God Created People- Sunday September 12, 2021
Sunday September 12, 2021 (Vol 1, Unit 1, Session 2)
Hi there, and thanks for joining us this week. FriendshipKids exists to help families bring their children to Christ and disciple them to be maturing, lifelong, reproducing followers of Jesus Christ. We hope this blog will be a useful tool for you to use to fulfill that call on your life. This blog will review the previous Sunday’s Children’s church lesson and help your kids grow in their faith. Please feel free to use as much of it as you choose. You know your kids and are the best possible teacher for them. God has given you the power of the Holy Spirit to enable you to do more than you think possible (Eph 3:20). So, let’s have some fun and teach our kids from the scriptures.
Parent Devotional
God Created People
Humans are at the center of everything God created. Only God Himself is more important. That is why the creation of the first man and woman—Adam and Eve— deserved its own session.
As you prepare for this week’s session, there are two words that might be unclear or even confusing. The first is our in Genesis 1:26. “Let us make man in our image.” This can be confusing because the Bible is clear that there is only one God (see Deuteronomy 6:4 and 1 Timothy 2:5). Why then does God say our image and not my image?
Bible scholars have long debated what is meant by this word, but here are two of the most common explanations. The first is that this word is affirming the doctrine known as the Trinity—that God is one in three Persons: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. Our in this verse is drawing from that important aspect of who God is. This would make sense here because a common, but wrong, belief of why God created people was because He was lonely. But God as three Persons in one is never alone. He has always enjoyed a perfect relationship of love within who He is. It would make sense that God wants to make that clear here.
A second explanation for our is that it is the use of what is called the “plural of majesty.” In this case, God is establishing from very early on how glorious He is, even in how He refers to Himself. The second word that deserves a note is image. Once again, scholars have debated for ages about what this word means. But we can know what it does not mean: physical form. God is spirit (see John 4:24), so we are not made with a body like God’s body; He has no body. Instead, being made in God’s image includes attributes of people that separate us from the rest of creation (such as our ability to reason, our morality, our will, and our emotions) and our unique role in creation as ruling over it under God’s greater rule.
While we might not know what these two words mean exactly, we do know this for sure: our glorious God has made people to be special in all of His creation and designed us to be in relationship with Him.
Parent Guidance and Instructions
As we begin to explore this week’s devotional, take a moment to pray and meditate on the verse from Deuteronomy about teaching your children the scriptures. Deuteronomy 6:7 says: “You shall teach them diligently to your children and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.” Maybe you do not have time to sit and have an hour of Bible time all at once, or perhaps your children are too young to sit for that long. Consider the key points of the lesson and ask God to give you opportunities to speak them into the hearts of your children throughout the week. Let the Bible become a part of your day-to-day. Be blessed this week, my friends!
Each week we include songs, activity pages, the bible lesson video, and memory verses. We pray this will help you find ways to engage your kids spiritually. It is written in script form from the K-2nd grade lesson, so you can read directly from it or change it to suit your children. Take some time to look at and print the activity pages and to review the lesson so you can adjust as needed. Once you are ready, go ahead and start with these songs if you would like, or pick some of your favorite worship songs and then jump right in! Have fun! And remember, this does not need to be done in one sitting! Feel free to break it up over the week. Please contact us at the church if you have any questions or suggestions. We would love to hear from you!
Opening
“Blessings and Bummers”
Let’s get started. Tell me, what have you seen the Lord doing in your lives this week? What have your greatest blessings been? How about your biggest challenges?
Parents share your blessings and bummers, encourage the kids to do the same. The goal is for kids to see God at work in the everyday, seemingly small and mundane things. It doesn’t matter if it is something as small as getting to watch a favorite TV show or something big like a new baby sibling being born, God is active and in our midst.
Prayer
Let’s go to the Lord in prayer: Father God, Thank you. Thank you for providing for our needs. You are so good to us even though we do not deserve it! Thank you for continuing to bless us, Lord. Thank you for being patient with us. Thank you to our friends as well as our families. Most importantly, we thank you always for sending Jesus to live a perfect life and die to pay for our sins. Thank you for raising Him from the dead and promising us life with you forever if we believe in Him. Please help us be thankful for all you do for us and look to you in all that we do. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
(Please add to or customize prayer time to fit your family)
Praise the Lord for hearing our prayers!
Let’s go!
I’m so glad to see you here, Friends! I hope you all brought your Bibles today, because we are continuing our amazing journey through God’s Word. [Distribute Bibles to kids who do not have them.] We call the Bible God’s Word because God the Holy Spirit inspired humans to write down what God wanted to tell us. Inspired means that the Holy Spirit helped the writers find the exact right words to use.
Studying God’s Word is important because it is the main way we can learn what is true about God and about ourselves. God loves us and wants to have a relationship with us. The main way we learn how to have that relationship is through God’s Word. But have you ever wondered why God would want a relationship with us? We’ll learn more about that today
Big Picture Question
Last week we asked and answered a big picture question: What did God create everything? God created everything for His glory and our good. That means that each and every part of God’s creation—from the largest galaxies in the universe all the way down to the tiniest bits that make up everything—is made to show how wonderful God is and to be a blessing to us.
Our big picture question helps us begin understanding the answer to why God wants a relationship with us. God created us for His glory and our good, and there is nothing better than God. So, the best thing for us is Him! He wants a relationship with us because He loves us.
