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“Yeshua (Jesus) is Lord. There is no one greater in all the earth. Yahweh (God) spoke the world into being. He created this whole world, Eleanor. There was nothing; then there was something. He created day and night (day 1), He created the sky and ocean (day 2) and the land and plants (day 3), He created the stars, sun and moon (day 4), He created the birds and the fish (day 5), He created animals and the pinnacle of all creation, man, you and me (day 6). Then He rested and reveled in the goodness of all He created.”
“Yahweh created the world? Grandma, I was taught that the world was a big explosion and over time…well, none of it really makes any sense, but that people evolved out of the earliest forms of life. Even as I’m saying it, it sounds crazy. The idea that Yahweh created the world and us and that there was an intentional creator behind it all…well, my heart feels at peace hearing that.”
“Well, there is an ugly turn in the story. You see, when Yahweh created man and woman, Adam and Eve, He gave them free will, He gave them choice. Yahweh created a tree in the middle of His creation, in the middle of the garden, and told them they could eat anything but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. At some point, a serpent in the garden came to Yahweh’s perfect creation and tried to deceive them. He told them they were given that ONE rule, not to protect them, but to keep them from becoming like Yahweh, themselves. In one swift moment, they took and ate the fruit from the tree. The temptation to be like God, to be like Yahweh, led to the first sin.”
“Woah, Yahweh made this perfect creation and then they turned against Him? Why couldn’t He just make them do what He said? Why did He give them a choice?”
“From the beginning LOVE was Yahweh’s heart. He made a people to be in relationship with Him. He made a people to love, and in turn, to love Him. But love is never something that can be demanded. Love is a choice. We can’t be made to love Yahweh, we have to choose to love Him.”
“Ok, but the sin… What happened?”
“Sin is anything in which we turn our backs on our creator, when we say no, or “I’m doing it my own way” to Yahweh and His ways. When Adam and Eve sinned, when they came against the one rule Yahweh gave, darkness entered the world. Sin separated them from our perfect God and they were sent away from the perfection of creation and right relationship with Him. Since that time, sin, the desire to come against Yahweh, the desire to be like God, has reigned in this world and separated us from Him.”
“Wow. I’m listening to this story and I feel and know the darkness you are speaking of. I don’t know that I ever had words for it, but now, I have this picture in my mind of standing on the edge of an abyss. I want to get back to that perfect garden that you are talking about, but there’s no way. We are doomed because of our own choices.”
“Oh dear Eleanor.” Grandma Beaulah jumps up from the bed and light radiates from her eyes. “But there’s hope, there’s an answer! His name is Yeshua (Jesus)! Yahweh’s book says, ‘For God so loved the world, that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him, shall not perish but have eternal life.’ Yahweh sent His Son. He was born, lived an amazing life, told others about His
Father’s Kingdom and then was led to be a sacrificial death for us. He willingly gave up His life so that we might be set free, so that we will one day be able to live forever with Him.
Family Connection
For our younger students, talk about creation, read the story afresh from one of their Bibles. Then have them draw (or print something from Etsy and glue) in their journals the story of creation, going through all seven days. Then spend some time talking
about the Bible being God’s love story written to mankind. The Jesus Storybook Bible does an amazing job telling the story of Jesus from beginning to end. (As an advent activity at Christmas time, we love to do a Jesse tree approach, which highlights this truth.)
For older kids, I would also highlight the Bible being God’s love story written to mankind. I might watch, as a family, a video or two that (impossible as it is) tells the story of the Bible, from beginning to end. Here are two examples: The Story of the Bible • What It’s About From Beginning to End (youtube.com), Overview of the Entire Bible in 17 Minutes! (youtube.com). If your children struggle to read the Bible, I highly recommend the Action Bible and/or the Lego Bible (please review before you give to your children). Two of my sons learned SO much reading the Bible in these highly, accessible forms.
Finish the gospel story Grandma Beaulah began. Read the story to your children (find one of those Easter books or use my favorite story that tells the story from beginning to end), watch a SuperBook, read the Bible. OR ask them to retell the story, possibly using one of the gospel illustrations we used here in class (the bridge illustration, the three circles).
Scripture to memorize: Psalm 139:17-18, Hebrews 12:2, Jeremiah 29:11
Journal Ideas:
Use one of the discussion points above to journal.
Read, copy (or have a parent write) Psalm 139:17-18 and draw/journal about it. Ask God what He wants you to know.
