In The Beginning--Jesus and the Cross

 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
Genesis 1:1

In the first three posts on this beautiful passage at the start of the Bible, it was noted that in each case there is a shadow of the Lord Jesus and the cross.  He is the sacrifice on the cross, the aleph-tav, that holds God to creation, who holds the heavens to the earth.  Jesus is the sustainer of all creation as found in the word, bara. It was He who inspired the scriptures and placed the thumbprint of authenticity across all 66 books of the Bible with the pattern beginning in the beginning.  It is quite apparent then that the central message of all scripture is Jesus Christ and His cross.  Why would God spend so much time constantly pointing to that central message? Because without Jesus Christ there is no salvation.  This constant verification of the cross of Christ is the loving, wooing heart of God reaching out to the lost and undone.  Without the work of Jesus alone, no man will ever see heaven.  

Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved. 

Acts 4:12 

 One of the more noticed and written about shadows below the surface in Genesis 1:1 is the underlying message found in the paleo/proto Hebrew pictographs forming the English phrase, In the beginning.  Again, it seems the Holy Spirit wanted to purposefully highlight the overall central message of the Word, that God the Son would need to give His life as a ransom for all. 

This idea also has another message in a message when it comes to the part Israel played in God's plan.  Jew haters and replacement theologians would have you believe that the cross was the fault of God's chosen people and that they have been replaces forever.  Others point to the fault of the Romans as the ones who orchestrated the death of Christ.  However, the scripture clearly teaches that Jesus laid His own life down willfully.  Consider: "No man taketh it from me (His life), but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it up again. This commandment have I received of my Father (John 10:18)." or,   "...who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous for good works (Titus 2:4)."    Yes, the men who rejected Him as individuals will bear personal guilt, but it was Jesus who allowed it to happen so that all who trust Him would be saved.

 

In the last post on the word, created, it was noted that the word, bara, in Hebrew shadowed Christ as the head of God's house.  Christ holds all creation together as the powerful Word of God. Bet was the symbol for house, resh (a man's head) was the symbol for a strong leader, and aleph could serve as an acronym standing alone representing God. It was also noted that bet-resh is the Hebrew word for Son, so the power of creation was THE SON OF GOD.

The underlined Hebrew word above is beresheet, translated to "In the beginning."  If you compare the second word, bara, to this word it becomes apparent that the first three letters of beresheet are also bara.  This leaves three letters to consider.  They are the Hebrew letters: shin, yod, tav.  

The letter shin in pictographic form looked sort of like two front teeth.  It carried the symbolism of: to bite, to consume, to destroy, or to devour.  It, too, can be a stand alone letter for God as it is reminiscent of His strength, power and omnipotent glory as seen in it's use in the powerful name, El Shaddai. God is the all powerful and it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the Living God without the blood covering of Christ the Lamb. 

The yod, the smallest letter, was originally an arm and hand.  It pointed to a deed, a work.  

Finally, the tav was a cross in the most ancient form which spoke of a covenant or a sign.  

The symbolism of each of these letters found In the beginning precisely  points again to the master theme of the Bible.  It is Jesus who offered Himself willingly to accomplish the plan of our redemption as laid out by the Father. The meaning of each letter is amazing:
Bet --the house
Resh--leader/head
Aleph--God
Shin--destroyed

Yod--hand/work

Tav--cross/covenant

Can you see it?  God, the leader of the house will be destoyed by His own hand at the cross.  

Or:  The Son of God will be destroyed by His own hand at the cross.  

Or: The Son of God was destroyed to bring the work of the covenant. 

Praise God!!  Won't you consider your great need for salvation that only God the Son can provide? He is willfully repeating that simple message over and over to us all.  Choose Jesus today...please!

Choose quickly as Jesus Christ is Soon2Come!

For then must he often have suffered since the foundation of the world: but now once in the end of the world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself.

Hebrew 9:24