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*December 28 - January 3 |
What Happened? |
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*December 28 - January 3 |
What Happened? |
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MEMORY TEXT: "Then God said, 'Let us make humankind in our image, according to our likeness; . . .' So God created humankind in his image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them" (Genesis 1:26, 27, NRSV).
THE BIBLICAL ACCOUNT of the creation of humanity is one filled with hope, happiness, and perfection. Each day of Creation ended with the divine pronouncement that it was "good." Certainly that did not include typhoons, earthquakes, famines, and diseases. What happened?
The sixth day of Creation ended with the divine pronouncement that it was "very good." That is because that day the Lord created beings in His own image: humans. Something He had not done with anything else in the Genesis account. These beings were, of course, perfect in every way; they'd have to be. After all, they were made in the image of God. Thus, of sheer necessity, they did not include murderers, thieves, liars, swindlers, and the vile in their ranks. What happened?
This week's lesson looks at the creation, at what God had first made, and then at what happened to that perfect creation. Finally, it touches on the quarter's theme: what God is doing to make things right again.
THE WEEK AT A GLANCE: What does the Bible teach about origins? What kind
of relationship did God want with humanity? What was the purpose of the tree
of the knowledge of good and evil? What hope was given to Adam and Eve
immediately after they fell?
*(Please study this week's lesson to prepare for Sabbath, January 4.)
"In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth"
(Gen.
1:1).
A scientist had just lectured on the orbits of the planets around the sun and the orbit of the sun around the center of the galaxy, when an old lady in black tennis shoes rose and said that the earth was a flat disc sitting on the back of a turtle. The scientist, jesting, asked what the turtle sat on, and she responded that it sat on another turtle. "Ma'am," the scientist continued joking, "what then does that turtle sit on?" She answered, "Another turtle," but before he could ask what that turtle sat on, she wagged her finger in his face and snapped, "Save your breath, sonny, it's turtles all the way down."
However cute, that story deals with the most crucial issue of human existence-the nature of the universe itself. What is this world that we find ourselves in by no choice of our own? Why are we here? How did we get here? And where are we all finally going?
These are the most basic and fundamental questions people could ask, because our understanding of who we are and how we got here will impact our understanding of how we live and how we act while we are here.
Look up these following texts. How does each one, in its own way, answer
some of the above questions?
Gen.
1:1;
Ps.
100:3;
Isa.
40:28;
Acts
17:26;
Eph.
3:9;
Heb.
1:2, 10. What is the one point they all have in common?
What is interesting about Genesis 1:1 (or even the other texts) is that the Lord does not attempt to prove that He is the Creator. There are no elaborate arguments to make the point. Instead, it is simply and clearly stated, with no attempt to justify, explain, or prove it. Either we accept it on faith, or we do not. In fact, faith is the only way we can accept it, for one simple reason: None of us were here to see the Creation process itself. It would, indeed, have been a logical impossibility for us to have been there at our own creation. Even secularists, whatever view of origins they hold, have to take that view on faith for the same reason we as creationists have to: None of us were there to view the event.
| Nevertheless, even if God has asked us to believe in Him as Creator,
He does not ask us to believe without giving us good reasons to believe.
Realizing that there is a certain amount of faith required in almost anything
we believe, write down reasons why it makes sense to have faith that we are
here because a Creator Purposely put us here, as opposed to our origins being
rooted in nothing but pure chance.
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The Bible states that God created humankind-male and female—"in his own image" (Gen. 1:27). Based on this idea, answer the following questions:
1. What does it mean that God created us in His own image? In what ways
are we "in his own image"?
2. According to the Genesis account, did the Lord make anything else "in
his own image" other than humankind? If not, what does that tell us about
our unique status, in contrast to the rest of the earthly creation? What
lessons can we draw from this contrast?
3. What else can be found in the account of the creation of humankind
that sets the race apart from anything else the Lord had created? See
Genesis
2:7;
18-25.
Although we must speak of God in human terminology, we must not forget that He is a spiritual Being (John 4:24), possessing divine characteristics. All we can say is that in our physical, mental, and spiritual natures we reflect in some way our divine Creator, however much there remains about Him that is still, at least for us, shrouded in mystery. The Bible emphasizes, however, the spiritual and mental aspects of our mind. These aspects we can develop and improve. It is the uniqueness of the human mind that makes possible a nourishing relationship with God, something the rest of anything in God's earthly creation seems unable to do.
