Lesson 1: A Creator God
Note: This lesson can be done alone or in a group. If you choose to lead a group using this study, there are some directions inserted within the study to help you stimulate discussion and insight into the meaning of the text.
Aim: For the people in the study to begin interacting over Scripture,
begin thinking about the biblical God, and realize their
accountability to Him.
Hook: (This or a similar opening can be used to launch a group into the study)
Have any of you seen the movie Oh, God!? How was God portrayed in
this movie? If you remember he was short, growly
voiced, smoked a cigar, and looked an awful lot like George Burns.
When you think of God, how do you picture Him? How would you describe God?
[Give them time to think and answer.] All of us have a picture of God whether
we realize it or not. Some of the components of the picture are formed
by the things we see on T.V. or the movies, some by things we learned from
our parents, some by life experiences. In any case, we respond to God based
on the picture we've formed of Him, no matter where that picture came from.
What we are going to do in this Bible study is look at the Bible and see
what it has to say about who God is. Hopefully we will all be involved
in asking and answering questions, but the goal of this discussion will
be to know the Christian teaching on the subject of God based on it s primary
source of information - the Bible. Secondly, since we respond to God based
on who we understand Him to be, we will be talking about how this information
is not only theoretical, but practical as well.
Book:
I. The Bible which informs us
[Relate the following information in a natural
way - since you are setting a tone for the rest of the study, try not to
lecture.]
Why the emphasis on knowing what the Bible
says about who God is? Anyone doing serious research knows that
you concentrate on original data, not secondary
sources (what other people say about the data). The Bible is the
primary source for Christianity, the original
data. All other books on the subject are responses to what the Bible has
said.
The Bible is different from other books
in the sense that it is really more like a library than a single book.
It includes
history, poetry, teachings, letters, and
prophecy.
In the midst of this diversity, the Bible
has great unity when considering its content in terms of its theme. The
theme
of the whole Bible is the same: God revealing
Himself to man.
II. The Creator who sustains us
With all this in mind, who does the Bible
reveal God to be? If all of it is about God's revelation to man, what does
He
reveal himself to be like? The most basic
concept and the one which is foundational to every other, is that God is
Creator. Read Genesis 1:1.
[Whenever directing the group, especially
if there is no previous familiarity with the Bible, give plenty of time
to find
references and plenty of direction on where
to find it. Having identical Bibles so that you can also include page
numbers when giving scripture might also
help. Also, remember to use a translation that will be readable for the
group.]
This is the most familiar and obvious teaching
on God as Creator, but it is consistent with the teaching of the rest of
Scripture. More can be learned about the
Creator by looking at some other pass ages.
Read Isaiah 40:25-26.
Q. How is God described in these verses?
A. He is the strong and mighty, one and only Creator. No one comes close to comparing with Him.
Read Revelation 4:11. Then read Colossians 1:16.
Q. What motivated God to create?
A. God created
things of His own free will. He did not have to create. He created for
Himself and
because He willed
to.
Read Acts 17:24-25.
Q. Who is dependent on whom? Did God create man because He needed anything?
A. No. He is a completely independent agent, above the world and everything in it.
Q. What does this tell us about the relationship between God and man?
A. We are in
a subservient role to God. He is the Creator; we are the creatures. (Opt.:
see Psalm
100:3 - "we
are the sheep of His pasture.")
Read Colossians 1:17 (we read v. 16 earlier).
Q. What does "in him all things hold together" mean?
A. He is still involved with His creation. He is responsible for sustaining all things.
Read Acts 17:26-28
Q. How closely is God involved with His creation now?
A. He determined the times and places we each would live. All of our being is in him.
Q. Is God obligated to sustain us?
A. No. We have
to continue to remember that from a biblical perspective, man always approaches
God from the
perspective of a creature. To use a business analogy, He is the owner and
we are
merely employees.
Even more accurate might be the slave/slave-owner analogy. See Psalm 123:1-2.
Q. What does it mean to you that God is your owner?
A. God has the right to do whatever He wants with you.
Q. Does this mean that we are puppets?
A. This does
not mean that God wants man to be a puppet. It means that God wants man
to live his life
in obedience
to God's plan. The ultimate authority in a man's life is not himself, it
is God.
