Finding a New Beginning

(Genesis 4:1-5) Children are a gift from God, and every child is different. While it is the responsibility of parents to teach these children who the Lord is, it is the child's responsibility to accept Christ on his own. Discover some practical principles for children today from some of the first children on earth. (0823240126) 

(Genesis 3:22-24) Imagine living forever separated from God. If Adam and Eve would have eaten from the tree of life in their fallen state, they would have lived forever with the curse of sin upon them. Praise God for His mercy in restoring us through Christ! (0822240125) 

(Genesis 3:14-21) All the types of evil that we see in the world today are a direct result of the day that man fell. Even on that dark day, the Lord Jesus Christ shone as brightly as He does today. Study the book of Genesis with us and discover the first promise of the coming Savior! (0821240124) 

(Genesis 3:11-13) When a person gets caught doing something wrong, typically his first fleshly response is to find someone to blame. We inherited this trait from our first parents, Adam and Eve. Listen to this episode to learn a valuable lesson about personal responsibility. (0820240123) 

(Genesis 3:6-10) Sin not only fails to deliver what it promises but also delivers what you do not want. It draws you in but shortly after destroys you and others around you. Join our study as we continue "Finding a New Beginning." (0819240122) 

(Genesis 3:5-6) Satan is always trying to steal from us the identity God has given us. By doing this, he distorts our perspective and deters us from our purpose. Christian, your true identity is wrapped up in God's identity.  (0817240119) 

(Genesis 3:1-5) Satan, like a subtle serpent, knows how to appeal to man and attack his weaknesses. Very often, he will use good things to make us do bad things. Other times, Satan will dilute truth with a small lie. His tactics have not changed since the beginning of time.   (0816240118) 

(Genesis 2:18-25) After creating everything and deeming it good, God saw Adam's lack of companionship and said, "It is not good that the man should be alone." Marriage is God's design and desire. Tune in to discover the purpose of marriage. (0815240117) 

(Genesis 2:15-17) When the Lord says "no,"  it is not because He is trying to keep something good from you. Rather, it is because He is trying to keep something bad from you. God's prohibitions are accompanied by His provisions. God wants what is best for you! (0814240116) 

(Genesis 2:4-15) When you discover the origin of man, you can discern the objective of man. While God spoke other things into existence, He formed man with His own hands. Pause today and put your life back in His hands.   (0813240115) 

(Genesis 2:1-3) Adam's first full day on earth was a designated day of rest with God. God did not give Adam any work to do until he first learned to rest in the Lord. in As we rest in Him, God encourages and equips us for a fresh start in His work.  (0811240112) 

(Genesis 2:1-3) Did you know the Lord built into creation a daily reminder that He is God, and we are not? This reminder is rest. Be reminded from today's episode of our need to be refreshed. (0810240111) 

(Genesis 2:1-3) From the very beginning, work has been linked to rest. Rest can be just as much of a discipline as work is. This great rest is not leisure; it is resting contentedly in the Lord. Come unto Jesus today and claim this rest.  (089240110) 

(Genesis 1:26-28) Stewardship extends into every facet of life. God owns everything He's given us, and we are answerable to Him for those things. Live every day in light of your personal accountability to God.  (088240109) 

(Genesis 1:26-28) Mankind was not only made to bear God's image, but we were also made to labor with Him. Our Creator has designed and assigned tasks for all of us. Learn more about this divine purpose as we continue our series, "Finding a New Beginning." (087240108) 

(Genesis 1:26-31) From the beginning, God's intent for mankind was blessing. God made you in His image to reflect His glory and live in His goodness. As we study the crown of God's creation, don't miss why God made you!  (085240105) 

(Genesis 1:6-25) As you read through the creation account in Genesis, remember that it is not just a book of information, but it is a book of revelation. Discover in today's episode the power and wisdom of our great Creator. (084240104) 

(Genesis 1:4-5) Do you ever feel overlooked by the world? The Creator of the universe sees you. Do you ever feel overwhelmed by darkness? The Light of the world can divide the darkness from your life. Allow God to apply the first day of creation to your life through today's study! (083240103) 

(Genesis 1:2-3) Imagine witnessing the first day of creation! In the emptiness and darkness, God moved and spoke. If you want a new beginning, or if you want order in the midst of chaos, yield to the work of the Spirit and get into the Word of God. (082240102) 

(Genesis 1:1) Someone has rightly said, "The Christian life is a series of new beginnings." Sin will always bring you to a dead end. God brings you to open doors. As we begin a new series from the first eleven chapters of Genesis, take advantage of the new beginning God is offering you today! (081240101) 
 
