Brief:
We have a responsibility to care for creation as God would.
(Printable Student Sheet)
Needed: picture of alien
Scripture: Genesis 1:26, 29-30; Genesis 9:1-3; Isaiah 11:6-9
Genesis 1:26: Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground."
God put humans in charge of the earth. Does that mean that we can just do whatever we want with it?
No. God put us in charge of the earth, but only as His stewards. God is still the owner of the earth, and He will make us answer for how well we’ve taken care of it.
(Printable Student Sheet)
Needed: picture of alien
Scripture: Genesis 1:26, 29-30; Genesis 9:1-3; Isaiah 11:6-9
Genesis 1:26: Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground."
God put humans in charge of the earth. Does that mean that we can just do whatever we want with it?
No. God put us in charge of the earth, but only as His stewards. God is still the owner of the earth, and He will make us answer for how well we’ve taken care of it.
Imagine
someone painting a picture. It’s the greatest picture they’ve ever painted, and they’re really proud of it. And then they
give it to you because they love you. Now, you can do one of two things. You
can cherish that painting and take care of it like the work of art and gift
that it is. Or you can trash it. Ignore it, use it for a dartboard, throw it
away, whatever you feel like doing.
God has
given us the gift of the earth. He’s given us the soil and the plants and the
animals as a gift because He loves us. We have a choice: trash it or cherish
it. Appreciate it or tear it down.
We need to
respect God’s creation by taking good care of it.
Genesis
1:29-30: Then God said, “I give you every seed-bearing plant
on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it.
They will be yours for food. 30 And to
all the beasts of the earth and all the birds in the sky and all the creatures
that move along the ground—everything that has the breath of life in it—I give
every green plant for food.” And it was so.
What did it
say that people were supposed to eat? (Plants.)
And what
were the animals supposed to eat? (Plants.)
That’s a
mistake, right? Because we know that people and other animals hunt and eat
animals. We don’t just eat plants as this
Bible passage says.
Genesis
9:1-3: Then God blessed Noah and his sons, saying to them,
“Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the earth. 2 The fear and dread of you will fall on all the
beasts of the earth, and on all the birds in the sky, on every creature that
moves along the ground, and on all the fish in the sea; they are given into
your hands. 3 Everything that lives and
moves about will be food for you. Just as I gave you the green plants, I now
give you everything.
So, God let
humans eat animals after the Flood.
Isaiah
11:6-9: The wolf will live with the lamb,
the leopard will lie down with the goat,
the calf and the lion and the yearling together;
and a little child will lead them.
7 The cow will feed with the bear,
their young will lie down together,
and the lion will eat straw like the ox.
8 The infant will play near the cobra’s den,
and the young child will put its hand into the viper’s nest.
9 They will neither harm nor destroy
on all my holy mountain,
for the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the Lord
as the waters cover the sea.
the leopard will lie down with the goat,
the calf and the lion and the yearling together;
and a little child will lead them.
7 The cow will feed with the bear,
their young will lie down together,
and the lion will eat straw like the ox.
8 The infant will play near the cobra’s den,
and the young child will put its hand into the viper’s nest.
9 They will neither harm nor destroy
on all my holy mountain,
for the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the Lord
as the waters cover the sea.
Humans and
animals ate plants in the beginning and lived in peace with one another until
sin entered the world. When Christ returns and restores creation to the way it
was supposed to be, humans and animals will live in peace with each other once
again. God allowing us to eat animals, and animals to eat other animals, is only
temporary.
Genesis
1:31: God saw all that he had made, and it was very good.
And there was evening, and there was morning—the sixth day.
How
many days does it say God took to create the Universe? (Six days.)
That’s
symbolic, right? Like maybe it’s saying six days, but a “day” is really like a
billion years. Because science tells us that it took billions of years for the
Universe to evolve, right?
So,
how long did it really take God to create the Universe? Billions of years?
According
to the Bible, it took six days. All of
the days tell us there were evening and
morning, so there’s no confusion about whether the days are meant symbolically.
They were six literal days.
So, God
created the Universe in six days. And He made animals and people and everything
else on Earth in those six days. But now I’m wondering; is Earth the only
planet God chose to create life on? Could there be aliens on another planet
somewhere in the Universe?
The Bible
doesn’t say anything about life on other planets. Which makes me think that we
will never meet them, at least not while we’re here on Earth, or else God would
have told us.
But that
doesn’t mean that there are not aliens.
God loves to create. God loves variety. Look at all the different kinds of
animals He made. Look at all the people there are. And not one of them is the
same. God very well could have created more and different kinds of life
somewhere in this huge Universe of ours.
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