The creation of humans is God’s last act of Creation, at least in the Genesis account. Humans are the culmination of the whole earthly creation, the purpose for which the earth was made.

Read Genesis 1:26-29 and Genesis 2:7. What is the connection between these two different versions in regard to the creation of humanity?

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That God has created humans in His image is one of the boldest statements of the Bible. Only humans have been created in the image of God. Though “God made the beast of the earth according to its kind” (Genesis 1:25, NKJV), “God created man in His own image” (Genesis 1:27, NKJV). This formula has often been limited to the spiritual nature of humans, which is interpreted to mean that the “image of God” is understood to signify only the administrative function of representing God, or the spiritual function of relationship with God or with each other.

While these understandings are correct, they fail to include the important physical reality of this creation. Both dimensions are, indeed, included in the two words “image” and “likeness” describing this process in Genesis 1:26. While the Hebrew word tselem, “image,” refers to the concrete shape of the physical body, the word demut, “likeness,” refers to abstract qualities that are comparable to the divine Person.

Therefore, the Hebrew notion of the “image of God” should be understood in the wholistic sense of the biblical view of the human nature. The biblical text affirms that human individuals (men and women) have been created in God’s image physically, as well as spiritually. As Ellen G. White clearly comments: “When Adam came from the Creator’s hand, he bore, in his physical, mental, and spiritual nature, a likeness to his Maker.” — Education, p. 15.

In fact, this wholistic understanding of the image of God, including the physical body, is reaffirmed in the other Creation account, which says that “man became a living being” (Genesis 2:7, NKJV), literally, “a living soul” (nefesh), as the result of two divine operations: God “formed” and God “breathed.” Note that the “breath” often refers to the spiritual dimension, but it is also closely tied to the biological capacity of breathing, the part of the man that was “formed … of the dust of the ground.” It is the “breath of life”; that is, breath (spiritual) and life (physical).

God will later perform a third operation, this time to create the woman from the body of the man (Genesis 2:21-22), a way to emphasize that she is of the same nature as the man.

<–Tuesday Thursday–>

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Read Genesis 2:2-3,  and Exodus 20:8-11. Why is the seventh-day Sabbath related to Creation? How does this connection impact how we keep the Sabbath?

It is precisely because “God ended” His works of Creation that He instituted the Sabbath. The seventh-day Sabbath is, therefore, the expression of our faith that God finished His work then, and that He found it “very good.” To keep the Sabbath is to join with God in the recognition of the value and beauty of His creation.

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We can rest from our works just as God had rested from His. Sabbath keeping means saying yes to God’s “very good” Creation, which includes our physical bodies. Contrary to some ancient (and modern) beliefs, nothing in Scripture, Old or New Testament, denigrates the body as evil. That’s a pagan concept, not a biblical one. Instead, Sabbath keepers are grateful for God’s creation — which includes their own flesh — and that is why they can enjoy the Creation and why they take care of it.

The Sabbath, which marks the first “end” of human history, is also a sign of hope for suffering humankind and for the groaning of the world. It is interesting that the phrase “finished the work” reappears at the end of the construction of the sanctuary (Exodus 40:33), and again at the end of the building of Solomon’s temple (1 Kings 7:40, 1 Kings 7:51) — both places where the lesson of the gospel and salvation had been taught.

After the Fall, the Sabbath, at the end of the week, points to the miracle of salvation, which will take place only through the miracle of a new creation (Isaiah 65:17, Revelation 21:1). The Sabbath is a sign at the end of our human week that the suffering and trials of this world will have an end, as well.

This is why Jesus chose the Sabbath as the most appropriate day to heal the sick (Luke 13:13-16). Contrary to whatever traditions the leaders were stuck in, by the Sabbath healings Jesus pointed the people, and us, to the time when all pain, all suffering, all death, will be over, which is the ultimate conclusion to the salvation process. Hence, each Sabbath points us to the hope of redemption.

<–Monday Wednesday–>

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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.

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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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