Parashat Bereshit: In the Beginning Was the Word

Shalom and blessings, beloved. This Shabbat we roll the scroll back to the very beginning and read Parashat Bereshit — “In the beginning” — from Genesis 1:1 through 6:8. There is no week in the reading cycle quite like this one: creation, the image of God, the fall — and the first flash of the Gospel, already in the garden.

Creation by the Word
Ten times in the first chapter: “And God said.” Light, sky, seas, life — all of it spoken into being. Now hear how John opens his Gospel, deliberately echoing this very portion: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. … All things were made through him” (John 1:1-3). Paul says the same of Yeshua: “by him all things were created … and in him all things hold together” (Colossians 1:16-17). The Voice that said “Let there be light” is the same Voice that said “Lazarus, come out” and “Peace, be still.” When we open Bereshit, we are reading our Messiah’s earliest works.

The Image of God: Every Person, Every Day
“So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them” (Genesis 1:27). Before anyone has accomplished anything, every human being carries the stamp of the King — the prisoner, the unborn, the homeless man on the corner, the difficult neighbor. This single verse is the foundation of all the Torah’s ethics and all of this ministry’s work. James warns how incoherent it is to bless God and curse “people who are made in the likeness of God” with the same mouth (James 3:9). How we treat the image is how we treat the One imaged (Matthew 25:40).

Shabbat: Woven into Creation Itself
Before Sinai, before Israel, before any commandment was carved in stone, “God blessed the seventh day and made it holy” (Genesis 2:3). Rest is not a concession to weakness; it is built into the architecture of the world. And Yeshua, Lord of the Shabbat (Mark 2:28), is Himself where the deepest rest is found: “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28).

The Fall — and the First Gospel
The serpent’s opening move is a question: “Did God actually say…?” (Genesis 3:1) — doubt about God’s word, then doubt about God’s heart. The fruit is taken, eyes are opened, fig leaves are sewn, and the man hides. But listen to what God speaks over the serpent before a single word of judgment falls on the humans: “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel” (Genesis 3:15). The sages of the church have long called this the protoevangelium — the first announcement of the Gospel. A Seed of the woman is coming who will be struck, yet crush the serpent’s head. From this verse forward, all of Scripture is watching for Him — born of woman (Galatians 4:4), bruised at the cross, breaking the serpent’s power (Hebrews 2:14; Romans 16:20). And notice what God does next: He clothes the guilty pair in garments of skin (Genesis 3:21) — the first death in Scripture covers the first sin. Covering guilt at the cost of life: the whole sacrificial story, and Calvary itself, in seed form.

Cain at the Door
The portion closes with worship gone wrong and the first murder. To angry Cain, God speaks words every disciple should memorize: “sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is contrary to you, but you must rule over it” (Genesis 4:7). Sin is pictured as a predator at the threshold — real, personal, patient. Abel’s offering was received because it was offered in faith (Hebrews 11:4); Cain’s heart, not merely his produce, was the problem. Guard the door, beloved — and know that there is now a blood that “speaks a better word than the blood of Abel” (Hebrews 12:24): Abel’s blood cried for justice; Yeshua’s cries mercy.

What Is the Spirit Saying This Week?
Bereshit asks: Do you know the Word through whom you were made? Whose image are you overlooking or mistreating? Is there a “Did God actually say?” whisper working on you right now? And is sin crouching at a door in your life that needs to be ruled — today, in the power of the Seed who crushed the serpent?

“In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.” — Genesis 1:1

Shabbat Shalom — and a joyful new cycle of Torah to you! In Messiah, the God of Genesis makes all things new (2 Corinthians 5:17). If this teaching stirred something in you and you would like to go deeper, please reach out — we would love to study it together.

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