The Beginning - 1 - Creation

It is the start of a new year, so what better time to go right back to the beginning and think about how life, the universe and everything started.

For the next few weeks we are going to be exploring the first book of the Bible, Genesis.

Right at the very beginning of the Bible we see the account of the creation of the world. We see in the passages that we are about to look at that God crafted the world in a specific order over the course of six days.

On these cards we have the accounts of each of the days. You need to now put them in the right order.

As with a lot of the accounts in the Bible this passage does not go into the fine detail or mechanics of how this happened. The passage does not explain to us how the sky was formed or how the sun came into existence.

There are a couple of reasons for this, firstly at the time when Moses was writing this account people would have not understood this level of detail, so it would not have been meaningful to them.

Secondly, and more importantly, the mechanics of how it happened is not really that important for us. The important factor is that God wanted it to happen, he commanded it to happen, and because of his power and his will it happened.

God created the world and everything in it. His power and command was enough to bring our world into existence.

Now as a group you are going to have the opportunity to create a whole herd of new animals. Fold your piece of paper into four, then in the top section draw the head of your new creature.

Then pass it to the person on your left, and draw the chest… next draw down to the knees (if your animal has knees)… finally the feet, hoofs or tail

It can be fun dreaming up new creations, and new creatures. However when God created the animals and created us he put a bit more thought into it. God created everything for a purpose as we see in Ephesians 2 : 10 and Psalm 138 : 13 - 14.

We are not alive and here today because of an accident, coincidence or simply by chance. We are here because God carefully crafted us. He created us all individually for a unique purpose.

I am sure you have all heard the age old question… what came first, the chicken or the egg? What are your thoughts on this question?

As Christians the answer to this question is simple, the Chicken. As we can see from the passage we read earlier we see that God created the animals that roam the Earth, swim in the sea and fly in the air.

He also created humankind, starting with Adam then Eve. These first humans started their lives as adults, as this is how God created them.

You might also have been taught about the Big Bang Theory, and the Theory of Evolution at school. Both of these theories try and explain God’s wondrous creation with one major flaw they miss out the creator.

In their simplest forms both of these theories rely on the idea that life the universe and everything in it came into being through a series of freak accidents, taking place at random at just the right time. However both fail to work within the laws of science.

The Big Bang Theory relies on matter (objects, liquids and gasses) being formed out of nothing. This breaks the law of Thermodynamics, which states that no matter or energy can be created or destroyed.

Similarly the theory of Evolution sidesteps entirely the single most important factor, the creation of life in the first place. As even if creatures were to evolve over time they cannot do this without first being alive.

Despite huge efforts within the scientific community, these two stumbling blocks cannot be worked around. As Christians we know the reason why they cannot work around them is because the only possible answer that fits is that God did it.

The formation of the universe, and the start of life on Earth is outside of what can be explained by science. It can only be understood by faith, Hebrews 11 : 3

Following the business of the first six days which we looked at earlier it is interesting to see what God did next, which we can see in Genesis 2 : 1 - 3.

We see in these verses that following six days of busyness creating the universe God took the decision to rest. Not only did he decide to take a rest day for himself, but he blessed it making it a holy for all of us.

God added in this day of rest for us all to give us the opportunity to stop, unwind and relax. To give us a time to pause during our busy lives.

How easy do you find it to make time to simply rest and unwind.

Giving ourselves the opportunity to rest is important to God. So important that he included it in the plan for the world from the very beginning.

Does anyone have any suggestions on for those of us who find it difficult to take time to stop and unwind?

God designed us to take time to rest and relax. It has been part of his plan from the very start.

Let’s spend a few moments thinking about our world which God has created.

From the tiniest insects, to the vast oceans, the stars in the sky to the trees lining our streets, to our friends and family. All of these things are part of God’s creation.

Then let’s go around the room and each share one thing in the world that you are thankful that God created.

It can be a big thing or a little thing, but pick something that you are thankful for.