“In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.” Gen. 1:1.
“God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands.” Acts 17:24.
2. Through whom was this work accomplished?
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not anything made that was made. In him was life; and the life was the light of men.” “He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not.” John 1:1–4, 10. See also Col. 1:15, 16.
3. What creatures were made to inhabit the earth?
“And God said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life, and fowl that may fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven. And God created great whales, and every living creature that moveth, which the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind, and every winged fowl after his kind; and God saw that it was good. And God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let fowl multiply in the earth. And the evening and the morning were the fifth day. And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after his kind: and it was so. And God made the beast of the earth after his kind, and cattle after their kind, and everything that creepeth upon the earth after his kind; and God saw that it was good.” Gen. 1:20–25.
4. As the last act of creation, what was done?
“And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.” Verse 26.
5. How did God regard his work when it was finished?
“And God saw everything that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.” Verse 31.
“It is a sign between me and the children of Israel forever; for in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day he rested, and was refreshed.” Ex. 31:17.
6. What was God’s purpose in creating the earth?
“For thus saith the Lord that created the heavens; God himself that formed the earth and made it; he hath established it, he created it not in vain, he formed it to be inhabited: I am the Lord; and there is none else.” Isa. 45:18.
“Ye are blessed of the Lord which made heaven and earth. The heaven, even the heavens, are the Lord’s; but the earth hath he given to the children of men.” Ps. 115:15, 16.
7. What position did God design man to occupy?
“Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of thy hands; thou hast put all things under his feet.” Ps. 8:6. See note 1.
8. What is the meaning of the word “dominion”?
Ans.—“Sovereign authority; absolute rule; right of ownership; right of using and disposing of a thing at pleasure.”—Worcester. See also “Standard.”
9. What was put under man?
“Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of thy hands; thou hast put all things under his feet: all sheep and oxen, yea, and the beasts of the field; the fowl of the air, and the fish of the sea, and whatsoever passeth through the paths of the seas. O Lord our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth!” Ps. 8:6–8. See note 2.
10. How much of the earth was made subject to man? See answer to question 4.
11. What position did man occupy compared with the angels?
“Thou madest him a little lower than the angels.” Heb. 2:7.
12. What would have been the result if man had not sinned, and had continued to eat of the tree of life? See note 3.
13. What does Paul say was the condition for which God created us?
“For we that are in this tabernacle do groan, being burdened: not for that we would be unclothed, but clothed upon, that mortality might be swallowed up of life. Now he that13hath wrought us for the selfsame thing is God, who also hath given unto us the earnest of the Spirit.” 2 Cor. 5:4, 5.
14. What came as the result of sin?
“Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned.” Rom. 5:12.
15. When the results of sin are destroyed, to what condition does it bring man?
“Neither can they die any more: for they are equal unto the angels; and are the children of God, being the children of the resurrection.” Luke 20:36.
“And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain; for the former things are passed away.” Rev. 21:4.
16. Therefore what may we conclude was the purpose of God in reference to the life of man?
17. What was God’s design in reference to the character of man?
