In today’s world ‘captivity’ can easily be seen in the darkness and agony of those trapped in human trafficking as well as those trapped in undeniably pain-filled evils of addictions and self-destructive behaviors of all kinds. But captivity is a reality by which even the most highly esteemed among us can be endangered. Afterall, we’re surrounded by a society, overwhelmed by a vast typhoon of voices. Many of those voices are deliberately mesmerizing us into endless temptations to fear men and what they can do to us, rather than to fear God and accept His mercy. Inevitably, all of us are in danger of captivity because we lack knowledge! …particularly the knowledge of God.
Unfortunately, many have become so damaged, so jaded, so disconnected from the true and living God of Creation, that they’ve become hopeless. Their hurt, often turned to scars by people and events often which were beyond their control, has sadly worsened into a burdening ‘callous’ of cynicism, bitterness, and vulgarity. They need the saving grace and perfect peace of The Savior as much as anybody does.
Here’s where the realities of the truths of the Bible need to be presented as an anvil that can withstand the blows of doubt and criticism that imperfect humans have leveled at it for centuries. And, as much as many of us would like to start with Jesus and His gospel of the kingdom of God, when it comes to the challenge of speaking truth into the lives of an unbelievably twisted and warped generation, it’s not a bad idea to begin… with the beginning – Genesis. And that’s just what the word “genesis” means… ‘beginning.’
