A PLANNEDBEGINNING

Where did our planet, Earth, comefrom? How did human life start?Did someone plan the earth, with itsmountains, trees, oceans and everythingyou see around you? The answers tothese and many other questions are foundright in the pages of your Bible!

In this lesson you will learn of God'splan for creating the universe and all life init, especially human life. By the end of thismonth's lesson you should be able to say,from memory, each of the books of theOld Testament.

As you study the lesson use your Bibleto look up all the scriptures that are given.You will also need a pen or pencil to fill inthe blanks where questions are asked. Ifyou have your Bible and a pen or pencilwith you, continue reading. If not, get thembefore you go any further.

THE BEGINNING

To begin our study let's first go back inhistory to a time before you wereborn-before your father and motherwere alive-before your grandparentswere living-before the city in which youlive was started-even before the nationin which you live was formed. Are weback far enough to see the beginning? Notyet!

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Let's travel back before the oldestnation on earth began, before any peoplelived on our planet. But still we are notback to the beginning. We still see theearth, the sun and all the other planetsand stars shining in the night sky. Thebeginning was before there was anythingthat our eyes can see.

These things were all made at sometime long, long ago before our minds canimagine. If we could go back to that time,what would we see? Would we see theearth and life beginning by chance, asmost of your school science or historybooks teach? Would we see a world oferupting volcanoes, white-hot flowing lava,boiling oceans and an atmosphere ofdeadly gases from which an accidental"spark of life" is said to have beenstruck? You are told that from thisaccidental beginning, life advanced fromsingle cells to oceans full of wrigglingworms, to giant lizards and flying reptiles,to ape-like creatures, to gorilla-like cave-men and, finally, to modern-day man.

Is this really what happened in thebeginning? How can you know for sure?Was anyone there who could give us aneyewitness report? Are there any writtenrecords?

Yes!

Illustraltons by Basil Wolverton

THE CREATOR

Two places in the Bible we read, "Inthe beginning ...." In both of theseplaces this sentence continues with aname. Someone was there and has leftyou and me a written account of whatreally did happen! We can know for sure!Read Genesis 1:1 and John 1:1, thenwrite these verses on the lines below.(Genesis 1:1) _

______. (John 1:1) _

So, our beginning starts with two greatBeings called God and the Word. Before

God and the Word created everythingin the universe.

anything else existed, they were there-together. They planned and createdeverything that we now see around us(John 1:3).

God is actually a name for a family ofbeings, just as your last name is a familyname for the people in your family(Ephesians 3: 14, 15). So, when we saythat God created all things, we mean theGod Family created all things. The Bibletells us of only two Beings who are nowmembers of the Family of God: God andthe Word, or God the Father and JesusChrist the Son. Each member in God'sFamily is called God, just as each memberin your family is called by your familyname.

You will learn much more about thismost important fact about God later in thisstudy.

Do You Remember?

1. How many members are now in theGod Family? _

2. Who are they? _

3. What scripture proves this? _

BEFORE ADAM AND EVE

Now, let's move forward in time andlook at what the creating God Familymade.

Surprising though it may seem, the firstpart of God's creation would have beeninvisible to you and me. The great CreatorGod, through the Word, first designed andcreated spirit beings-the angels. Eachangel was individually planned andcreated-millions or perhaps billions ofthem! They were made of spirit and weregiven self-sustaining life. This means they

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don't need to eat and drink or evenbreathe air to stay alive as you do. Andthey can never die. They are immortalbeings. Also, God created them withminds. They can think, reason, plan, makechoices and decisions. In this way theyare much like God.

But, in another important way they arenot like God. They were not createdhaving perfect holy character as God andthe Word have. This perfect character isthe one thing that even God cannot createinstantly. It must be developed by thechoice and purpose of the one in whom itis being formed. You will also study muchmore about this later in these lessons.

The angels were created with mindsable to think, reason and decide. Theyhave self-will. God also revealed fully andplainly to them His perfect, holy way ofliving. God then allowed them to choose tofollow His righteous way of life, or to turnfrom it and follow other ways of their ownplanning. They were told plainly the rightway, but God did not force them to go thatway. The choice was up to them.

