By Russell Douglas

Genesis 2:4 "These are the generations of the heavens and the earth when they were created, in the day that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens." What is the significance of the genealogies and the "generations" in the Old Testament? Why did the authors of Genesis record them? They had Faith. Faith in Christ who from their perspective was "the promised seed." The only reason the generations of Adam and Eve were recorded in Genesis was to track the awaited promised seed from Genesis 3:15. The saints that recorded the lineage of Eve were convinced of Gods promise to send a seed that would "crush the head of the serpent." Because of this they wrote down and recorded the generations of descendants. You can see the anticipation of the promise with Abel... "I have gotten a man with the help of the Lord." Genesis 4:1 And Lamech when he had Noah... "Out of the ground that the Lord has cursed, this one shall bring us relief from our work and from the painful toil of our hands." Genesis 5:28 While both Abel and Noah were types that made it into the Hebrews 11 hall of fame, they were not the promised seed. Enter the New Testament & Matthew and Luke include genealogies as an important part of their gospels to signify and demonstrate that Jesus actually WAS the seed. The wait was over. The fulfillment come. With that context, Genesis 2:4 has an interesting interpretation. Why does the author refer to the creation of the world in the format of "generations" as well? In the same way that the linage of man was building to the climax of Christ, the creation of the world (even before man ever sinned) was already beginning the suspenseful progression of Gods revelation of his son. The author is tying everything in the narrative to the climax of the coming promise. "...All things were created through him and FOR HIM." Col 1:16 Jesus is the entire point of scripture. Even the creation of the universe left the angelic bodies in anxious anticipation of the revelation of Gods glory in Christ. The Old Testament is a massive arrow pointing forward to Jesus and the New Testament is a massive arrow pointing back to Jesus. Regardless of where anyone exists in history the same thing is true... Faith in Christ, the promised seed, is the ultimate fulfillment of existence and the only hope and true joy we have in the universe. God always keeps his promises. Are you resting in them? Are you resting in Christ?