It was the best of times, it was the worst of times…”

A Take of Two Cities by Charles Dickens

All children, except one, grow up.”

Peter Pan by J.M. Barrie

In a whole in the ground there lived a hobbit.”

The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien

There was a boy called Eustace Clarence Scrubb, and he almost deserved it.”

The Voyage of the Dawn Treader by C.S. Lewis

There’s just something powerful about a good opening line—one that catches you and pulls you right in—to a story. Of all the sentences an author writes, it is, perhaps, the most important.

And that takes us to the opening line of the Gospel of Matthew:

An account of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the Son of David, the Son of Abraham:”

Matthew 1:1 CSB

Curious, isn’t it? If God is the master storyteller—which He is—this seems like an odd way to begin the most important story of all history—the true story of Jesus Christ. With a genealogy for 17 verses. Really?

A Perfect Line

Yes, really. While this opening line may seem quite unspectacular, it is the perfect line to open the New Testament because it reminds us that this is not the beginning of the story, but rather a continuation of the story that began with this line:

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

Genesis 1:1 CSB

The Holy Spirit, through Matthew, is careful to connect what follows with what precedes. All of the Bible is one big story of God’s plan to redeem people through Jesus Christ.

A Common Thread

It’s the same reason why Mark and Luke open on John rather than Jesus. John is an important link between Malachi’s prophecy from 400 years before to the advent of Jesus. He is, so to speak, a bridge connecting the Old and New Testaments.

And it is the same reason why John began with his prologue centering on the Word. John is careful to connect His Gospel with the Book of Genesis. Read Genesis 1 and John 1 side-by-side and it is easy to see how they are connected.

All four Gospels start the same way, not with a beginning but a continuation. Beautiful storytelling, isn’t it?

When God looks upon the human race, He sees but two men—Adam and Christ. Every human being is either ‘in Adam’ and lost, or ‘in Christ’ and saved; there is no middle ground.” — Warren Wiersbe (1929-2019)

Warren W. Wiersbe, Wiersbe’s Expository Outlines on the New Testament (Colorado Springs, CO: Victor Books, 1992), 376.

Starting this week, you’ll notice that we are no longer offering the weekly leader training videos. Instead, we’re shifting to an audio format. Starting this week, Karen Jones and I are offering guidance to help you as you prepare to teach every session of The Gospel Project for Preschool and Kids. Listen in as we discuss:

• The big idea of the session
• Any areas of caution or requiring additional prep time
• What hope God will do through this session

Podcast (kidsleadertraining): Play in new window | Download

This training is available on Ministry Grid, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, and other podcast platforms.