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Lesson 1 - The Beginning of the World

Suggested Bible Reading: Genesis, Chapters 1 and 2

The Existence of God

Is there really a God? The Bible says in Genesis 1:1, “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.” This is the very first verse in the Bible. Many people in the world today want to argue over the idea if there really is a God or not. There are many theories that men have created to try to prove that God does not exist. Did you know that there are more than 30,000 verses in the Bible, but not one of them ever tries to prove to men that God exists. God is not threatened or afraid that there are some people who don’t believe that He is real. God knows that He is real, and He gives us many evidences to show us that He is our Creator. However, God gives each of us the freedom to choose our own beliefs.

Will you believe in God or not? What do you believe that God is like? Do you believe that God created the world or that we got here by evolution? These are all questions that each of us must answer. If you will decide to think that God created the earth, you will have to believe that by faith. If you decide to think that man arrived on Earth by evolution, you will have to believe that by faith. The truth is that no human was present, way back in the beginning of time, to observe how the earth came into existence.

Thankfully, God does not make us try to figure all of these things out by ourselves. God has written a Bible to tell us about Himself, how He created the world, why He made us, and how we can know Him in a personal way. Many people who don’t believe the Bible have never even read it. Whether you believe the Bible is true or not, wouldn’t it be wise to at least read it first and then decide if you think it is true? Let’s look at what the Bible says, and then you can decide for yourself whether you will believe God or not.

Where did God come from? Every person that you know has a birthday. Everything that you see had a beginning. Nothing in this world has ALWAYS existed. You may have a tree in the yard at your house, but that tree did not exist until somebody planted it in the ground. You have parents and grandparents that are older than you, but there was a time, 200 years ago, when they did not yet exist.

The Bible tells us that God is different from this. God is the only ONE who has always existed. God was never born. God was living before there was a planet called Earth. God was alive before there was a sun shining in the sky. There are not many Gods; there is only ONE true God. God says in Psalm 90:2, “Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God.” Nobody created God. Nobody lived before Him. Nothing existed before Him. God is the Creator, and He has always existed.

What is God Like? One of the greatest reasons that God gave us the Bible was to tell us what He is like. The Bible is filled with so many truths about God that we can’t possibly learn all of them right now, but we can learn a few of them.

• God is Eternal. We know that God was never born, and we know that God will never die. The Bible says in Revelation 1:8, “I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty.”

• God is a Trinity, three Persons in One. The Bible teaches about God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. All Three of these are equal. All Three of these are God. All Three of these are different, but all Three of these are ONE. The Bible says in I John 5:7, “For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one.”

• God is a Spirit, and therefore, He is different than men. He does not have a body of flesh and bones, and you cannot see Him. God does not need air to breathe, food to eat, or water to drink. The Bible says in John 4:24, “God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.”

• God is Self-sufficient. God does not need anything to keep on existing. The Bible says in Isaiah 40:28, “Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? there is no searching of his understanding.”

• God is Sovereign. This means that God is in control of all things. The Bible says in Psalms 83:18, “That men may know that thou, whose name alone is JEHOVAH, art the most high over all the earth.”

• God is Holy, and without any sin. The Bible says in Psalms 99:9, “Exalt the LORD our God, and worship at his holy hill; for the LORD our God is holy.”

• God is Love. He loves every person in the world, and wants us all to be in a right relationship with Him. The Bible says in John 3:16, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”

The Creation of God

How long did it take God to make the world? There are many theories about what happened in the beginning of time. There are many ideas about how the earth was formed and many ideas about how life began. God has given us the answers to all of these things in the Bible, if we will choose to believe His Word. The Bible says in Genesis 1:1, “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.” The Bible goes on in the first two chapters of Genesis to tell us that in one week (exactly 7 days), God created everything. The word “create” means to “make something out of nothing.” Man has NEVER created anything. If you want to build a house, you need to gather some materials. If you want to make an omelet, you must first get some eggs. Everything we make comes from other resources. The Bible says that God simply spoke the words, and the world came into existence! God is a powerful God. The Bible says in Jeremiah 32:17, “Ah Lord GOD! behold, thou hast made the heaven and the earth by thy great power and stretched out arm, and there is nothing too hard for thee.”

What did God make first? When God first made the earth, He tells us that it was formless and empty. The earth did not look like it does today. There was no dry land, there was no light, and there was no life. The entire earth was covered with water until God began to shape and fill it with His creation.

