How (and why) I’m Teaching Genesis in Youth Group

Note: “What I’m Teaching at Youth Group” is an ongoing series that presents a snapshot of a recent series the author has taught in their own ministry. Our goal is to present a helpful model for what it looks like to practice biblical and theological depth in youth discipleship.

The book of Genesis often gets a bad rap. The online discourse surrounding it is typically more volatile: arguing about the days of creation, the creation mandate, the “sons of God”, or the extent of the flood. Offline, Genesis can be treated as merely a collection of cute Sunday School stories we teach our kids: the days of creation, Noah and the flood, Joseph and his coat of many colors, just to move on without seeing its relevance. 

I do enjoy discussing the “hot-button” issues, and teaching my 2-year-old the famous Genesis stories(while steering far away from the “R” rated ones…looking at you Judah and Tamar). However, a cursory study of the book reveals that Genesis is also incredibly rich. It’s been said that Genesis contains “in seed form” every major church doctrine: creation, humanity, sin, etc., highlighting the Messianic promises as it unfolds. Because of that, I decided last year to take my students through the book of Genesis in its entirety.

The Struggle of Teaching through Genesis

Unfortunately, the struggle of teaching Genesis to teenagers is that the book is both incredibly long and in depth. Pastors have spent years preaching through this book. For example, Richard Phillips, author of the Genesis commentary in the Reformed Expository Commentary series preached 121 messages from Genesis. Assuming he did not skip any Sundays for topical series or one-offs, that is two and a half years of Genesis. I needed to find a way to keep students engaged for the long haul, while also doing justice to the text as a whole. 

My first step was to split our Genesis study into four separate series based on Mark Dever’s outline in his book, The Message of the Old Testament.

• Series 1: Genesis 1-11 (Creation to Babel)

• Series 2: Genesis 12-24 (Abraham)

• Series 3: Genesis 25-36 (Isaac)

• Series 4: Genesis 37-50 (Joseph)

The Support for Teaching through Genesis

So why Genesis? 

First, almost every major doctrine is introduced in the book of Genesis. Throughout this series we have looked at doctrines such as the image of God, the fall of man, sin, the nature of covenants, the promised Messiah, and have even dipped our toes into typology. Each doctrine is important for teenagers to learn not only because they are foundational, but because they address issues teens currently face. Creation and the image of God speak into our purpose, identity, and gender issues. The doctrines of sin and the fall address the darkness and brokenness our teenagers see every day (in person and online). The prophecies and the covenants show teenagers the reliability of the Bible, as we trace the unified themes across various genres, authors, and historical periods. 

Second, I chose Genesis to expose students to the tougher parts of the Bible. One complaint you hear from those who have deconstructed their faith is that they were never taught some of the more risque or violent parts of the Bible. Thus, when they were exposed to them later in life, it left them shocked and their faith was shaken. I did not want that to be true of our students. I wanted them to be exposed to these “R-rated” parts of God’s Word, both to show that they exist and how they fit into God’s overarching plan. Youth group is a perfect opportunity for them to wrestle with these things. It serves as a time to practice careful hermeneutics, apologetics, and to see how all Scripture points us to Jesus. They can then be encouraged to go home and continue the conversations with their parents (instead of running to a less than reliable online forum). 

Third, I wanted to get my students excited about the Bible. Many people view Genesis and other parts of the Old Testament as irrelevant for their lives and even disconnected from the New Testament (outside of a few handpicked stories and the Psalms). By going through the entirety of Genesis, my hope was they would see how all of God’s Word is relevant for them and able to equip them. I wanted to show them that the Bible is not a bunch of disconnected stories, rather, it is one big story that culminates in the person and work of Jesus Christ. Until you understand the beginning of the story, you don’t see why the hero is needed, but Genesis provides a robust pathway to do so: highlighting simultaneously the continual depravity of man and the perfect faithfulness of God. The patterns established in Genesis flow through the rest of Scripture, like a trail of easter eggs leading all the way to the very end, where there is once again a glorious garden where humanity dwells with God.

The Structure for Teaching through Genesis 

For the sake of brevity, here is my outline for the first of these series in Genesis, which I called Creation to Chaos and focused on Genesis 1-11. 

• Week 1: Genesis 1-2: Creation 

• Week 2: Genesis 3: The Fall

• Week 3: Genesis 4: Humanity’s descent into sin

• Week 4: Genesis 5-6:1-8: God’s faithfulness in the face of our sin 

• Week 5: Genesis 6:9-7:24: Noah and the flood

• Week 6: Genesis 8-9:17: Aftermath of the flood

• Week 7: Genesis 9:18-11:32: Chaos

The focus in this particular series was on humanity’s fall from the presence of God into the chaos we experience today. Students went from reading about humanity walking in the garden with God to tragic tales of murder, incest, polygamy, and yes, the Nephilim. Students were exposed to the reason why the world is the way that it is: fallen, broken, and in need of the hope they can only find in Jesus, the promised Seed of the Woman. 

One thing to note: when you talk about some of the topics mentioned above you run a few risks, one of which is angry parents. Many parents fall into different camps when it comes to when/how to discuss topics related to sexuality such as polygamy, sex outside of covenant marriage, and even sexual assault. You do not want to cause any unnecessary tension between you and their parents. Imagine for a moment their reaction if Little Tommy gets in the car and says, “did you know some people think Genesis 6 mentions fallen angels getting human women pregnant?” 

To avoid this, I always send letters to parents a few days ahead of our lesson if it deals with sensitive topics. The letter details what the Scripture is and the main point of the lesson. I offer a reminder as to why we teach uncomfortable texts and offer to provide for them my teaching manuscript. I also make it clear that I would hold no judgment towards those parents who might wish to keep their kids out that night, due to the subject matter. 

The Satisfaction of Teaching through Genesis

Genesis - all 50 chapters of it - is a rich, complicated, and masterful story of God’s grace towards His people. It will make students think, cringe, and maybe even laugh a time or two. It can leave them confused at times and even frustrated when they don’t figure it all out (“but Pastor Jack, WHO are the Nephilim?"). But it will also show them the answer to this broken world’s problems and their only hope in life and in death:

• the promised Seed of the woman who will crush the head of the serpent

• the ark of salvation who carries undeserving sinners through waters of judgment

• the offspring of Abraham through whom all the nations will be blessed

• the ladder that connects heaven to earth and

• the greater Joseph who saves a people through His kingly rule 

The man Jesus Christ.