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(click on a study, copy and paste it---and it's yours)The Story of the World (and Us) Part 1: Creation (leader)
Part 1: In the beginning…
Notes:
- The Bible version used in this study is the New International Reader’s Version (NIrV)
- Genesis 1 was not written to answer scientific questions regarding the physical causes of the various forms of life on earth. Rather, Genesis 1 (and, in fact, the entire biblical story) is meant to answer questions such as, Who are we? Why are we here? How are we supposed to live? What is God like? Why is there so much violence and death? Is there any hope that things will be different in the future?
- Notice how often God blesses what he creates: (Gen 1:22, 28). Notice also that God called on the land to “produce vegetation” (Gen. 1:11) and on the sea to “teem with living creatures” (Gen. 1:20). According to scholars, a blessing is not simply a friendly wish but a bestowal of life. God is the source of life and he gives his life to animals and to human beings. They are not only filled with God’s life but are able to pass it on to next generations. In the Bible a curse is the reduction or the absence of life. For example, not being able to have children (see Sarah, Rebekah, Rachel, Hannah, Elizabeth) is considered a “curse.” Remember how God lifts that curse?
- Note, too, that the culmination of God’s creativity is the seventh day rest. On that day, God enjoyed what he had made and all was full of beauty and life. The story of the Bible begins with abundant, spectacular life!
In Genesis 1 we learn important things about God, the world, and us human beings.
A. Genesis 1:1 – 2:25
About God…
- What do we learn about God according to Genesis 1:1?
a. God (existed) before the heavens and the earth were created.
b. God (created) the heavens and the earth.
- Therefore, God is:
a. (Eternal)
b. (Powerful)
c. (Creative)
d. _________
e. _________
About the world…
- How is the earth described at the very beginning? —Gen. 1:2 (Shapeless, empty, dark. Water covered the earth.)
- The earth was created in stages, first light, then water, then land, followed by vegetation, birds, fish and land animals. What did God “do” to the animals and birds according to 1:22? (God blessed them.)
- What does that mean? (God filled them with live, fertility, and gave them the ability to reproduce— to pass that life on.)
- Finally what was created? (Human beings)
About us human beings…
- What might it mean that we were created “in the image and likeness of God?” —Gen. 1:27 (An image of a person or a cat is a reflection of a real person or a cat. To be created in God’s image means that we were made to reflect God’s character. In the New Testament we are told the Jesus is the true image of God. Jesus reflects what God is like, what God loves, how God wants us to live. Therefore, to see what we were created to be like, look at Jesus!)
- What did God “do” to us in Gen. 1:28? (God blessed us)
- What might that mean? (God filled them with live and gave them the ability to reproduce— to pass that life on.)
- What tasks were we given? —Gen. 1:26 & 28 (Have children, take care of the earth and of the animals)
- What did God realize according to Gen. 2:18? (That the man was alone and that that was not good for him.)
- What does this say about our being human? (We are social creatures. We need other human beings to help us be what God wants us to be.)
- So what did God do? —Gen 2:20-22 (God made a woman!)
- How did the man respond? (“This is exactly what I need!”)
B. God’s reaction to all that he made -Gen. 1:31
- Did God like what he had made? –Gen 1:31 (God declared everything to be very good!)
- So what two things did God do on the seventh day? —Gen. 2:2-31.
a. He (rested.)What might that mean? (God stopped working and enjoyed and delighted in what he had made.)
b. He (blessed) that day.
And what might that mean? (Just as the animals were blessed God made one day be a blessing for us human beings. God set aside one day in which we human beings might rest from our work and be refreshed and strengthened and so filled with life again.)
- Each stage (“day”) ends with what phrase? —Gen. 1: 5, 8, 13, 19, 23, and 31 (There was evening, and there was morning. It was day ___)
- Does the last stage end with that phrase too? (No)
- Why not? (Day 7 doesn’t end!! The enjoyment of this day was never supposed to stop!)
- So stage/day 7 can be said to be the (climax) of creation.
- Do we live in day 7 today? (No) Will that day ever come back? (Yes!)
[Extra credit: When Jesus was criticized from healing people on the Sabbath day, he responded saying, “My Father is always at his work, to this very day, and I too, am working?” Isn’t God resting anymore? What work does God have to do now? Because of our sin and the evil and corruption it brought into God’s good creation, God had to “go back to work” in order to restore his creation to its perfection.]
C. Look at Revelation 21:1-8 (page 1315 NIrV)
- Who will live with us? (God!)
- Where? (Here on a new, fully restored earth!)
- What will God do? (He will wipe away every tear from our eyes. There will be no more death or sadness, crying or pain.)
D. Read Revelation 22:1-6
- What tree will be there? (The tree of life)
- Why does God command us to “remember the Sabbath Day” (the “rest” or “seventh day”)? Because with all of the bad things that happen to us and around us, we need to remember how perfect everything was in the beginning and how perfect everything is going to be again.)