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IN PART ONE, our
trip through the Bible begins with the creation of the universe. First, we
are introduced to God, the powerful, intelligent, and loving Creator. We
get acquainted with the first man and woman and discover what and who we
were meant to be. Then, we come face-to-face with the problem of evil, and
we see how sin spoiled everything. Finally, we learn how God responded to
sin long ago, and how he developed a plan for mending our broken
relationship with him. IN PART TWO, you will watch the plan of God unfold through the families of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. You will thrill to the story of the Exodus as God leads the Israelites out of Egypt, the land where they lived as slaves for hundreds of years. You will learn about the important agreement that God made with Moses and the Israelite nation. Finally, you will sense excitement when God promises to send Someone to defeat the forces of evil and to rule over the kingdom of God forever. IN PART THREE, you will be amazed as God's plans come together and his promises are fulfilled one by one. We sincerely hope you enjoy your study. INSTRUCTIONS TO STUDENTS
GOD CREATES THE UNIVERSE This beautiful earth on which we live is very old. It is so old that nobody knows when it came into being. Long before there was an earth, however, there was the living God. He has always existed. At the beginning of time, the living God spoke, and the universe appeared. Think of it! God made the earth, the sun, the moon, the stars, and the planets out of nothing--simply by giving a command. At first, the earth was completely empty. It had no tall mountains or rushing rivers, no green valleys with red and yellow flowers, no blue skies and rainbows. It had no white clouds or deep blue seas. The earth was without form and was covered by total darkness. There was no life at all.
THE FIRST DAY--LIGHT Darkness covered the earth, and God's Spirit moved over the water. Then God said, "Let there be light!" And there was light. God saw the light, and he knew it was good. Then God separated the light from the darkness. God named the light "day," and he named the darkness "night."
THE SECOND DAY--SKY God said, "Let there be air to separate the water into two parts!" So God made the air and separated the water. As God spoke, some of the mist rose up into the air and became clouds. Some of it fell to the earth as water. There was water above the air, and there was water below the air. God named the air "sky."
THE THIRD DAY--DRY LAND AND PLANTS God said, "Let the water under the sky be gathered together so the dry land will appear." And it happened. When God spoke, mountains rose up out of the water, and the water ran together and filled the deep places. God named the dry land "earth." And God named the water that was gathered together "seas." God saw that this was good. God said, "Let the earth grow many plants. There will be plants and trees with seeds inside the fruit. Every plant will make its own kind of seed." And it happened. Plants came up all over the earth. Fruit trees, shade trees, berry bushes, and green grass covered the ground. Every plant had its own kind of seeds so that it could reproduce itself. The land was green with vegetation, and God saw that it was good.
THE FOURTH DAY--SUN, MOON, AND STARS God said, "Let there be lights in the sky. These lights will separate the days from the nights. These lights will be used for special signs and to show when seasons, days, and years begin. These lights will be in the sky to shine light on the earth." And it happened. So, God made the two large lights. God made the sun to rule the day, and he made the moon to rule during the night. God also made the stars. God put these lights in the sky to shine on the earth. These lights separated the light from the darkness, and God saw this was good.
THE FIFTH DAY--FISH AND BIRDS On the morning of the fifth day the sun rose in the east and warmed the green grass and bright flowers, but no fish swam in the waters. No birds sang in the trees. God said, "Let there be many living things in the water, and let there be birds to fly in the air above the earth." So God made every living thing that moves in the sea. Fish, whales, and all kinds of sea animals began swimming in the oceans, lakes, and rivers. God also made every kind of bird that flies in the sky. God created birds that lived near the water, such as ducks and geese, and birds that lived in the wilderness, such as hawks and eagles. Birds screeched, chirped, and sang happy songs. The hills and lakes were alive with living things, and God saw this was good.