• Day One – God created Light. In Genesis 1:3-5, God simply gave the commandment and created the light. God did not start a fire or turn on a flashlight; He just commanded and light was created. God then divided the light from the darkness and called the light, Day, and called the darkness, Night.

• Day Two – God created the Firmament, Genesis 1:6-8. The firmament is what we often refer to as the atmosphere. The air that we breathe is necessary for our life! Did you ever stop breathing for a minute and wonder what it would be like if all the air was taken away? Did you know that God is the One who controls the very air that you breathe? He created the air and sky on the second day of Creation.

• Day Three – God created the Land, Seas, and Plants, Genesis 1:9-13. On this day of creation, God formed the dry land that we call the Earth. God separated the water that we call Oceans and Seas and set a boundary between the dry land and the water. God then commanded the grass to grow and plants and trees to be brought to life. God made the plants to produce seeds with life inside them that would produce more plants just like themselves. Only God has the power and wisdom to do such marvelous things.

• Day Four – God created the Sun, Moon, and the Stars, Genesis 1:14-19. Our planet Earth, is part of a massive Universe that scientists will never be able to completely explore or understand. God made so many stars that He tells us that we will never be able to count them. The universe is so vast that we will never see even half of it, yet God is greater than the universe, for He created it. The Bible says in Jeremiah 23:24, “Can any hide himself in secret places that I shall not see him? saith the LORD. Do not I fill heaven and earth? saith the LORD.”

• Day Five – God created Fish and Birds, Genesis 1:20-23. In just one day, God filled the entire earth and sky with countless varieties of birds and fish, as large as whales and as small as sparrows! God not only made all of these, but the Bible tells us that He knows what happens to every sparrow (tiny bird), Luke 12:6. It is amazing to think that God made and cares for all of His creation with such power and love.

• Day Six – God created Animals and Man, Genesis 1:24-28. Even though God made both animals and man on the same day, it is very important to understand the difference that God put between animals and man. Although there are some ways that animals and man are similar, there is one major difference that separates the two. God says that He made man in His image, and God made man to have rule over the animals and the entire earth. God created every person with a Body, Soul, and a Spirit. The spirit of a man was created by God, allowing man the ability to know God and communicate with God. In this regard, people are very different than animals. God desires that we would understand more from His Bible about how we can enjoy this relationship with Him.

• Day Seven – God Rested. Everything that God had made, He declared to be good. When God created the earth, it was free from disease, sickness, sin, and death. When God was finished, everything was perfect. When God was done with His creation work, He rested.

Study Questions

1. God created the heavens and the earth. TrueFalse
2. It is possible to know God and have a personal relationship with Him. TrueFalse
3. God was born about 20,000 years ago. TrueFalse
4. List 3 things that describe what God is like, according to the Bible.
a.
b.
c.
5. It took God 7,000 years to create the world. TrueFalse
6. Man has ‘created’ many things. TrueFalse
7. There is more than one true God. TrueFalse
8. Match the following days of creation with the correct description of what God created each day.
Day One —Please choose an option—a. Sun, Moon, & Starsb. Firmamentc. Animals & Mand. Fish & Birdse. Lightf. Land, Seas, & Plantsg. God rested

Day Two —Please choose an option—a. Sun, Moon, & Starsb. Firmamentc. Animals & Mand. Fish & Birdse. Lightf. Land, Seas, & Plantsg. God rested
Day Three —Please choose an option—a. Sun, Moon, & Starsb. Firmamentc. Animals & Mand. Fish & Birdse. Lightf. Land, Seas, & Plantsg. God rested
Day Four —Please choose an option—a. Sun, Moon, & Starsb. Firmamentc. Animals & Mand. Fish & Birdse. Lightf. Land, Seas, & Plantsg. God rested Day Five —Please choose an option—a. Sun, Moon, & Starsb. Firmamentc. Animals & Mand. Fish & Birdse. Lightf. Land, Seas, & Plantsg. God rested Day Six —Please choose an option—a. Sun, Moon, & Starsb. Firmamentc. Animals & Mand. Fish & Birdse. Lightf. Land, Seas, & Plantsg. God rested
Day Seven —Please choose an option—a. Sun, Moon, & Starsb. Firmamentc. Animals & Mand. Fish & Birdse. Lightf. Land, Seas, & Plantsg. God rested

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