Belington progressive. [volume] (Belington, W. Va.) 1912-1927, 1926-04-08
Lesson for April IL
THE STORY OF CREATION

LESSON TEXT-Genesis l:1-2:25
GOLDEN TENT-In the beginning
God created the heavens and the earth.
Gen. III.
PRIMARY roPIc-God the Creator
OF All Things.
JUNIOR ToPIc-The story Of crea-
ton.
INTERMEDIATE AND SENIOR TOP
IC-God the Maker of All Things
YOUNG PEOPLE AND ADULT TOP
lC-God In Creation.
Everything but God had begin
ming. God the 1ncaused cause Is the
cause of all things. Let this funda-
mental truth, though beyond the pow
er of the human mind to grasp. be
believed and al our problems of phi
iosophy and theology will be solved.
!. The Origin of the Universe
(Gen. ~.
1t was created by God. All things
came into being by the will and act
Of personal God. Create means to
bring into existence that which had
no previous existence.
u. The Regeneration of the Earth
Il $3.50.
Between verses one and two Is
clearly marked an interval of perhaps
wide duration The earth which was
created by God was subjected to a
judgment. The Hebrew word was"
might just as well have been trans
lated became" Instead, therefore,
of the earth having been created a
void or chaos, we see that it became
so through cataclyslnic judgment.
In Isaiah 45:18, the prophet declares
that God did not create the earth a
waste, but that He formed it to be
inhabited. All that real geology has
10 say to us harmonizes with this
view. The so-called six days of ere
alton exhibit Gods rehabilitation of
the earth
The cause for this Judgment upon
the earth is to be found doubtless In
the judgment upon Satan, who is
called the prince Of this world (John
12:3D.
Observe that God created the spe-
cies and deereed that they propagate
after their kind. Such thing as one
species developing out of another is
unknown to the Bible and real science.
ILL., The Origin of Man q 1928.
He was created by God. He came
into being through special creative
act of God. As to nature, he bore the
image and likeness of God. This
image and likeness is not physical or
bodily, but intellectual and moral
(Eph. 4 "a, Col. 3:10) Gods likeness
is reflected in mans three-fod nature
Man is spirit, soul and body q Thess
5 :23) God made man with a person
ality capable of having fellowship with
Himself-with whom He could share
His glory.
w. Adam Alone in Eden (2:7-9,
1920.
He had a most beautiful place In
which to live God gave him surround
ings in keeping with his nature
pheasant to the sight and good for
food describes his surroundings. He
was to dress and keep the garden
w. 15), showing that work was Gods
primal thought for man. To this
agrees the teaching of the New Testa-
ment If any man would not work,
neither should he eat eli Thess. 3 100
Man in Eden was desolate Paradise
with all its splendor could not satisfy
his lonely heart Animals of all kinds
surrounded him, bur no companionship
among them was TO be found for him.
To make Adam conscious Of his con
dition God caused the animals to pass
before him, with the result that no
helpmeet was found for him man, be-
ing personality, was differentiated
from the animal.
v. The Origin Of Woman e 21-24)
To meet the need of man God made
the woman They had minds alike,
therefore could commune together
about the things that surrounded them.
and about God. They had spiritual
natures, therefore could commune to-
gether and with God. God took a rib
from Adams side and out of it made
the woman Man was made from the
dust of the ground and woman was
taken from his side-thus woman was
one removed farther from the earth
than man. Someone has said that the
man was dust refined, but the woman
was dust doubly refined Matthew
Henry says. "Woman was made of the
rib out of the side Of Adam not out
of his head to top him. nor out of his
feet to be trampled upon by him. bur
out of his side. to be equal with him
under his arm to be protected and
near his heart to be loved"
vi. The Origin Of Marriage (2 :24l.
God made man-male and female
1t was His intention that men and
women should marry. Marriage is
The most sacred Of human ties It is
Of divine origin, for God Himself per-
formed the marriage ceremony