Read Genesis 1:4, Genesis 1:10, Genesis 1:12, Genesis 1:18, Genesis 1:21, Genesis 1:25, Genesis 1:31, and Genesis 2:1-3. What is the significance of the refrain “it was good” in the first Creation account? What is the implied lesson contained in the conclusion of Creation (Genesis 2:1-3)?

At each step of the Creation account, God evaluates His work as tov, “good.” It is generally understood that this adjective means that God’s work of Creation was successful and that God’s observation that “it was good” means that “it worked.” The light was illuminating (Genesis 1:4). The plants were yielding fruit (Genesis 1:12) and so forth.

Image © Lars Justinen at Goodsalt.com

But this word referred to more than the efficiency of a function. The Hebrew word tov is also used in the Bible to express an esthetic appreciation of something beautiful (Genesis 24:16). It is also used in contrast to evil (Genesis 2:9), which is associated with death (Genesis 2:17).

The phrase “it was good” means that the creation was working nicely, that it was beautiful and perfect, and that there was no evil in it. The world was “not yet” like our world, affected by sin and death, an idea affirmed in the introduction to the second Creation account (see Genesis 2:5).

This description of the Creation radically contradicts the theories of evolution, which dogmatically declare that the world shaped itself progressively through a succession of accidental happenings, starting from an inferior condition to a superior one.

In contrast, the biblical author affirms that God intentionally and suddenly created the world (Genesis 1:1). There was nothing happenstance or chancy about any of it. The world did not come about by itself but only as the result of God’s will and word (Genesis 1:3). The verb bara’, “create,” translated in Genesis 1:1-31 as in the beginning God “created” the heavens and the earth, occurs only with God as its subject, and it denotes abruptness: God spoke, and it was so.

The Creation text informs us that “everything” had been done then (Genesis 1:31), and according to the Creator Himself, it was all judged “very good” (Genesis 1:31). Genesis 1:1 states the event itself, the creation of heaven and earth; and Genesis 2:1 declares that the event was finished. And it was all completed, including the Sabbath, in seven days.

<–Sunday Tuesday–>

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Key Thought: The Bible Bible begins with God’s acts of creation. The creation marks the beginning of human and Biblical history.
April 2, 2022

1. Have a volunteer read Genesis 1:1-4.

1. Ask class members to share a short thought on what the most important point is in this passage.
2. What is the significance of the phrase “it was good” in the Creation account?
3. Personal Application: Why was faith the first thing God created? What kind of light was it since He didn’t create the sun, moon, and stars until the fourth day? Share your thoughts..
4. Case Study: One of your relatives states, “I thought it took billions of years for the earth to be made. Didn’t God make everything and let it evolve? Doesn’t the science and rocks and fossils and humans show we evolved over a long period of time?” How would you respond to your relative?

2. Have a volunteer read Exodus 20:8-11.

1. Ask class members to share a thought on what the most important point in this text is.
2. Why is the seventh day Sabbath related to Creation?
3. Personal Application: How does keeping the Sabbath impact our belief in the six-day Creation story? Share your thoughts
4. Case Study: One of your friends states, “Why do you seventh-day Sabbath now? Isn’t Jesus our rest today? Don’t we rest in Jesus until He comes again? What significance does keeping the seventh-day Sabbath mean today since Creation is complete, Jesus has come and will come again?” How would you respond to your friend?

3. Have a volunteer read Genesis 1:26-29, 2:7.

1. Ask class members to share a short thought on what the main idea of this text is.
2. What is the connection between these two different versions concerning the creation of humanity?
3. Personal Application: What has God given you? What are your responsibilities with what He has given you? Share your thoughts.
4. Case Study: One of your relatives states: “In what way did God give us the dominion over the earth and what are our responsibilities to it? What does it mean to subdue the earth?” How would you respond to your relative?

4. Have a volunteer read Genesis 2:15-17.

1. Ask class members to share a thought on what the most important point in this text is.
2. What is man’s duty toward Creation and toward God? How are these two duties related to each other?
3. Personal Application: What would be the quality of our faith if we believed the Creation account was just a story or illustration instead of literal history? Share your thoughts.
4. Case Study: Think of one person who needs to hear a message from this week’s lesson. Tell the class what you plan to do this week to share with them.

(Truth that is not lived, that is not imparted, loses its life-giving power, its healing virtue. Its blessings can be retained only as it is shared.”Ministry of Healing, p. 148).

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Welcome to the second quarter of Sabbath School Lessons

The book of Genesis offers us so many and vast topics from which to choose a theme hymn. As we are starting at the very beginning, I would like to give praise to our Creator of heaven and earth in singing
Hymn 320 – Lord of Creation and 
Hymn 2 – All Creatures of Our God and King. The stories that follow creation will lean back towards our amazing God and what He has done for each of us in creation.

As the earth was created each day by our loving God, there are many things for which we are thankful:
Hymn 111 – It Took a Miracle,
Hymn 98 – Can You Count the Stars?,
Hymn 97 – Lord of the Boundless Curves,
Hymn 96 – The Spacious Firmament,
Hymn 640 – For Beauty of Meadows,
Hymn 94 – Nature With Open Volume Stands,
Hymn 95 – Spring Has Now Unwrapped,
Hymn 93 – All Things Bright and Beautiful,
Hymn 640 – For the Beauty of the Earth, and
Hymn 92 – This is My Father’s World.

Creation is crowned with the Sabbath Day we all cherish (Tuesday). Once again, we are blessed with some many hymns from which to choose:

Hymn 381 – Holy Sabbath Day,
Hymn 382/383 – O Day of Rest and Gladness,
Hymn 390 – We Love Thy Sabbath, Lord, to name just a few.

It was with joy that Adam and Eve, even though having just been created (Thursday) could 
Welcome, Day of Sweet Repose – Hymn 380.

God’s abundant blessings as we study through the first book of the Bible which our gracious God has given. May we be faithful and all say “Come, Lord Jesus, come – very soon” so we are able to go to our new home in Heaven.

To learn unknown hymns, you will find the accompaniment music for each one at: https://sdahymnals.com/Hymnal/

Another great resource is for when there is a hymn you wish to sing, but can’t find it in your hymnal. Go to https://www.sdahymnal.org and in the search bar type a special word in that is in the hymn. I am sure you will be amazed at the help you will be given.

2 Timothy 2:15 KJV – “Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.”

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