Bible Reflections From Scripture Union Volume OneSample

Overview of Genesis 1–13

When God gave us His Word, He began naturally with revelations of Himself. But how could our limited human minds fathom the transcendent Infinite One? To help us, God used historical events and biographical accounts. These are simple to understand and easy to remember. We might be familiar with Gen 1–13. In these readings, let us look beyond the facts in the stories and search for facets of the Holy God. Let us allow God to overwhelm us with fresh understanding of Himself.

Genesis announces the beginning of the world and of the human race. Adam was designed for greatness. Yet he fell to sin through willful rebellion. Thereafter, his descendants just drifted down the road of wickedness and evil. Embedded in these stories, we glimpse an unmistakably personal God who commanded, conversed and even covenanted with humankind. We discover His perfect ways expressed in righteous wrath and grief. His judgments were sweetened with mercy and slow to fall.

Genesis is about God’s redemption plan. Love would not abandon the helpless sinner. Grace reached out to them but only a chosen few responded. Faith brought Noah and Abram into covenant with God. This then is the beginning of God’s chosen people, the Hebrews – His instruments in bringing salvation to humankind.


Our Creator God.
Read Genesis 1:1–2:3

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

Why did God take six days to finish creating the universe? Surely the Almighty could have done it in an instant. Look at day 1: He only made light, then instituted day and night. After that, nothing. All He created on day 2 was the sky. This seems so slow to us

Given a chance, today’s busy people would have squeezed it all into thirty minutes’ work. Time is money. The world is highly competitive. Inactivity and unproductiveness belong to the lazy. These cannot go far in life. Capable and successful people are usually workaholics and frantically busy.

But our Creator was in no hurry. He took time to admire His handiwork. Every item had a purpose in His overall plan. With satisfaction, He blessed them and declared each part good. In His time, the emptiness of verse 2 was transformed into the magnificent glorious masterpiece of verse 31. Then He rested.

Today’s tired generation, constantly suffering from the ‘no-time syndrome’, is definitely out of sync with its Creator. As He rested to establish the Sabbath, He also took six days for our sake that we might pattern times of reflective contemplation with Him. He wants to help us find meaning in each day and purpose in our lives. What joy it is to hear Him say, “Everything is fine today.”

We should not be rushing on when our Creator God pauses. When we do, we will be walking away from Him. O Lord, teach us to slow down and follow after You.