A New Beginning (Part 1)
Scott Bayles, pastor
Blooming Grove Christian Church: 4/6/14
Have you ever wished you could have a do-over? I know of a teen-age girl in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, who wanted one. Police stopped the girl after complaints that a car had been seen doing laps around her neighborhood in reverse for some time. The girl told police that her parents had let her use the car, but she had put too much mileage on it. "I was just trying to unwind some of it," she said.
Unfortunately, cars don’t work that way. And neither does life, does it? The frustrating thing about time is that it always moves forward. There is no "R" on the stick-shift, no reverse in the gears. The hands of the clock always move clockwise, and the pages of the calendar are torn off in only one direction. Time never moves backward. Not an inch, not a step, never. But just because we can’t turn back the clock or run the odometer in reverse, doesn’t mean we can’t have a fresh start. Spring is a time of new beginnings and fresh starts. And, the God who created the world specializes in new beginnings!
That’s why, for the next few weeks, I’d like to go back to the first book of the Bible—the book of beginnings—and see what we can learn about God, ourselves, and how to experience a fresh start. I’d like to begin with the first chapter of Genesis—which, by the way, means beginning. The opening chapter of Genesis contains the creation story, but it’s much more than that. To say that Genesis is a literary masterpiece is to understate its elegance. With inspired brilliance, Moses interlaced a historical narrative with both symbolism and repetitive poetical structure, setting the stage for all of Scripture. So please open your Bibles to the first page of Genesis and read with me.
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness. God called the light “day,” and the darkness he called “night.” And there was evening, and there was morning—the first day.
And God said, “Let there be a vault between the waters to separate water from water.” So God made the vault and separated the water under the vault from the water above it. And it was so. God called the vault “sky.” And there was evening, and there was morning—the second day.
And God said, “Let the water under the sky be gathered to one place, and let dry ground appear.” And it was so. God called the dry ground “land,” and the gathered waters he called “seas.” And God saw that it was good. Then God said, “Let the land produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants and trees on the land that bear fruit with seed in it, according to their various kinds.” And it was so. The land produced vegetation: plants bearing seed according to their kinds and trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good. And there was evening, and there was morning—the third day.
And God said, “Let there be lights in the vault of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let them serve as signs to mark sacred times, and days and years, and let them be lights in the vault of the sky to give light on the earth.” And it was so. God made two great lights—the greater light to govern the day and the lesser light to govern the night. He also made the stars. God set them in the vault of the sky to give light on the earth, to govern the day and the night, and to separate light from darkness. And God saw that it was good. And there was evening, and there was morning—the fourth day.
And God said, “Let the water teem with living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the vault of the sky.” So God created the great creatures of the sea and every living thing with which the water teems and that moves about in it, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. God blessed them and said, “Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the water in the seas, and let the birds increase on the earth.” And there was evening, and there was morning—the fifth day.
And God said, “Let the land produce living creatures according to their kinds: the livestock, the creatures that move along the ground, and the wild animals, each according to its kind.” And it was so. God made the wild animals according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, and all the creatures that move along the ground according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good. Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.” So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.” Then God said, “I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds in the sky and all the creatures that move along the ground—everything that has the breath of life in it—I give every green plant for food.” And it was so. God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning—the sixth day. (Genesis 1:1-31 NIV)
It’s beautiful in its structure and simplicity, yet Genesis 1 has been a source of controversy and debate amongst Christians as far back Saint Augustine. Were the six days literal, long, or just a literary device? Where did the light come from if God didn’t make the Sun, moon and stars until day four? Were all animals herbivores in the beginning? Genesis 1 raises a whole classroom full of questions, but more importantly it answers the one question that trumps them all: Why is there something rather than nothing? Or put another way, where did life, the universe and everything come from? The answer is—God. In the beginning… God.
This morning I’d like to ask: What does Genesis 1 teach us about God?
I’m sure you could find more, but I see three valuable lessons about the nature and character of God hidden in the poetic prose of Genesis1. First is the power of God.
• THE POWER OF GOD
The first chapter of the first book of the Bible is pregnant with the power of God. God simply speaks, “Let there be light” and the universe explodes into existence.
Physicists and cosmologists refer to the creation of the universe as the Big Bang. They describe it as a singularity—a single point, infinitely small, unimaginable hot, a super dense speck of pure energy. This energy exploded at a temperature of trillions of degrees and expanded at a mind-boggling rate, bringing into existence all of the matter and energy contained in the four hundred billion galaxies we see today. The power invested in the creation of the universe is unfathomable. Yet, God simply spoke the universe into existence. The psalms remind us: “The heavens were made by the word of the Lord and all the stars by the breath of his mouth” (Psalm 33:6 NLT). In other words, God didn’t lift a finger when creating the cosmos! Just a glance into the universe that God has made ought to remind us this morning that we are worshipping an unrivaled, uncontested God of infinite might and power and glory and awe!
When talking about the power of God, we had to invent a new word—omnipotent. It’s a compound word, omni meaning all and potent meaning powerful. All powerful. That’s what God is. I love what Blaise Pascal once said, “The greatest single distinguishing feature of the omnipotence of God is that our imagination gets lost when thinking about it.”
