It’s Time For A Genesis
By Pastor Lori Champion
Genesis is not just a book of the Bible that we read at the beginning of the year when we have new resolutions and new Bible in a Year reading plans. The word Genesis came from the Hebrew language; it means 'In the Beginning.'
August is as good a time as any to be celebrating new beginnings. I would argue that August is completely underrated as the real resolution season. January is good for diet plans, but in August with the new school year, new schedules, new teachers, new sports, FOOTBALL SEASON (my favorite!), new books, and planners…. those are the things that hope for a life change! I could have been a better student. I was a great test-taker, so I was always in the most competitive classes, but I didn’t always apply myself, as my mother would say. But when it came to picking out those #2 pencils, the composition notebooks, and the “trapper keeper” (who remembers those?!), I felt like this could be my moment! This could be the year when old things -- procrastination in my homework -- had passed away, and new habits emerged.
What old things, old habits, and old priorities need to pass away in your life so that new ones can be formed? In what area of your life do you need a new beginning -- a Genesis?
One of my favorite verses is Isaiah 43:19 “Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.”
Have you ever wished for a do-over in life? If I only knew then what I know now, I would’ve avoided that relationship; would have made a different choice; would not have said that; or would have said this.
As I have been thinking about next year’s Radiant 2024 theme “Genesis: Awaken the Wonder,” I am thinking about the WONDER of creation. God, in His system, has provided a picture of our seasons of a year, our circle of life, our biological cell structure, and on and on….He continually brings dead things to life.
Genesis isn’t just the first book of the Bible; it’s the BRAND of Christianity. New beginnings. New life. Resurrection. This is the GOOD NEWS! This is OUR GOSPEL! You don’t have to be the same. There is a Creator and HE has an ERASER!There are a couple of truths from the book of Genesis that we need to be reminded of:
1. God does not hold your past against you.
I’ve heard people say, “If you only knew the darkness, the chaos, and the confusion in my past…” It reminds me of the creation of the world, where we sometimes forget that God did not have a blank slate. He was not speaking into nothingness. God was speaking into darkness, chaos, and confusion.
Genesis 1:1-2, "In the beginning, God created the Heavens and the Earth. The Earth was chaos and empty and darkness on the faces of the depths and the Spirit of God hovered on the faces of the waters".
Awaken to the wonder that no matter how dark, chaotic, or confusing life is, He is ready to break forth the light and create new life.
2. God will not hold your future against you.
The second truth that I want to encourage you with is that not only has God provided new creation for past decisions, but God does not reject you based on tomorrow’s decisions.
In the story of “the fall” of Adam and Eve, God was ready with a solution for the world’s redemption. God said to the serpent that, “her SEED (Jesus) would bruise his head, and you would bruise His heel.” (Genesis 3:15).
God is showing us the gospel.
Adam responded to the gospel and then he named his wife; Eve -- meaning “the mother of all the living." Eve means life-giver. Adam was celebrating the good news that life could come even out of bad decisions.
It meant that females would birth children, but it also meant that every redeemed woman can be a life-giver in every relationship and season of life.
Let’s never lose the wonder that God provided a new beginning -- a Genesis -- even after the very worst decision ever made. How much more can He awaken a new beginning in us?IT’S TIME FOR A GENESIS!