This week, kids learn that on the sixth day of creation, God created man in His own image. God formed the man out of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature. (Gen. 2:7) Man was set apart as different from the rest of God’s creation. God skillfully formed man out of dust as a potter forms a pot out of clay. (See Isa. 64:8.) He put His own breath into man.
God sustained and provided for the man. He planted a garden in Eden and put the man there to work it and keep it. (Gen. 2:8,15) Then God gave the man a command. God told the man, “You must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.” Then God explained the consequences, “For on the day you eat from it, you will certainly die” (Gen. 2:17).
Then God made woman from the man’s rib. She was a suitable helper for him. Both man and woman were created in God’s image. The first man, Adam, and the first woman, Eve, lived in the garden and enjoyed God’s friendship.
This week, help your kids think about what it means to be made in the image of God. It means we are made like Him, or patterned after Him. God does not have a physical body; He is Spirit, and He has given each of us a spirit. God gives people the ability to think and to feel emotions and to make choices. He gives us the ability to understand right and wrong.
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. Out of His great love for the people He made, God sent His Son, Jesus—“the image of the invisible God” (Col. 1:15) and “the exact expression of his nature” (Heb. 1:3). God the Son became fully man, acting as the second Adam, to bring life to those who are in Him. (See 1 Cor. 15:45-49.)
FAMILY STARTING POINTS
- Babies and Toddlers
- God made everything.
- God made people in His likeness.
- God loves and cares for the people He made.
- God made people to love Him and others.
- Preschool
- Who is God? God is our Creator and King.
- God created people in His own image, and He loves us.
- Kids
- Who is God? God is our Creator and King.
- God created people in His own image, and He loves us.
UNIT KEY PASSAGE
- Colossians 1:16b-17 (Colossians 1:16b for Babies, Toddlers, and Preschoolers)
NEXT WEEK
- “Sin Entered the World” (Genesis 3)