What was God's purpose and plan increating all these angelic spirit beings?Why were they made? God wanted toshare His perfect, joyful way of life withother beings. He also needed others tohelp Him carry this way of life throughoutall the endless universe that He hadcreated. He wanted them to share in allthat He had made.

But, we're getting a little ahead of thestory. Let's now look at the time recordedin Genesis 1:1 and John 1:1-the time ofthe creation of the heavens and the earth.We don't know for sure how long ago thiswas. Scientists tell us the earth is millionsor billions of years old. This is possible

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and does not disagree with anythingrevealed in the Word of God. We doknow, however, that the angels werecreated before the earth, because Godreveals that all the angels (created "sonsof God") sang for joy at its completion(Job 38:4-7).

In Hebrew, the language in whichMoses wrote the book of Genesis, theword translated heaven in Genesis 1:1 isplural-heavens-and, therefore, in-cludes all the physical creation-theentire universe. At this time, after thecreation of the angels, all the universe(including the earth) was brought intobeing.

"But," you may ask, "why did Godcreate the earth and all the limitlessuniverse if the angels had no need for air,food, water or shelter?" They didn't needa physical creation to keep themselvesalive. They had life within themselves.They were eternal beings.

The answer is that the universe, andespecially the earth, was created as atesting ground-a proving ground for theangels. Remember, they were to developperfect, righteous, godly character. Thisone, super-important part of them had tobe developed over a period of time. So,God created the vast universe of untoldmillions and millions of stars, planets andmoons to be an environment-a place ofliving-in which this righteous charactercould be developed. He started by placingsome of the angels here on thisplanet-Earth.

Do You Remember?

1. What was the first thing the GodFamily created? _

2. What scripture proves this? _

REBELLION BRINGS DESTRUCTION

When the angels were created, theywere not all created alike. Some were ofgreater rank than others. One of thehighest ranking angels was a being ofgreat beauty and wisdom, named Lucifer.His name meant Light Bringer or ShiningStar of the Dawn. This great ruling angelwas placed on the earth by God to leadthe other angels there and to rule themaccording to the perfect laws of theCreator. He was to bring the light of God'sway of life to the angels on the earth.

How long Lucifer and his angels livedon earth before the creation of man is nottold to us by God. It may have beenmillions-or even billions-of years. How-ever long it was, these were years ofgreat happiness and peace as Luciferruled his world by everyone of the perfectlaws of God.

But one day Lucifer began to think anevil thought. By continuing to think this evilthought, he finally made himself believethat he could make a great, evil plansucceed.

What was it that he was planning?Rebellion!He had become jealous of God. He

convinced himself that God was beingunfair to him. Lucifer was sure that withthe millions of angels over which he ruledhe could succeed in overpowering God.What was it Lucifer wanted to do? Hewanted to take over God's throne-totake God's place as the Supreme Ruler ofthe entire universe (Isaiah 14:14).

What had started as a foolish, sinfulthought had grown into an evil plan that

was to carry the entire creation into totaldestruction!

Filled with pride and greed, Lucifer andhis angels swept up to heaven for theattack. An unbelievable war followed, withspirit beings using great and terribleforces that we humans know nothingabout (Revelation 12:7). God, who has allthe power in the universe, released Hispower against Lucifer and his army ofrebellious attackers.

Awful and total defeat came uponLucifer. God's fearsome power wasreleased with such fury that the invadingarmy and its leader were blasted out ofheaven and back down to earth (Revela-tion 12:9).

But God wasn't finished! He changedLucifer's name to Satan, which meantenemy, and his followers were from thenon known as demons. These miserable,bitter, unhappy spirit beings were foreverturned from good and obedience to eviland rebellion. Yet, Satan was allowed toremain as king on the earth until a newking would become qualified to take hisplace. (You will study much more aboutthis new king in future lessons.) This is thethread that ties together all the parts ofGod's Holy Word and His glorious plan forall His creation.

Do You Remember?

