The Scriptures begin with God’s love and delight for life. Of course, it doesn’t stop there—every book of the Bible delivers this delightful truth. But it means something important that everything starts with this emphasis. It evidences that He has a particular fondness and preference for humankind. The Almighty Maker loves humankind in its entirety and every human life in particular.
In fact, the grand narrative proclaims that He longs for fellowship with the whole race. The Lord likes to engage and interact with mortals. So these earliest dealings detailed in Genesis inaugurate an ongoing pattern and propensity for bending Himself over backward to protect, provide, and keep them close. He finds these beings special, and this goes for each of us—not just the prime and pristine ones. The saga’s Hero draws near and holds dear even when the accompanying cast render themselves and one another weak and unworthy.
And the chronicle directly addresses several of our contemporary sanctity-of-life issues. Genesis features actors, events, and settings that make clear we need not—we must not—use death as a solution to difficulties. Rather, divine grace regards and invests our kind with significance and sanctity, worth and purpose that circumstances can neither impair nor improve. From before history until beyond eternity, the Most High makes every human person precious.
- Do you find it easier to start a task or to finish it? Why?
- What handiwork or artifact that you have created do you take most pride in? What has come of it since you brought it into being?
- In Genesis 1:26-28, which words designate man as exceptional among the creatures? To whom do these accolades apply? And in Genesis 2:7, 21-22, what divine actions elevate the eminence of the first man and woman? How do these activities continue in our time?
- According to Genesis 4:1; 25:21; and 30:1-2, 22-23, what constitutes the decisive factor in procreation? How does this compare to present attitudes about sexuality and fertility—even among Christians? How might it cause reconsiderations of contraceptive strategies or rationales for delaying marriage?
- What do Genesis 4:10-15 and 9:5-6 demonstrate about the Lord our God’s disposition toward the taking of human life? Whom else does His Law hold accountable for safeguarding an individual’s survival? How did He display Cain’s dignity even after he became criminal? Could this relate at all to what we call disability or disfigurement?
- Genesis gives special attention to aging. What assessment of getting old do Genesis 5:3-19; 12:1-4; 21:1-5; and 25:7-8 reveal? How does this affirm or adjust your appraisal of advancing in years? What problems does our culture commonly identify with later life, and what solutions does it suggest for them? What, in the eyes of the Bible, represents the real problem?
- Sexual immorality happens just as often in the pages of Genesis as it does among our people. How does it turn out in Genesis 16:1-6; 19:11-3; 26:34-35; 34:1-2, 25-27; and 38:9-10? What consequences does it perpetrate in our context?
- Genesis 22:9-14 portrays an attempt at employing death to overcome an apparently inescapable predicament. It even has a reasonable justification. How does the Heavenly Father intervene? What principle—explicitly stated—does it dictate about the sanctity of life in uncertainties? How does Genesis 3:14-15 specifically relate this to childbearing? And how does Genesis 25:22-23 extend divine favor undeniably within the womb?
- The Almighty does not even allow our guilt to locate us outside His goodwill. What comfort and hope does Genesis 50:15-21 deliver to those of us who have participated in violence against life? How can this motivate us to speak truth and show love as voices For Life?
This Bible study is from Directions – September-October 2024.