Creation Lesson 1

CREATION

There are two and only two possible ways that the world, the universe, and everything in it (all animals, plants, people, stars, etc.) Could have been made -- either

1. By Chance (the theory of Evolution)

2. By a definite plan and design by a Creator God,

There is NO third possibility. It is either one way or the other.

Doubtless you are familiar, very familiar, with the first theory -- known as Evolution.

In this Bible study, we are going to look at possibility # 2 -- ie. That there IS a God and that God created everything and then told us that He did it, and when, and why.

And, as we do in all of these interactive studies, we are not going to just read, but rather, we are going to read and interact with what we read. So, want to try this? Would you like to find out for yourself what really happened? Do you want to know what God says about creation? OK!

Let's find out!

Your first assignment, then, should you choose to accept it, is to read the following scripture passage, and, as you read, mark every reference to God by putting a Blue circle around the actual word, God, or the pronouns ( I, he, we, us) which are used in place of the word 'God'. Then, when you have finished, we are going to answer some questions based on what you have read. Ready to begin? OK, grab your blue pen or pencil and read and circle the 'God' words in Genesis 1:1-2:3. It is printed here for you:

GENESIS 1:2-2:3 (NIV)

1:1 In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. 2. 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.

3 And God said, Let there be light, and there was light. 4. God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness. 5. God called the light day, and the darkness he called night. And there was evening, and there was morning --the first day.

6. And God said, Let there be an expanse between the waters to separate water from water.

7. So God made the expanse and separated the water under the expanse from the water above it. And it was so. 8. God called the expanse sky. And there was evening, and there was morning -- the second day.

9. And God said, Let the water under the sky be gathered to one place, and let dry ground appear. And it was so. 10. God called the dry ground land, and the gathered waters he called seas. And God saw that it was good. 11. 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. 12. 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. 13. And there was evening, and there was morning -- the third day.

14. And God said, Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let them serve as signs to mark seasons and days and years, 15 and let them be lights in the expanse of the sky to give light on the earth. And it was so. 16. 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. 17. God set them in the expanse 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. 19. And there was evening, and there was morning -- the fourth day.

20. And God said, Let the water teem with living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the expanse of the sky. 21. So God created the great creatures of the sea and every living and moving thing with which the water teems, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. 22 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. 23. And there was evening, and there was morning -- the fifth day.

24. And God said, Let the land produce living creatures according to their kinds: livestock, creatures that move along the ground, and wild animals, each according to its kind. And it was so. 25. 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. 26. Then God said, Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground. 27. So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. 28. God blessed them and said to them, Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground. 29. Then God said, I give you every seed-bearding plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. 30 And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds of the air and all the creatures that move on the ground -- everything that has the breath of life in it -- I give every green plant for food. And it was so. 31. God saw all that he had made and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning -- the sixth day.

2:1 Thus the heavens and the earth were completed in all their vast array. 2. By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. 3 And god blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done.

Great! I see that you have finished! Now, based on what you have just read, answer the following questions:

1. How does the Bible say that the Creation of the heavens and earth and everything in them occurred? (Circle your answer)

By chance Or By God deliberately Creating

2. When, according to Genesis 1:1, did this creation take place? _______________.

3. How long, according to the Bible, did the creation take? _______________ days.

4. And what happened on the 7th day? ___________________________________.

Yes, you are absolutely correct ! The Bible states that God created the heavens and the earth and that He did this in the beginning and the total time for the entire process to take place was 6 days. And, by the way, when it says that God rested on the 7th day, it does not mean that God was tired or exhausted or worn out from the act of creating. Rather, this means that God s work was finished, completed, done and was perfect. (Remember Genesis1:31 said " God saw all that he had made and it was very good.") So, this means that His creation was absolutely perfect and did not have to be repeated or changed or altered or revised in any way. So God was commemorating this work by resting. That is why God blessed the 7th day and made it Holy. Just thought you would want to know.

Well, with all that in mind, it is time for another assignment. Ready? Ok.

Reread the same passage of scripture and this time, as you read, using a different color pen or wooden pencil (red would be a good choice, but any color you like will do), underline the Day when you come across it (first day, second day, etc.) Also underline what was created on that day. Finally, in the margin beside each paragraph for the day, write the day and what was created. For example, for FIRST DAY you would underline first day and light in the text and in the margin you would write First day: light.

