Let’s now begin looking at the Bible and learning about God’s eternal plan!

Creation and Fall

The Bible begins with the story of creation. God speaks all things into existence over a six day period and rests on the seventh day.

On the sixth day, God made man and woman in His image (Genesis 1:26-27), which means that human beings have souls (cf. John 4:24). The first man and woman, Adam and Eve, lived in the Garden of Eden and enjoyed an unbroken relationship with God.

God had one rule for them: they were not to eat from the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Eve was tempted and ate of that fruit, and gave also to her husband. Because of this disobedience, men and women were cursed with the sentence of death, were cast out of the Garden, and their relationship with God was broken by their sins.

God provided a message of hope even at this time: a descendant of the woman would crush the head of the serpent (Genesis 3:15), a work fulfilled by Jesus on the cross.

Bible passages: Genesis 1:1-3:24.   

After the Fall

Sin spread quickly after Adam and Eve left the garden. Eve gave birth to Cain and Abel, and Cain killed Abel out of jealousy (Genesis 4).

Many generations of men passed and their sins increased to the point where God was sorry for having made man, and He resolved to destroy all mankind by a flood. Only Noah and his family were spared; they built an ark and preserved some of every kind of animal. After the Flood, God made a covenant, or agreement, with all flesh, that He would never again destroy all life by a flood (Genesis 6-9).

After a few generations, all mankind lived together and spoke one language, and they decided to build a tower to heaven in Babylon to keep them together and make a name for themselves. God did not approve– He confused their language and caused them all to scatter (Genesis 11).

Bible passages: Genesis 4:1-11:32. 

Abraham

Man was now in a sorry condition. He had sinned against God, barely survived after the Flood, and now humans were scattered all over the earth, speaking different languages.

At this low point, God continues to unfold His plan. He chooses one man, Abram/Abraham, a resident of Ur in modern-day southern Iraq, and calls him to move to the land of Canaan. Abraham believes in God and is obedient to Him. Because of his faithfulness, God makes a covenant with Abraham. God will make Abraham a father of many nations. God will give the land of Canaan to his descendants and will be their God. Finally, through Abraham’s descendant, Jesus of Nazareth, all the nations of the earth will be blessed.

God’s plan will, from here on out, be accomplished through Abraham and his descendants. We will see how the plan continues in lesson 3!

Bible passages: Genesis 12:1-22:19, Romans 4:1-32, Galatians 3:16, James 2:14-26.