August 2022 By Al Mansfield In 1986 Robert Fulghum wrote a book called All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten. It included topics like sharing with others, waiting your turn, being kind, cleaning up after yourself, and other very basic rules of life. I was thinking about this recently when reading the Book of Genesis. It seems to me that we can glean so many simple – but extremely important – lessons from the earliest chapters in the Bible. It's almost like, “All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Genesis.” These are probably some of the first things we learned in religion classes in kindergarten or grammar school. I would like to share some of them here. First Lesson: GOD EXISTS AND HE MADE EVERYTHING. God created all things. Nothing created itself. All things, including human beings, depend on God for their life, being, and existence. Therefore, we owe God our Creator all our reverence, thanks, and obedience. God is in charge and he can make the rules - that is, laws and commandments for his creatures to follow. Second Lesson: MALE AND FEMALE (ONLY!). God created human beings male and female. Now, maybe you wouldn’t think of that as exactly a great revelation or a “news flash,” but today apparently it is, when some people are postulating some 72 different genders! What happened to the Bible, common sense, and basic biology? A kindergartener would know better! Third Lesson: THE FIRST MARRIED COUPLE. God created marriage. It comes from God – a divine, not a human, institution. Therefore, God can make the rules for marriage…and he has! And things go a lot better when his laws are diligently kept. Fourth Lesson: THE DEVIL’S STRATEGY. The devil began his temptation by questioning God’s word. He asked Eve, “Has God said that you shall not eat of any of the trees of the garden?” (Gen 3:1). In other words, "Did God really say that?" The devil attempts to insert doubt that God’s word is true and loving. He followed by contradicting God's word and then impugning the character of God, portraying Him as jealous and petty. And the devil is still doing that today! Fifth Lesson: SIN CAUSES MARITAL STRIFE. One of the first fruits of original sin was marital discord. Adam blamed Eve for his disobedience to God: “The woman that you gave me, to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree and I ate” (Gen 3:12). Sin never makes anything better – only worse! And so it continues to this very day. The devil surely tempts individuals, but really attacks marriages with a fury! Sixth Lesson: A DYSFUNCTIONAL FAMILY. Family discord followed the original sin and expulsion from the garden. Cain kills his brother Abel in a fit of jealous rage. Families have experienced turmoil ever since! Seventh Lesson: SCRAP IT AND START OVER. Human wickedness brought on God’s decision to bring destruction by way of the Flood. So bad was human depravity that God was sorry that he created man and woman. It says the Lord was “grieved.” The Lord decided to send the Flood to wipe out humanity, except for Noah and his family members – eight in all. Eighth Lesson: YOU HAVE MY WORD. God establishes a covenant with Noah and promises not to destroy the earth again (cf. Gen 8:21-22). We see that throughout salvation history God continues to establish covenants - with Noah, Abraham, Moses, David - all the way until the establishment of the New Covenant in the Blood of Jesus. Ninth Lesson: LIFE IS SACRED. God demands an accounting for human life (cf. Gen 9:5-6). Life is precious to the Lord. But although the Lord punished Cain for slaying Abel, he also showed him compassion and protection (cf. Gen 4:15). The lesson here is that even for those who have taken an innocent human life, as in abortion, the path back is always open with genuine repentance and confession, leading to forgiveness and restoration. Tenth Lesson: GOD SAVES. God restores human life and creation (cf. Gen 9:7-17). God is a redeeming and restoring God. Even after the punishment and destruction of the Flood, God's hand is open to save and bless. God never runs out of mercy nor gets tired of offering salvation. Obviously, this does not contain all of God’s revelation to us. But it is interesting – and somewhat amazing – how much we can learn from the first few chapters of Genesis. There are some important lessons here which we all need to learn - or re-learn! Back to kindergarten we go!