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Creation

magine a world that is very differ-ent from the one you wake up to

and see each day. A place withoutblue skies or green grass.

It is messy and dark—just likethe planets in outer space. We couldnot live in a place like that even ifwe wanted to.

This is how the earth was beforeGod began His wonderful re-cre-ation.

But how did it get to be this way?

Satan Rebels

Before God created the universeand all physical life, He created mil-lions of angels and three“archangels.” These archangelswere the leaders of the other angels.Their names were Lucifer, Michaeland Gabriel. Together, they tookcare of the earth and the universe.

Just like He does with you andme, God let angels decide if theywould listen to Him and obey Hislaws.

But Lucifer did not like the waythat God said to do things. Luciferwanted to be in charge. He let thesethoughts grow in his head until hedecided to try to become better thanGod!

Lucifer also convinced the angelsthat he ruled to join him, and theybegan a war with God. The war wasso big and so terrible that itdestroyed all beauty on earth.Lucifer’s name was changed toSatan the devil, and his angelsbecame demons.

God Creates Man

God realized after Satan rebelledthat angels could not rule His cre-ation. He decided to create anotherbeing that could one day become anactual God-being. This was man!

Before He created man, Godknew He had to create a place forhim to live and food for him to eat.

On the first day of the CreationWeek, He allowed light to shine

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Creation

Illustrations by Joseph Milich1 CHILDREN’S BIBLE LESSON

again and divided it into day andnight.

On the second day, God createdthe space between the sky and earth.He filled it with clean air to breatheand called it the first heaven.

On the third day, God causedwater to gather in places He calledthe seas. This allowed land toappear, which God called Earth.God also created grass, trees and allkinds of flowers and plants.

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On the fourth day, God createdthe sun, the moon and the stars toshine and twinkle in a place Hecalled the second heaven. We callthis “outer space.”

On the fifth day, God createdwhales, fish and all the creatures inthe sea. He also created birds thatcould fly and soar in the sky.

On the sixth day, God createdmammals and reptiles of every kind.They included cows, bears, lizardsand many more!

When He finished with the ani-mals, God created man and womanto rule over them. The man, namedAdam, was created from the dust ofthe ground. Then, God put Adam tosleep and took one of his ribs to cre-ate the woman, named Eve. Godcreated Adam and Eve in Hisimage. They looked like theirCreator, just as we each look likeour parents.

Finally, on the seventh day, whenGod had completed His work, Hecreated the Sabbath by resting. ButGod, as the most powerful Being inthe universe, was not tired! Hewanted people to rest after six daysof school and work. He showed ushow to keep the Sabbath by restingHimself.

The Sabbath is a very special dayfor man. God taught Adam and Eve

to remember it each week and tothink of His wonderful creation andthe many blessings that He gives us.The Sabbath also reminds us of themillennium, which we will learnabout in a later lesson.

Garden of Eden

When God made Adam and Eve, Healso planted a garden in Eden forthem to live in. This was a lovelygarden with lots of trees and plantsfor shade and food.

God put two special trees in thegarden: The Tree of Life and the treeof the knowledge of good and evil.

God told Adam and Eve whichtree was good for food, but they hada choice. He said, “You can eat fromany tree in the garden except thetree of the knowledge of good andevil, because, if you eat from it, youwill die!”

Why would this tree cause pain,sadness and death for Adam andEve? Because it pictured Satan’sselfish way of life.

But the Tree of Life picturedGod’s way of life—giving to othersand practicing the fruits of God’sSpirit. Eating the fruit from this treewould have given Adam and Evethe chance to be a part of God’sFamily and live forever!

Satan Deceives Eve

Because he was jealous, Satan didnot want Adam and Eve to live for-ever. He hated God and wanted hisown way.

One day, when Eve was walkingin the garden, Satan spoke to her,disguised as a serpent. He told herthat she would not die if she atefrom the forbidden tree. Butthis was a lie!

Eve should have knownbetter, because God neverlies. He always wants thebest for us, just as your par-ents want the best for you.But God will not forceyou to obey Him.

Eve let Satan trickher and she ate thefruit she wasn’t sup-posed to eat. Sheeven gave some toAdam, and he ate ittoo.

