Life Lessons & Reflections

What I learned from Genesis

Let’s start by saying that I was raised in a family that went to church most every Sunday. We’d listen to the pastor preach for over an hour and the service itself went for two and a half hours which seemed like a marathon. There was not much in the way of religious activity outside of this, though. I always saw our bibles more as props and were a part of the church outfit just as the dress pants and shoes were. I didn’t have one, but the older members of the family did and, from what I remember, there were never any markings in them. One reason, I believe, was it was seen more in a sacred sense. As in the bible is not meant to be marked in and that would be almost seen as a sin. Another reason, I felt was that the bible wasn’t meant to be understood by us. The preacher would use biblical scriptures in his sermon and there would be readings in church, but nothing outside of that. I never read the bible and didn’t even think much to do it.

Having said all that, I envisioned the bible to read more like a textbook and not a story. I’m glad it’s the latter as I not only get to read God’s word, but also read a compelling story all in one. What has got me the most is that God and this story is not warm and fuzzy at all. Genesis is about the establishment of the human being on earth. There are very hard lessons taught in this book and some are hard to digest when we reach all that way back in history, but it was obviously necessary.

The biggest question coming out of this would be, “are we God’s first project”? Is this the first civilization that God created? Is there more? What was God doing before this? It is my knowledge that God is the supreme being of the people of this earth. It does seem, though, that he may have been caught off guard of some of the behaviors of us humans. Was he genuinely surprised that the apple was eaten through temptation? Using hindsight and a knowledge of human nature, this was bound to happen. We are too curious of a people even when that curiosity promises detrimental effects.

So, what would have happened if the apple had never been eaten? There would not be a need for Jesus, and thus no Christianity. There would not be evil, no death, no suffering. But isn’t the point of this to come to earth and understand what it takes to live life on Earth? Why would I want a life without death? I would never get back into the kingdom of heaven. I would be stuck here for eternity, or I would never be here in the first place. If there were no death, how quickly would the earth be full. Would we then stop having kids? Would we kill others off? If there were no guilt, fear, or shame, would we then spend our time advancing our lives thus giving us more time to explore the universe? Would we be that much more advanced since we would have worked together and not have progress throttled by jealousy, envy, war, and starvation? The questions are endless, but of course, we will never know.