📖 From the Bible
God said: “Let’s make people. Let them be a lot like Us. Let them look after the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky and all the animals on the earth.”
And God created people. He made them like Himself. He made a man and a woman.
God wanted everything good for them. He said: “Have children. Let there be lots of you all over the earth. Take care of it. Take care of the fish, the birds and all the animals.”
He also said: “I’m giving you every plant that has seeds and every tree that has fruit to eat. And the animals and birds will eat the green plants.” And that’s just how it was.
God looked at everything He had made. It was very good. Evening came, then morning. That was the sixth day.
26God said, “Let’s make man in our image, after our likeness. Let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the sky, and over the livestock, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” 27God created man in his own image. In God’s image he created him; male and female he created them. 28God blessed them. God said to them, “Be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth, and subdue it. Have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the sky, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” 29God said, “Behold, I have given you every herb yielding seed, which is on the surface of all the earth, and every tree, which bears fruit yielding seed. It will be your food. 30To every animal of the earth, and to every bird of the sky, and to everything that creeps on the earth, in which there is life, I have given every green herb for food;” and it was so. 31God saw everything that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. There was evening and there was morning, a sixth day.
This is how we tell this passage to kids. The exact words of the Bible are under “As it is in the Bible”.
Genesis 1:26-31 · Scripture: World English Bible Updated (public domain)
Here’s a question for you. Why are you even here? Not “why do I go to school.” Not “why do I have to clean my room.” I mean: why are you here at all, in this whole big world? Has that ever popped into your head? It’s a really big question. And the Bible answers it right on the first page.
The Bible begins like this: “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.” Then, one step at a time, everything you know shows up. Light. The sea. Trees. The sun and the stars. Fish, birds and animals. Maybe you’ve heard this story before? Every time, God looks at what He made and sees that it’s good.
Last of all, God makes people. And He says something about them that He didn’t say about anything else: they will be “in our image.” That means they will be a lot like Him. Not in how they look. In what they can do. People can come up with new things. People can love. People can take care of someone. And they get a special job that nobody else gets: to look after the world the way God would look after it. That’s a big deal, right?
Then God tells people He wants life to go well for them. He didn’t make them so He could order them around. He’s not someone who just tells everybody where to stand and what to do all day. He made them because He wanted them close. He wanted to spend time with them. He wanted to enjoy them. And He wanted them to enjoy Him. Kind of like a mom or dad who just wants their kid sitting right next to them on the couch.
At the very end, God looks at the whole world one more time, now with people in it. And He says something He hadn’t said yet. It’s very good.
Did you know?
A very long time ago, people in other countries told stories about where the world came from, too. In one of those stories, the gods fight each other. Pretty wild, huh? And the people are made just so somebody will do the gods’ work for them. The Bible says something totally different. Back then, that was two big surprises. One: there is one God, not many. Two: God made people because He loves them and wants to be with them. Not so He could order them around.
Look at Jesus
Want to know exactly what God is like? Look at Jesus. The Bible says Jesus “is the image of the invisible God.” Jesus hugged children. He fed hungry people. He took care of the ones nobody else cared about. That is what someone one hundred percent like God looks like.
What about you?
Every person is like God. That includes you. It includes your brother or sister, even when they grab your stuff without asking. It includes the kid in your class that nobody wants to sit next to at lunch. Nobody is here by mistake. Nobody counts for less. And today you can do something God does: take care of someone or something.
Let’s talk about it
- What do you like best in the whole world?
- How are people like God? Try to remember three things from the story. Or can you think of something else?
- Who at school or at home could use a kind word today?
Today’s challenge
Take care of one thing or one person today. Water a plant, feed the dog, or help someone before they even ask.
Prayer
God, thank You for thinking me up and for liking me. Help me today to take care of what You made, and of the people around me. Amen.
Tap when you have prayed.