Series 1
Lesson 3: Where did we come from?

Dear Friend,

In our last two lessons we have learned many wonderful things about God. In this lesson we are going to learn that God is the great Creator—the One who made all things.

Have you ever looked at the stars at night and wondered how they got there? The Bible tells us how they got there—God made them!

The very first verse in the Bible says, "In the beginning, God created the heaven and the earth." (Genesis 1:1)

The word "create" means to make something out of nothing. Only God can do this.

God made the sun, and He made the moon. He made this earth on which we live. God made all the stars that twinkle in the night. Some of these stars are so large that we could put the earth and the sun inside them and still have plenty of space left!

No one knows when God created the heavens and the earth. God has not told us when He did this. The Bible simply says, "In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth."

How did God create the heavens and the earth? He created them by His word! The Bible says, "By the word of the Lord were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath of His mouth." (Psalm 33:6)

God just spoke, and the sun, the moon, the earth, and all the stars came into being. The Bible says, "For He spoke, and it was done; He commanded, and it stood fast." (Psalm 33:9)

God's word is powerful! All God had to do was to speak and the heavens and the earth came into being. How do we know that this is true? We know because God's Word says so. The Bible says, "Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed (brought into being) by the word of God..." (Hebrews 11:3)

God made this earth on which we live. He made the hills and He made the mountains. He made the rivers, the lakes and the seas. He made the clouds that bring the rain He made the grass and the trees and the beautiful flowers.

God made the fish that swim in the water. He made many different kinds of fish. He made the great whale and He made the tiny goldfish. He made the playful porpoise and He made the catfish with his whiskers.

God made the birds that fly in the sky. God made many different kinds of birds. He made the mighty eagle with his strong claws and He made the pretty little red bird. He made the noisy blue jay and He made the tiny canary which sings so beautifully. God made the funny looking pelican and He made the gentle dove.

God made the animals. He made many different kinds of animals. He made the mighty lions that roar in the jungle and He made the little rabbits. He made the huge elephants and He made the frisky squirrels. God made the horses the cows, the pigs, the goats, the dogs and the cats. God made all the animals. Then God created the first man.

Why did God create man? God created man to love Him and to be loved by Him.

What should God do for this man that He created? Should God love this man? Yes, He should. Should God tell this man what He wanted him to do? Yes, He should.

What should this man do? Should he love God? Yes, he should. Should he obey God? Yes, he should obey God. Should he worship God? Yes, he should worship the One who created him.

Would it be right for this man to say to God, "I don't have to obey You; I'm going to do what I want to do?" No, that certainly would not be right. The right thing for man to do is to love God, to obey Him, and to worship Him.

God's most wonderful creation was man. Man did not come up from animals. He was created by God. God made man different from all other creatures. Man was created "in the image of God".

God did not create millions of people. He created only one man. God called him Adam. God created a wife for Adam. Her name was Eve.The Bible says, "So God created man in His own image, in the image of God created He him; male and female created He them." (Genesis 1:27)

No other creature was created in the image of God. Only man was created in God's image. This tells that we are very special!

 

God planted a garden for Adam and Eve to live in. It was called "the Garden of Eden." You and I have never seen a garden so beautiful as the Garden of Eden.

In the garden was every kind tree that is beautiful to look at and good for food. A river of pure sparkling water flowed through the garden. Adam and Eve had everything they needed to make them happy.

 

God told Adam and Eve that they could freely eat of the fruit of every tree in the garden except one. They were commanded not to eat the fruit of "the tree of knowledge of good and evil." God said that, if they ate the fruit of this tree, they would surely die.

Adam and Eve were very happy in the beautiful garden which God had prepared for them. In the cool of the evening. God came to walk and to talk with them. This was the best thing of all.

God was pleased with His creation. He looked at all that He had made and saw that it was "very good." The Bible says, "He has made everything beautiful." (Ecclesiastes 3:11)

The Bible tells us why God created all things. He created them for His pleasure and for His glory. The Bible says,

"You are worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power: for You have created all things, and for Your pleasure they are and were created."
Revelation 4:11

You may wonder, "If God created everything perfect and beautiful, why are there so many bad things in the world today?" The reason is this: An enemy brought sin into God's beautiful world. In our next lesson we will find out who this enemy is and what he did.

Now I want to ask you a question. Of all the wonderful things which God created, what do you think He loves most of all? He loves people most of all! God loves all people. He loves you and He loves me.

We are very special! Let us consider three things that make us special:

1. We were created in God's image.

No other creature was created in the image of God. This makes us special.

2. We can know God.

Animals cannot know God, but you and I can. We can know Him, we can love Him, we can talk to Him in prayer. That makes us very special.

3. God can live in us.

The most wonderful thing about us is this: We were created in such a way that God can live in our heart. This makes us very, very special.

Would you like to have God come to live in your heart? Then tell Him this. Tell Him, "God, I really want You to come to live in my heart." Tell Him that you believe that Jesus is His Son and that He died for your sins and rose again to be your Savior. Thank Him for giving His Son to you to be your Savior.