God's Mighty Acts in Creation E-Book

Starr Meade

• Herausgeber: Crossway
• Kategorie: Für Kinder und Jugendliche
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 148

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2010

Beschreibung

Nature reveals majestic truths about God—truths that help us know him better. God's Mighty Acts in Creation helps children recognize those wonders, and what they tell us about their Creator. As Starr Meade, author of Mighty Acts of God, guides young readers through the six days of creation, she points to how creation displays the wisdom and power of God. She also helps readers explore and apply other references to nature in the Bible by answering questions such as: What did Jesus mean when he claimed to be the true vine? How is all flesh like grass, and how should that affect the way we live? What was God revealing about himself when he made the sun stand still for Joshua? Each reading includes a key verse, stimulating questions, and engaging activities, all geared toward elementary-aged children. Whether parents use this book for family devotions or children read it for themselves, all will learn how God's glory, wisdom, sovereignty, and power are revealed in all of creation. This is a companion volume to God's Mighty Acts in Salvation.

Leseprobe

God’s Mighty Acts in Creation Copyright © 2010 by Educational Publishing Concepts, Inc.Published by Crossway

1300 Crescent Street

Wheaton, Illinois 60187

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher, except as provided for by USA copyright law.

Typesetting: Educational Publishing Concepts Cover design: Amy Bristow Cover illustrations: iStockphoto First printing 2010 Printed in the United States of America

Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Trade Paperback ISBN:   978-1-4335-1398-5 PDF ISBN:                         978-1-4335-1399-2 Mobipocket ISBN:           978-1-4335-1400-5 ePub ISBN:                        978-1-4335-2431-8

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Meade, Starr, 1956–   God’s mighty acts in creation / Starr Meade.        p. cm.   ISBN 978-1-4335-1398-5 (tpb)—ISBN 978-1-4335-1399-2 (pdf)—ISBN 978-1-4335-1400-5 (mobipocket)—ISBN 978-1-4335-2431-8 (ePub) 1. Creation—Juvenile literature. I. Title.

BS651.M399 2010 231.7 '65—dc22                                   2010009997

Crossway is a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

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For Katie, who sees and takes off her shoes

Contents

Creator and Creation: An Introduction

1. What We Can See in Nature: Romans 1 and General Revelation

2. Take Off Your Shoes! God Reveals Himself through His Creation

Day 1: Light and Water

3. No Darkness at All: The Holiness of God

4. Light for Life: Jesus Is the Light of the World

5. Light up the Night! The Holy Spirit’s Illumination of a Sinner’s Heart

6. God Owns the Light: The Ninth Plague

7. Measuring the Ocean and Commanding the Waves: The Greatness of God

8. God Owns the Water: An Axe Head Floats

9. Coming Clean: A Fountain for Cleansing

10. Can’t Live without It! Jesus and the Woman at the Well

11. Water in the Desert: God’s Surprising Grace

12. Acquiring a Taste: Living Water? Or Broken Storage Tanks?

Day 3: Land and Plants

13. Measuring the Land: How Great Is Our God!

14. Who Will Live Where? Geography, Nations, and the Sovereignty of God

15. Mountains and a Rock: God as Eternal and Unchanging

16. Surrounded by Mountains: God as Our Sure Protector

17. God Owns the Land: Korah’s Rebellion

18. Look at All the Food! God’s Goodness in the Foods We Eat

19. All Dressed Up: God’s Provision Seen in the Flowers

20. God Owns the Plants: Aaron’s Rod Blossoms

21. Like the Grass: Short Lives and Lasting Realities

22. Look at All the Fruit! Jesus Is the True Vine

Day 4: Sun, Moon, and Stars

23. To Infinity and Beyond! Outer Space and a God with No Limits

24. He Guides the Stars by Name: The Omniscience and Omnipotence of God

25. Nothing Hidden from Its Heat: The Sun and the Omnipresence of God

26. God Owns the Sun, Moon, and Stars: Joshua’s Victory over Canaanite Kings

27. Sunrise from on High and Bright Morning Star: Our Lord and Savior

Day 5: Birds and Fish

28. In Wisdom Have You Made Them All: Birds and God’s Wisdom

29. Wonderful Are Your Works! God’s Wisdom Seen in the Fish

30. God Owns the Birds: Ravens Feed Elijah

31. God Owns the Fish: A Great Catch for Breakfast

32. Not a Sparrow Falls: The Providence of God

33. Under His Wings: A Reliable Refuge

Day 6: Animals and People

34. Look at All the Animals! God’s Wisdom on Display

35. Who Cares for Wild Beasts? God’s Provision for His Creatures

36. God Owns the Animals: Daniel and the Lions

37. Behold, the Lion of the Tribe of Judah! Victorious Lord

38. Behold, the Lamb of God! Merciful Savior

39. In the Image of God: God’s Grace in Man’s Creation

40. Fearfully and Wonderfully Made: God’s Wisdom Seen in Our Bodies

41. Body and Soul: The Creation of Adam and the Coming of Christ

42. Reason for Being: Created for God’s Glory

43. Obeying the Creator: Adam’s Failure and Christ’s Success

44. Saved, Body and Soul: God’s Promise of a Resurrection

45. Lord of Creation: A New Heavens and Earth

Creator and CreationAn Introduction

1 What We Can See in Nature Romans 1 and General Revelation

“For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.”

