Sabbath School EN 2013_Q1 easy reading - Origins (Beginnings)

7/30/2019 Sabbath School EN 2013_Q1 easy reading - Origins (Beginnings)

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ContentsOrigins (Beginnings)

1. Jesus, Creator of Heaven and Earth (December 29January 4) 4

2. Creation: Making the World (January 511) 11

3. The Creation Completed (Finished) (January 1218) 18

4. Creation, a Biblical Theme (January 1925) 25

5. Creation and Morality (January 26February 1) 31

6. Creation and the Fall (February 28) 38

7. Through a Glass, Darkly (Dimly) (February 915) 45

8. Jesus, Giver and Supporter (February 1622) 52

9. Marriage: A Gift From Eden (February 23March 1) 59

10. Stewardship and the Environment (March 28) 66

11. Sabbath: A Gift From Eden (March 915) 72

12. Creation and the Gospel (March 1622) 79

13. Creation, Again (March 2329) 86

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guide reflects the input of the committee and thus does not solely or necessarily represent theintent of the author(s) The Easy Reading Edition is prepared by the Office of the Adult BibleStudy Guide in cooperation with Three Angels Deaf Ministries, PO Box 6114, Mesa, AZ 85216;http://wwwdeafadventistorg


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Introduction

In the Beginning of the Beginning

Open the Bible to the first book (Genesis) and read the first line of the firstchapter Notice that it says nothing about Christ dying for our sins It says noth-ing about the Second Coming Nothing about His return to life from the graveIt says nothing about the state of the dead, the Day of Atonement,1 or eventhe seventh-day Sabbath

The first words of the Bible do not talk about these teachings This isbecause these teachings are meaningless without the truth that the first wordsof the Bible teach These words are, In the beginning God created the heav-ens and the earth

Creation is the basic truth of the Bible All other biblical teachings (Godbecoming Man, the Cross, the Second Coming, and every other biblical teach-ing) are based on the truth that our world was created by the Lord

That is why Creation appears in the first pages of the Bible, in the first fivebooks of Moses, in the writings of the prophets (special messengers fromGod), in the Psalms, in the Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John), in theletters, in Acts, and in Revelation The Bible clearly requires that Creation betaken as real

For example, Paul wrote, Death ruled from the time of Adam to the time of

Moses Death ruled even over those who did not sin as Adam did He [Adam]broke Gods command But he also became a pattern of the One who wasgoing to come (Romans 5:14, NIrV) Paul connects a real Adam to a realJesus And his theme in Romans 5 ties that link between Adam and Jesus tothe plan of salvation This is a very important doctrine (Bible teaching) that weneed to understand in the most real way This is because we are sinful beingswho face eternal death or eternal life

Here is Jesus Himself quoting from Genesis 1 and 2: Jesus replied, Havent[have not] you read that in the beginning the Creator made them male and

female? (Genesis 1:27) Thats [That is] why a man will leave his fatherand mother and be joined to his wife The two will become one (Genesis 2:24) They are no longer two, but one So a man must not separate what God has

joined together (Matthew 19:46, NIrV) If Jesus taught the Creation story asreal, how foolish it would be for us to think differently!

1 Day of Atonementan event that took place once a year when the earthly sanctuary (the house of Godon earth) was cleansed by the high priest Day of Atonement services symbolized (stood for) cleansing fromsin and a renewed relationship with God

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Our name, Seventh-day Adventist, itself bears direct witness to a six-daycreation Some may want us to include evolution2 into our theology3 ButSeventh-day Adventists know that is impossible because to do that would

destroy everything we believe A Seventh-day Darwinian is not, and cannotbe, a Seventh-day Adventist

So, this quarters lessons study the doctrine of Creation as shown in Genesis1 and 2 They also study the connections between those chapters and manyof our beliefs, such as morality (righteousness; holiness), sin, marriage, stew-ardship,4 and more We are starting with the belief that the story is real Andthe quarter will show, again and again, why it must be accepted as real If not,many of our most basic teachings would be meaningless

Take, for example, the gospel According to Scripture, when humans werecreated they were better than we are now Jesus came to rescue us from thedeath brought by the sin of Adam and Eve Suppose through evolution, theLord became an ape, going through many stages of change and growth to getrid of death, the last enemy (1 Corinthians 15:26) If so, how can death be theenemy if it was one of Gods chosen methods for creating humans? The Lordmust have used up many primitive (of early times) humans, who died, beforeHe could finally get one perfect human in His own image (Homo sapiens) Ifevolution were true, then Jesus came to save humans from the method thatGod used to create them in the first place

We can understand here that mixing biblical truths with nonbiblical ideas

leads to foolish thinking that should worry the honest seeker of truth As wego through this quarter, we will understand even more reasons why a real, six-day Creation is very important to all that we believe We will also understandwhy, when we betray our belief in Creation, we betray all that makes us whatwe are

L. James Gibson is director of the Geoscience Research Institute (www.grisda.org) in Loma Linda, California. He has written many articles aboutCreation and science.

2 evolutionthe theory (unproven idea) that the differences between modern plants and animals existbecause of changes that happened by a natural process over a very long time

3 theologythe study of religious faith, practice, and experience; the study of God and His relation to theworld

4 stewardshipthe activity or job of protecting and being responsible for something (such as this earth)

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Easy Reading Edition December 29January 4

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READ FOR THIS WEEKS LESSON: Genesis 1:1; Hebrews 11:3; Psalm19:13; John 1:13, 14; Colossians 1:15, 16; John 2:711.

MEMORY VERSE: In the beginning, God created the heavens and theearth (Genesis 1:1, NIrV).

ONLY A PERSON GREATER THAN THE UNIVERSE COULD HAVECREATED THE UNIVERSE. And that Person is the God who is shown in the

Bible He is the God whom we worship and serve because He isour CreatorWe also learn that this God created the universe He made those billions ofgalaxies (star systems) across the space of the cosmos (the orderly universe)And He is the same One who came to earth to live among us as a human And,surprise of all surprises, He Himself accepted the punishment for our sins

Sometimes we hear of things that are too good to be true What could bebetter for us than to know the wonderful truth of our Creators love? It is a loveso great that He came down in the person of Christ and joined Himself with eachof us with ties that never can be broken

In answer to such a wonderful truth, how are we to live our lives?

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SABBATHDECEMBER 29

Jesus, Creator of Heaven

and Earth


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Lesson 1 JESUS, CREATOR OF HEAVEN AND EARTH

IN THE BEGINNING (Genesis 1:1)

There are many deep truths in Gen-esis 1:1 One of these truths is that theuniverse itself had a beginning Thatidea might not seem so odd to us todayBut most people believe that creationtook place over long periods of time(evolution)1 In the 1900s, the idea ofthe big bang2 was introduced That is

when people started accepting the ideathat the universe had a beginning Untilthen many believed that the universehad always been around Many peopledid not accept the idea that the universehad been created because that sug-gested some kind of Creator (God)(In fact, the name big bang suggeststhat the universe was not created byGod) But the proof that the universe

had a beginning has become so strongthat almost all scientists have accepteditat least for now until the scientistschange their minds

What does Hebrews 11:3 tell usabout God and the creation of theuniverse?

As with Genesis 1:1, Hebrews 11:3 isfull of mystery There are things that wecannot explain with our present knowl-edge But the verse does seem to tell usthat the universe was not formed frompre-existing matter3 The universe wascreated by the power of Gods word

Both matter and energy were createdby Gods power

Creation from nothing is known as

creation ex nihilo.4 Humans can createmany things But humans cannot cre-ate something from nothing We canchange the form of pre-existing matterBut we have no power to create exnihilo. Only the great power of God cando that This is one of the greatest differ-ences between God and humans Thisreminds us that our very life depends onthe Creator

In fact, the verb created in Genesis1:1 comes from a Hebrew root word thatmeans that God alone has created usOnly God, not humans, can do that kindof creating (See also Romans 4:17)

Why is the Creator God the onlypossible reason for the Creation?Bring your answer to class on

Sabbath.

PIX #1

SUNDAYDECEMBER 30

The universe was created by the power ofGods word.

1 evolutiona theory (unproven idea) that the differences between modern plants and animals exist becauseof changes that happened by a natural process over a very long time

2 big bangthe scientific theory (unproven idea) that the universe began with a huge explosion3 pre-existing mattermatter or material that was already there4 ex nihilocreation of things from nothing


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THE HEAVENS DECLARE

(Psalm 19:13)

How have you experienced thetruth of Psalm 19:13 and Romans1:19? How has modern sciencehelped us to better understandthe power and wisdom of God asCreator?