Because Adamand Eve did notlisten to God,they had to bepunished. Thismade God sad,but He had tosend them away

from the garden. He put two angelsat the gates with turning swords toguard it from any who tried toenter.

Adam and Eve chose to lis-ten to Satan instead

of obeying

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God. Because of this, they lost thechance for future blessings. Try toremember what they lost the next

time you do not want to listen toyour parents!

Cain and AbelWhen Adam andEve left the garden,they found a newplace to live. Beforelong, they had twosons, Cain and Abel.

Cain did not liketo listen to his par-ents. He causedtrouble and mischiefand did not sharewith his brother.

Abel was differ-ent. He obeyed hisparents. He alsotried to get alongwith Cain, and helistened to his par-ents teach aboutGod’s way of life.

Sometimes hemade mistakes, buthe was always sorryand did better thenext time.

When the boysgrew into men,Cain liked to plantcrops, so hebecame a farmer.Abel liked to take

care of sheep, so he became ashepherd.

God approved of both of thesejobs, just as He wants each of us tofind our own hobbies and inter-ests. You can be different fromyour brothers and sisters, but youmust still obey God and listen toyour parents.

Cain thought that he did nothave to listen, because he grewplants on his own. He did not real-ize that his beautiful crops were ablessing. He quickly gave God anoffering of some of his crops with-out making sure they were the besthe had to offer.

Abel, on the other hand, tooktime to look over his flock for thevery best lamb. He understoodthat all his blessings came fromGod.

He carefully gave his offeringin the way God told him. God waspleased to see that Abel obeyedHim. He also saw that Abel washappy to give his best lamb.

Cain saw God’s reaction to Abeland was very jealous. He thoughthis offering was just as good.

One day, Cain and Abel were in afield and Cain got so angry that hehit Abel and killed him! After real-izing what he had done, Cain wasscared and tried to hide from God.

But God can see you whereveryou go!

Because Cain did such a horriblething, God put a mark on him soeveryone would know. God alsotold Cain that he could not growcrops anymore and would have towander the earth until he died.

Noah’s Ark

Years passed until there were manymen living on the earth. Like Cain,

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most did not obey God. Evil andviolence were everywhere becausemen followed Satan instead of God.

God was sad to see what men haddone. Friends did not care for eachother. Children misbehaved and dis-obeyed their parents. God knew Hehad to do something. He decided towash away all the evil with a greatflood.

But there was one man that didplease God. His name was Noahand he had three sons, Shem, Hamand Japheth. Because Noah obeyedGod, he and his family would beprotected from the Flood.

God told Noah, “Build an arkthree stories high with many rooms.Make sure it is waterproof, with awindow on top and a door on theside. Also, warn others that a floodis coming!”

Noah followed God’s orders andbegan to build the ark. Manythought Noah was crazy. He wasbuilding a huge boat where therewas no water! But Noah knewGod’s plan, and he believed God’spromise.

When Noah finished the ark, hefilled it with enough food for hisfamily to eat and they went inside.Then, an amazing thing happened!

God caused every kind of livingcreature to line up and enter the ark!

One pair of all unclean animalscame, and seven pairs of all cleananimals came. Then, seven pairs ofevery bird also came to the ark. Bykeeping these animals alive on theark, God made it possible to fill theearth with animals again after theFlood.

When the last creature had comeinside, God told Noah to shut andseal the door. Noah did and thenwaited. Six days passed while Godwaited to see if any would be sorryand repent. Instead, all made fun ofNoah and his family!

Then, on the seventh day, thundercracked and lightning streaked acrossthe sky. The rain had begun! It rainedfor 40 days and 40 nights, until thetrees, hills and mountains were allcovered with water. Only Noah, his

family, the animals on the ark and thecreatures in the seas lived.

When the rain stopped, 150 dayspassed as the ark floated on thewater. Because Noah had followedGod’s directions, he and his familystayed dry and had plenty to eat.

After 150 days, God caused thewater to disappear. The ark settledon the mountains of Ararat. A cou-ple of months passed and Noah senta dove from the ark. The first time,the dove returned because she couldnot find a place to land. The secondtime, she returned with an olive leafin her beak. The third time, she didnot return!

