Genesis: The Origin
"In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth" (1:1)
The Book of Genesis speaks of the origin of all things. And since the origin is God Himself, it is very proper that the book begins with "In the beginning God". God created the world and life, the climax of which is the creation of man in God's image. In order to be with man, God created and blessed him and commissioned him to rule the world. However, man sinned in Paradise and was cast out before God, and the curse of God came upon the whole world and mankind.
Nevertheless, God gave the fallen man the promise of salvation through the offspring of woman so that they might continue living and loving God with faith and hope. Despite the arrival of death, the judgment of God, man could pass on his lineage, awaiting the promised savior. When the earth was overflowing with sin and the righteous were hard to find on earth, God judged the earth with a flood, sparing only Noah and his family, who had received God's favor, through the ark. After the deluge, God blessed the new humanity through Noah, made a covenant with them, and entrusted them with ruling the new world.
Since then, many people gathered in opposition to God and sought to avoid His judgment by building the Tower of Babel. God intervened and scattered them all over the earth. Among the many scattered people, God chose Abraham to be the father of His people and made a covenant with him, promising him numerous descendants and a blessing to the nations. This covenant was graciously passed down to Isaac, Jacob and Joseph, through whom not only his family, but also all Egyptians suffering from famine were blessed.
Genesis begins with God, and Jesus Christ himself is the God who has always been with God from the beginning and the Creator who created the heavens and the earth through his word of power and wisdom. The promise of Jesus Christ as the coming Savior was first revealed in the "Protoevangelium" (the first gospel) right after the first fall (3:15). All humanity was subjected to God's judgment due to their own sins, and the only way to be saved from this just judgment is to enter into the only ark, Jesus Christ, as revealed and promised by God in His word. This is foreshadowed by the event of Noah's flood. In addition, the promise of God's blessing in the Abrahamic Covenant is fulfilled through Jesus Christ, the descendant of Abraham, and all peoples of the world can enjoy eternal blessings through Jesus Christ, the mediator of the covenant. Finally, the story of Joseph at the end of the book serves as a foretaste of this savior, and the people of God anticipate the fulfillment of the true and promised Messiah, who is also prophesied as the Lion of the tribe of Judah (49:9).
