In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

 

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

 

Genesis 1:1. בְּרֵאשִׁ֖ית בָּרָ֣א אֱלֹהִ֑ים אֵ֥ת הַשָּׁמַ֖יִם וְאֵ֥ת הָאָֽרֶץ

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. (Revised Standard Version)

The word בְּרֵאשִׁ֖ית (Bereshit), translated as the beginning, is a noun with the prefix בְּ, and does not mean in the beginning in English, but rather lead or head. It means the head of God's house.

Hebrew grammar is verb + subject + object, and since this sentence is about Bereshit, the objective relative pronoun between Bereshit and Bara Elohim et Hashamayim et Ha'erets is omitted.

In English, it is expressed as Bereshit (whom) God created the heavens and the earth. If we translate this, since Bereshit and the heavens and the earth are equivalent, it means that God created the head of the temple corresponding to heaven and this earth.

 

Bereshit is a compound word of Beh and Reshit (prefix preposition + feminine singular noun). Here, Beh (בְּ) means house of God, and Reshit means orderly order, not chronological order.

John 1:1 Ἐν ἀρχῇ ἦν ὁ λόγος 『In the beginning (en arche) was the Word』 Ἐν ἀρχῇ ἦν ὁ λόγος

En Arche is not the beginning, but the head of the temple, the same concept as the Hebrew word Bereshit. Translated again, the head of the temple is Ho Logos, representing Christ.

If we break down Reshit, it is made up of Rosh רֵאשִׁ֖ and Yit. And Beit, which is a combination of the prefixes Be and Yit, means the house of God. And Rosh means head. Therefore, it is the head of the house of God. In Reshit, Re means head, Aleph represents God, Shin represents teeth, Yod represents hands, and Tau represents the sign (of the cross). God, the head, is the leader who bares his teeth and marks with his hand. The head of the temple is Christ.

It depicts Christ, the head, leading his people somewhere. The first man, Adam, brings someone from the kingdom of God to this earth, and the last Adam takes them back. Those who leave God's house are considered sinners. Therefore, salvation comes when sinners who have left God return to God's house.

However, הַשָּׁמַ֖יִם (Hashamaiyim) does not mean sky, but the kingdom of God. הָאָֽרֶץ (Haaretz) means the material world.

 

In Genesis 1:1, "God, the head, created the heavens and the earth," or "He said, 'Look to Hashamayim and Ha'eretz,'" we must examine the meaning of heaven and earth. According to the Revised Standard Version, heaven and earth recognize the visible heaven and earth. However, the Greek Bible has a different meaning.

Ha'shamayim (ha'eretz) does not mean sky (sky), but rather the kingdom of God (heavens). Ha'eretz (ha'eretz) means material (earth).

The Kingdom of God, where God reigns, already exists, so why does God create heaven and earth again? This represents Christ.

In the New Testament, Jesus Christ is both the Son of Man and the Son of God. The Son of Man represents matter (earth), while the Son of God represents heaven. Therefore, the heaven and earth that God created represent Christ.

The title Genesis is also a translation of the English Bible, and the title in the Hebrew Bible is Bereshit (בְּרֵאשִׁ֖ית).

The title for the story of Genesis 1-3 is Genesis 1:1. Chapters and verses are a later addition by humans; the original Hebrew Bible did not have chapters and verses.

To say that God creates the Kingdom of God means that he created Christ, Christ, who dwells within the human heart, and the third heaven, that is, the Kingdom of God within the human heart. The Hebrew word shamayim and the Greek word uranon are both plural, meaning the Kingdom of God (Christ) of the saints.

Next is the land (erez). Genesis 1:9 states, "And God said, 'Let the waters under the whole heaven be gathered into one place, and let the waters appear, and God called the dry land Earth.'" That land is erez. We can see that the land in Genesis 1:1 does not refer to the earth, but to the material world. Therefore, this material world can also be said to be the physical body.

In Genesis 1:1, God created the head of the temple with a body made of dust, and with a spirit created the first man called heaven, and the first man was Christ.

Colossians 1:15, "He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation." This refers to Christ. The first man is Christ, and Jesus, the last Adam, is also Christ.

Romans 5:14 “Yet death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those whose sins were not like the transgression of Adam, who is a type of the one to come.” The NIV Bible says who was a pattern of the one to come, and the KJV Bible says who is the figure of him that was to come.