Notice, too, the unique account of how God made woman. Both men and women share the incredible privilege of being in the image of God. In their creation, there is no hint of inferiority of one to the other. God Himself made them both from the same material. God made both equal from the start and placed them together in a special relationship with Him. Both had the same opportunity to develop their God-given characters in a way that would bring glory to Him.
"God Himself gave Adam a companion. He provided 'an help meet for him'—a
helper corresponding to him—one who was fitted to be his companion,
and who could be one with him in love and sympathy. Eve was created from
a rib taken from the side of Adam, signifying that she was not to control
him as the head, nor to be trampled under his feet as an inferior, but to
stand by his side as an equal, to be loved and protected by him."—Ellen
G. White, The Adventist Home, p.
25.
Notice God's first spoken words to humankind, at least as they appear in Scripture. He points them to their ability to procreate, to reproduce more of their own kind. He also points them to the earth itself, to the creation, and He tells them to replenish it, to subdue it, and to have mastery over it. He also points them to the plants they can eat. In short, according to the Bible, God's first words to man and woman deal specifically with their interaction and relationship to the physical world.
What do
Genesis
1:28, 29 tell us about how God views the material world? Do they imply
that there is something bad in material things and our enjoyment of them?
What lessons can we learn from these early scenes in human history about
how we should relate to the creation itself?
Also, with these words, God takes the first steps toward a relationship with humankind. He speaks to them, gives them commands, tells them what to do. There's a responsibility implicit in words too. God has asked them to be masters over this wonderful creation that He Himself has made.
Genesis
1:28 says that God blessed Adam and Eve. What does that mean? What kind
of relationship does it imply between them and their Creator?
God addressed Adam and Eve as intelligent beings who could respond to His kindness and enter into communion and fellowship with Him. Also, as creature-children, Adam and Eve were dependent upon the blessing and care of their Creator-Father. He provided all they needed. They did nothing to deserve what He gave them. They were purely recipients of something they did not earn.
| When we read about the creation of man and woman, we can see elements,
before sin, of the kind of relationship God wants us to have with Him now,
after sin Review the day's lesson and see what parallels you can find that
help us understand how we can relate to Him, even in our fallen condition.
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"And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden
thou mayest freely eat: But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil,
thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt
surely die"
(Gen.
2:16,
17).
This test provided Adam and Eve with an opportunity to exercise their free will. It also challenged them to respond positively or negatively to their relationship with the Creator. It also shows that God had made them free, moral beings. After all, if they did not have the opportunity to disobey, why would the Lord have even bothered warning them, in the first place, against disobedience?
"Everything preceding in this chapter has paved the way for this climax [Gen. 2:16, 17]. The future of the race centers upon this single prohibition. Man is not to be confused by a multiplicity of issues. Only one divine ordinance must be kept in mind. By thus limiting the number of injunctions to one, Yaweh gives tokens of his mercy. Besides, to indicate that this one commandment is not grievous, the Lord sets it against the background of a broad permission: 'from any tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat.' "—H. C. Leupold, Exposition of Genesis (Columbus, Ohio: Wartburg Press, 1942), vol. 1, p. 127.
By calling Adam and Eve to obey His will, God was saying: I am your Creator, and I have made you in My image. Your life is sustained by Me, for by Me you live and move and have your being. I have provided all things for your well-being and happiness (sustenance, home, human companionship) and have established you as ruler of this world under Me. If you are willing to affirm this relationship with Me because you love Me, then I will be your God, and you will be My children. And you can affirm this relationship and the trust implicit in it by simply obeying this specific command.
In the end, our relationship with God can be effective and lasting only if we freely choose to accept His will. Rejecting His will is, in essence, to claim independence from Him. It indicates that we believe we do not need Him. This is a choice that results in the knowledge of evil, and evil leads to alienation, loneliness, frustration, and death.
| The test God gave Adam and Eve was one of loyalty and faith. Would
they be loyal to their Creator, who had given them everything they needed,
plus a world of delights, or would they go their own way, independent of
His will? Would they have enough faith in Him to take Him at His word? Their
loyalty and faith was tested by the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
In what ways do we face similar tests every day? How does God's law function
as a parallel to the command given in
Genesis
2:16, 17?
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We tend to believe people we know and instinctively distrust those whom
we do not. Thus, Eve naturally would have distrusted Satan. Furthermore,
any direct attack against God would have made her defensive. What steps,
then, did Satan take to bypass Eve's natural defenses?
Gen.
3:1-6.
