In the Beginning

TEXT: Genesis 1:1-25

‍OBJECTIVE

In studying the Biblical account of Creation, and knowing that the Bible is the inspired Word of God, the students will recognize that this account is true. They will know the sequence of the Creation, noting that each event followed in a logical order.

REFERENCE INFORMATION

The word God (Elohim in the original language) in the first verse of the Bible, is in the plural form, thus indicating a plurality of persons in the Godhead.

Genesis is a book of beginnings. The Greek word Genesis means “origin.” What is the origin of the world? All things were created by God. He said “Let there be . . . and there was.” Using nothing tangible, God made the world and all that surrounds it and all that is in it. That was the Creation.

The astonishing, multiplying power with which God supplied vegetation can be seen in the example of the elm. This tree of average size, produces 1,584,000,000 seeds in the course of its life. Each of these seeds has the power of producing the same number!

QUESTIONS

The Bible is not only a book of beginnings, but also a book of eternities. The very supreme revelation of the Bible is the revelation of God. If one starts to think of the beginning, using his own reasoning, he will have trouble and will possibly supply a humanistic assumption for the real beginning. He would therefore substitute the creature's point of view for the Creator's point of view. Among many scientists there are basic differences of opinion as to the origin of the universe. Evolutionists hold that all living things developed from non-living materials. Creationists believe that all basic categories of nature were brought into being by a supernatural force. It takes as much faith to subscribe to the theory that our complex universe is a mere chance happening as to accept the first verse of the inspired Word which declares, "In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth."

1. Make a list of what God created on each of the six days.
   
   Response: With each successive act of creation, God was preparing a perfect world. In order for man to be sustained here on this earth, it was necessary that the earth be prepared before the creating of life. God’s first creative act was to command light; for light and the heat which attends it are essential to life. On the second day, He created the firmament, separating the vaporous waters above from the condensed waters below. Land along with the grasses, fruits, and herbs were created on day three, providing food for the living things which were to follow. Geographers say that the proportion of land to water is a perfect balance, essential to provide moisture for life upon the land. On the fourth day, the sun and moon were placed in the heavens. Then, on day five, God created the fish and the fowls. On the sixth day, God created animals and creeping things. Then He made man, for whom all needs had been provided.
   
2. Many say that the days mentioned in the Creation account are actually long periods of time. What does Scripture teach about the length of these days?
   
   Response: Discussion of this question should bring out that when God spoke things into existence Scripture says, “and it was so.” He also said, “and the evening and the morning were the first day,” etc. On the seventh day God rested from all His work. It is evident that God used twenty-four hour days in His creation. When He speaks, it doesn’t take a long period of time for things to happen.
   
3. Can man create something from nothing? Explain. See Ecclesiastes 1:9,10.
   
   Response: Read each of the verses in the lesson text that begin, “And God said,” showing that the entire universe and the things in it were spoken into existence from nothing, by God’s word (Hebrews 11:3). Discuss some of the marvelous inventions and discoveries of recent years, bringing out that these are just a rearrangement of the materials that God made in the beginning. Man cannot make something from nothing, but God can and did.
   
4. What scientific principle is illustrated by each of these verses?
   Job 26:7
   Job 26:8
   Job 26:10
   Ecclesiastes 1:6
   Ecclesiastes 1:7
   Isaiah 40:22
   Jeremiah 33:22
   
   Response:
   Job 26:7 — earth’s suspension in space
   Job 26:8 — precipitation
   Job 26:10 — controlling of the seas
   Ecclesiastes 1:6 — atmospheric circulation
   Ecclesiastes 1:7 — water cycle
   Isaiah 40:22 — the roundness of the earth
   Jeremiah 33:22 — vastness of the universe
   
   Explain that true science does not contradict any of the truths of the Creation, but confirms them. Go over each of these Scriptures showing the wonders of God’s universe. Emphasize that the men of God who were inspired to write these words bring out the same facts that modern-day scientists have proven in their studies.
   
5. What is meant by the statement, “after his kind,” in the creation of the plants, water creatures, fowls, and animals?
   
   Response: Each bird, animal, etc., was made after its own species, and remains the same until this day. Discussion of this question should bring out that although different members of the same species can be interbred, making a different variety, yet an apple cannot be made into an orange, or a cat into a dog, or an ape into a man. Nothing has evolved from one kind to another since the Creation, which disproves the theory of evolution.
   
6. Make a list of ways in which we benefit from the “lights” God made for us.
   
   Response: They determine the seasons, days, and years (verse 14). They are our source of physical light (verse 15). Scientific investigation has proved that the moon controls the tides. It is evident there could be no kind of life on the earth without the sun. Ask the students how this parallels the Christian’s dependence on spiritual “light,” bringing out that there could be no spiritual life without the “light of the world,” Jesus Christ (John 8:12).
   
7. In studying the entire first chapter of Genesis, how is the existence of the Holy Trinity demonstrated in the account of the Creation?
   
   Response: In verse 2, the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. In verse 26, God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.” In the New Testament we read that, “All things were made by him [referring to Jesus]; and without him was not any thing made that was made” (John 1:3). This is reinforced in Colossians 1:16. Emphasize the fact that as one of the Godhead (John 5:18; Philippians 2:6), Jesus had an equal part in the Creation and should be honored as our Creator, as well as our Savior.

Though no declaration which God makes needs to be substantiated by evidence or argument, the portions of His wonderful Book that touch upon the subject of Creation still serve greatly to strengthen our faith. For example, the Psalmist proclaims, “The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork. Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night sheweth knowledge. There is no speech nor language, where their voice is not heard” (Psalm 19:1-3). The heavens, and the earth also, are declaring to man by innumerable evidences—by the stars, by the seas, by the mountains, by the trees—that God is the Creator of all that is.

CLASS ACTIVITIES

Toss the pieces of a jigsaw puzzle into the air, demonstrating that they do not fall into a perfect picture. Do this several times, or have the students try it, to show that God’s Creation could not have just fallen into place accidentally.

Bring a microscope to class and examine the intricacies of a leaf, hair, drop of water, etc.

Make a class mural of God’s Creation. Let each student draw a picture of something that God created.

Show your class some pictures of different things God created. Divide a bulletin board into six sections and number them one to six representing the days of Creation. Have the students match each picture to the correct day on the bulletin board.

Bring to class some nature books with lots of color pictures of living things. Display these books for the students so that they may see the beauty, perfection, and wonders of God’s creation.

Divide a chalkboard or posterboard into three sections to represent the first three days of Creation. Write at the top of each section what was created on that day: Day 1 — Light; Day 2 — Divided water; Day 3 — Dry land. Explain to your class that God’s Creation was done in an orderly way. On the first three days He created the realms. On the next three days He created the rulers of these realms. Have the class fill in what was created on these days: Day 4 — Sun/moon/stars; Day 5 — Birds/ fish; Day 6 — Animals/man.