Echoes From Eden

by J Preston Eby

The Book of Genesis is probably the most important books ever written. The Bible is unquestionably the one Book that has exerted the greatest influence on history of any book ever produced. The Bible, however, is actually a compilation of sixty-six books, and the Book of Genesis is the foundation of them all.  If the Book of Genesis were somehow removed, the Bible would appear absurd and incomprehensible.   It would be like a building without a foundation, or a bridge with no support. The books of the Old Testament, narrating God’s dealings with His ancient people of Israel, would be bigoted and racist, were they not set in the context of the progressive development of God’s wise and gracious purposes for all mankind as laid down in the early chapters of Genesis. The New Testament is, if anything, even more dependent on Genesis than the Old. There are at least 165 passages in Genesis that are either directly quoted or clearly referred to in the New Testament by Jesus and the apostles, having to do with the redemptive purposes of God and the principles of His Kingdom.  I do not hesitate to say that the writings of the New Testament, describing the execution and implementation of God’s wonderful redemptive purposes in Jesus Christ, is completely unintelligible except in the light of the magnificent revelation of God’s great and glorious plan of the ages, as established in the record of man’s beginnings, recorded only in Genesis.

The word “genesis” of course means “origin” or “beginning,” and the Book of Genesis gives the only true and reliable account of the basic entities and conditions of the universe and of life.  Genesis yields vital information concerning the origin of ALL THINGS – and therefore the meaning of ALL THINGS!  Let every man know that in the whole of the universe there is no greater truth than this one sublime truth that THE FUTURE IS BOUND UP IN THE PAST. A man’s belief concerning his origin will inevitably determine his belief about his purpose on earth and his eternal destiny.

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