Crafting The Word Of God

The Days Of Creation Lesson

Posted on February 8, 2016 Updated on November 30, 2017

Scripture

Genesis 1-2:3

Memory Verse

“In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.” Genesis 1:1

Objective Of The Lesson

Your kids will learn who created everything and for what purpose.

“If we want to understand creation, if we want to understand origins, if we want to understand how the universe came into existence and everything that is in it, we have to look at theology, not science. And the source of theology is the Word of God in which God speaks. The Bible is not theory, the Bible is fact. The Bible is reality. The Bible is the truth no matter what subject it addresses, but particularly with regard to origins since no one was here when God created. We have only His eyewitness account. And when the Bible speaks with regard to creation, or when it speaks with regard to origins, it speaks truth, it speaks factually.” Pastor John MacArthur

Teacher Exhortation

Teach the story of creation with conviction and do not be intimidated by the ideas and opinions of the world. Remember these are only fleeting thoughts. (1 John 2:17)

It is important that we establish a firm foundation of Biblical truth in the minds of our children and this begins with the story of Creation.

“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” Genesis 1:1

This verse is not only our memory verse, but it serves as a summary of creation itself.

Break down the verse, part by part so your kids can understand it.

In The Beginning– In the beginning of our time and space. Before creation, there existed nothing, but God.
God– God existed before the creation of our time and universe. He doesn’t have a beginning or an end. He is eternal.
Created– God created or made everything out of nothing. He did this with the power of His words; “Then God said…” He spoke everything into existence.
The Heavens And The Earth– Everything that we see. Everything that is in the universe.

Ask your kids to say the Bible verse in their own words.

Example: In the beginning of our time, God who is eternal, created everything that we see with the power of His words.

This will help them understand this crucial verse.

“The earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the waters.” Genesis 1:2

This verse describes the earth in a bleak way: formless, void and dark.

The earth was uninhabitable; incomplete. Things could not grow or live on it in the way that it was. But God was going to change that. He was going to prepare it.

In the second half of the verse, we are presented with the second person of the Trinity. You do not have to give your kids a crash course on the Trinity, but it would be nice to show them that all three persons of theTrinityy had a part in the story of creation. (Genesis 1:1; Genesis 1:2; Colossians 1:15-17)

“Then God said, “Let there be light” and there was light. God saw that the light was good; and God separated the light from the darkness. God called the light day, and the darkness He called night. And there was evening and there was morning, one day.” Genesis 1:3-5

On the first day of creation God separated the light from the darkness. He called the light day and the darkness night.

All He had to do was speak it and it came into existence. Remind your kids that He created everything by merely speaking them into existence. (Psalm 148:5)

Ask your kids what would happen if we said “let there be light” in a dark room. Nothing would happen. But God is so powerful that His very words can create.

On the very first day of creation, God separated the light from the darkness. (2 Corinthians 4:6) God showed that He is sovereign over creation by naming the light and darkness.

And what did God think about the light? God saw that the light was good. Everything that God does is good. And all of this happened on the first day of creation (One literal 24 hour day.)

“Then God said, “Let there be an expanse in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters.” God made the expanse, and separated the waters which were below the expanse from the waters which were above the expanse; and it was so. God called the expanse heaven. And there was evening and there was morning, a second day.” Genesis 1:6-8

The earth was completely covered in water so on the second day of creation God separated the waters.

The expanse is the sky or atmosphere.

The waters which were below the expanse– This is the water that was stored within the earth. God would later release them during the great flood. (Genesis 7:11)

The waters which were above the expanse- This was more than likely a canopy of water around the earth that acted like a greenhouse.

And it was so… Everything happened in the exact way that God wanted it to happen. Creation itself obeys God.

And all of this happened on the second day of creation. (A second literal 24 hour day.)

“Then God said, “Let the waters below the heavens be gathered into one place, and let the dry land appear”; and it was so. God called the dry land earth, and the gathering of the waters He called seas; and God saw that it was good. Then God said, “Let the earth sprout vegetation, plants yielding seed, and fruit trees on the earth bearing fruit after their kind with seed in them”; and it was so. The earth brought forth vegetation, plants yielding seed after their kind, and trees bearing fruit with seed in them, after their kind; and God saw that it was good.” Genesis 1:9-13

The planet is now ready to sustain life, so on Day 3 God calls life into existence.

God did two things on the third day of creation.

First He caused the dry land to appear from the waters. “Let the dry land appear…” THen He gathered the waters together. (Job 38:4-11)

God called the dry land earth and called the waters seas. Again, this demonstrates the sovereignty of the Lord.

The second thing that God created was all kinds of plants: trees, grasses, bushes.

God made them according to their kind. “After their kind with seed in them…” Moses repeats this phrase repeatedly throughout the Creation account.

Ask your kids what would happen if they planted an orange seed. Would an apple tree grow? No, God gave His creation order and purpose.

This verse alone contradicts the false teaching of evolution.

Then God again saw that everything that He created was good. And all this happened on the third day of creation. (A third literal 24 hour day.)

 “Then God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night, and let them be for signs and for seasons and for days and years; and let them be for lights in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth”; and it was so. God made the two great lights, the greater light to govern the day, and the lesser light to govern the night; He made the stars also. God placed them in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth, and to govern the day and the night, and to separate the light from the darkness; and God saw that it was good. There was evening and there was morning, a fourth day.” Genesis 1:14-19

On the fourth day of creation God created the sun, the moon and the stars. “Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night…” The sun. moon and stars are not deities to be worshipped but were created by the one, true living God.