Not just any kind of universe wouldbe able to support life In fact, it seemsthat the universe must be well designedfor life First, the building blocks of allmatter are atoms5 These atoms mustbe strong enough for things to be cre-ated from them How strong atomsare depends on the forces that holdthe parts of the atoms together Atomshave particles in them that attract (pull

together) and repel (push apart) eachother These pulling and pushing forcesmust be carefully balanced If the pull-ing forces were too strong, only largeatoms would form Then there wouldbe no hydrogen Without hydrogen,there would be no water and, thus, nolife If the pushing forces pushed toostrongly, only small atoms would form,

such as hydrogen And there would beno carbon or oxygen Without oxygen,there would be no water and no life

So, the atoms must be strong Butthey must be able to work with oneanother in order to form many differentchemical compounds6 There must bea balance between the forces that holdthe molecules (two or more atoms)

together and the energy required tobreak up the molecule to set chemicalsfree to support life

In other words, the world also musthave been well designed in order forlife to go on

The atom is just one of the manyexamples that show how well God putthe universe together This has led manyscientists to say that the universe isdesigned by a God who is very wise

For example, the range of tempera-tures must be just right for life Our dis-tance from the sun, its turning speed,and the atmosphere must all be in per-fect balance Many other details of theworld also must be carefully designedTruly, Gods wisdom is shown in whatHe created

PIX #2

THE POWER OF HIS WORD(Jeremiah 51:15, 16)

Read Jeremiah 51:15, 16 and Psalm33:6, 9. We know of Gods greatwisdom. But what great act of God

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MONDAYDECEMBER 31

Gods wisdom is shown in what He created.

5 atomsthe smallest particles of a substance that can exist (be) by themselves or be combined with otheratoms to form a molecule (two or more atoms)6 compoundsthe joining of several things in order to make other things


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is brought up in the Creation? Howwas this act shown in Creation?More important, what does this

truth mean for us?

We cannot know exactly how Goddid the creating But we are told thatit was done through His powerfulword All the energy in all parts of theuniverse were created by the word ofGod (Jesus) All the energy in all ourfuels came from Gods power All thegravity around the universe, everystar moving in deep space, and everyblack hole came from Gods power

Maybe the greatest amount ofenergy is within the atom itself Weare very impressed by the power ofnuclear weapons With this power asmall amount of matter is changedinto a large amount of energy Butscientists tell us that all matter holds

large amounts of energy Supposea small amount of matter can makethe great energy of a nuclear weaponThen think about the amount ofenergy stored in the material of theentire world! But that is nothing com-pared to the energy stored in thematter of the universe Imagine howpowerful God must be to bring the

universe to lifeMany scientists believe that any-thing God may do in His creation islimited by the laws of nature But theBible says that this idea is not trueGods power has not always followedthe patterns that we call the laws ofnature This is because God is notlimited by natural law Instead, Goddecides on how much natural law is

needed

For example, one of the funda-mental laws of nature is the law ofconservation of matter and energy

This law says that the total amountof matter and energy in the universealways stays the same But howcould the universe appear from noth-ing if this law were true? This meansthat Gods creative word is not limitedby the laws of science God is Rulerover all His creation and is free to dowhat He wants to do

Think (the best that you can) aboutthe size of the universe. Think aboutthe great power needed to create it.And then think that the God whohas such power loves us, evendied for us. How can you learn toreceive comfort from this wonder-ful truth?

PIX #3

JESUS, CREATOR OF HEAVENAND EARTH (John 1:13, 14)

Read John 1:13, 14; Colossians

1:15, 16; and Hebrews 1:1, 2. How

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Every star and black hole came from Godspower.


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do the New Testament writers rec-ognize the Creator? What does theanswer suggest?

John speaks of Jesus as the Word(Logos) He makes Him equal toGod Jesus is the One who created allthings In Johns day, the word logoswas commonly used to suggest theact of creating Johns readers wouldrecognize logos as an act of creat-ing or even as a creator John usedthis well-known idea to representJesus John points to Him as the trueCreator Jesus, the Logos, becamethe God-man who lived among usHe was at the Creation in the begin-ning He also was the One who cre-ated the universe This means thatwe could read Genesis 1:1 as, In thebeginning, Jesus created the heav-ens and the earth

Pauls words in Colossians 1 agreewith those of John in pointing toJesus Christ as the Creator Thismeans that all things were created byHim But Paul adds two more greatthings about Jesus First, He is theseen image (Person) of the unseenGod In our sinful condition, we can-not see God the Father But we can

see Jesus If we want to know whatGod is like, we can study the lifeof Jesus (John 14:9) Second, Paulcalls Jesus the firstborn of creation(Colossians 1:15) Firstborn heremeans position, not birth The first-born was the head of the familyand the heir (receiver) of the prop-erty Jesus was the firstborn Thisis because He is our Creator and

God-man So, He is the rightful Head

of the human family Jesus was not acreated being Instead, He was Onewith the Father from eternity

Hebrews 1:1, 2 brings up the samepoints as the verses in ColossiansJesus is the chosen Heir of all thingsand is the One who created the wholeworld In addition, Jesus is the perfectexample of the Fathers nature Thisis another way of saying that Jesus isthe image of God

How would you answer if some-

one were to ask you, What is yourGod like? What proof could yougive for your answer?

PIX #4

THE CREATOR AMONG US(John 2:711)

What do John 2:711; John 6:813; John 9:134 show about thecreative power of God?

Each of these miracles gives usan example of Gods power over the

physical world that He Himself created

THURSDAYJANUARY 3

Jesus, the Logos, or Word, is the One whocreated all things.


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example, we need the right amountsof oxygen and hydrogen to be ableto breathe air and live If the amounts

are not in the proper balance, we dieScience calls these balances luckyaccidents, which is an insult to Godscreatorship Why do you think it is bet-ter for us to believe that God Himselfcreated these right balances instead?

Consider the love of the Creatoras He created Adam and Eve andgave them a beautiful garden homewhile knowing that He Himself wouldsuffer and die on Calvary What do we

learn about Gods love from the deci-sion that He made to go ahead withthe Creation anyway?

How does the big bang theorycompare with how the Creation isdescribed in Genesis 1:1? Might thebig bang be a description of how theuniverse came to life at Gods word?What issues or problems do you findin this idea? Why would it be danger-ous to connect our religious beliefsto any scientific theory? (Why is thisespecially true when science changesits theories so often?)

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READ FOR THIS WEEKS LESSON: Genesis 1:1, 2; Isaiah 45:18; Genesis1:35; 1 John 1:5; Revelation 22:5; Genesis 1:68; Genesis 1:913; 2 Co-rinthians 4:6; 2 Peter 3:5; Job 38:46.

MEMORY VERSE: The Lord created the heavens. He is God. He formedthe earth and made it. He set it firmly in place. He didnt [did not] create itto be empty. Instead, he formed it for people to live on. He says, I am theLord. There is no other Lord (Isaiah 45:18, NIrV).

BEGINNING IN GENESIS 1, THE BIBLE SUPPORTS THE IDEA THAT GODPLANNED AND DESIGNED EVERYTHING. God started with a planet that wasunformed and unfilled Then He spent the first three days preparing the world forlife and the last three filling it This weeks lesson focuses (gives careful attentionto) on those first three days of the Creation week

Some Bible experts are opposed to the idea that God would plan and designthe world They argue that God just left nature alone to be itself and to developwithout any help from Him This is a common theme among those who believeand support theistic evolution1 But such ideas do not agree with what the Bible

teaches The universe itself does not have the power to create The creation isnot independent of Gods control Instead, creation is Gods way of showing Hislove to the creatures (living things) that He has made

Easy Reading Edition January 5112

SABBATHJANUARY 5

Creation: Making the World

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1 theistic evolutionthe belief that God created the world and then let living things develop naturally


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Lesson 2 CREATION: MAKING THE WORLD

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WITHOUT FORM AND VOID

(Genesis 1:1, 2)

What does Genesis 1:1, 2 teachus about the earth as it was beforethe Lord began creating life on it?

The Bible starts the story of Creationby saying that God is Creator Itthen describes what the world islike when God begins to prepareit for living things When the storybegins, the planet is already here butit is unformed, unfilled, dark, and wetThe next verses describe how Godfirst creates a world to live in andthen fills it with living things The firstverses do not tell us when the rocksand water of the earth first appearThey only tell us that the world was

not always fit for life In other words,the world becomes fit for living thingsonly because God acts to make it so

What does Isaiah 45:18 teach usabout Gods plan for Creation?

When the earth was first made,it was not fit for life The Bible says

nothing about the time period thatpassed between the creation of therocks and water and the creation ofthe environment and the creaturesSome Christian thinkers believe thecreatures might have been made rightafter the earth was made Others thinkthat a long period of time may havepassed between when the rocks of theearth were made and when the envi-

ronment and the creatures were made

The simple fact is, we do not knowBut it is really not that important Theimportant point is that the Lord was

not dependent upon things that hadbeen there Through the power of HisWord (Jesus), God created a worldthat is fit for us to live in

PIX #5

LET THERE BE LIGHT(Genesis 1:35)

What do these verses teach usabout the first day of Creation?

