"God Creates" Adult Sunday School Lesson for September 1, 2013

                                          "God Creates"

International Sunday School Lesson for September 1, 2013

Scripture Text: Psalm 104:5-9,24-30

Purpose: To appreciate how God creates and sustains all of creation

Bible Lesson

Psalm 104:5-9, 24-30 (CEB)

5 You established the earth on its foundations

so that it will never ever fall.
6 You covered it with the watery deep like a piece of clothing;
the waters were higher than the mountains!
7 But at your rebuke they ran away;
they fled in fear at the sound of your thunder.
8 They flowed over the mountains,
streaming down the valleys
to the place you established for them.
9 You set a boundary they cannot cross
so they’ll never again cover the earth.

24 Lord, you have done so many things!

You made them all so wisely!
The earth is full of your creations!
25 And then there’s the sea, wide and deep,
with its countless creatures—
living things both small and large.
26 There go the ships on it,
and Leviathan, which you made, plays in it!
27 All your creations wait for you
to give them their food on time.
28 When you give it to them, they gather it up;
when you open your hand, they are filled completely full!
29 But when you hide your face, they are terrified;
when you take away their breath,
they die and return to dust.
30 When you let loose your breath, they are created,
and you make the surface of the ground brand-new again.

My Thoughts by Burgess Walter

For the next three months, our lesson will be about God's creative power. God's power is unique in that it not only creates, but brings order out of chaos, and creation is an ongoing event. God is continuously renewing and sustaining life by His breath (spirit).

The text and background text (Psalm 104) used for this lesson summarizes in poetic form God's creation of the world as found in the first chapter of Genesis. What God created each day is mentioned by the Psalmist as a reason to praise God.

On day one, God created the light (104:1,2; Genesis 1:3); day two, the heavens and the water (104:2, 3; Genesis 1:6); day three, land and vegetation (104:6, Genesis 1:9-13); day four, the sun, moon, and stars (104:19-23; Genesis 1:14-16); day five, fish and birds (104:25, 26; Genesis 1:20-23); and on day six, animals, man, and food to sustain them (104:21-24, 27-30; Genesis 1:24-31).

A God that powerful and awesome deserves all of mankind's praise. In fact He deserves the praise of all of creation. As we go through the seasons year after year, we see God's creation renew itself and God is praised, by the elements and the wonder of natures beauty.

God's creation is never stagnant, it is reviving, renewing, evolving continuously. Which is exactly how He works in each of us. If our relationship with the creator God, is similar to that of the Psalmist, then we are constantly growing, and being revived, redeemed, and renewed. God's role goes beyond what we need, He is the provider for all of creation. Every beast, flower, mountain or sea is dependent upon Him. God is the controller of time, light and darkness. No wonder the Psalmist says in verse 24 “Lord, you have done so many things! You made them all so wisely! The earth is full of your creations!

Who would not offer their praise to a God that great? “To God be the glory great things he has done.”