Here’s what I want you to understand: a God who can do all that, can do anything! There’s no heart he can’t heal, there’s no soul he can’t save, there’s no problem beyond his power. The God who created the heavens and the earth specializes in new beginnings. Have you ever wondered why Jesus came to earth and became a carpenter? Of all the careers he could have chosen—prince, politician, policeman—why become a carpenter? I think it’s because a carpenter has two primary jobs—making things and fixing things. God has always been in the business of making and mending. The same power that made the universe can mend you, and give you a fresh start.
Furthermore, we also see the planning of God in Genesis 1.
• THE PLANNING OF GOD
Not only would it take infinite knowledge and wisdom to create a self-sustaining universe like ours, finely tuned to support life, but God’s planning and foresight are laid out for us right in the story of creation.
Notice the pattern in the six days of creation. There’s a parallel between days 1, 2, 3 and days 4, 5, 6. On day 1 God says “Let there be light.” On day 4 God creates the sun, moon, and stars (places in which the light resides). On day 2 God creates the sky and sea. On day 5 he fills them with birds and fish. On day 3 God creates the dry land and on day 6 he fills the land with animals and people. There’s a strategy at work. There’s a plan in effect. First he prepares the place, and then he fills it with life.
He still does that.
God assured the people of Israel: “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future” (Jeremiah 29:11 NIV). I think that promise belongs to us as well.
God has a plan for each one of us. Of course, you might look at your life and think, “I’m not seeing the plan here.” I don’t think the Israelites saw it either. We often quote this verse, it’s seen on posters and plaques, but we forget its context. Let me read it again: “When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will come to you and fulfill my good promise to bring you back to this place. For I know the plans I have for you…plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future” (Jeremiah 29:10-11 NIV). Hold on. Seventy years? The people of Israel were going to be exiles in a foreign nation, many of them slaves for the next seventy years. And this was all part of God’s plan. From an earthly perspective, that’s not a very good plan. But God sees things from an eternal perspective.
Dr. Handley Moule was a brilliant British Bible teacher and author who died in 1920. One time, he was called to the scene of a terrible accident at a British coal mine. Many friends and relatives of the cave-in victims gathered as Dr. Moule addressed them. He said: “It is very difficult for us to understand why God should let an awful disaster happen, but we know Him and trust Him, and all will be right. I have at home an old bookmarker given me by my mother. It is worked in silk, and when I examine the wrong side of it, I see nothing but a tangle of threads. It looks like a big mistake. One would think that someone had done it who did not know what she was doing. But when I turn it over and look at the right side, I see there, beautifully embroidered, the words, ‘God is love!’”
Your life may look like a tangle of threads. It may feel like a big mistake—a cacophony of discouragement, discord, and disappointment. But from God’s perspective, your life spells out his love. God does know what he’s doing. You have to know that just as God had a beautiful and intricate plan in creating our world, he has a beautiful and intricate plan for your life—plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and future. And that brings us to the product of God.
• THE PRODUCT OF GOD
First, Genesis 1 reveals the power of God, then the planning of God, and finally it reveals the product of God. Six times through the creation story, God paused to survey his creation and each time, the Bible says, “And God saw that it was good.” At the end of week, “God saw all that he had made, and it was very good” (Genesis 1:31 NIV).
As we’ve already seen, God had a plan, and he knew full well it would turn out good. But there’s a difference between knowing something and experiencing it. I think what we see is God experiencing the goodness of what he has made. At each step he is enjoying his handiwork, and when it is complete, he has the satisfaction of beholding and appreciating his finished product in all its beauty and perfection.
When God says something is very good, you can bet that it is very good. The God who made all those good things—the heavens and the earth, the sky and the seas, the birds and the fish, and so on—is the same God who made you.
The old southern proverb is still true: God don’t make no junk. Or as David more eloquently put it: “You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit them together in my mother’s womb. Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! It is amazing to think about. Your workmanship is marvelous—and how well I know it.” (Psalm 139:13-14 TLB). If God looked at the earth and the sky and the sea and the bird and the animals and everything else he created and saw that it was good, what do you suppose he sees when he looks at you?
Did you know that God thinks of you as the crowning jewel of creation—his masterpiece? It’s true. The Bible says, “For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago” (Ephesians 2:10 NLT). God created you special and, even though your life and mine has been soiled by sin, he creates us anew in Christ. He offers us a new beginning a fresh start through Jesus. He molds us, and makes new. Then he steps back, looks at his handiwork, and sees that it is good.
Conclusion:
You and I may not be able to turn back the clock or take the miles off the odometer by driving around in reverse. But that doesn’t mean we can’t experience a new beginning. The God who created the universe is a God of infinite power and intricate planning, and his end products are always good.
Invitation:
If you could use a fresh start today, please talk with me. But more importantly, talk with God. As we stand and sing, you stand and pray. Open your heart to him, receive his power, accept his plans, and allow him create you anew.