Many points can come from these

verses First, God created lightSecond, the light was good Wemay wonder why the verse saysthat God saw the light Is there anydoubt that God sees everything? Thepoint is that the light made by Godwas good, even to God We knowthat the light was good because GodHimself judged it to be

Another point is that God divided

the light from the darkness Neither

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MONDAYJANUARY 7

The earth was unformed, unfilled, dark andwet, and unfit for life.


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of them makes any difference toGods activity and knowledge (ReadPsalm 139:12) This is because both

light and darkness are under Godscontrol So, God gave names to thedark and light parts of time, callingthem day and night God has theright to give names to periods of timebecause He is the Creator of time AsRuler over time, God is not limited bytime Rather, time depends on God

Another point of these verses isthat there was a period of darknessand a period of light that togethermade a day Much has been writ-ten about the meaning of day inthe Creation story We will study thisquestion later But we note here thatthe first day was made of a period ofdarkness and a period of light It isthe same way that we keep track ofdays now

Also, light is one of the things thatshows the presence of God His pres-ence is often connected with light(Read 1 John 1:5; Revelation 22:5)We do not need to suppose that lightwas invented (made for the first time)on the first day of Creation This isbecause we know that God was therebefore the earth was created At

Creation, light was introduced to thedark planet

You may ask, But, how couldthere be day and night before thesun was made on the fourth day ofthe Creation story? Moses surelyknew the connection between thesun and daylight. But Moses wrotewhat he did about the light and

darkness on the first day. God

must have given Moses knowl-edge about Creation that we donot understand. This is the kind

of knowledge that cannot beunderstood by studying the natu-ral world. Why should we not besurprised that some things aboutCreation remain a mystery?

PIX # 6

THE HEAVEN CREATED(Genesis 1:68)

God created a huge space abovethe earth, decided on its special work,and named it heaven The work of

the space (heaven) was to divide thewater below from the water aboveit Today, we would probably call itsky This sky contains the atmo-sphere The atmosphere is a partof our environment And the spacebeyond our atmosphere is where thesun, moon, and stars are

The atmosphere appears to bepart of the heaven that was formed

on the second day of Creation The

God divided the light from the darkness.

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atmosphere makes it possible forwater to move upward This meansthat water can evaporate and enter the

atmosphere Then it can be carried toany place on the earth Then it can bebrought back to the earth through themist (Genesis 2:6) or as rain

God named the space above theearth the firmament (sky), showingHis rulership over it This act of nam-ing suggests that God is Ruler overspace Space does not limit Godsactions in any way This is becauseGod created and still rules spaceJust as with the lighting of the worldon the first day, the creation of theatmosphere and space was complet-ed before the end of the second dayThis means there was another darkperiod of evening and a light periodof morning

Many thinkers have discussed

the meaning of the word firmament(atmosphere and space) The Hebrewword raqia is sometimes used tomean a sheet of metal that has beenhammered into a thin sheet So, fromhere we get the word firmamentCritics have argued that the old-timeHebrews really believed there wasa hard surface above the earth So,

they argue that the Bible story iswrong But this is wrong reasoningThe use of the word firmamentsimplymeans the sky above It is both theatmosphere and space itself We onlyhave to read the Bible to know whatit is saying For example, in Genesisthe birds are described as flying onthe face of the firmament (Genesis1:20, NKJV) In another place the fir-

mament is where the sun and moon

are (Genesis 1:14) Clearly, the birdsdo not fly in the part of the raqiawhere the sun and moon are

The Creation story is mysterious.But one point comes through veryclearly. Nothing is left to chance(accident). Why is that point impor-tant for us to know?

PIX #7

SPACE FOR LIVING(Genesis 1:913)

Try to imagine the wonderful,creative power of God as He iscreating. How do these verses givethe answer to the old question,Which came first, the chicken orthe egg?

Before this time, the earth is cov-ered with water To make living spacefor the humans, God changes the

surface of the earth to make places

WEDNESDAYJANUARY 9

God created the atmosphere that webreathe on the second day of Creation.


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that receive the water and form seasThis lets large bodies of dry landappear This involves a third division

(separation) in the physical appear-ance of the earth (The first divisionis between light and darkness Thesecond division is between watersabove from waters below And thethird division is between dry land andseas)

Also, for the third time, God givesnames to the things that He hasdivided The dry land is called earthThe gatherings of waters are calledseas Once again they show Godsrulership (rule) over space Godexamines the arrangement of landand seas and says that it is good

A second Creation event is re-corded for the third day of CreationThe dry land makes a space for Godto place a food supply for the living

things soon to be created God callsforth plants from the dry land (earth)Grass, herbs, and fruit trees arenamed These are to be the sourcesof food for living things on earth Theverse does not say how many dif-ferent kinds of plants were createdBut it does say that there were manydifferent plants from the beginning

In fact, from what we see today, weknow that there must have been agreat many living things Also, theBible is clear that there is no singleparent here from which all plantscame from Instead, right from thestart, there are many different plantsThis fact goes against the idea thatthere was a single plant parent that

all living plants today once camefrom

Look at the many different fruitsand vegetables. How do they pre-sent powerful proof of Gods lovefor us? Why is it foolish to thinkthat all these things came aboutthrough evolution?2

PIX #8

GODS ALL-POWERFUL WORD(2 Corinthians 4:6)

What do 2 Corinthians 4:6; Isaiah55:11; and 2 Peter 3:5 teach us

about the power of Gods word?

The Bible teaches that God createdout of nothing (ex nihilo) by the powerof His word The Hebrew peoplewere the only ones in all the worldwho believed this during Bible timesMany other creation stories written dur-ing that time tell of war and struggles in

On the third day God causes dry land to

appear and plant life to grow.

THURSDAYJANUARY 10

2 evolutionthe theory (unproven idea) that the differences between modern plants and animals existbecause of changes that happened by a natural process over a very long time


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creation For example, the ancientBabylonians had a creation storyIn their story the monster Apsu

and his partner Tiamat make manygods that they then try to destroyBut Tiamat is killed in the battleHer body is divided into two parts,one that forms the heavens and theother that forms the earth

Modern men have also createda popular story of creation throughwar According to this story, Godwillfully created a world in whichthe things necessary for life wouldbe very limited This caused warsbetween the living creatures Theresult was that weaker creatureswould be removed by the strongerOver time, according to this modernstory, living things grew stronger andstronger Finally, they made humansand all other living things with all of

them coming from a common parentThis story is called evolution

But, the gods of evolution are notthe same as the God of the BibleThe God of the Bible is the Defenderof the weak He is the generousGiver for all creatures Death, suffer-ing, and other evils were not causedby God Instead, they came as a nat-

ural result of rebellion (war) againstHis good rulership The gods of evo-lution use war to remove the weakand build up the strong Even worse,they are responsible for death andsuffering Really, death and sufferingare their ways of creating

So, Genesis 1 and 2 cannot agreewith the theory of modern evolutionFrom the very beginning, evolution

opposes the Bible story of Creation

ADDITIONAL STUDY: The Bible does

not say it But we have good rea-sons from the Bible to believe thatthe universe was around long beforelife on the earth began First, in Job38:46, God says that there wereliving beings (angels or people) whoshouted for joy when God formedthe world This suggests beings wholived in the universe before the earthwas created First Corinthians 4:9may speak of the same group ofbeings Second, the serpent (snake)was present in the Garden of Edenbefore Adam and Eve sinned InRevelation 12:9, the serpent isanother name for Satan, who wasthrown out of heaven Jesus saidthat He saw this happen (Luke10:18) Ezekiel 28:14, 15 describes

the covering cherub (Lucifer), whois perfect at first but later rebels(fought against God) These versessuggest that there was a period oftime before Satans rebellion andthat Satan lived in the universealso These verses also show thatAdam and Eve were not the firstbeings created

As the earth came forth from thehand of its Maker, it was very beau-tiful Its surface was covered withmountains, hills, plains, and withnoble rivers and lovely lakes Butthe hills and mountains did not havesharp peaks, as they now do Thesesharp, ragged peaks were buriedbeneath the fruitful soil There wasa rich growth of trees and plant

life everywhere There were no dan-

FRIDAYJANUARY 11


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gerous swamps or barren desertsBeautiful shrubs and flowers greweverywhere The hills were topped

with trees taller and greater thanany that are now on earth The air,unspoiled by pollution, was clearand healthful The entire landscapewas more beautiful than the deco-rated grounds of the best homesAngels viewed the scene withdelight and admired the wonderfulworks of GodAdapted from EllenG White, Patriarchs [Leaders inBible Times] and Prophets [SpecialMessengers], page 44

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:

Point out as many things asyou can that show that the world isdesigned by God

What reasons can you give to showhow the theory of evolution cannot agreewith the Bible teaching of creation?