1. What did Lucifer plan to do in hisrebellion against God? _

2. What scripture tells of this?

But, let's come back again to God'sphysical creation-the earth and all theother planets and stars of the universe.

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When these were created by God, theywere perfect in design and beauty. Goddoesn't create confusion or ugliness(I Corinthians 14:33). Yet, verse 2 of thefirst chapter of Genesis says, "And theearth was without form, and void; anddarkness was upon the face of the deep."A better wording of this verse is, "And theearth became without form, andvoid. . . ." Satan's rebellion happenedafter the creation and caused the earth tobecome formless and empty.

God's good and perfect laws had beenbroken and the natural result wassuffering and destruction. What had beena dazzlingly beautiful jewel of God'sperfect creation became total ruin whenLucifer and his followers tried to overpow-er God. Roaring winds flattened theforests and drove the oceans into

'I·..311

...~

The moon, sun and stars appeared on the fourth day.

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crashing mountains of water. The earth'ssurface split and cracked and greatvolcanoes formed and spread rivers oflava over much of the land. The air wasfilled with blinding ash and poisonoussmoke. Probably no animal or plant lifesurvived this terrible destruction. OnlySatan and his demons were left alive onthe ruined planet.

No one knows how long the earth wasin this condition. But during this time theentire earth was covered by oceans, andthe air was a thick mixture of gases,smoke, ash and water vapor. This mixturewas so thick that no light could reach thesurface of the seas. No kind of physicallife could survive on this dark, poisonedplanet. Finally, God was ready to beginthe next step in His great master plan forthe universe. He began to renew the earthand bring back its former beauty.

Do You Remember?

1. Did God create the earth "withoutform and void"-ugly and empty?

2. Give a scripture that says God doesn'tmake things in confusion. _

3. What caused the earth to becomedark, empty and ugly? _

PREPARED FOR MAN

For five days God worked at gettingthe earth ready for human life.

On the first day He began to thin thethick, poisoned air so that light couldshine through upon the earth's surface.The thick darkness then ended and dayand night were separated (Genesis1:3-5).

Then, on day two, He formed a layer offresh, clean air over the surface of thesea. This allowed water vapors to riseand form into great billowy, white clouds.This air was a mixture of healthful gases,which were needed to support breathinganimals andhuman beings. This mixture ofgases is called the atmosphere. (Genesis1:6-8).

On the third day of this week ofremaking the earth, God raised up theland in some areas and pushed down theocean floor in other places. This formeddry land areas, or continents, for plantsand animals to live upon.

On these continents He also created allkinds of trees, bushes, flowers andgrasses-everything that could grow outof the dry land. The earth was becomingbeautiful again, with blue oceans andgreen land masses (Genesis 1:9-13).

The fourth day brought even moreclearing of the atmosphere, and the sun,moon and stars shone through in all theirsparkling beauty and brilliance (Genesis1:14-19).

On the fifth day the great Creator Godplaced all types of sea creatures into theoceans, lakes and rivers. He also createdbirds to fly in the beautiful, cloud-filled sky(Genesis 1:20-23).

In five short days the almighty GodFamily had renewed the whole face of theearth and prepared it for man to liveupon.

On the sixth day of this re-creationweek, God formed all types of landanimals. From mighty elephants to tinyworms and insects-every kind of life thatwalks or crawls upon the surface of theland was made (Genesis 1:24-25).

All was now ready for human beings to

From the red mud of the earth, God made man.

live upon the renewed earth!

Do You Remember?

In a very short form list the events ofeach day of this re-creation week. __

"IN OUR IMAGE, AFTER OURLIKENESS"

The time had finally arrived for God toform the most important part of all Hisvast creation. From the red mud of theearth, working perhaps like a sculptor

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with clay, He molded a statue that lookedvery much like Himself. When He wasfinished He breathed into this figure thebreath of life, and this first man became aliving, breathing being (Genesis 2:7).

God named the man whom He hadcreated Adam, which meant red, rosy orruddy. He placed the man in a beautiful,parklike garden, called Eden, probablynear the part of the earth that is todaycalled the nation of Israel.

