The Old Testament is a term applied by Christians to God’s Word before the coming of Christ and it begins at the beginning – not of Israel, but of the whole of creation. When we think of Genesis (the beginning) we think about how God began all things as preparation for his beloved people. Quite appropriate for us to give this some thought as we start the New Year – the whole of the Advent, Christmas and Epiphany season being about looking forward. During this year we celebrate 400 years of English translations of the Bible and, as a church and individually, we will be reading a good deal of it trying to makes sense of it for our own lives and the life of the church, to grow as disciples. Most of the Old Testament is about creation and re-creation as God’s people continue to disobey Him; but there are many stories of faithfulness and hope against all the odds such as the short story in Ruth and the 42 chapters of Job. These stories are the foundation for the new beginnings we make not only at the start of the year but each day of our lives.

The stories in Genesis have become deeply rooted in our consciousness and culture and even beyond; films and books about, for example, Noah and Moses grow in popularity as the modern world uncovers clues to their reality and science continually throws up questions about human life, society and the earth itself.

Genesis demonstrates that God’s work in the world has to do with more than human beings and that God’s purposes in redemption move beyond Israel; a universality of God’s creation.

God’s universal mission throughout the Old Testament is to redeem the lost; the promises given to the chosen people are grounded in God’s promises to the world. It is in this divine intention that we must read the Old Testament.

So enjoy the stories for their historical information, but seek God’s purpose for you in the lessons we learn from them.