Romans 1:20

Are you a nature lover? You may not think of yourself as a nature lover, but I’m sure you are. The word the Bible uses for nature is “creation.” You yourself are a creature, a part of creation. You’re probably glad that God created you! There are surely other parts of creation you love and enjoy: people, for instance, and horses and dogs and dolphins. If you appreciate any of those, you’re appreciating God’s creation. And who doesn’t like food? All food comes to us, if we trace it back far enough, from God’s creation.

Almost everyone is a nature lover to some degree. But the Bible tells us there are wrong ways and a right way to love nature. The Bible tells us that the crowning point of God’s creation was people. God made people able to appreciate all the rest of his creation so that people would praise and worship God for it. God knew this was what would make people happier than anything else—seeing how wonderful he is and praising him for it. God intended creation to reveal to people his greatness.

But the first people sinned. They obeyed Satan (a creature) in the form of a serpent (another creature), instead of obeying the Creator. From then on, every member of the human race has been born sinful. Every member of the human race chooses to trade the worship of the Creator for the worship of creation.

Some people worship creation by praying to created things, like stars and rocks. Some people worship creation by living to enjoy created things instead of living to enjoy God. Some people make themselves (creatures) the center of their own universe, so that they are their own idols. There are many different ways we do it, but all people, left to themselves, find some way to worship what God made instead of worshiping God.

Of course, it should be different with God’s people. Their hearts have been changed. God has turned them from idols to serve the living and true God (1 Thess. 1:9). God has opened the eyes of his people to the truth they could never see before. So God’s people should look at creation with new eyes and love it with pure hearts. God’s people love God’s creation because they see the revelation of God himself in it.

Creation, or “general revelation,” cannot take the place of God’s written Word, or “special revelation.” God’s written Word, the Bible, gives many precise details about who God is, how he saves his people, and what he wants of them. Still, when a believer sees the wonderful things God has created, he enjoys it more than an unbeliever can, because he sees something of God in it. I know the Person who made this, he thinks when he watches a beautiful sunset. And that Person is truly amazing!

As for me and my house . . .

• Did you know that many famous scientists in history were Christians who studied science because it enabled them to see how wonderfully God works in his creation?

• How many different things can you think of that people live for instead of God? How is each of those a “created thing”?

• Even Christians are tempted to serve idols rather than God. What particular created things are the most tempting to you?

2 Take Off Your Shoes!God Reveals Himself through His Creation

“Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!”

Isaiah 6:3

Earth’s crammed with heaven,

And every common bush afire with God;

And only he who sees takes off his shoes;

The rest sit around it and pluck blackberries.

Elizabeth Barrett Browning (from “Aurora Leigh”)

Earth’s crammed with heaven.” Earth is full of things that constantly remind us of God. The Bible uses many illustrations from creation. God is a rock. Jesus is a vine. The Holy Spirit is like the wind. It isn’t that God looks around at what he has made, thinking, Hmm. What could I use to illustrate my holiness? I know! I’ll use light! Rather, God created the light as something he would use to help us understand his perfect, sinless nature. God built into the universe many such things to help us know him better.

“And every common bush [is] afire with God.” Of course, you know when a bush actually was on fire with God. It was when God spoke to Moses from the burning bush. The author of the poem above is saying that every created thing is like that burning bush in a way, because God uses even common, ordinary things to announce to us something of his greatness and glory.

But, according to our poet, that’s only true for some people. “Only he who sees takes off his shoes.” When Moses heard God speak from the burning bush, God told him, “Take off your shoes. You’re standing on holy ground.” The poet is telling us, that in one sense, all creation is holy ground. All creation should cause us to stop and take notice of God, because everything in it reveals something of God to us. Some people see what created things show us about God, and they “take off their shoes.” They worship God and give him glory for what they see of him in what he has made.

The poet calls this kind of person someone “who sees.” “The rest” of people, she says, have a different response to nature. When they see a bush, they don’t think of God at all, so they don’t worship. “The rest sit around it and pluck blackberries.” All that these people see in creation is what it’s in it for them. They may enjoy looking at the moon because they find it beautiful. They may enjoy swimming in the lake because it’s fun. They may enjoy eating the food that comes from plants, or they may have a business and use creation to make money. They enjoy God’s creation for all these reasons, but they never let it lead them to worship. They don’t “see” God and his attributes in what he has made.