MAN-NOT COMPLETE I

God knew when He made the man thathe was made incomplete. Man wasn'treally all there. Like the angels before him,he needed to develop righteous, holy,godly character. This had to be developedwith God's help and by the determinedeffort of the man in which it was beingformed. It could come only through alifetime of experience and decision mak-ing. Once Adam developed this holy,righteous character (the ability to do whathe had been taught was right and good,even when he wanted to do somethingelse), then he could be a completecreation.

WHY MAN?

This was all part of why man wasmade. You will remember that Satan wasallowed to stay as king over the earth untila new king was ready to take his place.To be qualified to replace Satan this newking would have to be totally obedient toGod and His holy law. God had to know,beyond any doubt, that the new kingwould never rebel against Him and Hisgovernment, as Lucifer and his followershad done. How could He know this? Howcould He be sure that this new king would

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never turn against Him?There was only one way!The new king would have to prove

himself over a lifetime of obedience. Hewould have to develop the holy, righteouscharacter of God Himself; develop thevery nature of God; become like God inhis thinking and way of life. In short, hewould have to qualify to become amember of God's holy Family.

This is why God created Adam and puthim on the earth. He was giving Adam thechance to become His spiritual Son, aswell as be the new king to replace Satanas the ruler of the earth! You will learnmuch more about this great purpose for allhuman life as you continue your study ofGod's Holy Word.

Do You Remember?

1. How was Adam not complete? __

2. What was missing in him? _

3. Why did God make Adam? Give tworeasons. _

A PERFECT COMPANION

After Adam was made, God caused adeep sleep to come over him. As he sleptGod removed from Adam's side a rib.Beginning with this rib God formed acompanion for Adam-a woman whomAdam namedEve (Genesis 2:22).

This completed the physical reforming ofthe earth and the creation of life upon it. Insix days God had repaired the damagecaused by the rebellion of Satan and his

followers. God reviewed all that He hadmade and saw that it was all "verygood"-designed, made and operating asHe had planned it.

One thing different in this new world wasthat God gave all the plant, animal andhuman life upon the earth the ability toreproduce themselves. Instead of creatingmillionsof human beings one by one, as Hehad the angels, He made human life so thatit would reproduce itself. Each life formwould multiply "after its kind" as timepassed. So, in time the earth would be filledwith plants and animalsand people.

God also made all life temporary, ratherthan eternal as the angels were. As new lifedeveloped, old life died. It was all kept inperfect balance by physical laws that Godcreated. These laws are now called by manthe laws of nature. They are really the lawsof the great Creator God who designed

Contentment in the garden of Eden.

them and set them in motion to keep Hiscreation working properly.

A HOME AND A JOB

When Adam and Eve were created, Godplaced them in a beautiful garden home.They were given a perfect home withperfect weather. All the food they neededwas there for the taking. They had a Fatherwho was deeply concerned about them andloved them more than any other part of Hiscreation. Nothing could have been moreperfect. Everything was full of beauty,happiness and peace!

Before Eve was created, God gaveAdam the responsibility of naming all theanimals (Gen. 2: 19-20). This was mucheasier than you might think, because all thecreatures were friendly and harmless-justas they will be again when God'sgovernment is soon returned to this earth(Isa. 11:6-9).

Together God told Adam and Eve to"dress and keep" their garden home. Godhad given it to them in perfect beauty, andthey were told to work to keep it that way. InGenesis 1:28, God also told them: "Be_

the earth. ' , He com-manded them to have many children, thatthe earth might be filled with life. And, ofcourse, they were to teach their childrenabout God and His holy, righteous laws,which, when obeyed, would bring themcontinued peace and happiness throughouttheir lifetime.

Do You Remember?

1. How did God make human life differentfrom angel life? Give two ways. _

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2. What things did God tell Adam and Eveto do? List three.

DAY SEVEN-THE SABBATH

You have already learned that Godfinished the physical creation on the sixthday with the making of Adam and Eve. Butthere was still one day left of that first weekin this new world. God created somethingvery important and special on this last day!