Deplorable as was Eve's transgression and fraught as it was with potential woe for the human family, her choice did not necessarily involve the race in the penalty for her transgression. It was the deliberate choice of Adam, in the full understanding of an express command of God—rather than hers—that made sin and death the inevitable lot of mankind. Eve was deceived; Adam was not."—The SDA Bible Commentary, vol. 1, p. 231.
As a result of this blatant transgression and disregard to God's command, the relationship between God and humankind is now broken. It changed from open fellowship with God to fleeing in fear from His presence (Gen. 3:8-10). Alienation and separation replace fellowship and communion. Sin has appeared, and all its ugly results follow. Unless something is done, humanity is heading for eternal ruin.
In the midst of this tragedy, what words of hope and promise did God speak?
See
Genesis
3:15.
God's surprising word of prophetic hope speaks of a divinely ordained hostility between the serpent and the woman, between her Offspring and his offspring. This climaxes in the victorious appearance of a representative Offspring of the woman's seed who delivers a deadly blow to the head of Satan, while he would only be able to bruise the Messiah's heel.
In their utter helplessness, Adam and Eve were to gain hope from this Messianic promise, hope that would transform their existence, because this hope was God-given and God-supported. This promise of the Messiah and of final victory, however vaguely stated at that time, lifted the gloom into which sinning had placed them.
Read
Genesis
3:9, where God says to Adam and Eve, "Where are you?" (NKJV) God, of
course, knew where they were His words, instead of being filled with
condemnation, were to draw guilt-ridden humankind back to Him In short, God's
first words to fallen humanity came with the hope of His grace and mercy
In what ways do we find, even now, God seeking to call us to His mercy and
grace?
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FURTHER STUDY: The Bible overflows with calls to sinners and backsliders. Compare Ps. 95:7, 8; Isa. 55:1, 2, 6, 7; Luke 15:3-7; 19:10. What others can you find?
For more information regarding this week's topic, read the following chapters from Ellen G. White, Patriarchs and Prophets: "The Creation," pp. 44-51; "The Temptation and Fall," pp. 52-62; and "The Plan of Redemption," pp. 63-70.
There was a gospel sermon, I think,
in those three divine words as they penetrated the dense parts of the thicket,
and reached the tingling ears of the fugitives—'Where art thou?' Thy
God is not willing to lose thee; He is come forth to seek thee, just as by-and-by
He means to come forth in the Person of His Son, not only to seek but to
save that which now is lost."—Charles Haddon Spurgeon, The Treasury
of the Bible (Grand Rapids, Mich.: Zondervan Publishing House, 1962),
Old Testament, vol. l, p. 11.
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SUMMARY: God created us in His own image so that a loving fellowship
could exist between Him and us. Although the entrance of sin shattered the
original union, God seeks to restore this relationship through the plan of
redemption. As dependent creatures, life takes on true meaning and clarity
only when we enter into union with our Creator.
Ch. John Victor
The village band led the procession down the dusty road, playing funeral music. Young men danced behind the musicians. Four men followed, carrying a stretcher on which lay the body of a child covered with marigold garlands. Abraham, the child's father, stumbled along behind, supported by family and friends. The liquor he drank early that morning could not stifle the pain of his grief.
Another child gone! he thought. Why? I have gone to the temples. I have made my offerings to the gods. But still my children die one after another. Why so much sorrow? Where can I go for comfort and release from my pain? But no one could offer him any answers.
He continued to drink heavily to forget his pain and longed for death to take him from his misery.
"Go to church," a Christian neighbor suggested to him one day. "There you will find peace and comfort." Abraham frowned and said nothing. He had been to enough temples and shrines, and nothing good had come of it.
Then one day Pastor Raja Rao came to Abraham's village in South Andhra. He visited the homes and prayed for the people. He invited them to come to some meetings that evening. Abraham decided to go.
The
songs of Jesus soothed his spirit. He listened as Pastor Rao spoke about
Jesus Christ, the true and living God, who cares for His people as a father
cares for his children. Hope began to stir in Abraham's broken heart. He
thrilled when he heard about the resurrection of Jesus Christ and the hope
His resurrection gives to those who follow Him. The next day Abraham told
his neighbors what he had heard at the meeting, and several of them attended.
At the close of the meetings, Abraham approached Pastor Rao. "I want to be baptized and follow Jesus," he said. Abraham was baptized, along with 25 of his neighbors and friends.
"The Lord Jesus has brought me comfort and peace," Abraham testifies. "He has delivered me from my evil habits and given me hope for today and tomorrow."
Ch. John Victor is director of ADRA for the South Andhra Section in India.
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