In the beginning

Genesis means origin or birth. It is the 'book of beginnings', the basis of God's self-revelation. Here we find the beginning of everything: the creation of the heavens and the earth, the origins of life, of man and his world.

Genesis 1 to 11, in particular, contain numerous important principles that have left their mark on world history and are still meaningful today. These chapters describe the earliest history of mankind until the building of the tower of Babel.

The accounts of Creation, the Fall of man, the Great Flood and its consquences, are important for a clear understanding of the world in which we live. But they will remain meaningful until the end time.

Several terms and expressions in Genesis 1 to 11 return in the last chapters of the book of Revelation, which describes the ultimate goal of God's dealings with Planet Earth.

Content

1. Introduction
   1. In the beginning
   2. The composition of Genesis
   3. Seven biographies
2. God's plan for His creation
   1. Man and his wife
   2. Two series of three days
   3. Adam and Christ
   4. The new creation
   5. The mystery of Christ and the Church
3. Man's Fall into sin
   1. The reality of the Fall
   2. The serpent of old
   3. The nature of sin
   4. Deliverance from sin
4. Judgment and redemption
   1. The consequences of sin
   2. The promise of the seed of the woman
   3. The judgment on man
   4. God's grace for man
   5. The expulsion from the garden
5. Cain and Abel
   1. The contrasts between Cain and Abel
   2. The offerings of the two brothers
   3. Cain, the first murderer
   4. Abel and the Christ
6. The children of light and darkness
   1. Seth, Abel's substitute
   2. Seth's descendants
   3. Pictures of the End Time
   4. The line of Cain
   5. Man's corruption
7. Noah's Ark
   1. The meaning of the 'waters'
   2. The Ark of salvation
   3. A new beginning
8. The Noahic covenant
   1. The basis of the covenant
   2. The provisions of the covenant
   3. An everlasting covenant
9. Noah's prophecy and mankind after the flood
   1. Noah, the ruler over the new earth
   2. The curse on Canaan
   3. The blessings for Shem and Japheth
   4. God's hand in man's history
10. The tower of Babel
    1. Babel, the cradle of idolatry and astrology
    2. Nimrod, a mighty hunter before the LORD
    3. The confussion of tongues
    4. Babel and Jerusalem

Appendix I: The individual and the dispensational application of Genesis 1

1. The seven days of creation
2. The seven biographies in the book of Genesis
3. God's plan of salvation throughout the ages
4. The believer's growth to spiritual maturity

Appendix II: New Testament references to Genesis 1-11

1. The Creation of the world
2. The Creation of man
3. The Fall of man
4. Conflicting family lines
5. The great Flood
6. Mankind after the Flood