Without a doubt, there are parts inthe Genesis Creation story that we can-not explain But why is that not a goodreason for refusing to accept it as thetruth about how the world was created?

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READ FOR THIS WEEKS LESSON: Genesis 1; Psalm 8:3; Romans 8:1922; Leviticus 11:1422; Genesis 2:13; Mark 2:28.

MEMORY VERSE: By the seventh day God had finished the work he hadbeen doing. So on the seventh day he rested from all of his work (Genesis2:2, NIrV).

THIS WEEKS LESSON REVIEWS THE BIBLES SHORT DESCRIPTION

OF THE LAST THREE CREATION DAYS AND THE SABBATH REST. Thisdescription is found in Genesis 1:12:13 But there are many verses in otherparts of the Bible that speak about them One of the most impressive parts ofthe Creation story is the division of the days of Creation Why did God chooseto make the seven-day period that we call a week?

The Bible does not tell us directly But we can look for clues (hints) Perhapsthe most important clue is the Sabbath itself The Sabbath makes a special timefor relationship between God and people It may be that God established theweek for common work But God also set aside a regular period of time as areminder of our relationship to Him (Read Mark 2:28) The Sabbath would help

people to remember that God is the true Creator and Giver and that we arecompletely dependent upon Him

Whatever the reason, it is clear that the Genesis Creation story shows thatCreation was very well and carefully planned Nothing was left to chance (acci-dent)

3

SABBATHJANUARY 12

The Creation Completed

(Finished)


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Lesson 3 THE CREATION COMPLETED (FINISHED)

SUN, MOON, AND STARS

(Genesis 1:1419)Read Genesis 1:1419. What took

place on the fourth day of Creation?Why was the sun created on thefourth day, instead of on the first?How are we to make sense of this?

The fourth day has probably beendiscussed more than any of the othersix Creation days If the sun was cre-ated on the fourth day, how couldthere be actual days before thisif there was no sun? But if the sunalready had been there, then whathappened on the fourth day?

There are many possible answersto these questions The first pos-sible answer is that the sun was cre-

ated on the fourth day, and the lightfor the first three days came fromGods presence or from a supernova1Revelation 21:23 supports this ideaThe sun is not needed in the newearth because God is there The sec-ond possible answer is that the sun,moon, and stars were given theirjobs at that time Psalm 8:3 seems

to support this view Hebrew scholarC John Collins writes that the Hebrewwording of Genesis 1:14 may supporteither one of these two possible views(Read C John Collins, Genesis 14:A Linguistic, Literary, and TheologicalCommentary [Phillipsburg, NJ: P&RPublishing Company, 2006], page 57)

The third possible answer is that

the sun was already in its orbit butwas hidden by clouds or volcanicdust and was not able to be seen until

the fourth day We can compare2 thispossible event with what happenson the planet Venus because verynearly the same thing happens today

This verse does not seem to clearlysupport or rule out any of these inter-pretations But this does not stopstrong opinions on the topic We shouldaccept the fact that our understandingis limited Accepting this, especiallyin the area of Creation, should not bethat hard to achieve After all, thinkabout how many scientific mysteriesthere are today They are right herefor experimental science to study andyet still remain mysteries How muchmore mysterious is something hiddenso far in the past?

PIX #9

SUNDAYJANUARY 13

1 supernovathe explosion of a star that causes the star to become extremely bright2 compareto show how two things are the same or different

God created the sun, moon, and stars on

the fourth day.


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CREATION OF AIR AND WATER

ANIMALS (Genesis 1:2023)

Read Genesis 1:2023. Whatproof is there in these verses thatwould suggest accidents?

The waters and the atmospherewere filled with fish and birds on thefifth day of Creation Many thinkershave seen a relationship between thesecond and fifth Creation days Thewaters were separated by the atmo-sphere on the second day And bothwere filled with living things on thefifth day The Creation events seemto have followed a well-designed planThis shows Gods perfect work in plan-ning Creation Nothing in the Creationstory leaves any room for accidents

Both sea animals and birds aresaid to be plentiful This shows thatmany different kinds of living thingswere created on the fifth day Eachliving thing also was blessed with theability to be fruitful and create moreof its own kind There was no singleparent from which all other livingthings came But each kind seems

to have had the ability to produce(bear) a variety3 of living thingsordifferent kinds of the same thingFor example, more than 400 namedkinds of pigeons have been devel-oped from the common pigeon Atleast 27 kinds of goldfish are knownto exist (be) God clearly gave eachof His living things the ability to bearmany different kinds of younger ones

This makes the Creation a beautifuland interesting place in which to live

In verse 21, God says that the

creatures He made were good Thissuggests they were well-designed,beautiful, and an important part ofthe Creation An example of one ofthe most beautiful living creatures isthe bird Birds are truly wonderful andwell designed Their feathers are light-weight but strong, and stiff yet flexibleThe parts of a flight feather are heldtogether by many sets of tiny barbs(sharp hooks) that are strong but light-weight A birds lung is so designedthat it can receive oxygen as the birdbreathes air in and out This helps togive a bird the high level of oxygenrequired for powered flight The oxygenlevel also is raised because of air sacsin some of the birds bones These sacswork to help the flow of oxygen and, at

the same time, to lighten the body ofthe bird This makes flying easier to

MONDAYJANUARY 14

3 varietya particular kind of person or thing, such as a different variety of oranges or many varieties of snakes

On the fifth day, God filled the waters with

fish, and He filled the atmosphere with birds.


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do and control Birds are wonderfullymade Through them, we can see theperfection of Gods plan

With all this in mind, read Mat-thew 10:2931. What comfort canyou find in these words?

CREATION OF THE LANDANIMALS (Genesis 1:2431)

In Genesis 1:2431, land animalsand people were created on the sixthday As the second and fifth daysseem to be connected, so does thedividing of the land and sea on thethird day seem to be connected withthe filling of the land on the sixth dayThis also reminds us of the perfectorder of Creation events And that

God is the Author of perfect order(Read 1 Corinthians 14:33)

As with the wording of the versesabout the living things created on thefifth day, the wording of the versesabout what God created on the sixthday also shows that many kinds ofthings were created on the sixth dayof Creation, as well Many kinds of

beasts, cattle, and creeping thingswere created This shows that thereis no single parent of all land animalsInstead, God created many specialand separate groups

Notice the wording according to its[their] kind (Genesis 1:11, 21, 24, 25,NKJV) Some have tried to use thiswording to support the idea of fixedkinds This is an idea taken from

Greek thought The Greeks of Bible

times thought that each person wasan imperfect example of an unchang-ing ideal (perfect model), known as a

type (kind) But, the sameness of onekind does not agree with the Bibleteaching that all of nature suffers fromthe curse of sin (Romans 8:1922)We know that animal groups havechanged A good example are thecurses of Genesis 3 (Ellen G Whitewrote about the threefold curse onthe earth [the curse after the Fall,after Cains sin, and after the Flood])Another example is bad bacteria andwild animals that cause so much suf-fering and problems in the world Youcan understand the true meaning ofthe phrase according to their kindby reading the complete story in theBible

Read Genesis 6:20; Genesis 7:14;

and Leviticus 11:1422. How is thewording after its kind (NKJV)understood? How do these exam-ples help us to understand thewording in Genesis 1?

The wording after his kind (KJV)does not mean that animals give birthto the same kind Rather, it means

that there were different kinds of liv-ing things involved in the different sto-ries Some Bible translations use thewording of various [different] kinds,which seems more true to the mean-ing of the Bible The wording showsthat there were many different kindsof living things on the sixth day Thismeans that from the time of Creation,there have been many kinds of plants

and animals

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PIX #11

CREATION COMPLETED(FINISHED) (Genesis 2:13)

So, Creation was finished in sixdays (We will study the creation ofhumans later) Then we find that theBible first speaks of the seventh day

Read Genesis 2:13. Notice espe-cially verse 1, which shows thatall of what God had done wasfinished. What does this teach us

about the importance of the sev-enth day?

The Hebrew word for rest in thisverse is shabath, which is closelyrelated to the word for Sabbath Itshows that the work of creating theworld was stopped God was nottired Nor did He need a rest He wasfinished with His work of creating,

and so He stopped This shows that

Gods special blessing rests on theseventh day It is not only blessedbut also sanctified (made holy) This

means that the seventh day was tobe set apart for God So, God gavespecial meaning to the Sabbath inhonor of the relationship betweenGod and humans

Read Mark 2:27, 28. What didJesus say was the purpose of theSabbath?

