01. The Creation

What the Story Says

1. What all did God create?

   God made the universe and everything in it. He made light. He made the sun, moon, and stars. He made the earth with its sea and dry land. He made all the plants, birds, and animals. And he made the first man and woman, and a made a garden where they could live.

2. What did God do in order to create everything except the first people?

   God only spoke, and the universe and everything in it appeared. In that way, he showed his great power.

3. In what way did God decide to make people to be different than the animals?

   God decided to make people in God's image and to be like him. He also decided to give them power over all of the earth and over the animals (#01-09).

4. What two special trees did God plant in the garden?

   God planted many trees in the garden, but he also planted two special trees. He planted the tree of life in the garden and told Adam that he could eat its fruit. He also planted the tree of the knowledge of good and evil there and told Adam he would die if he ate fruit from that tree (#01-11).

5. What did God do so that the man would not be alone?

   God wanted Adam to have a helper who would be like Adam. But none of the animals were like Adam, so they could not be his helper. Therefore, God took one of Adam's ribs and made the woman from it to be a helper for Adam (#01-12), (#01-13).

6. What did God do after he finished making everything?

   After God finished making everything in six days, he rested on the seventh day. God was not tired, but he had finished his work of making everything. He blessed the seventh day and made it a special day (#01-16).

What the Story Means to Us

1. Why do you think God made the man and the woman in a different way than he made the universe and the other things in the earth?

   God creates people in a more personal way than he created everything else. He formed the man from dust and breathed life into him. Then God formed the woman from one of the man's ribs. In this way, he showed that people were very important to him, and that they have a special purpose in creation (#01-10), (#01-13).

2. In what way are people like God and made in his image? How are they different than God?

   God made people to be like God, but not the same as God. That is, people have some of the characteristics of God that the animals do not have. However, people are not equal to God. They are in God's image because they are like God in some ways (#01-09).

3. Why do you think God put the tree of the knowledge of good and evil in the garden when he did not want Adam to eat its fruit?

   God wanted Adam to be able to choose whether or not to obey God. Therefore, God planted the tree of the knowledge of good and evil in the garden where Adam was. However, he warned Adam clearly that he would die if he ate fruit from that tree. And God allowed Adam to eat fruit from every other tree, so there was no reason for Adam to disobey God (#01-11).

4. Why do you think God made the woman from the man rather than from the dirt?

   God wanted the man and the woman to become one. Therefore, he did not make the woman separately from Adam. Instead, God took part of Adam and made her from that. When Adam saw her, he understood that she was very much like Adam, and that God had made her especially for him (#01-13).

5. How do you think a man becomes one with his wife?

   God wants a man and his wife to have a special bond that is closer than their connection to any other person. It is even closer than the bond with their parents. As they grow to know each other more, they begin to think in similar ways and value the same things. People who have been married a long time often seem to know what each other is thinking without even speaking (#01-14).

6. Why did God say that everything he had made was very good?

   God created everything so that everything would work together to accomplish what he wanted to happen (#01-15).

7. What did God want people to do on the seventh day?

   God made the seventh day a special day. On that day, he wanted people to stop doing their normal work. Instead, they should remember that God created them and everything around them. Because they would not work on the seventh day, they would have more time to honor God and think about him than they did on the other days of the week (#01-16).

Summary

God created everything that exists. He simply spoke, and the entire universe appeared out of nothing. However, God formed the first man and woman in a more personal way. He breathed life into the man, and then formed the woman from the man. God wanted people to be like him in ways that animals are not. God finished his work in six days, and set the seventh day apart as a time for people to remember how he had made everything.