In the Beginning
Bob Yandian
Genesis begins with “in the beginning.” The word “beginning” is actually the Hebrew word “bereshith”, which means “origin” or “birth.” The Greek word for “beginning” is “genesis.” It is found in John, 1:1, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” The title “Genesis” is not only referring to the birth of the earth and the creation of the universe; it is also referring to the seed form of all of the major doctrines of the Word of God.
Here are some of the doctrines that are found in the book of Genesis.
The world’s system.
All of the aspects of man – his original creation, his fall, his restoration by God, and bringing him back up to the proper level with God.
The institution of marriage.
Death – for without sin, there would be no death, spiritual or physical.
The plan of redemption is revealed.
The world is divided into nations and civilizations.
The nation of Israel begins.
There are seven dispensations presented in the Word of God. The four dispensations that are mentioned in the book of Genesis are:
The Dispensation of Innocence – began in the Garden of Eden and ended with the fall of Adam.
The Dispensation of Conscience – ended with the flood.
The Dispensation of Human Government – ended at the Tower of Babel.
The Dispensation of Promise – ended with the exodus of the Jews from Egypt.
The other 3 are:
The Dispensation of Law - ended with the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
The Dispensation of Grace (or the Church Age) – we are living in this dispensation.
The Millennial Reign of the Lord Jesus Christ – yet to come.
With every dispensation, we have the blessing of God and the failure of man. God always begins a dispensation with blessing, and somehow man always manages to mess up God’s blessing. Eventually, even the dispensation in which we live will be destroyed. Genesis begins with the blessing of God, “In the beginning God created…” The closing verse of Genesis chapter 50 says, “So Joseph died, being one hundred and ten years old; and they embalmed him, and he was put in a coffin in Egypt.” The end of the book ends with the results of the fall – the curse.
3 Orders of Beginnings in Genesis
“In the beginning God…” The word for God is “Elohim” which is plural for the 3 members of the Godhead – the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. There has never been a time when the Father did not exist. The Son, in His deity, and the Holy Spirit have always existed.
The first beginning is God, who is pre-existent. For God to create in the beginning, He would have to be here before the beginning. The second beginning was the universe and the earth. The third beginning was angels. Angels were created to rule over different areas of the universe. Lucifer was part of the angelic creation.
Creation
“In the beginning God created…” The Hebrew word used for “created” is “bara” which means “to make something out of nothing.” God is not confined to working with things that already exist. God can make things exist out of nothing and then make those things into something! God created the universe with nothing. The earth we have today was brought about for one reason – for man to inhabit it. God did not put man here because He was lonely and wanted fellowship. God put man on this earth to settle an argument that existed before man was created. Man was put on earth to settle the conflict between Satan and God. Every time a person accepts Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, they confirm that God was right, and Satan was wrong.
The whole essence of the Word is “believe.” Without faith it is impossible to please God. Faith is what pleases God. Faith is what comes against the devil. The whole reason we are here is to display, in this earth, to the principalities and powers, the manifold wisdom of God.
