The New World A Final Examination Of God And Man s...

The New World: a final examination of God and man’s relationship The Bible consists of a wide array of stories and themes that has captured audiences’ attention and interest across borders and time for a number of reasons. However, it is particularly interesting to compare the beginning and end of the Bible – Genesis and Revelation – in order to observe on what terms the dynamic relationship between man and God began and ended. It can be argued that one’s understanding of this relationship between man and God is vital in one’s understanding of the deeper meaning behind the stories within the Bible. Therefore, by comparing and contrasting analogous moments from the first verses of Genesis and the last verses of Revelation, one can see†¦show more content†¦This suggests that their bond can never be broken no matter how much pain they cause one another. Also, the suggestion that God – and associates - has entered this eternal partnership with man conveys the trust God had to have in man to remain fai thful and obedient to his guidance in order to foster a healthy relationship. Moreover, Jesus continues this assertion of immortality when he says to John: â€Å"‘do not be afraid; I am the first and the last, and the living one. I was dead, and see, I am alive forever and ever; and I have the keys of death and Hades’† (Rev 1.17). This continuation of God being the â€Å"beginning and end† emphasizes the importance of this eternal relationship because it is God that created man and God that will (hopefully) greet man once they return to the dust they were created from. Moreover, Coogan explains in the footnotes that â€Å"Hades, used here with its synonym Death, is the abode of the dead† and that â€Å"Jesus has the keys to release those confined within its gates† (Coogan 2156). This further shows the eternal nature of God – and his vessels – that is tied to mankind. In the beginning God gives life to man and in the end God is t here to guide man to the afterlife. Therefore, the importance of examining the books of Genesis and Revelation together can be seen by comparing and contrasting the state of mankind and God’s relationship in the first chapters of Genesis and the last chapters of Revelations - which shows