Look, Listen & Live 1: Beginning with GOD (Revised)

Introduction

Good day (local greeting). Come and learn about some of the first people who lived on the earth. We can learn a lot about who God is from how he deals with them. Look at the pictures and in the red book as you listen to the message. It has teachings from God’s book, the Bible. Turn to the next picture when you hear this music (MUSIC).

Picture 1. God Created Adam and the Animals

Genesis 1:1 - 2:14

There is only one God. He is Spirit. He knows all things and He is everywhere. In the beginning only God existed; besides God there was no other living creature. The earth as we know it today did not exist. God created everything. First He created the light. Then God created the sky, the clouds and the earth. He separated the sea from the dry land and plants started to grow. Then God made the sun, the moon and the stars. He made all the living creatures on earth and in the sea. Everything that God made was good. He made man from the dust of the earth and breathed into him the breath of life. He was the first man who ever lived. God gave man the greatest honour: He created him after his own image. God made man to know Him so that his spirit could be one with the Spirit of God. All of the man’s thoughts and desires agreed with those of God and he walked with God. God named the man Adam. (MUSIC)

Picture 2. A Wife for Adam

Genesis 1:27-28; 2:15-25

God put Adam in a beautiful garden called Eden and told him to care for it. There were trees of every kind, including the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and the tree of life. God allowed Adam to give names to all the animals and the birds. There were male and female of every kind of creature. But there was no suitable companion for Adam. So God caused Adam to fall into a deep sleep. He took a part of Adam’s side. From this part God made the woman. God brought her to the man. Adam was delighted and said, “Here is someone like me. She is from my body, my own flesh and bones.” The man and woman were naked, but they were not ashamed. God blessed them and said to them: “Be fruitful and multiply. Fill the earth and govern it. Reign over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, and all the animals on the earth.” He also gave them every seed-bearing plant and all the fruit trees for food.  (MUSIC)

Picture 3. The Snake in The Garden

Genesis 2:16-17; 3:1-8; Isaiah 14:12

In the Garden, God commanded the man, Adam, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die.” But Satan tricked Adam’s wife. Who was Satan? He had once been an angel of God, but he rebelled against God who created him. He wanted to become greater than God. So God cast him out of heaven and Satan became God’s enemy. Here in the garden he came to the woman in the form of a snake. He deceived her and said, “You will not die if you eat that fruit, for God knows that when you eat it your eyes will be opened, and you will become like God, knowing good and evil.” The woman ate the fruit and gave some of it to Adam. As soon as they had eaten they saw that they were naked and they were ashamed. They made coverings of leaves for themselves and tried to hide from God. (MUSIC)

Picture 4. Adam and Eve Outside the Garden

Genesis 3:8-24

God came to Adam and his wife to speak with them about what they had done. Adam blamed his wife. His wife blamed the snake. God said to the snake: “Because you have done this, you are cursed, you will crawl on your belly. One day a descendant of the woman will strike your head.” Then God told Adam and his wife what the consequences of their sin would be. He said to the woman, “I will increase your pain in giving birth.” And to Adam God said, “Because you listened to your wife and ate of the tree, the land is cursed. You will have to work hard to make it produce food.” God made clothes of animal skin for Adam and his wife in place of their coverings of leaves. Then God said, “The man must not be allowed to eat also from the tree of life, and live forever.” So for their own good He banished them from the garden. Adam named the woman Eve, which means ‘living’. All people have descended from Adam and Eve. All people have inherited a sinful nature from Adam and Eve because they rebelled against God. Everyone sins and dishonours God. Everyone is separated from God. But God had a plan. He promised Adam and Eve that one day their descendent would come and defeat Satan. That man would be able to bring us back to God, restore our relationship with Him and give us new life. (MUSIC)