Look:
III. How should we respond to such a God?
Two responses are appropriate to the God who creates and sustains:
A. Responding as creatures who are accountable.
B. Responding as creatures who are thankful.
Read Genesis 1:26-27; 2:7
As you can see from these verses, God not only created man, He gave him a special place in creation.
Q. What does it mean that we are made in God's image?
A. We are unique
from all other created beings, in that somehow we reflect God. Contrary
to popular
thought, we
are not machines or merely animals. We have a will, an ability to reason,
an awareness of
right and wrong,
and an awareness of God.
Read Genesis 2:15-17.
Q. What did God do to test man's obedience to His authority?
A. He told man not to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
Q. What would happen if he disobeyed?
A. He would die.
Read Genesis 3:1-7.
Q. When man ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, what had he done?
A. Disobeyed
God and rebelled against Him. God had given man a perfect environment,
a perfect
mate, and a
perfect challenge or job. By yielding himself to God's gracious control,
man would have
had a life of
intimate fellowship with God and a life of perfect peace and happiness.
By disobeying this
simple command,
man did two things:
1. He was playing God - wanting to decide for himself what was right and
wrong, living
as if God did not matter.
2. He was fighting God - violating and disregarding God's laws for living.
Q. Do men still rebel against God?
A. Yes.
Q. Why?
A. [Let them think about it.]
Turn to Psalm 51:5.
Q. In what state is man born?
A. In sin.
[Might need to explain that "sin" is anything contrary to God's plans for us as the owner.]
Q. Has there been anyone since Adam and Eve born without sin?
A. After Adam's
rebellion we all inherited his disposition towards sin; and we continue
to rebel against
God, to choose
our will over God's will.
Took:
Instead of fighting God and playing God, what should our response be to God as our Creator and Sustainer?
Read Psalm 51:3-4.
Q. How did David
respond when he "knew his transgression"? (Transgressions are any acts
or
thoughts where
we "transgress" or violate God's rules.)
A. He saw them as offenses against God primarily. God was the one to whom he was accountable.
Q. How should you respond to matters of personal guilt?
A. See my actions
as primarily offenses against God. I am accountable to Him. I should not
fight him
by ignoring
or explaining away personal guilt.
Read Psalm 100 again, this time looking at v. 4.
Q. How did this Psalmist respond to knowing it was God who made us?
A. With thanks.
Q. Why did he have such a response?
A. He knew that
God was responsible for providing everything in his life, including his
own gifts and
skills and personality.
He could not claim credit for creating anything himself so he gave thanks
to God.
Q. How do you
respond to achievements and successes in your life? If God is the Creator
and
Sustainer, how
should you respond?
A. I often respond
with feelings of security and self-sufficiency. If God is the one who is
responsible, I
should respond
with thanks and humility, recognizing that I cannot claim credit. I also
recognize that
God has the
right to give me achievements and successes as He sees fit, and so I can't
complain if I
don't receive
my every wish. To grumble would be to respond as an ungrateful, spoiled
child instead of
a dependent,
grateful one.
Q. Think of the
last time you were angry with someone . How did you respond to your anger?
(whether you
were right or wrong) How do you think you would have responded knowing
that God
was your Creator?
A. If I wrongfully
blew up, I might have thought about how I was responsible for that action
before
God. This might
have led me to apologize quickly. If I was right in my anger, I might have
thought
carefully about
how I was responsible to deal with that anger.
Q. Think about
the last time something very exciting happened to you. How did you respond?
If you
knew that God
was your Sustainer, how might you have responded?
A. Instead of feeling proud of myself, I would be thankful to God.
Q. What about a recent disappointment?
A. If God created
me, then He must know what is best for me. Although I might be disappointed,
I
could still
give thanks, knowing that God is looking out for me over the long haul.
Q. How might knowing these things make a difference in your life this week?
Next week we will be looking at another aspect of God's character,
His Personhood. If you would like to continue thinking about the things
we've talked about, you might read Isaiah 40 this week, and write down
everything it teaches about mankind and God.