Why Genesis?

Why is Genesis so important? Why do I believe it's necessary to take it so seriously?

Let's get one thing straight and out in the open first thing:

For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.

Ephesians 2:8-9 (ESV)

...at the name of Jesus, every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father

Philippians 2:10-12 (ESV)

If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.

Romans 10:9-10 (ESV)

So a literal interpretation of Genesis is obviously not required for salvation. It is my belief that you can believe that the Universe is billions and billions of years old and still be saved. Your only real issue is one of consistency.

You see, without a literal, historical Genesis, it becomes almost insurmountably difficult to justify our faith. I mean, if the theory of evolution is in fact a fact, and if there was no first man and first woman who truly sinned by disobeying God, then why was it necessary for Christ to come at all?

Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned
Romans 5:12 (ESV)

For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive.
1 Corinthians 15:22 (ESV)

The first man Adam became a living being; the last Adam became a life-giving spirit.
1 Corinthians 15:45 (ESV)

Clearly, if Genesis 1-4 is allegory, if there was no real Adam, then a universalist position that a real savior isn't necessary and the above passages are actually allegorical as well naturally follows. It's also clearly NOT what most Christians believe. Jesus was an historical figure. He did come and die on a cross to save us from our sins. He did rise again and ascend to the Father. And the Bible itself tells us that he did it because Adam did have a choice to obey or disobey God; and that Adam did choose to disobey; and that Adam did condemn us all to death.

Genesis is so foundational to the Gospel story, that, in order to be intellectually honest, I don't think you can cavalierly sweep it under the rug of Theistic Evolution or the Gap Theory.

In the coming days, I'm going to be post some thoughts on the first 11 chapters of Genesis. I hope you'll come back, read what I have to say, and leave your comments or thoughts!