Genesis

“In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth...” The book of Genesis, and the first book of the Torah and indeed as the opening work of the canon, is a book of foundations. It serves as the introduction to the Mosaic law, and it begins the history of redemption that occupies the rest of the Bible...The Bible may be described as a four-part symphony, moving from creation to the fall, then on to redemption and finally re-creation. The book of Genesis lays the foundation for the rest of the Bible by narrating briefly the first two movements, while beginning the third. The fourth movement is the subject of the last two chapters of the Bible (Rev. 21-22).


Tremper Longman III & Raymond B. Dillard
from An Introduction to the Old Testament

The excommunication from the Tree of Life (Genesis 3:22-24) confirms the probationary nature of the covenant of works. The first Gospel promise in Genesis 3:15 announces the covenant of grace, i.e. redemption of the elect by the Mediator. The covenant of grace is the progressive historical account of the administration of the Gospel in the history of redemption. The Abrahamic covenant is a renewal of the postlapsarian covenant/promise made to Adam (Genesis 3:15; 17). In the history of redemption, the covenant of grace was renewed in Abraham such that he is the father of all who believe (Romans 4:11; John 8:56). The Abrahamic covenant is logically as well as historically prior to the Mosaic. The Mosaic covenant was not renewed under Christ, but the Abrahamic covenant was.For other uses, see Canaan (disambiguation). ... The New Covenant is new relative to Moses, not Abraham. The New Covenant is the fulfillment of the promise made to Adam (Genesis 3:15) and the (Abrahamic) covenant of grace. The New Covenant is the reality typified by the pre-incarnational types and shadows (2 Corinthians 1:20; John 6:32; Hebrews 7-9).

R. Scott Clark