In the Upper Story, God creates the Lower Story. His vision is to come down and be with us in a beautiful garden. The first two people reject God’s vision and are escorted from paradise. Their decision introduces sin into the human race and keeps us from community with God. At this moment, God gives a promise and launches a plan to get us back. The rest of the Bible is God’s story of how He kept that promise and made it possible for us to enter a loving relationship with Him.

SUMMARY

In the beginning, God. God is the central character of the grand story of the Bible. It is all about Him and His desire to be in relationship with people. God has a grand vision to be with us, and enjoy life with us on the newly created earth. In the garden, there is perfect communion with God, one another, and with the creation itself. It is all about relationships—relationship with God and relationship with each other.

But God doesn’t force those relationships. When man and woman choose to listen to a creature rather than the Creator, the vision is ruined. Sin enters and becomes our nature; the whole earth is cursed and begins to die. When we compare our world with what it was like before sin, we learn that nothing is as it should be. Nothing. Sin changes everything. Only the first two chapters of Genesis and the last two chapters of Revelation give us a glimpse into life in a world without sin, a world as God intended it to be.

So immediately, God begins His plan to get us back into a right relationship with Him because It is going to take something beyond people to solve the sin problem. Our hope lies in knowing that one day the Messiah, promised from the beginning, will return to earth, conquer evil, and fully restore the relationships lost in the garden.

QUESTIONS

1. We’ve all had prized possessions: gifts given to us as children, family heirlooms, and expensive purchases. And most likely, at one time or another, someone or something has ruined or broken something we cherish.Can you share such a time in your life and what was destroyed?
2. Chapter 1 shows that everything began with God creating and ordering. How is this different than other explanations you have heard of how the world began? How does knowing that life has purpose and direction affect your daily decisions?
3. After each event in the creation story, God said “It is good.” Where does God say it is not good (p. 4)?What does this say about God’s plan for the human family?
4. Part of the meaning of being made in the image of God (p. 2-3) is that we were made for relationships and community. When sin entered the world, relationships were destroyed. Describe the change in relationships that occurred between the following:
5. God and mankind
   b. Adam and Eve
   c.  Mankind and the rest of creation
   d.  Mankind and everlasting life         
6. Adam and Eve played the “blame game” (p. 5). Why is it so hard for us to accept the responsibility for our bad choices? What do you see as the driving factor in Adam and Eve’s decision to disobey? What things drive you away from God? What did God do to redeem the situation for Adam and Eve? How has God responded to you when you have made choices according to your own earthly desires, not God’s?
7. Noah and his family clung to the one thing they knew was reliable, trusting and obeying God. How did God honor their desire to be faithful? Think of a time when you were seeking to be faithful to God and made a decision based on that desire. What was the result?
8. God gave a covenant to both Abraham and Noah. What were those promises about? In Matthew 28:20, Jesus says “I will be with you always, until the end of the age.” How is this promise related to the first promises made to Abraham and Noah? What does this promise mean to you in your life?
9. Many people perceive God as vengeful and distant when they encounter events such as God sending Adam and Eve out of the garden or the flood in the Old Testament. While God clearly establishes Himself as Judge of His creation, Chapter 1 is overflowing with examples of His love and grace. How many can you identify? How are you participating in God’s plan to restore relationship with those He has created? Who is one person you know believing God as vengeful with whom you can share the grace of God?

TAKE AWAY

God’s beautiful creation is marred by the result of our sin.  However, we can still choose to follow God and live in such a way that brings great delight to His heart and honours Him.

PRAYER

Father, thank you for the way You created this world and everything in it including us. You have given us a view that is spectacular. Help us to appreciate the beauty of Your creation. We give praise to you for the people in our lives who have revealed Your grace, love, and presence to us. Thank You that You love and pursue us, even when we are not embracing Your will and desires for us. We seek you God and ask in humility that You would draw near to us and that you would help us to live out our individual roles in the story You have and are creating in this world today. In Jesus’ name, Amen.