A. Overall Lesson Objective

B. Learning Competencies

C. Lesson

The dominant view in most societies is naturalism, which is usually mixed with some religion and culture. Since the naturalistic part of the mix is devoid of values and is morally bankrupt, it is much more acceptable when mixed with cultural norms and local religion to provide some moral guidelines, especially for the education of children. The net result, however, is a god that is not particularly meaningful or of any influence on real life. The result is far from the God of biblical creation.

Why, then, do people not seek the God of the Bible—the One who created all things? In current cultures, it is partially because men’s beliefs in science and technology have been assumed to be more fundamental than God. God’s answer about the situation is plain: men love darkness (John 3:19). To relinquish authority is hard. The smarter, the richer, or the more arrogant the man, the harder it is to yield to God (Matthew 11:25, 1 Corinthians 1:26-29), who is the actual creator of the earth, the universe, and the vast array of laws and ordinances that are part of it.

Part of the resistance to God is a realization that, if one believes in Him, He describes what we are like, which includes where we came from, where we are, where we are headed, and where the universe is headed. These trends, which are explained in numerous parts of the Bible, illustrate just how unique the biblical creation view is. It is not popular, because it makes us responsible for what happened and what will happen.

The incredible love and care of Eternal God has provided the biblical creation view for us to see what happened at the beginning. Its lessons, however, are far reaching and extend to how we see things around us and how we see each other. His original creation work is launched with purpose, is aimed at ‘good’, creates man for fellowship, and then declares all of it “very good”. No death or suffering is present. Coverage of this part of creation is in the first unit of material.

With plain words about the first people and generations in the Bible (Genesis), God recorded His toil with men as they chose something besides having fellowship with Him. Man’s choice to be like God, but without Him, led to the entrance of evil in a perfect world, followed by a dramatic increase. Things got so bad that He destroyed the world by the Flood except for one family. A little later after the Genesis Flood, God summarized man’s condition again (Genesis 8:21). He further constrained mankind at the Tower of Babel. All of this is covered in the second unit of this course.

God continued to work through His chosen people of Israel, but they also continued to fail … and fail … and fail. He endured their stubbornness, but the Bible says He planned a way for us from the beginning to be rescued from our ‘dark’ condition (John 1:1-3). As Hebrews 1:3 states, Jesus Christ is the express image of God to us. He came to earth through the lineage of a people that go back to Adam (Luke 3:38). He chose to be the Only Perfect Man but also Perfect God. He was plain speaking in His message: He came to save. They (‘we,’ by extension, today) killed Him in body, but He rose from the dead and, thereby, confirmed and assured a way of salvation that is for all nations and for all time.

What more could He have done to rescue us from our fallen condition that traces back to the beginning? Unless He wanted to create robots for fellowship from the start, which is not the case, He permits each person to decide whether to believe Him or not. What love! What patience! In the meantime, His creation speaks of His handiwork, whether one looks at the heavens or the earth. We also have the stark evidence of the Genesis Flood around us to remind us of what happened. The event is so obvious and major that Jesus and some of the other writers refer to it. The Genesis Flood is a clear reminder that He means what He says.

With these things in view, the biblical view of the creation events lays the groundwork and context for big trends that we will describe below.

Nothing has changed in man’s overall condition since the beginning. Jesus Christ repeated the same thing (John 3:19-20). So, today, this is our general condition—our starting point for where we are.

The parables in the Gospels, which we will briefly examine, illustrate that people ultimately decide: to believe God or not. We either lean toward God or away—toward the light or toward the darkness (John 3:20-21). While people and their circumstances may not seem so clear to us, God sees clearly. Remember: He is the Perfect Overseer; He does not lie; He is just and accurate in all respects. In our current condition, though the number of people over time seems to be great, He makes provision for every circumstance throughout history so that each person has opportunity during life to decide whether to believe or not. People continue to live but often live poorly because of the effects of sin, but within their experience they are able to make a decision to reach to God or not (Acts 17:24-27).