THE SIXTH DAY--LAND ANIMALS AND PEOPLE God said, "Let there be many different kinds of animals. Let there be large animals and small crawling animals of every kind. And let all these animals make more animals like themselves." And all these things happened. So God made every kind of animal. God made wild animals such as lions, tigers, and bears to live in the forest. He also made tame animals such as horses, cows, and sheep. God made small animals that crawled on the earth, and insects that flew through the air with buzzing sounds. There were animals running and crawling all over God's beautiful world, and God saw this was good. God's greatest creation was yet to come. After he had finished creating the animals, God said, "Now we will make man. We will make man as a copy of ourselves. Man will be like us. Man will rule over all the fish in the sea and the birds in the air. We will make man to rule over all the large animals and all the small animals crawling on the earth." So God made people in his Image. God made people as a copy of himself. God made them male and female. God gave them a blessing. God said to them, "Have many children and spread across the earth. Fill the earth and control it. Rule over the fish in the sea and over the birds of the air. Rule over every living thing that moves on the earth." God looked at everything he had made, and God saw that everything was very good.
THE SEVENTH DAY--REST So the earth, the sky, and everything in them were finished. God finished the work he was doing. So on the seventh day, God rested from his work. This story is about the things that happened when God made the earth and sky. When we read this Bible story, we begin to get acquainted with the God who created everything.
WHO IS GOD? What can we learn about God from this story? We should see several important things about him: 1. God is eternal. He had no beginning; he has always been alive. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever. With him there is no past and no future. God sees our past and future as clearly as he sees our present. God is eternal. 2. God is powerful. All the energy in our universe comes from God. Every star is a giant ball of fire burning itself out. Our sun is covered with fiery explosions. Some of the flames from these explosions leap upward 80,000 kilometers. We call these flames "sun spots." What is the source of such powerful energy? The energy of the universe did not generate itself. It came from an all-powerful God. 3. God is intelligent. The more deeply we look into the mysteries of nature, the more evidence we find of intelligent planning. Who designed the human brain? The inner ear? The heart? Who drew the plans for the eye, the nose, the lungs, the stomach, and the reproductive system? These things could not have happened by accident any more than these sentences that you are reading could fall out of the sky. Every new scientific discovery proves that a superior intelligence produced the world we live in. That intelligence is God. 4. God is personal. In this story of creation, God thinks. God moves. God plans. God speaks. God acts. God produces beauty better than any artist. When we look upon the beautiful colors of spring flowers, tropical fish, sunsets, and rainbows, we see the handiwork of God. In summary, God has all the qualities of personality. 5. God is the source of life. Some people say that life on earth has evolved spontaneously. That is, life suddenly appeared millions of years ago without the help of God. According to this theory, nature somehow produced a living cell, and from that cell, life has developed into higher and higher forms. This idea is known as "the theory of evolution." Others have said "No" to the theory of evolution because it lacks evidence to support it. They have carefully examined the bones, shells, and prints left by things that lived and died long ago. They have found no evidence to support the theory of evolution. Instead, they have learned that dogs have always been dogs, monkeys have always been monkeys, and people have always been people. The various forms of life appeared on earth suddenly and fully developed, just as the Bible says. Scientists have discovered that fire burns out, heat cools, energy is used up, everything decays, and life moves toward death. This discovery (known as the "second law of thermodynamics) argues against the theory of evolution. Life did not develop by itself. It must have been created. It is easier to believe that God was the source of all life than to believe that everything created itself. 6. God owns the world. According to the Bible, the earth belongs to the Lord because he created it and continues to work in it. He spread out the skies like a curtain. He built the earth and covered it with water like a blanket. God causes water to flow from springs. Streams flow through the valleys giving us water to drink. God sends rain upon the earth and makes the plants grow. He owns all the animals in the forest and the cattle on a thousand hills. Everything in heaven and on earth belongs to God. The world and all its people are his. Since we belong to God, we must answer to him. God has a right to instruct us, and it is only right that we should obey his commands. He is the Lord of heaven and earth.
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