Genesis

Genesis 1: God made everything good

Begin in prayer

Before we read the beginning of the world God made good, let us bow before its Maker. Ask Him to turn our attention from His gifts to His glory, and to show us why we need His Son.

Let all the earth fear Yahweh. Let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him. For he spoke, and it was done. He commanded, and it stood firm.

Psalm 33:8-9

Father in heaven, please open our eyes as we read Your Word. Show us Your goodness in all You made, and help us see Jesus, through whom You made it. Make us more like Jesus, and teach us to live for Your glory. Please bless our family as we worship You together. In Jesus' name, Amen.

See where we're going

Genesis opens with the earth formless and empty, and God's Spirit hovering over the waters. At God's command, light appears in darkness and the waters give way to sky and dry land. The empty earth becomes a home, with plants for food and lights to mark seasons, days and years. God fills sea, sky and land with living creatures, blessing the sea creatures and birds to multiply. Then He creates people in His image, male and female, and blesses them to fill the earth and rule over its creatures. All this takes place in six days, and the whole creation receives God's verdict of “very good”.

As you read Genesis 1, look for the answers:

Reflect together

Key truth

God made everything good by His word, and made people to live for His glory.

Genesis begins with God already there, so the world owes its beginning to Him. He made everything from nothing, by His word, in six days. At first the earth is “formless and empty”, and the days show God giving it shape and filling it with life. Land appears before the plants that feed its creatures, so food is ready before people arrive. Nations around Israel worshipped the sun and moon, yet here they are lights God made to serve His world. People have a different calling, since God makes male and female in His image before entrusting them with rule. They were made to know God and reflect His goodness, so their authority must answer to Him. When God calls the whole creation “very good”, He leaves no room to blame Him for the sin that follows. John identifies Jesus as the eternal Son through whom this good world was made (John 1 verses 1 to 3).

How does Genesis 1 show us that God made everything good by His word, and made people to live for His glory?

God speaks, and His good world takes shape.

God commands light to appear, and it comes. He divides light from darkness and gives the waters and dry land their places. Every command achieves what He says, so the world depends on His word. John tells us that everything was made through Jesus, the eternal Word (John 1 verses 1 to 3).

God fills His world with life and provides its food.

The plants bear seeds, so the food God gives can continue to grow. He fills the waters with living creatures and the sky with birds, and blesses them to multiply. Land animals also receive life and food from Him. The Son who made them holds all things together, so their lives still depend on Him (Colossians 1 verses 16 and 17).

God makes people in His image to live under His good rule.

Male and female both bear His image, with equal worth before Him. God made them to know Him and live in righteousness and holiness. Their rule over the earth must reflect His goodness, since the earth belongs to Him. Sin corrupts that moral likeness, and Christ renews it in those who trust Him (Ephesians 4 verse 24).

Memorise

God saw everything that he had made, and, behold, it was very good.

Genesis 1:31

Looking to Jesus in my life

Ask yourself in your heart, where do I need Jesus to change how I treat the God who made me?

God looks at the world He has made and calls it “very good”. The seas have their creatures, the trees have their fruit, and people bear His image. Everything has its place under the good Creator. We were made to know Him, love Him and live for His glory.

Yet we have sinned against the One who made us. Our hearts need a change we cannot produce. John tells us that the eternal Son through whom everything was made became a man (John 1 verses 1 to 14). Jesus lived without sin, then carried His people's sin to the cross and bore the punishment they deserved. On the third day He rose again. His work is finished, and it is enough to reconcile sinners to their Maker.

Turn from your sin and put your trust in Jesus. He forgives those who trust Him and begins renewing them to reflect God's goodness. The Son who made the world can change a selfish heart. Please come to Him with the sin you cannot mend, and receive the life He gives.

Parent's note

Tell your children that God made them to know Him and live for His glory, and that sin has spoiled that calling. Jesus obeyed, bore His people's punishment and rose, so forgiveness rests on Him alone. Call each child to turn from sin and trust Jesus, and pray that God would give them a new heart. Please do not tell them they are saved just because they grew up in a Christian home.

Pray together

Now please close your time together in prayer. Thank God for His good creation and for His Son, and bring the heart question to Him. Every child can pray, so give each one time to thank the Maker in a short prayer if they want to.

For all the fullness was pleased to dwell in him; and through him to reconcile all things to himself, by him, whether things on the earth, or things in the heavens, having made peace through the blood of his cross.

Colossians 1:19-20

God our Maker, thank You for the good world You made and for every meal You give. We have failed to live for Your glory. Please turn our hearts from sin to Jesus, who brings sinners back to You. Teach us to honour You in the way we treat people and care for Your world this week. Amen.