Even Christians take creation for granted and fail to notice God’s revelation in it. In this book, we will practice “seeing.” We’ll consider each thing God made during the creation week, looking to see how it shows us something of who God is. But because creation is only “general revelation” and limited, we will also look at God’s “special revelation,” his Word, to see how God himself said these created things teach us of him. Our goal will be to develop the habit of looking at creation and “seeing” reminders of God, so that we’ll take off our shoes and worship God for who he is and what he has done.

As for me and my house . . .

• Brainstorm as many created things as you can think of in thirty seconds. When the time is up, ask yourself what each of these created things shows us to be true about God. Do you know a place in Scripture where any of these things are used to illustrate something?

Day 1 Light and Water

3 No Darkness at All The Holiness of God

“This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.”

1 John 1:5

Because God made people in his own image, people can create all kinds of things. They compose music, build huge skyscrapers, bake exquisite chocolate cookies, and carve wood into beautiful shapes. Of course, if they’re going to make things well, they must first learn how and then practice. And they must have materials to use. God, the Creator of the universe, made all that is from nothing, and he made it simply by speaking.

The first words we see God speaking are, “Let there be light” (Gen. 1:3). As soon as God said this, the Bible tells us, there was light. God separated the light from the darkness, and God considered the light that he had made to be good.

When someone has a wicked plan in mind—he wants to steal a wallet or break into a house—he seldom does it in broad daylight because, if people see him, they will stop him. If he has a “dark” deed to do, he waits for darkness in which to do it. He hides in a shadow in a poorly lit street and watches for an unsuspecting passerby. Or he finds a window on the dark side of a house to break for his robbery. For this reason, we associate darkness with evil.

Imagine you’re opening a door into a dark room you’ve never seen before, and you can’t find the light switch. You enter carefully because, just maybe, someone’s hiding in there. Now imagine that you’re opening another door, and you find a bright room with every light on. You march right in, without a second thought.

The Bible tells us that God is light. There is not the slightest speck of darkness anywhere in him. In our key verse, God is using light to help us understand his perfect moral purity. He is only good and holy, never bad or evil. In fact, the Bible tells us that God is “of purer eyes than to see evil and cannot look at wrong” (Hab. 1:13). This is why God demands over and over in the Old and New Testaments that his people be holy—because he is holy. We cannot “have fellowship with him” and “walk in darkness” (1 John 1:6).

Then what shall we do, because none of us is holy? All of us sin. All of us think, say, and do what is evil even when we try very hard not to. God sent his Son for this very reason. When we confess that we are sinners and trust in Christ as the One who took our sin’s punishment on the cross, God cleanses us of our sin. Then we can walk in the light with our holy, sinless God (1 John 1:7–9).

As for me and my house . . .

• Read some of the stories where we see people coming face-to-face with the light of God’s holiness and realizing they live in darkness: Isaiah (Isa. 6:1–7); Ezekiel (Ezek. 1:26–2:7, 3:12–15); Peter (Luke 5:1–11); John (Rev. 1:12–18); rebellious sinners (Rev. 6:12–17).

• John wrote a letter to Christians so they could enjoy fellowship with God. Read the first chapter of 1 John and explain it in your own words.

4 Light for Life Jesus Is the Light of the World

“Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, ‘I am the light of the world. . . .’”

John 8:12

“In him was life, and the life was the light of men.”

John 1:4

Have you ever conducted a science project where you demonstrated under what conditions plants grow best? Some plants you may have fed and watered regularly; other plants you neglected. For some plants, you may have played Mozart’s music; for others, heavy metal. Another thing you might have tried was growing some plants where there was plenty of light and others in a dark closet.

If you tried this last experiment, you discovered that plants cannot grow without light. The plants you tried to maintain in darkness probably turned yellow, and eventually brown or black. If you continued the experiment long enough, the plants finally died.

Light is one of those things we take for granted, but it is a basic ingredient for life. Plants must have light or they will die, and all other forms of life depend on plants. So if there were no light, there would be no life.

Jesus knew there can be no life without light when he claimed to be the Light of the World. He knew that, without him, no one can live. Adam chose to eat a piece of fruit in disobedience to God, and, in that day, Adam died as God had said he would. Adam’s body did not drop dead on the spot, although it began to age and deteriorate, but he became spiritually dead. The part of him made to know, love, and enjoy God died. Adam passed on that spiritual death to all of us.

Apart from Christ, we all live in a dark kingdom of dead people. We are like the plants in the closet. We do not have what we need for life, and there is no way we can get it. The Lord Jesus Christ burst into our dark world as a blaze of glorious, life-giving light. He had what we needed to begin to live.

Because Jesus is God the Son, when he was born as a human, he was born sinless. He had no darkness and no death in him. He lived a life of perfect obedience to God, earning every spiritual blessing there is. All that obedience to God is counted as ours, when our faith is in Jesus to save us. Jesus died an undeserved death on a cross, taking on himself the wrath of God that his people deserved. Those who are united to Christ are no longer in darkness and death. They have been placed in the light and in life.