Notice that the Sabbath was notmade because God had a needInstead, it was created becausehumans had a need, and God helpedto fill this need At the end of thatfirst week, God rested from His actsof Creation and devoted His time toHis relationship with His creaturesHumans needed the relationship with

their Maker in order to understandtheir place in the universe Imaginethe joy and wonder that Adam andEve experienced as they talked withGod and saw the world that He hadmade After sin, the wisdom of theSabbath rest became even clearerWe need the Sabbath rest in orderto prevent us from forgetting God,

getting too interested in riches, andoverworking

God commands us to give one-seventh of our lives to rememberthe act of Creation. What should thattell us about why Sabbath keepingis important? How can you learnto have a deeper and richer experi-ence with the Lord through resting

on the Sabbath as He Himself did?

WEDNESDAYJANUARY 16

God created land animals and people on

the sixth day.


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PIX #12

THE LITERAL (REAL) DAY

(Genesis 1:5, 8, 31)

Read Genesis 1:5, 8, 31. What

are the different parts of a Creationday? Does anything in these versessuggest that these are not real24-hour days as we experiencethem today?

The nature of the days of Creationhas been the subject of much discus-sion Some have questioned whether

each of the Creation days were really24 hours or whether they might repre-sent much longer periods of time Theverses description of the Creationdays gives the answer to that ques-tion The days have an evening (darkperiod) and a morning (light period)and are numbered in order That is,the days are shown very clearly tobe days just as we now experience

them They have an evening and a

morning, or a period of darkness anda period of light It is difficult to seehow the statement could be clearer in

describing the days of the week Thewording, there was evening, andthere was morning (NIrV), showsthat each day lasts 24 hours

Read Leviticus 23:3. What exam-ple do we have that all seven daysof the Creation week were thesame kind of days as those weexperience?

The ancient Hebrews did not doubtthe nature of the Sabbath day Theyknew that it was a day of ordinarylength but carried a special blessingfrom God Even many Bible thinkerswho do not accept the idea of thesedays as real 24-hour days often admitthat the writers of the Bible wrote

about them as real days

So crucial to our relationshipwith God is our trust of God andof His Word. If we cannot trustthe Word of God on somethingas clear as the Genesis Creationoccurring over a period of six realdays, what can we trust Him on?

ADDITIONAL STUDY: The days of theCreation week are counted accordingto a dark period, known as the eve-ning, and a light period, known as themorning We do not have any goodreason to interpret these days otherthan as being the same as the days

we experience today Some have

THURSDAYJANUARY 17

Humans need special time with their Makerin order to understand their place in the

universe.

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used such verses as Psalm 90:4 and2 Peter 3:8 when arguing that eachCreation day really is 1,000 years

This reasoning is not suggested bythe verses And it does nothing tosupport those who argue that thesedays mean billions of years

Also, suppose the days in Genesisactually did show long periods oftime Then one would expect to findthat the order of the fossil recordmatches the order of the living organ-isms created in the successive sixCreation days For example, thefirst fossils should be plants, whichwere created on the third day Nextshould be the fossils of the first wateranimals and the air animals Finally,we should find the fossils of the firstland animals The fossil record doesnot follow this order Sea animal fos-sils come before plants And land

animal fossils come before birds Thefirst fossil fruit trees and other flower-ing plants appear after all these othergroups And humans come last inboth stories

Of each successive day of crea-tion, the Holy Bible says that eachday has an evening and the morn-ing, like all other days that have

followedAdapted from EllenG White, Patriarchs [Leaders inBible Times] and Prophets [SpecialMessengers], page 112

But unbelievers argue that theevents of the first week required

seven long periods This argumentis opposed to the foundation of theSabbath of the fourth commandment

It makes unclear that which God hasmade clear It is the worst kind ofunfaithfulness For many who pretendto believe the record of creation, it isunfaithfulness in hidingAdaptedfrom Ellen G White, Spiritual Gifts,volume 3, page 91


Even if you do not believe that thedays of Creation were real 24-hourdays, two points are clear: nothingwas done by accident in the act ofCreation And there was no com-mon parent for all kinds of livingthings But evolution,4 according toCharles Darwin, teaches the oppositeof these two things: life is an acci-

dent And there is a common parentfor all kinds of living things With thisin mind, how could a person interpretGenesis from Darwins point of view?

Why is it important to understandthat science, which does so muchgood, is still just a human undertaking(project)?

All science has to study is a fallenworld, one that is very different inmany ways from the original creationWhy is it important for us to remem-ber that truth?

4 evolutiona theory (unproven idea) that the differences between modern plants and animals exist because ofchanges that happened by a natural process over a very long time

1

3

2


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READ FOR THIS WEEKS LESSON: Genesis 2; Matthew 19:46; Psalm 8;Job 38:121; Job 42:16; Isaiah 45:18; Acts 17:2231.

MEMORY VERSE: I saw another angel. He was flying high in the air. Hecame to tell everyone on earth the good news that will always be true.He told it to every nation, tribe, language and people. In a loud voice hesaid, Have respect for God. Give him glory. The hour has come for Godto judge. Worship him who made the heavens and the earth. Worship him

who made the sea and the springs of water (Revelation 14:6, 7, NIrV).

GENESIS 1:12:3 IS THE FOUNDATION FOR MANY CREATION VERSESIN THE BIBLE. Some verses pointing to Genesis 1 and 2 are clear But othersare not so clear A good example is Hebrews 4:4: Somewhere he [God] spokeabout the seventh day He said, On the seventh day God rested from all hiswork (NIrV) This is a quote from Genesis 2:2

This week we will study different verses that point back to the Genesis storyWe also will show how other Bible writers understood the Genesis story to be areal example of human beginnings


SABBATHJANUARY 19

Creation, a Biblical Theme


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Lesson 4 CREATION, A BIBLICAL THEME

CREATION IN GENESIS 2

(Genesis 2:4)

Genesis 1:12:3 is the first story ofGod creating our world It is the foun-dation of all the other truths that we,as Christians, believe

But the Creation story does not endthere From Genesis 2:3 to the end ofthe chapter, we are given more detailsFor example, we learn more about thecreation of Adam and Eve So weshould interpret (explain the meaningof) Genesis 2:4 as the introduction to adeeper history of the creation of Adamand Eve Genesis 1:2629 is a shortsummary of the same event

Some modern Bible thinkers haveargued that there are problemsbetween Genesis 1 and 2 But this

would have been a surprise to Mosesand the other Bible writers If thestories were different, Moses wouldnever have written them They wereso close together The problem is notwith the verses It is with those whofind differences where there are none

Read Matthew 19:46. How does

Jesus support the historical truthof Genesis 1 and 2?

In answer to the Pharisees questionabout divorce, Jesus quotes from bothGenesis 1:27 and Genesis 2:24 Thisshows that Jesus Himself considersboth to be a discussion of the samehistorical eventthe Creation of theworld and people How much more

proof do we need that Genesis 1 and 2

agree with each other about Creation?We are not here by chance We are nothere by accident We are people made

in the image (likeness) of God Andthe Genesis Creation story, as shownin chapters 1 and 2, is the true historygiven from God about our beginnings

Read Genesis 2. How does ithelp us to better understand whatit means to be human, to be madein the image of God, and to begiven free will?

PIX #13

CREATION IN THE PSALMS(Psalm 8)

Read Psalm 8. What connectionsdo you find with Genesis 1?

Read Psalm 104. Note how thispsalm praises God for His good-ness as seen in both Creation andin His watchcare. Notice the links

with Genesis 1 in the following

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MONDAYJANUARY 21

All other truth we believe rests on a founda-tion of Genesis 1:12:3.


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verses from Psalm 104: verses 2, 5,7, 9, 14, 19, 25.

Note how the psalms series seemsto follow the series of Genesis 1Examples in poetic form are clearlygiven throughout the verses And themessage of the psalm clearly includesthe power, wisdom, and goodness ofGod And also the fact that creationdepends on the Creator The psalmshows very clearly that the Genesisstory should be accepted as true

Study the examples from Psalm24:1, 2; Psalm 33:6; Psalm 74:16,17; and Psalm 89:11 that agree withGenesis 1.

The Psalms are full of praise for theCreator Sometimes this is shown innearly the same language in Gene-

sis 1 At other times the language ismore general But in all cases, the de-scription of Creation is nearly the sameas in Genesis 1 These descriptionsalso remind us how Genesis helps usto better understand our beginnings assons and daughters of God

PIX #14

CREATION IN THE BOOK OF JOB

(Job 38:121)

Read Job 38:121. Study the top-ics about creation in Job 38:112,16, 19.