Some of the same parables from the One Who created all things show that the situation will not persist forever. Look at Matthew 25:1-13. We have already addressed that the creation has purpose and direction, but it also brings a final consequence. The Chief Creator and Scientist of the universe will bring the universe, with all its complexity and variety, to an end at an appointed time. God also points to the trends that lead to that point. He says that a refusal to believe Him begins one trend (Romans 1:18-32), and another trend occurs among those who believe (2 Peter 1:3-11). Both sides of mankind are marching toward the end, which will be marked by God’s judgment and Christ’s return.

What does He say about the universe? First, the universe will end at some point (Matthew 24:35-36, 28:18-20; Revelation 21:1). Second, we will be with God or not, depending on how we have believed in this life. It was the same issue in the beginning: does man believe what God says and live accordingly or does he not? It affects the way we live and die. The grand difference in the end is that death on this earth for the believer is not death, but an entrance to the presence of God in whom he has believed (John 6:38-40).

God is not neutral about our beliefs: He knows who believes in Him; He knows who does not; their conduct in life and their ends are entirely different (Revelation 21:5-8). There is nothing hidden about the matter because God makes it plain in parable (Matthew 25:1-13) after parable (Matthew 25:14-30). Then He makes it plain in other books of the New Testament (Ephesians 5:1-13), as well as in the last book (Revelation 1:5-7, 21:5-8). When He finally marks the time that He brings things to a close, the universe will have a definite end and a judgment will occur. The universe began on His command; it will end on His command. It was judged once with water about 1656 years after the six-day creation due to the evil in men; the final judgment is referenced in 2 Peter 3:1-10.

Statements about the end of the universe typically cause an immediate question. When will this occur? Where the scriptures do not set a known time, it is best for man not to set one. The admonitions that were written about this were written about 2000 years ago; they are still true and pertinent today. The real issue is not when, but how shall we live while the end is somewhere in front of us. This will be discussed in lesson 6 and 7. The answers are not complicated. Remember, God intended His record of creation and the remaining Word of God to be plain to everyone. Those who choose to believe God have plenty of exciting things to do, and their manner of life can be fruitful. They also have an eternal hope; when they die, they will be with Him (Hebrews 9:27-28).

How do we know all of this is true? The record and evidence of the Flood (see lessons in Unit 2) are considered a primary example in the Bible. Review what Jesus Christ says in Luke 17:26-30. This is why a refusal to consider the Genesis Flood event as true is important. These scriptures point to the seriousness of the warning of the coming day of the Lord by referring to the Flood, which is not a myth or joke. It is a very real reminder of the key events of creation. God stakes His authority on the record of creation in Genesis—specifically the Flood event. The observable record of the Flood is strong because we have widespread geological evidence that we are standing upon: the new continents, the extent of quickly deposited sedimentary layers (now sedimentary rock) over most of the earth, the violent death and burial of creatures in multiple layers of strata, the huge coal deposits from the compressed and buried biomass, and huge surface features that show the power of the receding waters. The noise of the evolutionary mantra—uniform changes over billions of years—is deafening, but the geological evidence of the Flood still stands. It is hard not to see it, unless a person only sees one world view—that of the accidental and by-chance development of the universe (naturalism and evolution).

Part of the reason for this study is so students have opportunity to understand why changing your glasses is wise. We can choose to see the world around us through the eyes of biblical creation. The evidence of a young earth and solar system do the same thing, for instance, reminding people that there is another view that is plausible and is also backed by the authority of God...if we choose to believe Him. The same is true for other facets of His creation. It comes back to the same thing: do we believe what God has said? Contrary to popular opinion, there are scientists and specialists who are excited to discover what God has made and believe what He says. What do you believe? A lot of things will be affected by your decision. Your decision will have consequences.

D. Assignment

Read through the possible project list that is at the end of the next lesson. Select, in order of priority, which of them you would like to do the most.

E. Learning Activity

🦕 CT? Use resources provided by the teacher, divide into teams and identify four famous scientists or specialists in the last 1000 years who believed that God was the Author and Creator of the Universe. Therefore, they knew how it began, where they were in that creation, and where they were headed. List their contribution to the advancement of science. [Research note: scientists, past, creation]

F. Concluding Assessment

God knows His own created universe, where we are in it, and where we are headed.