With all His work finished, God rested(Genesis 2:2). You may wonder why Heneeded a rest. Was He all worn out from Hiscreative labor? Was He so tired He just hadto stop and rest? Not at all! God doesn'tbecome weary or tired (Isaiah 40:28). ButHe did rest. Exodus 31: 17 tells us: " ... insix days the Lord made heaven and earth,and on the seventh day he rested, and wasrefreshed. " This rest was refreshing toGod. But not because He was tired orweary.

So, why did He rest?By resting He put His holy presence in

that seventh day and set an example thatHe wanted all humans to follow from thenon. By resting God created the Sabbathday-making it a day of rest for all mankindthroughout all time. He also "blessed theseventh day, and sanctified it" (Genesis2:3).

What does "sanctified" mean? Look upthe word sanctified in a dictionary and writethe definition on the lines below:

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God set apart this seventh day of theweek from the other days. It was set asidefor holy use-for physical rest andassembled worship of the Creator God.

God also knew that man would need arest every seventh day, a chance to forgetabout daily cares. Many people today havenever been taught about the Sabbath, and,as a result, suffer from worries and mentalstress, because they don't keep this day ofrest and relaxation.

So, the Sabbath was created as a day toremind us of our Creator and a day to rest.Every seventh day of the week was, fromthis time forward, to be holy time, special toGod and to be used only as He directs.(Later you will learn more about just howyou should use God's holy time-how tokeep the Sabbath holy.)

A TIME FOR TEACHING ANDLEARNING

Adam and Eve were created knowingnothing. Their minds were totally empty. Itwas God's responsibility to teach them allthe things they needed to know but couldn'tlearn by themselves.

On this very first Sabbath day God satand talked with them. He took this time toteach and instruct them about Himself andHis great master plan for them and all theirchildren. He told them of His perfect law,which, when obeyed, would give themhappiness and peace in their beautifulgarden home.

We are told very little of what actuallywas said on this first Sabbath. However, weknow that God could not expect Adam andEve to obey laws that they knew nothing of.So, He had to tell them what was good andright, as well as what was bad and wrong

for them to do-in other words, how Heexpected them to live their lives.

One example of God's teaching on thisfirst Sabbath can be found in Genesis 2:9,16-17. Have you read of God's instructionsabout the two special trees He placed in thegarden - The Tree of Life and the Tree ofthe Knowledge of Good and Evil? God gaveAdam and Eve permission to eat of all thetrees in the garden except the Tree of theKnowledge of Good and Evil. He told themthat if they disobeyed Him and ate of thistree they would die. But He also told themthat if they ate of the Tree of Life they couldlive forever.

Inother words, God was telling them thatthey did not have the right to decide forthemselves what was good and what wasevil. Only God knows good from evil, and itwas His responsibility to make thatknowledge known to them.

On this first Sabbath God, then, taughtAdam and Eve that they must be obedient toHim and go His way if they were to receiveHis blessings and qualify to join His Family.

This is still one of the purposes of theSabbath day. We are to talk with God inprayer, and He talks back to us through thepages of His written Word when we studythe Bible and when we listen to the ministerexplain the Bible in Sabbath services. TheSabbath is still a time for teaching andlearning.

Do You Remember?

1. What did God teach Adam and Eve onthis first Sabbath day? _

2. Is the Sabbath a time for us to be taughtby God? _

LOST ANDFOUND

Lost in the sentences below are thenames of persons (or beings) mentioned inthis lesson. Can you find them? Underlineeach name as you find it and check it offyour word list.

EXAMPLE: EDGAR DENTED THEFENDER.

WORD LIST: ADAM GOD GARDENANGELS KINGDEMONS SATANEVE WORD

1. MY PATIENCEISAT AN END!2. PLEASE HAND ME A DAMP

SPONGE.3. WITH THESE GLASSES, I SEE VERY

WELL.4. CLASS, PLEASE GO DOWNSTAIRS

FOR A FIREDRILL.5. IT WAS A NEW, ORDINARY PENCIL.6. DO YOU REMEMBER WHO SANG,

ELSIE?7. DID YOU EVERTRY TO RIDE

TANDEM ON SKIS?8. DO YOUR KIN GO TO FAMILY

REUNIONS?

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