It is important to remember what

the book of Job is about Terriblethings happen to Job And Job isstruggling to understand how suchbad things could happen to him, afaithful follower of God From chap-ter 38 through chapter 41, the Lordcontinues to talk about His creativepower while trying to answer Jobspuzzling questions

Read carefully Jobs answer tothe Lord in Job 42:16. Why does

Job answer as he does? And whatcan we learn from his answer thatcan help us to trust God whensomething bad happens to us?

Job is not able to explain whythings happen to him But this leadshim to recognize the greatness ofGod and to trust Him, no matter what

happens to himWe also find ourselves unableto answer many questions aboutCreation So, Jobs example shouldencourage us to trust God, no matterwhat After all, many questions abouteverything in life will remain unan-swered, at least for now But we willhave an eternity to better understandwhat we cannot understand now

The point is that today we canAll creation depends on the Creator for life.

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understand creation so much betterthan Job ever could And no mat-ter what happens, we should learn

to trust in Gods wonderful love andpower

Today we are living after theCross. So, we have an understand-ing of the Creator and the crucified(put to death on a cross) Savior.Because of this understanding, wehave something that Job never had.So how much more, then, should wetrust in the Lords goodness towardus, knowing what He did for us?

PIX #15

CREATION IN THE PROPHETS(Isaiah 45:18)

Isaiah 45:18 shows Gods plan toprepare a place for humans to live Inother words, He made the earth a good

place for life, and this was no accidentThink about the earth and what

makes it a good place for human

life How does the earth comparewith the other planets in our solarsystem? First, there is plenty ofwater There is some proof of wateron Mars But there are no bodiesof water on this or on any otherplanet aside from Earth Anotherspecial feature of Earth is the atmo-sphere, which is about 21 percentoxygen and 78 percent nitrogenOther planets have atmospheresbut none has the right balanceof oxygen and other gases OnlyEarth has an atmosphere suitablefor life Also, the temperatures onEarth are good for life They arenot the same as those on any of theother planets in our solar systemThere are many reasons for this

difference: our distance from thesun, our atmosphere, the mass ofEarth, and the speed of Earth as itturns on its axis All this makes thelengths of our days and nights rightfor life All these things togethermake Earth the only known planetsuitable for supporting life

How do the following verses tell ofthe events described in Genesis 1?Isaiah 44:24; Isaiah 45:12; Jeremiah51:15, 16; Amos 4:13; Jonah 1:9;Zechariah 12:1.

Think about what the right begin-nings mean to us in a world that,in itself, offers no hope withoutJesus Christ as Creator.

WEDNESDAYJANUARY 23

Many questions in life will remain unan-

swered until we get to heaven.


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PIX #16

CREATION IN THE NEWTESTAMENT (Acts 17:2231)

Read Acts 17:2231. What are theresults of this sermon? After Paulintroduces his topic, what doeshe tell these wise men in verses24 and 25? In verses 2628, whatdoes Paul say is the relationship(connection) between the CreatorGod and humans?

The audience here no doubt includedthe two groups of thinkers known asStoics1 and Epicureans2 The Stoicsbelieved that there was design innature But the Epicureans did not

Both groups did not know of thetrue God But their arguments aboutdesign were nearly the same as

many of the arguments still discussedin our day

The important point here is thatPaul witnessed to nonbelievingthinkers by arguing that the Lordwas the Creator of all things and allpeople Paul was a believer, unlikethese people, but he went on to saythat they shared something with himThey all came to life from the sameGod And Paul tried to build his argu-ment from that point So, we can seethat Creation is an important themein the Bible

Look at the following verses:Matthew 19:46; Mark 2:27; Luke3:38; John 1:13; 2 Corinthians 4:6;Hebrews 4:4; James 3:9; 2 Peter3:5; and Jude 11, 14 What is inter-

esting is that each one of these NewTestament authors speaks of theGenesis Creation story This givesmore proof that all the Bible writersaccepted the Creation story

Read Revelation 4:11 and Revela-tion 10:5, 6. What do the heavenlypeople and angels say about Gods

creatorship?

Creation was not an accident Itwas done by Gods will For exam-ple, the verses in Revelation 10:5, 6

Earth is the only planet we know that issuitable for life.

THURSDAYJANUARY 24

1 StoicsStoics believed that wisdom, self-control, and good all lie within the soul of a person Stoics alsobelieved in freeing ones soul from passion or emotion that comes from bad judgment and from reacting tothings in life in the wrong way A Stoic achieves this freedom from passion through examining his or her ownthoughts and living a life of virtue (goodness and purity) This helps free the mind from suffering

2 EpicureansEpicureans believed that tranquilityor the freedom from fear and painbrought the high-

est happiness to ones life So, they avoided anything that would cause them fear or pain, such as overeating,drinking too much wine, or having too much sex


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speak of Exodus 20:11 Once again,as in John 1:13, John shows that heknew of, and believed in, the Creation

story How foolish it would be for us tothink differently!

ADDITIONAL STUDY: The Bible isa book about God and His relation-ship to us humans and our worldThe events of Creation week arevery special because they came fromGod And they are outside the studyof science for two reasons First, theyare singularities3 Science has a dif-ficult time dealing with singularitiesThis is because they cannot be doneagain and tested in different waysseveral times Second, the Creationevents were the acts of God aloneThey were special, direct acts of

God Science does not accept anyexplanation that depends on Godsdirect action Because the Creationevents are the direct acts of Godalone, science is not qualified tostudy them

Our opinion of beginnings has animportant connection with our under-standing of who we are Understanding

our beginnings is so important thatGod placed it as the first subject inthe Bible And the message of theBible is based on the history of theCreation story To claim that we canlearn the true history of our world

through science is to not believe inGods direct acts This is an error thathas led to more error

Men will try to explain from naturalcauses the work of creation, whichGod has never shown But humanscience cannot search out the secretsof the God of heaven Science can-not explain the great works of cre-ation They were a miracle of Godspower In the same way, sciencecannot show how God came into lifeAdapted from Ellen G White, TheSpirit of Prophecy [Special MessageFrom God], volume 1, page 89


Creation is a main theme through-out the entire Bible Is there any proofthat Bible writers had different ideasof Creation? Or is there any proof that

they showed doubts about the truth ofany part of Genesis? Why is this answerimportant?

What reasons do you think some-one might give to reject (turn down)the idea that nature is designed?

Jesus supported what Moseswrote (Luke 16:2931), includingthe story of Creation (Mark 2:27,28; Matthew 19:46) Knowing ofthis background and the example ofJesus, what should our feeling beabout the story of Creation?

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1

3

2

3 singularitiesthings that happen only once or one time


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READ FOR THIS WEEKS LESSON: Genesis 2:16, 17; Genesis 1:2628;James 3:9; Acts 17:26; Proverbs 14:31; Matthew 5:4448; Revelation20:1113.

MEMORY VERSE: The Lord God gave the man a command. He said, Youcan eat the fruit of any tree that is in the garden. But you must not eat thefruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. If you do, you can besure that you will die (Genesis 2:16, 17, NIrV).

PEOPLE LOVE TO TALK ABOUT HUMAN RIGHTS. There are, and havebeen, many documents throughout the world and throughout history that havediscussed this topic For example, there are the Magna Carta2 (1215), theFrench Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen3 (1789), and differentUnited Nations documents These different documents all say that humans haveequal rights These are rights that no one can rightfully take away from us Theyare ours because we are human

The questions remain: what are these rights? How are we to decide what theyare? Can these rights change? If so, how so? And why should we, as humans,

have these rights, anyway?In some countries, for example, women were not given the right to vote until

the twentieth century (Some nations still deny it) But how can a governmentgive people something that is their right to begin with?

Hard questions! Their answers are connected with the question of humanbeginnings This is the study for this weeks lesson

Easy Reading Edition January 26February 15

SABBATHJANUARY 26

Creation and Morality1

1 moralitybeliefs about what is right behavior and what is wrong behavior2 Magna Cartaa famous document protecting the rights of Englishmen3 French Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizena law protecting the rights of the French

people


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Lesson 5 CREATION AND MORALITY

OUR DEPENDENCE ON THE

CREATOR (Genesis 2:16, 17)

Genesis 2:7 shows God creatingAdam It shows that He makes himas a smart, spiritual person ratherthan as an animal The verse doesnot describe Him doing so, but wecan imagine God using His hands tomake the dust into a man A personmight think that God is so great thatHe would not bother to get His handsdirty in the making of man But theBible shows that the Creator is closelyinvolved with the creation The Bibleshows many such examples of Godworking with people The examplesinclude Exodus 32:15, 16; Luke 4:40;and John 9:6 But really, the greatestexample is Christ Himself becoming

human flesh In this way, He couldbecome involved with the createdworld in the same way we do Thisshows that God would bend so lowas to get His hands dirty amongpeople

Read Genesis 2:16, 17. Whatcommand does God give to Adam?