Ok, I will pause now while you do this assignment

Finished again? Great! You no doubt noticed that when God began creating, at first the earth was formless and empty. Then, during the 6 days, God Formed and Filled the earth and the heavens. So, based on what you just read, underlined and wrote, fill in the following chart to show the pattern of how God did this: (I'll do Day 1 for you)

Days of Separating Days of Filling

Gathering & Forming and Populating

1. Lights (verse 3) 4.

2. 5.

3. 6.

Great! You have finished your chart. And, I assume that you entered for day 2 the information from verse 1:7,"water under the expanse and water above the expanse." By the way, what is a simpler term for expanse? We are told in verse 8 that the expanse is the _________. Correct. It is the sky!

Did you notice that on day 3 the things formed were dry ground and vegetation ?

And then on Days 4,5,and 6 God filled. For example, light was formed on day one but on day 4 actual specific lights (the greater light, the lesser light and the stars) were created. In other words, the form of light was made into distinct separate lights.

What were the purposes of the lights as stated in verses 1:14-18: (you will notice that some of the purposes are repeated or rephrased, write them down anyway.)

1. _____________________________________________

2. _____________________________________________

3. _____________________________________________

4. _____________________________________________

5.______________________________________________

6.______________________________________________

7.______________________________________________

Correct, the purpose of the lights was to separate the day from the night; to serve as signs to mark the seasons, days, and years; to give light on the earth; to govern the day and the night; to give light on the earth; to govern the day and the night; and to separate light from the darkness.

Then on Day 5, you noted that God filled the Water (which had been formed in Day 2) with every living and moving thing with which the water teems ....... and God filled the air which had been formed on day 2 with every winged bird . Wow! Look at the pattern that is emerging! Does this sound like random chance to you? Or is there a plan?

On Day 6 God filled the dry ground (which had been formed on day 3) with livestock, and creatures that move along the ground, and wild animals, man, and every green plant. ...

Wow, the pattern continued! No wonder God was able to say that everything was very good and therefore rested from His work of creation on the 7th day. God had a plan and executed it and everything was accomplished according to His perfect plan. In 6 days God created the heavens and the earth and everything was in it. 6 DAYS ! Not 'billions and billions' of years and not by chance..... but in a finite period of time, each individual unit of which was marked out by the statement, "and the evening and the morning were the .... day."

Now that is truly awesome. But, a God who can create can do so in any time span He chooses and in any manner that He chooses. And a 6 DAY creation period makes a lot more sense, if your really stop and think about it, than billions and billions of years.

And, speaking the manner, HOW DID God create? Look at your scripture passage again, especially verses such as 1:3, 6, 9, 11, 14, 20, 24, 26. Do you see a repeated phrase that tells HOW He actually created? You do? Good ! Write the phrase here: ___________________________ and then UNDERLINE that phase, "And God said," every time it occurs in the scripture passage we have been reading and studying.

Now that is truly awesome. And God said . The Bible says that is what He did -- That is how He created! God just SPOKE and what He wanted done was done! What a mighty God ! Wow! What power! And this sure runs circles around all this just happening by chance . And, it makes a lot more sense, too, if you stop and think about it. In fact, why don t you do that right now. Stop now and just think about the 2 possibilities of how the heavens and the earth and everything in them could come about.

First, ask yourself what would you expect if this had all occurred by random chance? Would you expect to see the precision and organization and detail that is present if things had just happened with no pattern or direction or guidance or oversight?

Circle your answer: Yes NO

Now, think about what you would expect to see if all this had been created by a precisely organized and carefully thought out plan by a God who created what He had carefully thought out by simply and powerfully SPEAKING His creation into existence. Then He revealed to us His logical plan and sequence of events and even told us the sequence and how long it took. There was no randomness, no second guessing, no regrouping , no doing it over . It was correct and perfect the first time!

Hmmmm. Something to think about, isn t it! Which way do you really think it happened? How were the heavens and earth and everything in them really created? Which theory makes the most logical sense? Circle your answer:

1. By random chance over a 'gazillion' years.

2. By the direct work of God who created sequentially with a plan, pattern, and purpose.

And, speaking of purpose , what was God s purpose or reason for creating the heavens and the earth and everything in it? Did God just create for the joy of creating? And what about His creating of man in His own image that we read about in 1:27? What does this mean? And why did God do this? Hmmmmm. Interesting and important questions. Let's think about them.

