Questions 19 & 20

In the beginning was God.  And God created* everything. He spoke. And when he did, he made the whole world and everything in it. God said, ‘Let there be light’  And there was – light. Then God made the skies, and the land and the water. And He made all the trees and plants that cover the earth. He made the sun, and the moon and the stars. He filled the seas with fish. He filled the sky with birds. He made all the animals that walk on the earth. And God saw all this and saw that it was good.

 

Then, God took some of the soil he had made and he formed a man. And he breathed into the man, and he began to live.

 

God took this man and put him in a garden that God had made for him.  There were all kinds of trees there. And God put two trees in the middle of the garden. The fruit from one tree gave life. The other tree gave the knowledge of good and evil.* And God told the man, ‘You can eat fruit from any tree in this garden. But you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. For if you eat from that tree, you will die.’

 

Now the man was alone. So God said, ‘It is not good for man to be alone. I will make a companion for him.’

 

Then God put the man to sleep. He took a bone from the man’s side. And from it, God made a woman.

 

And God put them both in the garden he made for them.  He blessed* them. He told them to have many children and to fill the earth with people. And He told them to rule over the birds and the fish and all of the animals He had made.

 

The man was named Adam. The woman was named Eve. And they were both naked and felt no shame. Then God looked over all that He had made and saw that it was very good.[1]

 

This is the first part of the Bible* story. It is found in Genesis chapter one and two. Genesis chapter one tells us that God is the one who created all things. Genesis chapter two tells us the special story about how God made the first people. All other people came from Adam and Eve. That is why we call them our first parents.

 

When God made everything, the last thing he created was a man and a woman. And when God made them, he made them in a different way than he made everything else. When he made the sky and the seas and the land, he spoke.  When God made Adam, he ‘formed’ him. God took some of the soil he had made, and shaped Adam from it. Then he breathed into Adam and Adam began to live.

 

God also made Eve in a different way than he made anything else. God took a bone from Adam’s side and made her. God gave special time and care to make Adam and Eve. He did this because God would give them a special place in all of his creation.* He gave them a special place to live. He gave them a special job to do. And he made them to know him. They could know God in a way that no other thing that he made could know him.

 

The first chapters of the Bible show us that God blessed the man and the woman in a special way. God made a world for them to live in. He made the sun to give light so they could see. He made the air for them to breathe. He made water for them to drink. He gave them plants so they could eat. He made the world a special place where they could be with him. They could walk and talk with God there. He also gave them a job to do. He made the world in such a way that the world needed to be cared for. Adam and Eve were to help God take care of the world that he made.

 

All of the things that God made were good. And when God finished making Adam and Eve, he looked at all he had done. He could see that it was very good.

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[1] Genesis 1