“The story of salvation” goes through the whole Bible, save the first two chapters. Why not through the first two chapters? As has been pointed out, the sins were committed in the first part of chapter three; prior to the sins, there was no need to talk about salvation. Adam might have asked, “Salvation from what?” However, God did give Adam the information about the consequences of sin, when he told the man: “And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: (17) But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die” (Gen. 2:16-17). The “death” in this context is spiritual. “The story of salvation” has it beginning, on earth, following the sins committed.
“The story of salvation” its the story of the bloodline which ended in Jesus of Nazareth. There are two, shall we say, “start overs,” in “the story of salvation.” The first being with Noah, as the God looked upon man, “And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually” (Gen. 6:5). Just how evil mankind had become, is beyond our abilities to understand! To help with this, one of the major points in God giving us the history of Israel is to show us his mercy! The story of Israel is one of simplicity; Israel obeys God, Israel sins against God, Israel, because of their sins, is taken into captivity, Israel repents and God through his mercy receives them back into his favor. It is a story of mercy, and is part of “The story of salvation!” It was in fact, the keeping of the bloodline, as it was running through the tribe of Judah. Nevertheless, the wickedness of Noah’s time is beyond our abilities to understand! God’s anger has never reached that point again, where he would say: “I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have made them” (Gen. 6:7), since that time. We read about sin, the awfulness of Sodom and Gomorrah, but never do we see God reach the conclusion about man as he did in the time of Noah. So, just how evil were they in the time of Noah? Well “the story of salvation” is saved through Noah and the bloodline continues through him, then Shem. It must not be forgotten, God’s mercy is seen in the salvation of Noah and his family, they were saved by water and it was a “figure” of our being saved today by baptism (1 Pet. 2:20-21).
The second “start over” takes us to Abram! After giving the generations of Shem and bringing us to Terah, the father of Abram (Abraham). The “land of his nativity” being the “Ur of the Chaldees” (Gen. 11:28). Idolatry had become the way of life, even in the bloodline through which “The story of salvation” would flow. So, what was God’s answer to this great threat? At some point, in the flow of events, God said to Abram: “Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto a land that I will shew thee (2) And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: (3) And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed” (Gen. 12:1-3). So God in order to keep the bloodline separated Abram from the people of the land of “Ur of the Chaldees.” He also promised that a great nation would come from Abram, which would be the nation of Israel. With this separation, a new people would be formed. They would be called Hebrews, Abram being the first person called a Hebrew. The bloodline, the seed of woman, would continue through Israel, through the tribe of Judah. This nation would be given a law, only for those whom God brought forth out of Egyptian bondage (Deut. 5:1-6). They would cross the Red Sea, being saved from the bondage of the Egyptians; this also would serve as a “figure,” in “The story of salvation” revealed in the New Testament.
Thus, “The story of salvation” moved through the Hebrew nation, through the bloodline of Judah. The New Testament picks up “The story of salvation” in the bloodline of Judah, as it introduces us to Jesus of Nazareth.
— Frank R. Williams