You guessed it, it is time for another assignment. Read 1:26-30. As you read, underline what it was that man was supposed to do, ie. What was to be man s purpose? What did God tell man that he was to do?

pause while you do this assignment

Super! I see that you have finished. Let s see what you learned. First of all, what does it mean when it says that God created man in His own image? Write your answer, in your own words, in the space below:

__________________________________________________________________

Yes, "Created to be in God's image" means that man was to be different from all the other things and creatures that had been created. Man was to have a soul and a capacity for fellowship with God. Man was God's crowning, culminating work! Man, being made in God's image is worthy of respect and his life is of great value and not to be taken lightly or murdered or mistreated. It was God's intention that man would become "conformed to the likeness of Christ" (Ro. 8:29), "would be righteous and holy" (Ephesians 4:24), "would someday be like Him (Jesus)" (1 John 3:2), and would be ruler over areas delegated to him by his Creator-God. .And, there is so much more that this means.

But, speaking of being ruler over areas delegated to him by his Creator-God, we saw in these verses which you just read, what these areas were. In the space below, list what God intended for man to rule over, be, and do.

Man being made in the image of God was to :

Rule over ____________________________________

_____________________________________________

Be _______________, __________________, __________________

Do ___________________________________________________

____________________________________________________

Yes, as usual, you are correct. Verse 1:26 tells us that man was to rule over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, the livestock, the earth, and all creatures that move along the ground. And Verse 1:28 reiterated and reinforced this authority by saying that man was to rule over the fish of the sea, birds of the air, and every living creature that moves on the ground.

Hmmmm. That is very interesting. But that is NOT what man is doing today. What happened? Why is man not ruling over fish, birds, etc? We will find the answer to that question in a later study in this series. So, if you are interested in finding out what happened and what went wrong , continue on in this series of Studies in Genesis.

Meanwhile, back to this study. We have seen what man was originally intended to rule over (though he is not doing that now and actually hasn't been for almost 6000 or so years).

Concerning what man was to BE, you doubtless discovered in verse 1:28 that Man was to be fruitful, increase in number and fill the earth. And concerning what man was to DO, verse 1:28 told us that man was to subdue the earth and rule over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, and over every living creature that moves on the ground. Where have we heard that before? Sure, in the 'Rule Over' section.

Great. Now, let s look at another instruction from the Creator-God to man and His created creatures --and, this has to do with what they were to eat. Read verses 1:29-30 and discover what God intended for man to eat and for his creatures to eat. Write what you learn in the spaces provided:

Man is allowed to eat

___________________________________________

Animals (beasts of earth, birds, and all creatures that move...) are to eat

____________________________________________

Well, that is very interesting. Man was allowed to eat every seed-bearing plant on the face of the earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. And Animals and birds and creeping things... Were allowed to eat every green plant for food.

This points out a couple of interesting things. First, what about meat? Sure sounds like 'no meat allowed,' doesn't it? Hmmm. It looks like animals and man were originally intended to be vegetarians, doesn't it? Yes. But, you say, we eat meat today. (Well, a lot of people do). What happened? Good question. And the answer is coming. Something happens to change the allowed foods. It isn't in this lesson. But the answer is in the book of Genesis.

The second interesting thing this tells us has to do with plants. Since man and animals and crawling things and etc. can eat seed-bearing plants and from every tree that has fruit with seed in it and of every green plant, what does this tell you about plants? Do plants have the breath of life in them? Are they to be protected from murder, as man is? Why is it that man and animals can eat plants, but can't eat other men or other animals? Think about this and then write your answer in the space below.

_____________________________________________________

Yes, this "what you can eat" information tells us that plants do NOT have the breath of life in them. In other words, plants don't have souls and spirits and, therefore, can be eaten. In fact, that is one of their main functions -- ie. to be a source of food for the creations of God that do have the breath of life and the life blood in them. Hmmm. A very interesting insight and observation.

Well, as we wind up this study on Creation, we now know what the Bible says concerning the when and the why and the how of CREATION. We now know that " the heavens and the earth were completed in all their vast array" in 6 days. And we know that by the 7th day God had finished the work he had been doing:...

In the next study, we are going to look at God s Creation again -- but, from a slightly different perspective. In this first study, we have looked at creation in it's orderly, planned, sequential steps as designed and directed and executed by the Creator-God.

In our next study, we are going to look at Creation from the perspective of what happened to God s creation. We are going to see how God s perfect creation was marred and changed by sin. We are going to see what man s rebellion did to the creation and to mankind in general and to us individually.!

Yes, there is a God and He did create the heavens and the earth ... in all their vast array. This did not come about by chance.

Let us thank and praise the mighty Creator, the Lord God, the YHWH ELOHIM, for the awesome, beautiful, and intricate creation which He prepared and made for us!

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