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Genesis is the beginning. . .
In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth (Genesis 1:1, ESV).
Revelation is the end. . .
Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away (Revelation 21:1).
There are many similarities between the Book of Genesis and the Book of Revelation. They are the bookends of history.
The creation was a seven-day process in Genesis, and the number seven is used more than fifty times in the Book of Revelation (it’s a number depicting completeness). Genesis details the creation and fall of humans, while Revelation teaches a new heaven and earth and eternal redemption.
In Genesis, death enters creation, and in Revelation, death is destroyed.
I could list about 30 additional parallels between the Books of Genesis and Revelation. By comparison, these two books exhibit more similarities than any other two books in the Bible.
But let’s consider the most important point of similarity — Jesus!
Then God said, “Let us [Father, Son, and Holy Spirit] make man in our image, after our likeness” (Genesis 1:26a, ESV).
In Genesis 1:26, the pronoun “us’ is plural. It doesn’t say God (singular), but “Let us”! The Apostle John (who wrote both the Gospel of John and the Book of Revelation) elaborates on the “Let us” of creation in the opening of his Gospel. . .
He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made (John 1:2-3).
All of history that began in Genesis with Creator Jesus ends with the return of Savior Jesus in the Book of Revelation. . .
Look, I am coming soon, bringing my reward with me to repay all people according to their deeds. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End” (Revelation 22:12-13, NLT).
Found only in the Book of Revelation, the phrase “Alpha and Omega” (or “the First and the Last” and “the Beginning and the End”) depicts Jesus as the central focus of life (Revelation 1:8 and 22:13).
Jesus created the world, is the Hope that holds everything together, and all creation looks forward to His return.
One final comparison: The Book of Genesis begins with the topic of grace, and the Book of Revelation ends the story of grace. We know the need for grace from the Fall of Adam and Eve and the last verse of the Book of Revelation. . . the last word of the Bible. . . the last word of all history. . . the last word from the Word is. . .
The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all. Amen (Revelation 22:21, ESV).
*OG stands for Old Guy. I’ve written 21 OG’s on differing books of the Bible. Go to GrantEdwardsAuthor and type “OG” in the search function to find all of them.