"In the beginning, God..."
What beautiful words to start the new year...in the beginning. These words appear at the start of the Old Testament, in the psalms, at the start of the book of John and the book of Hebrews. Beginnings permeate God's Word. He is the God of new beginnings. Praise God, He doesn't look at our past, but He meets us where we are...right now...at this very moment. Every moment for us is a new beginning with Him!

In Genesis on Day 1 light is created. Yet God did not create the sun until Day 4. Light (day) is good. Dark (night) is bad. Contrast this to Jesus, the light of the world and Satan, the prince of darkness.

John 8:12
When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life."

Rev 21:23
The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp.

Jesus was the light at the beginning and He will be the light at the end.

At the end of the first six days of creation, these words are written, "And there was evening and morning...". These words were not written at the end of the seventh day. God had completely finished creating. We are living the seventh day. These words are the reason that the Jewish day begins at sundown. Evening comes first.

When Satan tempted Eve to sin, he used doubt as his tool, "Did God really say...". He planted a seed of doubt. Which is exactly what he still does with each of us. He tries to place a bit of doubt in the mind of believers.

One of the consequences of Eve's disobedience was that her pains in childbearing would increase. This implies that there were babies born to Adam and Eve before the fall.

God sacrificed the first animals as a covering for their nakedness, a foreshadowing of the sacrifices to follow, sacrifices that had to be done for the atonement for sin, a covering of the sin temporarily. Sacrifices had to be done repeatedly in order for sins to be "covered".

Aren't we glad that Jesus became our permanent sacrifice, our atonement for sins forever!

Heb 10:22
let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water.

He didn't just cover our sins, but He cleansed us from a guilty conscience. Let us draw near to Him as He desires to draw near to us.