Key Thought: God appointed human being to tend and care for His Creation. We still have a role as stewards in honoring God by fulfilling this role as caretakers of Creation.

July 6, 2019

1. Have a volunteer read Genesis 1:25-31.

1. Ask class members to share a thought on what the most important point in this text is.
2. What does it mean about nature that God saw that it was very good?
3. Personal Application: What do you especially appreciate about Creation? How could you know the Lord better through nature? Share your thoughts.
4. Case Study: One of your relatives states: “The earth is broken down. Nature is dangerous and wild. How can we see the goodness in tornadoes, tsunamis, floods, fires, and destruction? Mankind has misused and abused nature and each other.” How would you respond to your relative?

2. Have a volunteer read Genesis 2:15.

1. Ask class members to share a short thought on what the most important point is in this passage.
2. What does it mean to dress the earth and keep it?
3. Personal Application: How should your being a steward of the earth affect how you live day to day? Share your thoughts.
4. Case Study: One of your friends states, “Did God make weeds along with the plants and flowers? Why are there many poisonous plants and prickers, briers, and thorny bushes?” How would you respond to your friend?

3. Have a volunteer read Genesis 3:16-19..

1. Ask class members to share a short thought on what the main idea of this text is.
2. What do these verses tell us about changed relationships between humans and the natural world?
3. Personal Application: By avoiding the natural birth process by C-Sections, are women avoiding or circumventing the curse given by God of pain in child birth? Share your thoughts
4. Case Study: One of your neighbors states, “I thought work was a blessing to mankind. But this says the ground was cursed for Adam’s sin. So what is the curse to Adam if it isn’t work?” How would you reply to your neighbor?

4. Have a volunteer read Proverbs 22:2.

1. Ask class members to share a short thought on what the main idea of this text is.
2. What does it mean that the rich and poor meet together? Does this imply a brotherhood and kinship?
3. Personal Application: Where do you draw the line on helping someone? Are there cases where you wouldn’t help someone for a specific reason? 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.

<blockquote>(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).</blockquote>

Amen!(0)

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It is easy to feel homesick for Eden. There is something in the brief descriptions of the Garden that God created as the home for Adam and Eve that sparks a note of longing in our hearts. We may not understand how such a world would work, but we feel we would like to experience it.

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It seems the sense of satisfaction and completeness was also something that God felt: “God saw all that he had made, and it was very good” (Gen. 1:31, NIV). God made something that was both beautiful and functional. It was exquisite in its design, in both form and practicality. It was vibrant with life and color, but also filled with everything necessary for life to flourish. No wonder God kept pausing to muse that this world that He was making was good.

Read Genesis 1:1-31. What do you think is meant by the repeated statements that “God saw that it was good”? See Gen. 1:4, Gen. 1:10, Gen. 1:12, Gen. 1:18, Gen. 1:25, and Gen. 1:31.

Even though written entirely after the Fall, the Bible is filled with celebrations of the natural world, such as in Job 38 to 41 and Psalm 148. And we must remember that these are not written as a glimpse looking back to how the world was when first created and before sin; they are written in the present tense, celebrating the goodness that is still evident in our world.

Jesus, too, drew examples of God’s goodness and care from the natural world (see, for example, Matt. 6:26, Matt. 6:28-30), commending both our reliance on God and an appreciation of the simple gifts that surround us with wonder. If we open our eyes and look at the marvels of creation, we can see that we are truly the recipients of marvelous gifts from our Creator. Our response, even amid trials, should be one of gratitude, thankfulness, and humble surrender to the Gift-giver.

As Seventh-day Adventists—those who both celebrate Creation and anticipate God’s coming kingdom—we should realize that the beauties, joys, and goodness we see and experience in the world are glimpses of what our world once was and what will, again, be.

Amen!(0)

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