In the Greek Bible, ὅς ἐστιν τύπος (model) τοῦ μέλλοντος

The word tupos, translated as model, is interpreted to mean a seal, statue, model, or example. In other words, the first man is a shadow or copy of the last Adam, Christ.

1 Corinthians 15:45-47 “And so it is written, ‘The first man Adam became a living being,’ the last Adam became a life-giving spirit. Yet the spiritual man is not first, but the natural man, and afterward the spiritual man. The first man is of the earth, dusty; the second man is from heaven.”

Looking at 1 Corinthians 15:45-47, we can see that since Jesus Christ is both the Son of Man and the Son of God, the Son of Man who died on the cross was born with the sarx (physical body) of the first man, and the resurrected Son of God was born with a spiritual body.

Why is Christ the first man? We cannot avoid talking about the Garden of Eden. We must consider whether the Garden of Eden represents the world or the Kingdom of God.

Genesis 2:7-8 “Then the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living being (nephesh hai). The LORD God planted a garden in Eden, in the east, and there he put the man he had formed.”

God formed man from the dust of the ground and placed him in the Garden of Eden. As we all know, man was the first human being, and in the Garden of Eden, they were separated into Adam and Eve. Eve ate the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, and God banished them from the Garden of Eden into the world.

Genesis 3:23-24 states, "Then the Lord God sent him out from the Garden of Eden to till the ground from which he had been taken. So God drove him out. Then he placed at the east of the Garden of Eden cherubim and a flaming sword which turned every way to guard the way to the tree of life."

From this, we can see that the Garden of Eden simultaneously represents both the world and the kingdom of God. There are two things that simultaneously represent both the world and the kingdom of God: the sanctuary in Israel and Jesus Christ.

First, we need to understand the Garden of Eden through the sanctuary. The sanctuary contains the Ark of the Covenant, the dwelling place of God, two angels (cherubs), and the presence of priests and sinners.

In the Garden of Eden, there are God, Satan, Adam, and Eve. However, Eve ate the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, and gave it to Adam, who also ate it, thus sinning against God. The sin is that Eve ate the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, which God had forbidden her to eat, because she wanted to become like God.

Here, we must understand two things. First, it is the story of sin, and second, it is the story of the court that judges sin. Sin is the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, eaten in the hope of becoming like God, and second, the court is the sanctuary. The Garden of Eden is a model of the sanctuary and symbolizes the court. In the court, there is a judge who judges, a prosecutor who accuses, a lawyer who defends, and the sinner.

First, regarding sin, it refers not to sins committed in the world, but to sins committed in the Garden of Eden, sins committed within the kingdom of God. The Bible speaks of sin within the kingdom of God in two places.

2 Peter 2:4 "For if God did not spare the angels when they sinned, but cast them down to hell and committed them to chains of darkness to be kept until judgment," and Jude 1:6 "And the angels who did not keep their own position but abandoned their proper dwelling, he has kept in everlasting chains under darkness for the judgment of the great day." Here, the only expression about the nature of sin is that they did not keep their own position.

Darkness represents this world. Genesis 1:1-2 "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters."

And the humans created in darkness are precisely the spirits of fallen angels imprisoned in the dust. The fact that the sons of God (the spirits of fallen angels) married the daughters of men (their flesh) means that spirit and flesh united to form humanity. This is God's judgment on the fallen angels.

There is no further mention of the angels' sin. However, if we apply the angels' sin to the sanctuary of the world, the Garden of Eden in God's kingdom, the cause of their sin is ultimately the greed to become like God.

To understand this, we must understand the meaning of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

Every church in the world believes that God created the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Genesis 2:9 states, "Out of the ground the Lord God caused every tree to grow that was pleasant to the sight and good for food. The tree of life also in the middle of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil."

In the English Bible, it seems as though God created the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. However, the Hebrew Bible tells a different story.