Picture 5. Noah and the Ark

Genesis 6:1 - 7:5

The children of Adam and Eve and their descendants grew in number and became many nations. They were full of wickedness and did what was evil. God felt great grief and was sorry that He had made man. There was only one man God was pleased with. His name was Noah. One day God spoke to Noah and said, “I am going to destroy all people, for the earth is filled with violence because of them. So make a big ark.” An ark is like a big ship. God said: “I am going to send a flood on the earth to destroy every living creature but I promise to save you and your family. Go into the ark, you and your wife, your sons and their wives. Take into the ark with you male and female of every kind of animal and bird, in order to keep them alive. And you must take every kind of food for you and the animals to eat and store it away.” God told Noah exactly how to build the ark. Noah did everything God commanded. (MUSIC)

Picture 6. The Great Flood

Genesis 7:6-23

When the ark was finished, Noah, his family and all the animals went into the ark. God closed the door. Seven days later the rain began to fall. It rained for forty days and nights. Springs of water came from under the ground and the whole earth was covered with a great flood. All the people and animals outside the ark died. (MUSIC)

Picture 7. The Rainbow and God’S Promise

Genesis 7:24 - 9:17

Noah and his family and all the animals were in the ark for a year. When at last the rain stopped and the water had dried up from the earth, they all came out of the ark. Then Noah built an altar to God. He killed some animals and sacrificed them to God by burning them on the altar. God was pleased with Noah’s offering. He promised never again to destroy all living creatures by a flood and He put a sign of His promise in the sky, a rainbow. It is there even today to remind us of His faithfulness. (MUSIC)

Picture 8. The Tower of Babel

Genesis 11:1-9

God told Noah and his three sons to have many children and to spread out all over the earth. But their descendants would not listen. They decided to stay in one place and build a city with a tower that reached high into the sky. They wanted glory for themelves instead of giving it to God. God saw the city and the tower. He also saw their disobedience and pride. So God said, “If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then they will be able to do anything they plan to do. Come, let us go down and confuse their language so that they will not understand each other.” And He did so. In this picture the people cannot understand one another anymore. So they stopped building the city and they went to live in different places. (MUSIC)

Picture 9. Job Worships God

Job 1:1-12

There was a man called Job. He worshipped the one true God. He was pure and blameless and refused to do evil. Job had seven sons and three daughters and he made offerings on behalf of his children. He asked God’s forgiveness for them, if they had offended God in any way. God was pleased with Job. He blessed him and caused him to prosper. Job had large herds of animals and many servants. One day God told Satan that He was pleased with Job. But Satan started to accuse Job before God. He said that Job only worshipped God so that he would be rich. Satan said to God, “If you take away everything that Job has, then he will curse you.” God allowed Satan to take everything away from Job to test him. (MUSIC)

Picture 10. Job in Mourning

Job 1:13-22

This picture shows a day of great sorrow for Job. His servants brought him terrible news. The first servant came running to tell Job that enemies had killed his other servants and had stolen all his oxen and donkeys. Before he had finished speaking another servant came. He said lightning had struck the sheep and shepherds. All were killed. A third servant came to tell Job that bandits had attacked them and had stolen all his camels. Another servant brought the worst news of all: “Your children were feasting together when a storm blew the house down and killed them all.” After hearing this, Job shaved his head and fell to the ground in grief. He said, “The LORD/Yehovah gave and the LORD/Yehovah has taken away; may the name of the LORD/Yehovah be praised.” Although all these bad things happened, Job did not dishonour God by blaming Him, instead he worshipped Him. (MUSIC)

Picture 11. Job Suffers

Job 2:1 - 41:34

Satan saw that Job still honoured God, so he said to God, “If you hurt Job’s body, he will curse you.” God allowed Satan to test Job again. Satan brought a terrible skin disease on Job. Job went outside and scraped his sores with a piece from a broken pot. His wife said to him, “Curse God and die!” But Job answered, “Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble?” Four of Job’s friends came and talked to him for many days. They tried to find out the reason for all Job’s suffering. They said that he must have done something wrong and that God was punishing him. Job did not agree with them. Job questioned God’s ways, but he did not turn against God or lose his faith in God. Then God Himself appeared to them. God showed them that they did not understand why it all happened. God has unlimited power. He knows all things. He knows what is best for us, and He alone knows why He sometimes allows difficulties in our lives. (MUSIC)