Review
If you were here last time we met, you may remember that we talked about the six days of creation. We learned that God created everything from nothing. Everything God created was good and things were organized and have purpose. There were not accidental creations. But we didn’t discuss everything God created on the sixth day. We stopped after talking about the land animals, but God created two more things on the sixth day: a man and a woman. We separated the rest of creation from the creation of people because, in many ways, people are very different from the rest of creation. Today, we are going to learn more about God’s creation of people, and why humans are the most special thing that God created. Our story is called ‘God Created People.’
Bible Lesson
There is a very important idea that comes from this Bible story. In Latin we would call this idea imago Dei (ih-MAH-go DAY) which means “image of God.” When the Bible says that men and women were created in the image of God, it doesn’t mean that our bodies physically look like Him. God doesn’t even have a physical body! It means that we share some special characteristics with God. We are like God in some ways that nothing else in creation could be.
For example, God is creative, and people can show creativity too. Humans compose music, paint pictures, write stories, sculpt statues, and film movies. We design beautiful buildings and construct them. We are like God because we can show creativity to make new things. But we are unlike God because we cannot create from nothing.
People are also intelligent. We can think and use logic to solve problems. We can wonder about the things we don’t understand. We can study math, science, computer coding, languages, or politics. We can collect information to help us learn new things. But our intelligence is unlike God’s because we cannot know everything. God is all-knowing and all-wise. He knows everything about everything, and He always does the perfect thing at the perfect time to carry out His plans.
Another way we are like God is our ability to love and have relationships with one another. We bond deeply with our friends, our families, and even with animals God has created. We can choose to put someone else’s needs above our own and sacrifice to help those in need. But we are unlike God because our relationships are imperfect, and we can feel lonely sometimes. God is in a perfectly loving relationship within His three persons—God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. God never feels lonely because God will never be alone.
These are just some of the ways we are like God. God made us in His image and loves us deeply. Every single person is made in the image of God. That means no people groups or ethnicities are more, or less valuable, to God. No disability or special need can reduce a person’s value. God created all of us with all of our differences, and He loves each of us perfectly. He knows that He is best for us. He wants a relationship with us because of His great love.
Christ Connection
God created people in His own image and provides for everything He made. People are special because God made people to live forever in a relationship with Him. Through His Son, Jesus, we can have eternal life with God just as He planned. We cannot come to God apart from Jesus because we are all sinners. Jesus died on the cross and rose again to make the way back to God.
Bible Time!
Distribute Bibles. Guide boys and girls to open their Bibles to Genesis 1. Remind the kids that Genesis is the very first book in the Bible, and part of the Law division of the Old Testament. Ask the kids if they know the other four books in the Law. (Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy)
Read verses 26 and 27 or ask a strong reader to read them for the group. If needed, explain how to use the table of contents, large chapter numbers, and small verse numbers to find this specific passage.
SAY God created Adam and Eve to rule over and take care of the earth God created. God created them to be unique, more special than any other creations, because they were made in His image. God provided for them and loved them. God had a perfect relationship with them, and they had a perfect relationship with one another. In a few weeks we will learn more about the sin that broke God’s creation, but for now, let’s focus on the wonderful way God’s creation was designed to be in the beginning. Through Jesus, we can see relationships repaired from the damage sin causes. Because of Jesus, we have hope that one day creation will be perfect again.
Ask the following questions. Lead the kids to discuss their answers.
SAY Why do you think God created people in His image?
Remind kids that God created everything for His glory and our good. By creating people in His image, God ensured there was a special way that His glory could be shown in creation. By giving people intelligence, creativity, emotions, and authority, He created beings who can experience and understand God’s goodness and love.
SAY Because everyone is created in God’s image, how should we treat others and ourselves?
Help kids see that our deep and lasting value comes from God, not from ourselves. When we understand that all people are valued by God, it helps us love one another and treat one another with kindness and care. We can rest in God’s love for us as our source of value. We can go out of our way to help and serve one another because we know that God has done so for us through Jesus. Just as we don’t need to earn God’s love, other people don’t need to earn our love—it is given freely.
SAY What are some ways you can show God’s goodness and glory?
Allow volunteers to make suggestions. Guide kids to think about using the gifts and talents God has given us to glorify Him. Explain how showing love and kindness to others helps them see God’s love and kindness. Point out that God has given us responsibility to steward His creation wisely, so we can honor and glorify God through treating His creation with respect.
Key Memory Verse
Read the verse together.
Show the key passage poster. Lead the boys and girls to read the passage together. Invite the kids to sit in a circle. Give one kid a tennis ball. She will say the first word of the key passage and then pass the ball to her left. Each kid will say the next word while he holds the tennis ball, then pass the ball. Say the passage in this way a few times. Then challenge volunteers to say the passage from memory.
SAY Our key passage was written by King David, who lived thousands of years after God created Adam and Eve. David looked at the world around him and saw how God’s beauty and power were on display in creation.
We can see God’s power when we look at the vastness of space. We can see God’s love when a mother and father care for their child. We can see God’s beauty when we watch a stun
That is all I have for this week. Let’s pray together:
Father, You are good. Your love for us is perfect and we cannot understand it completely. We know that our value and dignity and purpose come from Your love for us. Help us to see the value and dignity of every person. Help us to remember that everyone is created in Your image. We want to show Your glory and love as we reflect You to the world. Amen.
Thanks for joining us! I hope to meet you here again next week!
Thank you to Lifeway for allowing us to publish this lesson using their Gospel Project materials.