וַיַּצְמַ֞ח יְהוָ֤ה אֱלֹהִים֙ מִן־הָ֣אֲדָמָ֔ה כָּל־עֵ֛ץ נֶחְמָ֥ד לְמַרְאֶ֖ה וְטֹ֣וב לְמַאֲכָ֑ל וְעֵ֤ץ הַֽחַיִּים֙ בְּתֹ֣וךְ הַגָּ֔ן וְעֵ֕ץ הַדַּ֖עַת טֹ֥וב וָרָֽע׃

Genesis 2:9, translated again, reads, "Out of the ground the Lord God made every tree grow—a tree in the garden, a tree pleasing to the eye, a tree that is pleasant for food, and a tree that gives life; and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil."

God created three types of trees: trees of joy, trees of value for food, and trees of life.

But then, the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil suddenly intervenes. The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil represents self-righteousness. It is a tree that expresses the desire to become like God. God did not create such trees.

In Matthew 13:24-25, Jesus said, "The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field. But while everyone was sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat and went away." The good seed becomes the seed of the tree of life. However, the weeds are another expression for the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

Church people think of sin as breaking a commandment. However, sin begins with the greed that leads to breaking a commandment. That is sin. Therefore, we must uncover the true nature of the sin of greed.

The Bible even calls this greed an idol. Colossians 3:5, "Therefore put to death your earthly members: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry." Idols arise from the desire to become like God.

Second, let's examine the legal battle.

In the sanctuary, a sinner brings a sacrificial animal to the sanctuary. The sinner places his hands on the animal to transfer his sins to it, slaughters it, collects its blood, and gives it to the priest. The priest, acting on behalf of the sinner, pours the blood on the altar, enters the sanctuary, sprinkles it seven times, and prays to God. This graphic depicts the legal battle that takes place at this time. Who are the prosecutor and the defense attorney?

They are two angels. The Bible describes the dispute between the two angels once in Jude 1:9: "But Michael the archangel, when he was disputing with the devil and disputing about Moses' body, did not dare to bring a railing accusation against him, but said, 'The Lord rebuke you!'"

People think of Satan or the devil as someone who opposes God, but in reality he acts as a prosecutor, and God entrusts him with tasks, as in the case of Job.

Satan's role is to test and accuse. God gave Satan this role, and he tempted the woman (Eve). God knows the hearts of evil angels, and He uses Satan to express their thoughts.

Genesis 3:1-4 Now the serpent was more crafty than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You shall not eat from any tree in the garden?’” The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees of the garden; but of the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.’” And the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die.”

The serpent represents Satan. The Hebrew word for "crafty" is arum, meaning "wise." Matthew 10:16 says, "Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves. Be wise, then, as serpents and harmless as doves."

Who are women? They are beings separated from the first man, Adam. Men and women were separated from the first man, Adam. This signifies the spirits of angels who sinned in the kingdom of God, and they are ultimately those who fell for Satan's temptation. Satan is an angel who took on the role of evil. God assigned that role. Satan even tempted Jesus, testing whether he was truly the Son of God.

The sins of the angels who opposed God were revealed by Satan, and so God sent them into the world. However, God predestined Christ to bring even the evil spirits cast into the world back to the kingdom of God, and He will make those who enter into Christ into God's people again.

Third, regarding the first man, Adam, and Eve.

The relationship between the first man, Adam, and the last man, Adam, is explained in Colossians 1:15, "He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation." This refers to Christ. The first and most important creature, Adam, is the first man.

The first man, Adam, was the first Christ to come into the world, predestined by Christ, and he imparted to humanity a body of sin. From the first man, Adam, the male Adam and the female Eve were separated. And from them, generations after generation, humanity continued to be produced.

The Hebrew word for "human" in the first man is "adamah," and after the separation of the man and woman, the man's name is "Adam." Therefore, the simultaneous use of the terms "first man Adam" and "man Adam" has led to confusion. The first man, Adam, is Christ, and Eve, separated from the first man, is the spirit of a fallen angel combined with flesh.

The fact that the first human was divided into male and female means that the first human, Adam, imparted to humanity a body of sin. This signifies the spirits of the angels who sinned in the kingdom of God. Because the sins of the angels who opposed God were revealed by Satan, God sent them into the world.

The last Adam imparts a body of righteousness (a body of resurrection). When Jesus died on the cross, it was death for the sinful body (old self) of the first man, Adam. He, the last Adam, was resurrected on the third day, imparting a spiritual body (new self) to those who enter into Christ.

Jesus' death on the cross and resurrection are the results of God's will in Genesis 1:1.