Picture 12. Job Is Restored

Job 42:1-17

In this picture Job is well and rich again. I will tell you how this happened. When Job met God, he realised God’s greatness and felt truly sorry for questioning God’s ways. Then God spoke with Eliphaz, one of Job’s friends who accused him, “I’m angry with you and your friends, because you have not spoken of me what is right, as my servant Job has.” God also told them, “Go to Job and sacrifice to me a burnt offering for yourselves, and my servant Job will pray for you and I will forgive you.” Job prayed for his friends and God accepted his prayer. After this God made Job well and rich again. Job’s friends and relatives came to feast with him and to bring him gifts. God gave him seven sons and three beautiful daughters. Job lived to see many of his descendants and he died a very old man. (MUSIC)

Picture 13. Abram Leaves Home

Genesis 12:1-13:4

Let me tell you about a man called Abram. He was a man who had great faith in God and through him many people have been blessed.
In this picture you see Abram, his wife Sarai, his nephew Lot and their servants. They are going on a long journey because God had spoken to Abram saying, “Leave your country, your people and your father’s household and go to the land I will show you. I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.” Abram believed God’s promise and did as God told him to. He and his companions took all their possessions and travelled for many days until they reached the land Canaan. There God appeared to Abram and said, “To your offspring I will give this land.” (MUSIC)

Picture 14. Abram and Lot

Genesis 13:5-18

Abram and his nephew Lot lived together in Canaan. They had so many animals that there was not enough grazing land for them in one place. The herdsmen of Abram and those of Lot quarrelled. Then Abram said to Lot, “Let’s not have any quarrelling between you and me, or between your herdsmen and mine, for we are brothers. Choose any part of the land that you want.” Lot wanted the best for himself, so he chose the fertile valley of the Jordan River. He went to live near a city called Sodom. The people of Sodom were very wicked. They displeased God. Abram stayed where he was in the land of Canaan and there God spoke to him again. God said, “All the land that you see, I will give to you and your offspring forever.” (MUSIC)

Picture 15. Abram Meets the King of Peace

Genesis 14:1-24

While Lot lived in the valley, war broke out. Lot and his family were taken away captive with all the people of Sodom. So Abram and his armed men went to rescue Lot. They defeated the enemy and saved all the captives and their possessions. As they returned from the battle, they met a king, as you can see in this picture. The king’s name was Melchizedek. He was king of a city called Salem, which means ‘peace’, and he was a priest of the Most High God and worshipped Him. He brought bread and wine to Abram and said, “May you be blessed by God Most High. He delivered your enemies into your hand.” Abram bowed down before Melchizedek and brought him gifts. The king of Sodom also wanted to give Abram gifts for saving his people, but Abram would not accept anything from that evil king. (MUSIC)

Picture 16. Abram and the Stars

Genesis 15:1-21; 17:1-19

After Abram had rescued Lot and all the people of Sodom, Lot returned to that wicked city. Then God spoke to Abram, “Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield and I will reward you greatly.” But Abram was sad because God had not given him a son as an heir. For this reason God took Abram outside and said, “Look up and try to count the stars. You will have as many descendants as that.” Abram believed the promise of God, even though he had no children yet. And God accepted his faith, and that faith made him right with God. (MUSIC)

