Favorite Bible
Stories – Creation Genesis 1:1-19
In the beginning, God created the
heavens and the earth. 2 The earth
was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the
Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.
3 And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. 4 And God saw that the light was good. And God separated the light
from the darkness. 5 God called
the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and
there was morning, the first day.
6 And God said, “Let there be an expanse[a] in the
midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters.” 7 And God made[b] the expanse
and separated the waters that were under the expanse from the waters that
wereabove the expanse. And it was so. 8 And God called the expanse Heaven.[c] And there
was evening and there was morning, the second day.
9 And God said, “Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together into one
place, and let the dry land appear.” And it was so. 10 God called the dry land Earth,[d] and the
waters that were gathered together he called Seas. And God saw that it was
good.
11 And God said, “Let the earth sprout vegetation, plants[e] yielding
seed, and fruit trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to
its kind, on the earth.” And it was so. 12 The earth brought forth vegetation, plants yielding seed according
to their own kinds, and trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each
according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. 13 And there was evening and there was morning, the third day.
14 And God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens
to separate the day from the night. And let them be for signs and
for seasons,[f] and for
days and years, 15 and let
them be lights in the expanse of the heavens to give light upon the earth.” And
it was so. 16 And God made the
two great lights—the greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule
the night—and the stars.
17 And God set
them in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth, 18 to rule over the day and over the night, and to separate the light
from the darkness. And God saw that it was good. 19 And there was evening and there was morning, the fourth day.[1]
1. Having read the
first four days of creation what are you
initial reactions? What strikes you as odd, unique, or anything you had never
considered before?
2. How did Creation
happen?
3. Does evolution play
any part in our understanding of the origins of the universe? How? Why? How and
Why not?
4. God’s creation of
the world is presented in three stages. First is the decloration of the
creation of the matter out of nothingness 1:1-2. Next comes the ordering of
creation (Days 2 and 3 1:3-8) finaly, the filling of creation (Days 4-6 1:9-31)
5. God’s first act,
the creation, is an act of grace. God acts freely to reflect His character,
making the world, “very good (1:31) Even after the fall and the coming of sin,
much of the goodness that God built into creation remains, Philosophers debate
why evil exists, and people ask how a good God could allow bad things to
happen. But it is not the existence of evil and suffering that requires an
explanation; it is the existence of goodness and beauty and love that is more
remarkable. A world without God, cannot explain such things. The persistence of
goodness reminds us of what we have lost, but it also offers us a glimpse of
God’s grace and the everlasting glory to which God has called us through
Christ.
Respond to the following statement, “On the first day He created the earth
in order that on the third day He might mould and prepare it for the use of
man.
[1] The
Holy Bible, English Standard Version Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a
publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
Woodcuts by Schnoor von Carolsfeld, © WELS permission
granted for the personal and congregational use
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