Lesson 1 - God Creates the World

 

God made the world in six days by the power of His Word. All creation is God’s blessing to us.

 

Opening

 

In the name of the Father and of the Son and the Holy Spirit.

Prayer: Lord, send your Holy Spirit to open our hearts and minds as we study Your Word so that Your Truth is revealed to us.

Listen to (and sing along if you want to) Thy Strong Word.

This lesson uses the Bible Discovery Guide and Lesson 1 Leaflet from the Student Pack. The front cover of the Leaflet shows how the artist sees the Garden of Eden, after God created everything but before creating people. 

Have a Bible handy along with a blank sheet of paper and crayons or colored markers

God Speaks

This lesson is about creation as described in the book of Genesis. The word Genesis means the beginning, and this book of the Bible describes the beginning of the world and God’s people.

Open the Bible to Genesis, the first book of the Bible and place the blank sheet in front of you with the crayons or markers.

Read Genesis Chapter 1 verses 1 and 2: Draw a large black circle on the paper.

Read verses 3 to 5: Draw a wide yellow circle around the outside of the blank circle for the light.

Read verses 6 to 8: Color part of the top of the circle light blue for the sky with some white clouds.

Read verses 9 and 10: Color half of the bottom blue for the sea and the rest brown for the land.

Read verses 11 to 13: Draw plants and trees on the land.

Read verses 14 to 19: Draw the Sun, Moon and starts on the sky.

Read verses 20 to 23: Draw fish in the sea and birds in the sky.

Read verses 24 and 25: Draw animals on the land.

Read verses 26 to 27: Draw and man and woman on the land.

Read verses 28 to 31 to finish Chapter 1.

Here’s a sample drawing:

 

 

The whole earth was created in just 6 days by the power of God’s Word. Based on the most common meanings of the Hebrew words used to describe creation, each day is literally 24 hours. It’s hard to understand as to how so much can be done in such a short amount of time. But this does speak to the unlimited power of God, something beyond our ability to understand.

 

Read Genesis Chapter 2 verses 1 to 3. God rested on the 7th day not because He was tired but because He wanted to establish a pattern for us. He blessed the 7th day to make it holy or set it apart from the other days.

 

Many people do not believe that God created everything.  Instead they believe that the universe, the Earth and every living thing on the Earth came about as random accidents. This is referred to as evolution.  In this theory, each generation of plants, animals and people is slightly different than the previous one and those that are best at staying alive will produce the next generation. In other words, death decides which differences (mutations) are the best. This is called survival of the fittest.  The Bible says that God created the World to be perfect and that death is a result of sin.

 

Open the Bible Discovery Guide to page 2 with the words IN THE BEGINNING at the top of the page. Read the chart at the top of the page. It lists creation as described in Genesis, day by day. Read the chart in the middle of the page that compares creation with evolution. Read the comment and Scripture at the bottom of the page.

 

Creation is difficult to understand how it is possible. There are a lot of things in the universe that we as humans cannot understand. Although advances in science support the probability that a being with higher intelligence made the universe, science alone cannot prove that God created everything. We accept creation by faith because it is described in the Bible and all things are possible with God.

 

Reading Genesis Chapter 1, verses 1 and 2 again. Creation is an act of God the Father. The Spirit of God was also present at the creation.

 

The following Scripture is from the Book of John, Chapter 1 verses 1 to 5.

 

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it

 

Both the verses from the books of Genesis and John start with the words “In the beginning”. John points out that the Word of God was present at creation since God spoke and the world came into existence. John also says the Word of God became flesh. That is, Jesus is the living Word of God. And He, as the Word was present at the creation.

 

This shows the three persons of God, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. All three together are called the Holy Trinity, trinity meaning “three in one” or the triune God and all three coexisted from eternity.

 

The triune God – Father, Son and Holy Spirit - created the world by His Word. People are the crown of His creation and He gave humans dominion (control) over the Earth. God created the world to be perfect, but people sinned by disobeying God and so the world is no longer perfect.  But God still loves us.

 

We Live

 

We include the Holy Trinity with several important beginnings. We begin each worship service with the Invocation – In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Also the Holy Trinity is involved in our Baptism.

 

Baptism is our beginning as a child of God and related to the creation in several ways. The three persons of the Trinity are present in both. In Baptism, we receive the Holy Spirit and through it forgiveness of sins, life and salvation. Our new life in Christ begins with water and the Word of God – the same way the world began. Through Confession and Holy Communion (the bread and wine) we are forgiven of our sins on a regular basis.

 

God gave us dominion over the Earth and with God’s help we are to care for His creation.  Look at page 2 of the Leaflet. Which pictures show how we can care for ourselves and the world around us?

 

We can care for the world by not littering or polluting the environment, planting trees and plants and recycling materials instead of using more natural resources. Also turning off lights and reducing use of electricity helps conserve energy. We can take care of ourselves by eating well, getting proper amount of sleep and exercise, bathing and brushing teeth. We can care for others by being kind and helpful.

 

God loves us are cares for us by giving us all that the world has to offer as a gift that provides our earthly needs.  We should be thankful and use them responsibly, but our sinful nature sometimes makes us unappreciative. And we complain and waste or misuse our gifts. But God still loves us and forgives us.

 

The most important gifts that God gives us is His Word, the Bible and His Son, Jesus Christ.

 

The Bible is the inspired Word of God. Even though people wrote the words, the Holy Spirit gave people the words to write. Many people did the writing over many years.   The English word Bible comes from the Latin “biblia sacra” which is translated as “holy books”.

 

The Bible is divided into the Old Testament and the New Testament. Testament means “covenant (or agreement) with God”.  The covenant in the Old Testament is based on laws and people are saved by obeying the laws (mainly the 10 Commandments). But God knew that people would not be able to obey the laws perfectly, so He also promised a Savior in the Old Testament. The New Testament is about that Savior, Jesus Christ. With His arrival on Earth the old covenant is replaced by a new covenant.  The new covenant is based on believing that Jesus is the Son of God and that He died for the sins of the world.

 

The Old and New Testaments are divided into books written by different authors. Page 4 of the Bible Discovery Guide lists the books of the Bible in order.  Page 5 provides a brief history of how the Bible has been shared with people.

 

Using the list of the books of the Bible and your Bible, answer the questions (Bible Search) on page 4 of the Leaflet for Lesson 1.

 

Also complete the Which Gift? on the same page of the Leaflet by matching the descriptions of a gift to the name of the gift.

 

Closing

 

Lutherans use a creed (summary of what we believe) named the Apostle’s Creed. The first article (part) of the Apostle’s Creed is:

 

I believe in God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth.

 

This shows that we believe in God and creation. The Apostles’ Creed is explained in Martin Luther’s Catechism. This explanation is shown the following drawing that can be printed and colored.

 

Page 4 of the Leaflet provides a summary of the lesson and devotions for the week.