Picture 17. The Baby Ishmael

Genesis 16 and 17

Look! Abram has a baby son. This is how it came to be: Abram had lived in Canaan for ten years, still waiting to receive what God had promised, for Sarai, his wife, was still without a child. Sarai and Abram became impatient and according to the custom of the day, Abram had a son by Sarai’s servant Hagar. As soon as Hagar became pregnant by Abram, Sarai became jealous of her. She treated her badly, so Hagar ran away. But the angel of God met Hagar and he comforted her. He told her, “You will have a son. You shall name him Ishmael, for the Lord has heard of your misery.” Ishmael means ‘God hears’. “He will be a wild donkey of a man; his hand will be against everyone and everyone’s hand against him, and he will live in hostility towards all his brothers.” Ishmael was born and later became the father of the Arab nations.
But this was not the way God planned to fulfil his promise to Abram.
And thirteen years after Ishmael’s birth, God came to Abram and said, “I am God Almighty; walk before me and be blameless. I confirm my covenant between me and you and will greatly increase your numbers. You will be the father of many nations. No longer will you be called Abram; your name will be Abraham, for I have made you a father of many nations.” God also said to Abraham, “The whole land of Canaan, I will give to you and your descendants after you; and I will be their God.” Then God said to Abraham, “As for your wife, you must no longer call her Sarai; Sarah will be her name. I will bless her and will give you a son through her. I will bless her and she will become a mother of nations.  Kings of countries will come from her!” (MUSIC)

Picture 18. Three Visitors

Genesis 18:1-15

One day three men came to Abraham’s tent. One of the three men was the LORD/Yehovah God Himself. Abraham bowed down before them, then he called Sarah to prepare food, and he served them himself. Then the men asked Abraham, “Where is your wife Sarah?” Abraham answered, “There, in the tent.” The LORD/Yehovah said to Abraham, “I will surely return to you about this time next year, and Sarah your wife will have a son.” Sarah heard Him and she laughed to herself because she was past the age of childbearing. Then the LORD/Yehovah spoke to Abraham and said, “Why did Sarah laugh and say, ‘Will I really have a child, now that I am old?’” God said, “Is anything too hard for the LORD/Yehovah? I will return to you at the appointed time next year and Sarah will have a son.” (MUSIC)

Picture 19. Abraham Prays for Sodom

Genesis 18:16 - 19:29

When the three visitors got up to leave, Abraham walked along with them to see them on their way. They looked down toward Sodom and God told Abraham that He was going to visit Sodom. He was planning to destroy the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah because the people there were wicked and doing evil things. Abraham remembered Lot and said to the LORD/Yehovah, “Will you sweep away the righteous with the wicked? Will not the Judge of all the earth do right?” Abraham began to plead with God. Finally God said that He would not destroy Sodom if there were only ten upright people. When the LORD/Yehovah had finished speaking to Abraham, He left and Abraham returned home. But there were not even ten servants of God in Sodom. When the two messengers of God came to Sodom, they saw the wickedness of the people. But God had mercy on Lot. The messengers commanded Lot and his family to flee out of Sodom and told them not to look back. Then God sent fire from heaven and Sodom and Gomorrah with all the wicked people who lived there were destroyed. Lot and his family fled just in time, but on their way his wife looked back and immediately turned into a pillar of salt. (MUSIC)

Picture 20. Abraham’S Sacrifice

Genesis 21:1-8;  22:1-19

When Sarah was 90 years old she gave birth to a son, just as God had promised Abraham. Abraham was already 100 years old. They called the boy Isaac, which means ‘he laughs’. When Isaac was a young boy, God tested Abraham's faith. He said to Abraham, “Take your only son Isaac, whom you love, and offer him as a sacrifice to me.” Abraham trusted God so much that he prepared everything for sacrificing Isaac. Isaac carried the wood and his father carried the fire and the knife. As the two of them went on together, Isaac said, “Where is the lamb for the burnt offering?” Abraham answered, “God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.” Abraham built the altar, put the wood on it, then bound his son and laid him on the altar. Just as Abraham raised the knife to kill Isaac, God’s angel spoke to him and said to Abraham, “Do not lay a hand on the boy. Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son.” Then Abraham saw a ram caught in a bush. He offered the ram as a sacrifice to God instead of his son. So God said to him, “Because you did not keep back your son, your only son, from me, I swear to you by my own name: I will surely bless you and give you many descendants. They will be as many as the stars in the sky and the sand on the seashore. Through your descendants all the nations on the earth will be blessed, because you obeyed me.” (MUSIC)