Noah knew it would soon be timeto leave the ark. Shortly after, Godspoke to Noah and told him to openthe door and let the animals go free.

When Noah finally stepped offthe ark, he and his family were veryexcited to walk on the ground again.They had been on the ark for awhole year!

Noah was so thankful for God’sprotection that he gave God a largeoffering. Noah’s right attitudepleased God very much. He blessedNoah with many things and prom-ised never to flood the earth again.

To remind us of this promise,God put a rainbow in the sky over

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Noah and his family. Now, eachtime we see a beautiful rainbow, wecan remember that God keeps all ofHis promises!

Nimrod and the Tower of Babel

After the Flood, Noah’s sons hadmany children. Noah tried to teachGod’s way to his children and grand-children, but most did not listen.

One great-grandchild, Nimrod,became a mighty hunter and leader.Stories about him spread across theland until he was filled with pride.

Nimrod thought he was greaterthan God!

To prove this, he convinced thepeople to build a huge tower in thecity of Babel. Nimrod used thisgreat building project to get peopleto worship Satan and the sun.

Since all people back then spokeone language, they were able tobegin building at once. But Godknew He had to put a stop to thisbefore man was out of control.

To stop the building, God causedthe workers to speak in different lan-guages. People could not understandeach other anymore, so the Tower ofBabel was never completed.

Abram’s Travels

Many more generations passed anda man named Abram was born.Abram was a relative to Noah’s sonShem, and served God.

One day, God spoke to Abramand told him to “leave your homeand family and go to a place that Iwill show you.” God also promisedthat He would make of Abram “a

great nation, and blessthose who bless you andcurse those who curse you:and through you, all fami-lies on earth will beblessed!”

Abram was surprisedthat God would speak tohim. He wasn’t sure whatGod was going to do, buthe obeyed because he hadfaith. Abram, his wifeSarai, and his nephew Lotall left their home.

After a time, they arrivedin the land of Canaan. Godpromised to give Canaan toAbram and his family.Abram was so thankful toGod that he built an altar to Him.

Then, Abram, Sarai and Lot setout again. After traveling throughmany lands and even living througha famine, they settled near a placecalled Bethel. Because Abram andLot had many cattle, they could notlive on the same land. It was toocrowded.

So, Lot and his family journeyedeast near Sodom, a very evil city wewill learn more about in our nextlesson.

After Lot left, God came toAbram again and spoke to him. Hetold Abram to turn in a circle and

look at the land as far as he couldsee. God promised that all that landwould belong to Abram and hisfamily some day. Then, God alsopromised that Abram’s descendantswould be so many that they wouldbe as the dust on the ground!

Abram was very happy andthankful to God for all these prom-ises. He went to the town of Hebronand built an altar to thank God forall these blessings.

In Lesson 2, we will learn moreabout these great promises andabout what God has in store forAbram.

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BIBLE MEMORY: Genesis 12:1-3

Published by The Restored Church of God.Printed in the USA. All rights reserved.Copyright © 2003

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ACROSS1. Adam and Eve ate from the Tree of the Knowledge of Goodand _______.3. God created a _______ for man on day six.5. The three _______ were the leaders of the other angels.7. Nimrod thought he was _______ than God.9. Abel gave his very best _______ as an offering to God.11. God created roses, daisies and tulips on the _______ day ofCreation.13. The dove returned to the ark with an _______ leaf.15. Eating from the Tree of Life would have given man thechance to be a part of God’s _______.

DOWN2. God commands us to _______ on the Sabbath.4. Satan’s name was _______ before he became the devil.6. God’s Creation took _______ days.8. God created this large gray animal with a trunk on the sixthday.10. The first woman’s name was _______.12. God put a _______ in the sky to remind us of His promisenever to flood the earth again.14. The Tree of _______ pictured God’s way of living.16. Abram believed God’s promises because he had _______.17. God was pleased that Abel _______ Him.

1. 4. 6. 8.

9.

10.

13.

11. 14. 16.

17.

15.

12.7.

3.

5.

2.

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