Lesson #5Reading : Genesis 1; 2:1-7
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The CreationIn the first chapter of the Bible, Genesis 1, you have just read aboutthe seven days of creation. The chart below shows the work of each day:
Day 1: Light shone; day and night came into being
Day 2: The waters were divided; expanse of heaven appeared
Day 3: Dry land appeared. Grasses, plants and trees grew
Day 4: Sun, moon and stars appeared
Day 5: Dish swam in the seas; birds flew in the air
Day 6: Animals were created; and last of all, God made man and woman
Day 7: God rested
Notice how everything follows in the right order. For example, the plantsand trees were not made until the third day, when the dry land was readyfor them. Animals were made on the 6th day, when there would be food forthem to eat.
"And God saw everything he had made, and behold, it was very good."
All round us every day we see the excellency of God's work. Men have inventedsome wonderful things , such as aeroplanes and medicines, but the skillsneeded to produce these are nothing compared with the skill and power whichcreated the universe with such precision. Day follows night; season followsseason, and we never doubt that they will continue to do so. Men's workmay go wrong, but God's never does.
Many of men's works are ugly; but everything God makes is not only perfectlysuited to its purpose: it is beautiful too. The smallest flower with itscolour and form, and its ability to reproduce itself, is a miracle. So isthe small bird with wings perfectly designed for flight, and able to findits way thousands of miles round the world to its winter home.
"O Lord our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth"(Psalm 8:1).
Gods that are no godsAll through the ages, men have seen the wonders of nature; and insteadof worshipping God who made these things, they have worshipped the thingsHe made! Even God's people, the Jews, have done this at times. Men haveworshipped the sun, the moon and the stars; they have imagined there werespirits living in the water and the wind, in wood and in stone. This isan evil thing to do, and is condemned by God. Read what the apostle Paulsays about this in Romans 1:20-23. Note especially verse 23:
"they...changed the glory of the incorruptible (undying) God into animage made like to corruptible (dying) man, and to birds and four-footedbeasts and creeping things."
Of course, when men prayed to these false gods, they never answered. Howcould they, when they were not really gods at all? Worship of false godsis an evil thing, and it has led to many evil practices; even such a horriblething as burning children in a fire. Even the Jews, though they had beengiven God's righteous laws, were guilty of worshipping idols. He had warnedthem about this. Read His warning in Deuteronomy 4:15-19.
Now look at Ezekiel 14:1-5. Notice how God said of these idol-worshippersin verse 3, that they had 'set up their idols in their heart'. We too cando this. If there is anything in our lives which we think is more importantthan God who made us, then that thing can become an idol in our heart.
If we are to please God, we will have nothing to do with idols. And we willhave nothing to do with those who worship idols. Paul speaks of this in2 Corinthians 6:14, where he says:
"Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowshiphath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light withdarkness?"
Read on to the end of the chapter. Then turn to 1 Thessalonians 1:9,10,which tells how the Thessalonians "...turned to God from idols to servethe living and true God; and to wait for his son from heaven, whom he raisedfrom the dead, even Jesus which delivered us from the wrath to come."
A world which men havespoiledMen are doing evil when they worship idols. And men do evil when theyspoil the world which God has made.
In the beginning our world was an even more beautiful place than it is today.Men have done much to spoil its beauty. They have cut down trees indiscriminately,making deserts where forests once grew. They have polluted the air withpoisonous fumes, and polluted streams and rivers with poisonous waste fromtheir factories. In these and many other ways, our world is being spoilt.
But it is still God's world, and He will not allow men to go on spoilingit for ever. In Acts 17:31 the apostle Paul says,
"God hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge theworld."
The day is coming when God will send Jesus back to reign on earth. His wiserule and righteous laws will restore the world to its first perfection.God has said, "As truly as I live, all the earth shall be filled withmy glory".
The Almighty GodPsalm 90:2 says: "From everlasting to everlasting, thou art God."This is something our minds cannot grasp. We know from our own experiencesin life that all things have a beginning and an end; we are familiar withbirth and death. But the Lord God always has been and always will be. Wemust have faith that this is so because, as the writer to the Hebrews says,
"He that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarderof them that diligently seek him" (Hebrews 11.6).
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We may look at the wonderful things of nature, and learn something of God'spower and wisdom - but we cannot find out from the world around us anythingabout God's purpose in making the world, or what plans He has for its future.We cannot find out why He made men, nor how He wants them to live.
Only through His Word can we find out these things. To know about God, wemust come to the Bible. The Bible tells us that He is great and good; ittells us that He is working out a plan for the earth. Listen to the wordsin which He revealed Himself to Moses:
"The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, andabundant in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquityand transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty"(Exodus 34:6,7).
God is gracious and loving, but He is also righteous and just, and expectsus to honour (commonlyreferred to as to fear) and obey Him.
In the beginning...Many people believe that this wonderful world of ours came about by chance.They think some spark of life just happened, and from this beginning, overmillions of years, there came the ordered and beautiful world we see today.So, they say, marvellous things, like eyes that see and ears that hear,just came about by chance.
Not so many years ago most scientists believed the 'theory of evolution',as this idea is called. They said the world we live in today came aboutby gradual changes over millions of years. Today, however, many well-knownand well-qualified scientists are coming back to the view that the evidenceof design and order round us speaks of a Great Designer; it just cannotbe the result of chance. The Bible says:
"IN THE BEGINNING GOD CREATED THE HEAVEN AND THE EARTH."
It does not tell us how He did it, and if it did, we should not understand.We have to accept His word in faith. One thing is certain - we cannot believethe Bible teaching that God created all things, and at the same time believethat the world came about by chance.
"By the word of the Lord were the heavens made, and all the host ofthem by the breath of his mouth" (Psalm 33:6).
The early chapters of Genesis tell us the same message. We have to understandthese early chapters of the Bible before we can understand the work of theLord Jesus in overcoming sin and death, which we read about in the Gospels.
We saw in Genesis 1 how God made the world, and created man and woman onthe sixth day. Now read from Genesis 2:15 to Genesis 3:24. These versestell a sad story. At first, everything was perfect in the Garden of Eden.Then Adam and Eve disobeyed God, and their disobedience brought sin anddeath into the world.
In His love for men and women, many years later God gave His Son, the LordJesus Christ. Jesus was able, by his perfect life and his death on the cross,to make a way for God to forgive sin. Jesus brought us a hope of life. Youwill read about this in your next lesson.
We are part of God's Creation"O come, let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before the Lordour maker" (Psalm 95:6).
To be able to come before God to worship and praise Him is a great privilege.Jesus speaks of those who come to worship "in spirit and in truth".He says, "The Father seeketh such to worship him" (John 4:23).God seeks men and women who will believe and obey Him, and rejoice in theworld He has made.
God wants people to allow Him to guide their lives. He is preparing suchpeople for the time when they will be able to serve Him for ever in HisKingdom, when Jesus comes back to the earth. If we read His word, and honourand obey Him now, in that day we shall be among those who will say,
"Lo, this is our God; we have waited for him...We will be glad andrejoice in his salvation" (Isaiah 25:9).
Summary 1. This world was created by the Lord God.
2. He alone is to be worshipped.
3. All men's theories of how the world began are false if they deny thatGod is the Creator.
4. We can only find out about God, and His purpose with the world, by readingthe Bible.
5. The Bible will teach us how we can overcome sin and death through theLord Jesus, and share in God's Kingdom when Jesus comes back.
Verses to read : Psalm 24; Psalm 102:25-28; Romans 1:18-23; Genesis 2:15-3:24
Learn by heart : Hebrews 11:3.
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