A Sunday School Lesson On Creation

Here’s a Sunday school lesson or Bible study you can use for your study on creation.

The Creation

The Bible is not a science book about the heavens but a book about how to get to heaven so we cannot read the Bible as a science textbook any more than we can read a car manual as instructions on how to build a car. The Bible doesn’t explain how God created but it simply says “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth” (Gen 1:1). The fact that God simply declares that He created the heavens and the earth is enough for the Christian because they can see evidence for the Creator in the creation itself (Psalm 19:1-1) and Paul says of those who don’t believe in God that “For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse” (Rom 1:19-20). They know in their hearts that God exists and only fools say there is no God (Psalm 14:1).

Why does God call a person a fool who doesn’t believe in God?

Why does the creation declare God’s glory?

Why are unbelievers without excuse?

Created in God’s Image

Genesis 1:27 “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.”

We were created in the image of God to reflect the image of our Creator but not only were we created in His own image but in His own likeness (Gen 1:26). This doesn’t refer to a physical image because God is Spirit (John 4:24) and you can’t see Spirit, so this verse is about being in the image of God in regards to having a sense of justice, equity, fairness, and knowing what is good and what is evil. If we’ve been born again, “we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit” (2nd Cor 3:18) and specifically we are being shaped more and more into the likeness and image of Christ every day (at least we should be) and should be taking on the image of the brand new creation in Christ (2nd Cor 5:17). The Apostle John speaks in the present tense by writing that “we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is” (1st John 3:2).

What are some of the images of God that we have in us?

What are inherent images of God that we’re born with?

What are some of the attributes of God you might have?

The Origin of Matter

Genesis 2:4 “These are the generations of the heavens and the earth when they were created, in the day that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens.”

Genesis chapter 1 is the creation account while Genesis 2:1-3 gives the conclusion and is followed by God resting on the seventh day as an example for us. Immediately after God’s creative work, “God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day” (Gen 1:31). What God created was good, but not long afterwards, mankind corrupted (Gen 2). The Bible declaring that God is the creator is opposed to those who hold to the irrational theory that time + chance = everything. Of course, they have many other theories but God simply says “he spoke, and it came to be; he commanded, and it stood firm” (Psalm 33:9). We have faith in God and in the Word of God and so it is “By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible” (Heb 11:3). The universe is composed of subatomic matter which is invisible to the naked eye so the last part of Hebrews 11:3 is scientifically accurate.

Why does God say “There are the generations of the heavens and the earth” in Genesis 2:4?

What do non-believers tell you about how the universe came into existence?

What is their theory about the origin of life?

The Universe

Isaiah42:5 “Thus says God, the Lord, who created the heavens and stretched them out, who spread out the earth and what comes from it, who gives breath to the people on it and spirit to those who walk in it.”

God not only created the universe and all matter, but part of that matter of which He breathed into it the “breath of life” (Gen 1:30) and all of His creation is for His own glory as Isaiah writes, “everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made” (Isaiah 43:7). As the psalmist looked upward into the heavens, he saw that “The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork” (Psalm 19:1) for “When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place” (Psalm 83:3).

Why did God create the universe?

How do the heavens declare God’s glory?

We were created for God’s glory too?

Are we to glorify God (Phil 1:9-11)?

Who was the Creator?

Galatians 1:16-17 “For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together.”

The context of this verse is Jesus Christ because as the psalms earlier said, all things were created by Him and for Him and His glory although it was a cooperative work of the Father and the Holy Spirit. That includes the visible and the invisible and God “changes times and seasons; he removes kings and sets up kings; he gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to those who have understanding” (Dan 2:21) as it pleases Him and “it is God who executes judgment, putting down one and lifting up another” (Psalm 75:7) because He is sovereign over His creation and His creatures.

How does God exhibit His sovereignty over mankind?

What does it mean that “in him all things hold together?”

Was Jesus the Creator?

Conclusion

I urge you in your study to look at all of the Bible verses and read them aloud in the class so that you can get the most out of these lessons because the Word of God is the inerrant and infallible word of God as He Himself declares; “thus says the Lord.” Just because people don’t believe in creation doesn’t mean that it’s not true. Humankind has a rich history in believing in things that turned out to be false. The point is, what you believe doesn’t change what is true. God created the heavens and the earth. I believe it because I know that God cannot lie and if He says in His Word, “God created the heavens and the earth” (Gen 1:1), I believe it. The author of Hebrews concludes; “These two things are unchangeable because it is impossible for God to lie. Therefore, we who have fled to him for refuge can have great confidence as we hold to the hope that lies before us” (Heb 6:18) so “Let God be true though every one were a liar” (Rom 3:4).

Do you believe in the inerrancy of the Word of God?

Are the main things (John 3:16; Acts 4:12) the plain things?

Have you fled to your only refuge, Jesus Christ?

Article by Jack Wellman

Jack Wellman is Pastor of the Mulvane Brethren Church in Mulvane Kansas. Jack is also the Senior Writer at What Christians Want To Know whose mission is to equip, encourage, and energize Christians and to address questions about the believer’s daily walk with God and the Bible. You can follow Jack on Google Plus or check out his book Teaching Children the Gospel available on Amazon.