What meaning do we get from thiscommand?

We may ask, What right did Godhave to make rules for Adam andEve? But compare4 this situation to afamily A childs parents give the childa home and all of lifes needs Theylove the child and wish to see the

child grow up to be a good and wiseadult The parents greater experi-ence and wisdom can save the child

much trouble if that child will accepttheir guidance Some children findthis guidance hard to accept Yet, aslong as the child depends on his orher parents for his or her needs, heor she needs to accept the parentsrules In the same way, we dependon our heavenly Father for life andlifes needs So, it makes sense for usto accept Gods guidance BecauseHe is a God of love, we can trust Himto always take care of what we needfor our own good

Read Psalm 95:6, 7 and Psalm100. How does the writer of psalmsshow our need for God? How doesour need for God make us respon-sible for treating other people with

kindness?

PIX #17

SUNDAYJANUARY 27

4 compareto show how two things are the same or different

A person might easily imagine God using

His hands to make Adam out of the dust.


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IN THE IMAGE (LIKENESS) OF

GOD (Genesis 1:2628)

Read Genesis 1:2628. What spe-cial gift is given to mankind that isnot given to the animals?

What does the image of God reallymean? This question has caused agreat deal of discussion And peoplehave different opinions about theanswer But the verses give someclues (hints) about the nature (realmeaning) of the idea First, to bemade in the image of God suggeststhat we are almost the same as Godin some ways One important part ofthe idea of the image of God is thatGod gave humans control over theother living things As God is Ruler

over all, so He has chosen humansto be responsible for control over thefish, the birds, and the land animals

God also planned to make manin our image, which involved theThree Members of the Godhead ThenGod made humans male and femaleBecause of this, the image of God isnot fully shown in just one person but

in a relationship between people Thisis because the Godhead is shown inThree Persons who are in relation-ship to each other In humans, theimage of God is shown in the rela-tionship of the male and the femaleThis ability to form relationships is partof what it means to be made in theimage of God But relationships mean

responsibility, which means moral-ity (holy living) So, right here we aregiven a strong hint at how morality

is connected with the Creation story

Read Genesis 9:6 and James3:9. How is the idea of humansbeing made in the image of Godclearly connected with morality?

Humans have struggled for thou-sands of years with the question ofmorality Even before we get intowhat the right kind of morality is, thewhole idea of morality itself raisesmany deep issues (problems) Whyshould humans, as opposed to bee-tles, fleas, or even chimps, have theability to choose between right andwrong? People are made of matter(atoms, electrons, and so forth) justas animals and insects are So, how

can humans alone know what moralissues are? The answer can be foundin the early chapters of the Bible TheBible shows humans to be moral5

people made in the image of God

PIX #18

MONDAYJANUARY 28

5 moralable to choose between right and wrong

The image of God is not fully shown in a

person but in a relationship.


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MADE OF ONE BLOOD (Acts 17:26)

In Genesis 2:23, Adam is given thejob of naming his wife He calls herHavah The word havah is connectedwith the Hebrew verb hayah, whichmeans to live (Jews sometimesuse the related word lehayim, mean-ing to life!) So, the Hebrew wordfor Eve (Havah) can be translatedas life-giver Eves name showsthe fact that she is the mother of allhumans It shows that we are all onefamily

Read Acts 17:26. How does Paulconnect the brotherhood of all peo-ple with the Creation? Comparewith Matthew 23:9.

We are all the same in that wehave come from one woman, Eve,and from one man, Adam AndGod is the Father of us all Thismakes us all equal Think how dif-ferent human relations would be ifall people understood this impor-tant truth Have we ever neededproof of how sinful we are or of

how badly sin has damaged us? Ifwe have, we have that proof in thesad fact that humans often treat oneanother worse than some animalstreat other animals

Read Proverbs 14:31 and Prov-erbs 22:2. How do these verseshelp us to understand the connec-tion between morality and the fact

that we are created by God?

Many things have divided the

human race, whether these thingswere political, national, ethnic (geo-graphic; belonging to different racegroups), or, of course, economicThe economic divisions are probablyone of the greatest problems Forexample, the workers of the worldnever have united (become one)Instead, they have warred againsteach other because of their nation-alities Also today, as always, thepoor and the rich often treat oneanother with suspicion and distrustHow often these feelings have ledto fights, even war! Yet, the causesof people becoming poor and theanswer to this problem still puzzleus (Read Matthew 26:11) But onething is sure because we know it to

be from the Word of God (Bible): richor poor, we all deserve to be treatedequally and honorably We have thisright because of our beginnings

Years ago, Charles Darwins the-ory of beginnings became popular.The rich used it as an excuse fortaking advantage of the poor. They

called their ability to do so socialDarwinism. They argued that inthe natural world, the strong over-come and use the weak. So, theythought, why not use the sameprinciple (rule) in economics? Buthow is this another example of whya correct understanding of originsis important to the understandingof morality?

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PIX #19

THE CHARACTER (WHO GOD IS)OF OUR CREATOR (Luke 10:2937)

God created us in His image Thismeans that He planned for us to be

like Him in character So, we are tobe almost the same as Him, within ourlimitations as humans To be like Godis not the same thing as wanting to beGod This is a very important differ-ence To be like God means that we

just reflect (show) His character Todo so we must have a proper under-standing of what that character is

Read Matthew 5:4448. How dothese verses show that we shouldreflect Gods character in our ownlives?

Read Luke 10:2937. Again, whatdoes this show about the charac-ter of God and how it should beshown among people? Read also

Philippians 2:18.

The story Jesus told involved twomen from different groups of peopleThese groups were bitter against each

other But Jesus showed that theywere neighbors This meant that eachwas within the others area of respon-sibility And God was pleased whenthey set their differences aside andtreated each other with kindness andmercy

We can see that this story shows asharp difference between the principles(rules) of Gods kingdom and the prin-ciples of Satans rulership (way of rul-ing) God calls the strong to care for theweak But Satans principles call for thestrong to take advantage of the weakGod created a world of peaceful relation-ships But Satan has twisted the worldso much that many think that the strongshould survive while the weak shouldnot They think that if the strongs defeat

of the weak was the way we came intolife, why should we do anything differentnow? However, if we accept this view,we are not following Gods principles asHe taught them This is why we mustnot take advantage of the ones who areweaker than we are

What are other ways in which

you can see how an understandingof our beginnings can influenceour thoughts on moral (holy) liv-ing?

MORALITY (HOLY LIVING)AND ACCOUNTABILITY

(RESPONSIBILITY)

(Revelation 20:1113)

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We all come from one mother, Eve. We areone family.

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In an earlier lesson, we studiedthe sermon Paul gave to the menin Athens (Acts 17:1631). Follow

the line of reasoning Paul used.Study not just where he started butwhere he ended. What is so impor-tant in the closing argument hemade about the question of begin-nings and morality?

Pauls sermon to the men of Athensbegan with Creation and ended with

judgment According to Paul, the Godwho made the world and everythingin it fixed a day on which He will judgethe world This means that to be moral(righteous) means to be accountable(responsible) Each of us will be heldresponsible for our actions and ourwords (Read Ecclesiastes 12:14 andMatthew 12:36, 37)

Read Revelation 20:1113 andMatthew 25:3140. What is clearlytaught in these verses about moral-ity?

Everyone who ever lived will meettogether to face Gods judgmentThe difference among the groups inJesus parable6 is how each treated

those who were poor This storyshows that the Creator is interestedin how His people treat each other,especially those who are poor Thereis no place in heaven for selfishpeople Selfishness is opposed to thecharacter (who God is) of the God ofpeace

If the Bible teaches anything, itteaches that one day God Himself will

bring the justice that is so lacking inthe world The whole idea of a judg-ment suggests that there is a right

way to live Why would God judgeand punish if there were no moralstandards to hold people to?

Think about how certain thejudgment to come is. What hopedo the gospel and the promise ofsalvation in Christ give us in thatjudgment?

PIX #20

ADDITIONAL STUDY: According tothe Bible, Adam was the first manwho was specially created from thedust by God Our understanding ofthe beginning of morality is foundedin the beginning of Adam Therefore,a Bible understanding of morality can-not be separated from a Bible under-standing of beginnings

How, then, should we classify the

FRIDAYFEBRUARY 1

God has fixed a day on which He will judge

the world.