Picture 21. Abraham and His Servant

Genesis 24:1 - 25:11

When Abraham was very old, he called his servant and said, “Promise me that you will go back to my country and to my own relatives, and get a wife for my son, Isaac.” Abraham did not want Isaac to leave the land God had promised, or take a wife from the women of Canaan. The servant obeyed Abraham and travelled to the city of Nahor. There he asked God to guide him to find the right woman for Isaac. A beautiful young woman named Rebekah came out of the city to draw water from a well. She was willing to draw water for Abraham’s servant and his ten camels. The servant knew that God had guided him to this woman and that she was the woman he was looking for. He found out that she was the granddaughter of Abraham’s brother. The servant bowed down to the ground before God to worship Him, because He had answered his prayer and led him to his master’s relatives. So Rebekah became Isaac’s wife. Abraham died when he was 175 years old. All his life he trusted God to keep His promises, so God accepted and blessed him. (MUSIC)

Picture 22. Jesus Is Born

Matthew 1:18-25; Galatians 4:4,5

The Word of God is true. God never lies. God told Adam that He would send his chosen one to defeat Satan. He warned Noah that He would destroy those who are evil. God showed Job that he wants what is best for us. He showed Abraham that He always keeps his promises. At the right time, God sent his Son, who had existed from the beginning, into the world. He was born as a human baby and was named Jesus. You can see him in this picture. His mother’s name was Mary. She was a descendant of Abraham and Isaac. Mary was a virgin when she gave birth to Jesus by the power of the Spirit of God. Jesus had no human father. Jesus is the one who brings blessings to the whole world. He humbled himself and became a human being to restore our honour as people of God. He came from heaven to fulfill God’s promise that Satan would be defeated and we would be free from Satan’s bondage. Jesus came to bring us back (reconcile us) to God. How did he do this? (MUSIC)

Picture 23. The Death of Jesus

Galatians 3:13-14

When Jesus grew to be a man, He taught people the ways of God. Jesus did many miracles to show that He was from God. But many of the religious leaders of that time did not believe Him. They killed Jesus by nailing Him to a wooden cross. God told Adam that he would die if he ate the forbidden fruit. God’s word says, “The wages of sin is death.” We are all sinners. We have all disobeyed and dishonoured God and we deserve everlasting death. You will remember that God provided Abraham with a ram to die in Isaac’s place. In the same way, God provided Jesus to die in our place. The Bible says, “God loved the world so much that he gave his only son so that whoever believes in him might not perish but have everlasting life.” God invites us all to be His children. Yes, our sin and shame have separated us from God but Jesus is the way back to God. (MUSIC)

Picture 24. Jesus Is Alive

John 20:19-29

Jesus’ followers laid his dead body in a grave. But death could not hold Jesus. On the third day after his death, God raised Jesus back to life. He appeared to his followers. They were all amazed. One disciple, called Thomas, was not with the others when Jesus came to them. Later Thomas said to them, “If I don’t see and touch the scars from the nails on his body, I will not believe.” One week later Jesus appeared to them again and Thomas was there. He showed Thomas the nail marks and said to Thomas, “Stop doubting and believe.” Thomas responded, “My Lord and my God”. Jesus said, “You believe because you have seen me. Blessed are those who have not seen me and yet believe.” Jesus is the fulfilment of the promise that God made to Adam to destroy the work of Satan. He is the fulfillment of the promise to Abraham to bless all nations. He is the sacrifice God provided so that we would not need to die. The story of Noah shows us that God judges sin but rescues those who believe and trust in him. The story of Job reminds us that God is in control and watches over us. Through faith in Jesus and obedience to God’s word we become the holy people of God who share in his life for ever.