If you were to read this verse in Greek, the language in which Matthew wrote, you would read, “The book of the genesis of Jesus Christ.” Was Matthew giving a clue as to his favorite book of the Old Testament, or is something deeper going on here? 

The Greek word genesis means “origin,” “beginning,” or “birth,” which makes sense when we’re talking about the first book of the Bible, which details the origins of life, the birth of all creation, and the beginning of God’s redemptive activity in the world. That book also tells us that the eating of the fruit was a genesis of its own; it was the origin of sin, the birth of every form of suffering, and the beginning of death.

Matthew 1:1 tells us that we should also read this Gospel as a creation story. The birth of Jesus signaled that the new creation had already come, and with it, the origin of a new kind of life without end.

In this book, Jesus forgives sin, heals the suffering, and even defeats Satan and death through his crucifixion and resurrection. He’s not just paving the way for a new creation to come. Jesus himself is the genesis—the beginning—of this new creation. 

“If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come” (2 Corinthians 5:17). Even as we await the day of Jesus’ second coming where sin, Satan, suffering, and death will be no more, we can be made new today through belief in Jesus. 

It’s almost Christmas! We’re about to celebrate the new creation born in Bethlehem, who is bringing new life to the whole world. Where do you need your own genesis in him? Where do you need freedom from sin? healing from suffering? hope in death? Where do you need the new creation to break into your family and community? 

The new creation will be completed when Jesus comes again, but it was inaugurated when he came the first time. Behold, he is making all things new. 

Respond

Take some time to journal where you’re experiencing the pain of sin, Satan, suffering, and death; tell your sorrows to the Lord. Then, call to mind specific verses where God promises forgiveness, healing, and hope as a way to experience the new creation available now in Christ. Tell someone who loves you about what God is showing you.