraham was willing. God recognized his willingness. He stopped Abraham from sacrificing his only son (22:16) and provided a ram to be sacrificed in Isaac’s place. Centuries later, on a different mountain, God once again provided a sacrifice, this time His only Son (John 3:16). God had spared Abram’s only son, but did not spare His own. Instead, He gave Him for us all.

As the chosen line extended from Abraham through Isaac to Jacob, God affirmed each man that His original promise to Abram would be kept. Jacob had twelve sons. His favorite son was Joseph (Genesis 37:4). Joseph was loved by his father, but rejected by his brothers. He was unjustly sold (37:28), unjustly charged, and unjustly suffered (39:20). Eventually, however, Joseph was crowned with authority (41:42) and was the only means to salvation from physical starvation. When Jesus came, He was loved by His Father (Mark 1:11), rejected by His family, sold (Matthew 26:15), charged and punished unjustly. He too, however, was crowned by God (Hebrews 2:9) and was the only means to salvation from spiritual starvation (John 10:9).

To many Christians, the first book of the Bible has very little to do with Jesus Christ and His death on the cross. But to me, the whole of the Old Testament is thirty-nine fingers pointing to the cross of Christ. In Genesis alone there is much of Jesus. The ark is a type of Christ. Only those who placed their faith in a crude wooden ark were saved. Today, only those who place their faith in a cruel wooden cross are saved. For Abraham God saved Isaac by providing a ram. At the cross God provided His own Son to save us all. Joseph saved His family from certain death despite being rejected and wrongfully treated by them. Jesus offers something far more fulfilling than grain.

All of these events point to a person, not a way. They are types of Christ, not Christ-likeness. They point to an event, not a path. Genesis describes salvation from God’s flooding judgment, His demand for a sacrifice, and His cursing of the land. Jesus bore that wrath, was that sacrifice, and as His blood trickled down the cross onto the dusty ground, the curse was removed. The head of the serpent was crushed. It was finished.