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In my opinion, the reference to the "beginning" is the same in Genesis 1:1 and John 1:1 -- that is, an absolute time in eternity past when the three-Person God was the only existing Being or thing, before beginning His creative work (which included the creation of the angels). However, Jesus' reference to the devil having being a murderer "from the beginning" coud not pertain to the same time frame. Since God's finished creation was pronounced "good" in Genesis 1:31, the devil could not (in my view) have yet sinned at that time. There must have been a passage of some time (however short or long) before his fall occurred. Ezekiel 28:15 seems to support this understanding, since it speaks of Satan as being a holy being until the day that inqiuity was found in him through the sin of pride -- that is, a desire to replace God. To me, this indicates the passage of some amount of time between the creation of Lucifer/Satan, and his fall through sin.
I agree that "beginning" means the same in all three verses. Genesis 1:1, John 1:1, And John 8:44. I believe that God has provided everything that we need to know in the Bible. However, I think that between verse 1 and 2 in Genesis a catastrophic event occurred. That is when Satan rebelled against God. Therefore he had to have already been created. The book of Job is considered to be the oldest book in the Bible. We see in Job that Satan has free access to God. Satan was the most beautiful of the angels. In Genesis 1 we read God created, and He said that it was good. So why does God say it was good? I propose that He had already created, at the very beginning, then something, or someone went rogue as they say today. Then, the destruction; God poured out His anger, There are 3 creative acts in Genesis 1. The first creative act refers to the geologic ages. Look at Jeremiah 4:23-26, Isaiah 24:1, and Isaiah 45:18. We know all the history of creation that we can understand. Besides in John 8:44, it says, "Your father was a murderer from the beginning." Eve and Adam lost their connection to God. A form of murder,if you ask me. Then Cain killed Abel. Where did he ever get the idea from?
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