He created the sun to govern the day and he created the moon to govern the night. (At this point you could explain the important role that both the sun and the moon play in every day life.)

God gave these lights in the sky a purpose. “…let them be for signs and for seasons and for days and years; and let them be for lights in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth.” God not only provided light for the earth, but He provided a way for us to keep time and mark the seasons.

Everything that God made on each day of creation, He made complete and fully functioning. There is no need for evolution!

For the fourth time God saw that what He made was good and everything happened as He said. And all of this happened on the fourth day of creation. (A fourth literal 24 hour day.)

“Then God said, “Let the waters teem with swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth in the open expanse of the heavens.” God created the great sea monsters and every living creature that moves, with which the waters swarmed after their kind, and every winged bird after its kind; and God saw that it was good. God blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth.” There was evening and there was morning, a fifth day.” Genesis 1:20-23

On the fifth day of creation God created the first living creatures. He filled the skies with all kinds of birds and the seas with all kinds of marine animals, including sea dwelling dinosaurs. (Job 40:15-41:1)

God waited until the fifth day to create the first living creatures because before this He was preparing the earth.

God not only saw that all these creatures swimming in the water and flying in the sky were good; he blessed them as well. He told them to multiply on the earth.

Moses here repeats the key phrase “after their kind.” Every fish and bird was made by God fully developed and would produce offspring like itself. Again, no need for evolution.

All of this happened on the fifth day of creation. (A fifth literal 24 hour day.)

“Then God said, “Let the earth bring forth living creatures after their kind: cattle and creeping things and beasts of the earth after their kind”; and it was so. God made the beasts of the earth after their kind, and the cattle after their kind, and everything that creeps on the ground after its kind; and God saw that it was good.” Genesis 1:24-25

On the sixth day of creation God created every animal that walks, slithers or crawls on the earth.

He made them after their own kind. A repeat of this key phrase. If a chicken lays an egg, what do we expect to hatch, a baby chick.

God again saw that they were good.

“Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.” Genesis 1:26-27

On the sixth day of creation God also made the first humans. One male and one female.

“Let us make… in Our image“- clear proof of our Triune God. Every person of the Trinity played a part in creation.

God made us special unlike the other animals. God made both animals and humans, but we were made differently. We were made in the image and likeness of God.

This does not mean that we are God or little gods. It also doesn’t mean that God looks like us. The Bible tells us that God is spirit, He doesn’t have a physical body or physical features.

This means that we have some, not all of Gods characteristics or attributes. We can think and reason, show emotions and as this passage shows us we can demonstrate authority. God gave us authority over all of the animals. This shows that we are above the rest of creation. We are not animals.

“Male and female He created them“- Both males and females are made in the image of God, share in the dominion of creation and have the same spiritual value before God. (Galatians 3:28) But we were designed physically different by God. God is the one who established human genders and so society does not have the right to change them.

“God blessed them; and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” Then God said, “Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the surface of all the earth, and every tree which has fruit yielding seed; it shall be food for you; and to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the sky and to every thing that moves on the earth which has life, I have given every green plant for food”; and it was so. God saw all that He had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.” Genesis 1:28-31

God blessed the first humans. He commanded them to multiply and fill the now completed earth.

The earth was truly different then it had originally been. At first it was dark and void; uninhabitable. Now it was full of light and life. It had dry land covered with all kinds of plants. The seas and skies were full of wonderful creatures.

God gave all the best of His creation to us.

God looked at all of His creation and saw that it was very good. And all of this happened on the sixth day of creation.

(A sixth literal 24 hour day.)

“Thus the heavens and the earth were completed, and all their hosts. By the seventh day God completed His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done. Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made.” Genesis 2:1-3

On the seventh day of creation the earth was complete and finished.

God rested on the seventh day, not because He was tired. God is all-powerful, He never gets tired. He rested because He was pleased and satisfied with His creation. He had made it exactly like He wanted it. Remember that God had looked and saw that everything that He had created was very good.

In resting on the seventh day, God was also modeling the pattern for man’s work week.

Why Did God Create Everything?

God is the one who created everything out of nothing by merely speaking them into creation. The question then becomes why? Why did God make everything?

• God did not create everything because He wanted to make us happy.
• God did not create everything because He wanted to make all our dreams come true.
• God did not create everything because we are so special that he needed a relationship with us.

These ideas make man the center of creation, but God is the center of creation. He is the Creator. The whole Bible is centered around God. He is the main character of the Bible and creation is no exception.

God created everything to bring Him glory and for His glory.

“For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things have been created through Him and for Him.” Colossians 1:16

God created the material and spiritual universe for His pleasure and glory.

“For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever. Amen.” Romans 11:36

God is the source, the Sustainer and the rightful owner of everything that exists and for this He is worthy to be praised.

“Worthy are You, our Lord and our God, to receive glory and honor and power; for You created all things, and because of Your will they existed, and were created.” Revelation 4:11

God is worthy of receiving all glory and praise because it is because of Him that all things exist.

Review

Ask your kids who created everything. Make sure they give the full answer: God created everything for His glory.

Go over every day of creation and ask the kids to be as descriptive as possible.

Take some time to memorize the memory verse at the end of the lesson.

Bible Crafts

Days Of Creation
In The Beginning Bookmark
Days Of Creation Wheel
God The Creator And Sustainer
Creation Sun Catcher
All Made In God’s Image

Coloring And Activity Pages

God The Creator Coloring Page
God The Creator Puzzle
God The Creator Color By Number
Days Of Creation Coloring Pages