6 parablea short simple story that teaches a truth


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fossils of early man? Adam was thefirst human So, it would not be pos-sible for any fossils to come before

Adam or other humans Then wheredid these fossils come from? Thereare several possible answers

First, the humanlike fossils mightbe forms of humans with normalbrains but with different growth pat-terns than any present-day humanA second idea is that the fossilsmay have been imperfect because ofthe humans lifestyle, environment,or other reasons A third idea is thatthey may be the results of Satansefforts (work) to spoil creation in wayswe do not understand Another ideais that the fossils belonged to thosewho were not humans They wereanimals that were nearly the same ashumans Different people may havedifferent opinions But because we

do not have strong proof to settle thematter, it is best to not be too firm inour guesses Fossils do not comewith labels that say Made in China500 million years ago Scientistshave many different understandingsof earth history The earth gives usclues as to how we can interpretfossils But we do not have proof of

our interpretations They are, in theend, just interpretations!


Think of what it would mean ifthere were no Creator who gavemoral principles to all people Wherewould moral principles come from?Many people do not believe in GodBut they hold to some strict moralprinciples On what basis, withoutGod, might people be able to developmoral principles? What are somepossible principles that they couldcome up with? What would be thegreatest weakness in all of them?

How does our view of Creationshape or form our opinions aboutcurrent issues such as euthanasia,7

cloning,8 and abortion?9

A local citizen who volunteeredhis time to give tours at the Nazi con-centration camp of Dachau began thetour by talking about Charles Darwinstheory of evolution He suggests thatDarwins theory led to Dachau Doesthat idea make sense? In what waysmight the tour guide be mistaken?

7 euthanasiathe act or practice of killing someone who is very sick or injured in order to prevent any moresuffering

8 cloningmaking an exact copy of a person, animal, or plant

9 abortiona medical procedure used to end a pregnancy by causing the death of the fetus

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3

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Easy Reading Edition February 28

READ FOR THIS WEEKS LESSON: Genesis 3:115; Matthew 4:310;Colossians 2:2023; John 3:17; Revelation 14:6, 7.

MEMORY VERSE: I will put hatred between you and the woman. Yourchildren and her children will be enemies. Her son will crush your head.And you will crush his heel (Genesis 3:15, NIrV).

A COMEDIAN USED TO PLAY A WOMAN CHARACTER CALLED

GERALDINE, A MINISTERS WIFE. In a one skit, Geraldine came home withan expensive new dress Her husband (also played by the same comedian) gotangry Geraldine then cried out: The devil made me buy this dress! I didnt [didnot] want to buy the dress The devil kept bothering me

Her response was supposed to be funny But our world and the evil in it showthat Satan is no laughing matter

For some people, the idea of the devil is an old-time myth not to be takenseriously But the Bible is very clear Satan is a defeated enemy (Revelation12:12; 1 John 3:8) But he is here on the earth And he tries to cause as muchdestruction as possible to Gods creation

This week we will study one of Satans early attacks to find out what we canlearn from it We are still under attack from him, but we can claim the victorythat is ours in Christ

6

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Creation and the Fall


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Lesson 6 CREATION AND THE FALL

THE SERPENT (SNAKE) WAS

MORE CLEVER (Genesis 3:1, NIrV)

Read Genesis 3:1. How is Satan,in the form or shape of a serpent,described? How is the truth of thatpicture shown in that one verse?

The serpent is very clever in theway he introduces his temptationHe does not make a direct attackbut tries instead to get the woman(Eve) to talk with him Note that theserpents words come in two partsFirst, he asks if God really said whatshe thinks He said At the same time,he frames (makes) his question in away that raises doubt in the womansmind about God Satan asks, DidGod really hold back something from

you? Did He not give you permissionto eat from every tree in the Garden?By twisting what God said, the ser-pent tempts the woman to correctwhat he says In this way, Satan suc-cessfully pulls her into conversationThe serpents plan is really clear

Of course, that should not surpriseus Jesus called the devil a liar and

the father of lies (John 8:44, NIV)In Revelation 12:9, the devil foolsthe whole world, which means thatnone of us, even as Seventh-dayAdventist Christians, are safe Satanhas, clearly, lost none of his clever-ness He still uses the same planthat was successful with Eve Satanbrings up questions about Gods

word and Gods plans He hopes toraise doubts and lead us into conver-sation We must be always watchful

(1 Peter 5:8) to protect ourselvesagainst his tricks

Compare1 Matthew 4:310 withGenesis 3:1. What same trick didSatan try on Jesus? Why did itfail? What lessons can we learnfrom how Jesus answered thedevils attacks in the wilderness?In what ways does Satan try thesame thing with us now?

PIX #21

THE WOMAN AND THE SERPENT(Genesis 3:2, 3)

Read Genesis 3:2, 3. How did thewoman (Eve) answer the serpent?What mistakes did she make?

SUNDAYFEBRUARY 3

1 compareshow how two or more things are the same or different

MONDAYFEBRUARY 4

Satan uses the same tricks on us that he

used on Eve, tempting us to doubt GodsWord.


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Eve clearly knew the command ofGod Yet, she made a statement thatwent beyond what God had said God

had clearly warned Adam and Evenot to eat of the tree He said nothingabout not touching it We do not knowwhat caused Eve to say He did Butthere is no question that by thinkingshe should not touch the fruit, Evewould have been less tempted to eatit This is because Eve could not eatwhat she could not touch

How often do we face the samething today? Suppose someonecomes with teachings that seem tofollow the Bible but still have just afew errors These few errors can ruineverything else Error, even mixedwith truth, is still error

PIX #22

Read Matthew 15:79. Whatwarning does Jesus give thescribes and Pharisees about theaddition of human thinking to theWord of God? Compare this with

Revelation 22:18 and Colossians

2:2023. According to Colossians2:23, what are the dangers of mak-ing up rules that we think will pro-

tect us against sin?

The problem with sin is not a lackof rules but a sinful heart Even in aworldly society, we often hear callsfor more laws against crime when wealready have enough laws We do notneed new laws as much as we neednew hearts

In what ways might we be in dan-ger of following the things that theBible has warned us about? Rulesset up by the Bible are very impor-tant. The question is, How can we besure that the rules we follow are notgoing to lead us astray? Bring youranswer to class.

PIX #23

TRICKED BY THE PROOF

(Genesis 3:46)

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God clearly told Adam and Eve not to eat ofthe tree.

We do not need new laws as much as weneed new hearts.


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Read Genesis 3:46. What arethe principles (rules) that led toAdam and Eves downfall? What

can we learn from their experiencethat can help us to deal with ourtemptations?

Satan is successful in drawing Eveinto talking with him He also is suc-cessful in raising doubts about whatGod said and why Now Satan tellsEve that God is not telling the truth,and he gives a false explanation ofwhy God really does not permit themto eat of the fruit Satan also says thatGod is withholding something goodin order to keep Adam and Eve fromreaching their full growth In doingso, Satan builds on his past ques-tion about whether God has withheldsome of the trees from them

Eve uses three lines of proof that

lead her to believe that she wouldprofit (benefit) from eating the fruitFirst, she sees that the tree is goodfor food Perhaps she has watchedthe serpent eating the fruit Or Satanmay have boasted about how goodit tasted It is interesting to Eve thatGod warned Adam and Eve not to eatof the tree because she has noticed

that it is good for food Talk about astruggle between the senses and aclear Thus saith the Lord!

A second line of proof that makesEve eat the fruit is that it is pleasantto the eyes No doubt all the fruit inthe Garden is beautiful But for somereason, Eve is more interested in thefruit that Satan is offering her

The supposed power of the fruit to

make one wise is the third reason that

Eve wants to eat the fruit The ser-pent has promised her that eatingthe fruit will make her know more and

become wise like God How sad thatEve believes the serpent becausethe Bible says that she already is likeGod (Genesis 1:27)

We are told that Eve is fooled,but Adam is not (1 Timothy 2:14)If Adam is not fooled, why does heeat? Adam knowingly disobeys GodHe chooses to follow Eve rather thanGod How often is this same kindof action seen today? How easilywe can be tempted by what otherssay and do, even if their words andactions do not agree with the Wordof God (Bible) Adam listens to Eveinstead of to God The rest is thenightmare known as human history(Read Romans 5:1221)

PIX #24

GRACE AND JUDGMENT INEDEN: PART 1 (Genesis 3:14, 15)

In Genesis 3, after the Fall, the

Lords opening words are all questions:

WEDNESDAYFEBRUARY 6

Eve saw that the fruit was good for food

and ate it.


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Where are you? Who told you thatyou were naked? Have you eaten fromthe tree that I commanded you not to

eat from? What is this you havedone? (Genesis 3:9, 11, 13, NIV)

In contrast, Gods first announce-ment in this chapter follows thesequestions. When speaking to theserpent, what does God say? Andwhat is the meaning of His words?Read Genesis 3:14, 15.

Think about the meaning of wh

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Sabbath School EN 2013_Q1 easy reading - Origins (Beginnings)