People love to talk about their connections. Whether it’s a reference to the six degrees of Kevin Bacon or a declaration that a recent deep-dive into ancestry revealed a pilgrim bloodline, there’s something satisfying about placing ourselves in a larger narrative.
Professor and author Julien Smith says this impulse can be a useful one. In fact, it’s exactly the type of instinct we should bring to our reading of Genesis.
“The best way to read the first book of the Bible, with its sprawling story of a dysfunctional family, is to read ourselves into the text,” writes Smith. He explains that, as we look for ourselves in the text, we’re likely to relate to stories of brokenness—stories like Abraham’s lies and cowardice, Isaac’s generational sin, and Sarah’s cruelty toward Hagar. It’s easy to cringe at the reflection we see. But, Smith reminds us, our role in the story is not fulfilled merely in our similar struggles and failures.
Instead, Smith writes that while we may first relate to the brokenness, we need to remember that Genesis documents “the story about a promise of restoration—a story where we can be re-storied, re-narrated, restored. That’s the power and promise of Genesis.”
In other words, despite the chaos and clamor of our biological and spiritual families, God’s desire and power to redeem us never fails. May Genesis remind us that God is always restoring his children, forever bringing us into his story of goodness and glory.