Automated Transcript:
Someone has rightly said that life is a series of new beginnings.I love that because I can testify and tell you that life is a series of transitions.Maybe you're living through one of those transitions right now.The reality is, in the transitions of life, when things are changing, one of two things is going to happen.Either it's going to just be the end of something, or it's going to be a new beginning.I'm glad to tell you today, on the authority of the Word of God, that our God is the God of new beginnings.Sin will always bring you to a dead end.The devil closes in on you, and brings you to nothing.But the Lord never brings you to a dead end.The Lord brings you to another open door.You don't hit a wall with the Lord.Instead, a door opens, and God says, alright, here is the way to begin again.And so, I want to take you to the opening pages of Scripture, to the book of Genesis.Now, the opening chapters of Genesis, not just Genesis chapter one, but the first eleven chapters of the book of Genesis are in many ways the beginnings of everything.Someone said and observed that Genesis 1 through 11 is a seedbed of doctrine, that every major doctrine found in the rest of Scripture is introduced, at least in seed form, in the opening pages of the Word of God.Isn't that just like the Lord?God's Word, a progressive revelation, moving from the known to the unknown, starting with the most simple thing and then progressively showing us more and more until it's fully developed and we finally understand what it is God wants us to understand.And so, in this emphasis on new beginnings, I want to go back to the Book of Beginnings, to the Book of Genesis, and study with you the first eleven chapters.Let's get some foundational truth, some beginning truth that will help us to begin again.Today, we start in the most obvious place, you have to begin, where God begins in Genesis chapter one and verse number one, you know it by heart.Say it with me, would you please?In the beginning, God created the heaven and the earth.And so, in the very first verse of holy scripture, we have introduced to us not only God, but God's great desire and design for all of us.These are the basics, the building blocks, the beginning principles.What are they?Well, first of all, we learn that God is, because the Bible simply states, in the beginning, God.Don't begin with the reality around you, begin with the reality before you and above you.Begin with God.Everything begins with God.Scripture does not seek to prove to us the existence of God.It simply states it.And you will have to either accept it or reject it.You'll either have to believe what the Bible says, or say, no, I don't believe that at all.But if you're going to take God at His word, and I recommend that you do, then you must begin with this.God is, He is the eternally existent one.You see, this world has a beginning, but God has no beginning because He's the everlasting one.The oldest Psalm in the Bible, Psalm 90, written by Moses, says, from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God.Literally, the word everlasting means vanishing point.So from one vanishing point to the other vanishing point, God is God.Go back before all of the world was created, before time existed, and God is.Go all the way to the end.Fast forward to the end of the story, when the world burns up and everything disappears, that is familiar to us, and God will still be.He is the eternal God.The parallel to this, of course, in the New Testament, is John.John chapter 1, verse number 1, says, In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.The same was in the beginning with God.All things were made by him, and without him was not anything made that was made.In other words, the Lord Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of God, did not begin at Bethlehem, but he was there before the creation of the world in the beginning.And so we start here.We start with the very presence of God, that he existed, eternally existed, before this world was created.One little interesting thing is that the noun that is used here in the language of the day, the Hebrew language, was a unipleural noun, literally meaning three in one.So think about this, God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit, our God, Elohim, co-equal, co-existent, co-eternal, the great three in one introduced to us in the very first verse of the Bible.God is.And then a second thing we must observe is that God made everything out of nothing.Because the Bible says God created.The word that is used here literally means to create something out of nothing.It's not to make, taking something that exists and making something.No, it's totally different than that.It is the creation of everything.He created the heaven and the earth out of nothing.And, of course, we're going to learn as we progress in our study.He did all of that with the power of his word.Only God could do that.God is.And then God made everything out of nothing.And then, this is very important, not only is it true that God is and God made everything out of nothing, but God made everything in order for us to know him.Think of this.The visible was created so we could come to know the invisible God.What we see was created to reveal the plan and purpose and power of Almighty God.In the beginning, God created the heaven and the earth.You see, all of earth and all of the heavens declare the glory of God.Everything around us testifies to the existence of the Creator God.Now, we know that Christ is the final, full revelation of the Creator.He literally brings heaven to earth in order to bring earth to heaven.But in the beginning, God created the heaven and the earth.Do you see God's presence?God is.Do you see God's power?God made everything out of nothing.He's the beginning of every good thing.James said in James 1, 17, that every good and perfect gift comes down from above from the father of lights in whom is no variableness neither shadow of turning.And then do you see God's purpose?God made everything with this objective that we would come to know him and love him and worship him.May I just tell you, only God can create something beautiful out of nothing.The first characteristic of God revealed here is his power.I don't know what you're dealing with today, what your nothing is, but I just want to remind you that nothing is too hard for the Lord, that all things are possible with God.Dear listener, those of us who are living right now, it seems on the edge of eternity, on the verge of the book of Revelation, need to start paying more attention to Genesis because the only way to go forward is to go back.And the only way to really understand what's going on in this world right now, near the end of the story, is to go back to the very beginning.The old Bible teacher, A.T. Pearson, used to talk about the law of first mention.Well, Genesis 1 is a chapter about life, and it's a chapter about the God of life for those who want life again.If you need a new beginning, what you need is not more effort, more energy, better intentions, better circumstances, or help from someone else.What you need is a fresh experience with the God who is the creator of it all.And the God of beginnings and the God of new beginnings, because the same God who spoke the world into existence and made every beautiful thing out of nothing is able to come to us in the midst of our difficulty and make something beautiful out of nothing again.Only God can do that, and God only does it when we turn to Him.Would you look to the God of new beginnings today?