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

Introduction

Hello, friends. (Use the appropriate form of greeting for the language).
Come and learn about some of the first people who lived on the earth. Look at the pictures and listen to the message. It has teaching from God’s book, the Bible. Look at the next picture when you hear this music. (MUSIC)

Picture 1. God Created Adam and the Animals

Genesis 1:1 - 2:14

In the beginning, only God existed. At that time nothing else existed.

God made everything. First God made the heaven and the earth. At that time there was no light. Only darkness filled the heaven and the earth. Then God said, “Let there be light.” And the light came. So God separated the light from the darkness. He called the light “day” and the darkness “night.”

God made the sky, the clouds and the earth. He separated the water from the dry land and made the plants to grow.

God made the sun, the moon and the stars.

He made all the living creatures on earth and in the sea, and the birds in the air. Everything that God made was good.

Then He made a man from the soil (dirt) of the earth. God breathed into him the breath of life. He was the first man who ever lived. God made the man in His own image. God allowed the man to know Him. All of the man’s thoughts and desires agreed with the thoughts and desires of God, and the man walked and talked with God. God named the man Adam.
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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 brought all the animals and the birds to Adam, and Adam gave them names. There were males and females of every kind of animals and birds. But there was no suitable companion for Adam.

So God caused Adam to fall into a deep sleep. He took a rib from Adam’s side. From this rib God made a woman. God brought her to Adam. Adam was very happy and said, “Here is someone like me. She is from my body, my own flesh and bones.” The man and the 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. Be in charge of (over) the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, and all the animals on the earth.”

They could speak to God as friends. There was no sorrow, death, or evil.
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Picture 3. The Snake in The Garden

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

In the garden, God commanded 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. If you eat the fruit from that tree you will die.”

But Satan tricked the woman. Who was Satan? Satan had once been an angel of God, but he turned against God who created him. He wanted to become as great as God. So God mde him leave Heaven, and Satan became God’s enemy. In the garden he came to the woman in the form of a snake. Satan did not tell the woman the truth. He tricked (lied to) the woman. Satan said, “You will not die if you eat the fruit from that tree. You will become like God, knowing good and evil.” So, 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.

They had disobeyed God and they couldn't know God the same way anymore.
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Picture 4. Adam and Eve Outside the Garden

Genesis 3:8-24

God came to Adam and his wife to speak with them. He knew 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 crush (bruise) your head.”

Then God said to the woman, “I will increase your pain in giving birth.”

To Adam, God said, “Because you listened to your wife and you ate the fruit from the tree, the land is cursed. You will have to work hard to make it produce food.”

God made clothes from animal skin for Adam and his wife in place of the coverings of leaves. Then He sent 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 disobeyed God. This disobedience is called sin. Everyone sins and dishonours God. As a result, everyone is separated from God. But God promised Adam and Eve that one day one of their descendants would come and defeat Satan. That Man would be able to bring us back to God. He would restore our relationship with Him and give us new life. (This man is Jesus Christ.)
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Picture 5. Noah and the Great Boat

Genesis 6:1 - 7:5

The children of Adam and Eve and their descendants grew in number and became many nations. They followed the ways of Satan and were full of wickedness. They did what was wrong before God. God felt great sadness and was sorry that He had made people.

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 boat. I am going to send a flood on the earth to destroy all people and animals and birds. But I promise to save you and your family. You and your wife, your sons and their wives will go into the boat. Also, take into the boat a male and female of every kind of animal and bird in order to keep them alive. Take seven pairs of every clean animal and birdI have approved for eating and for sacrifice. 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 great boat. Noah did everything God commanded him to do.
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Picture 6. The Great Flood

2 Peter 2:5; Genesis 7:6-23

Noah warned the people that God would destroy them, but they would not turn from their evil ways.

When the boat was finished, Noah and his family and all the animals and birds went into the boat. God closed the door. Seven days later the rain began to fall. It rained for forty days and nights. Springs of water also came from under the ground, and the whole earth was covered with a great flood of water. All the people and animals outside the boat died.
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Picture 7. The Rainbow and God's Promise

Genesis 7:24 - 9:17; 2 Peter 3:5-18

The rain stopped. Noah and his family and all the animals and birds were in the boat for one year. At last the water dried up from the earth, so they all came out of the boat. Then Noah built an altar to God. He killed some clean animals and birds (on an altar) as a sacrifice to God. Noah burned them (on the altar) as an offering to God. God was pleased with Noah’s offering. God promised that He would never again curse the ground because of people. Even though people are sinful, God promised never again to destroy all people, animals, and birds by a flood. He put a sign of His promise in the sky, a rainbow. Every time we see a rainbow in the sky it is there to remind us of God’s promise.

Friends, when you see a rainbow, remember this, too. God will judge the world again. Next time, He will destroy the world with fire. However, people who believe and obey God do not need to fear. God has given us a way of escape, and that Way is (the Lord) Jesus Christ.
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Picture 8. The Tower of Babel

Genesis 9:1, 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 (honour) for themselves instead of giving glory (honour) to God. God saw the city and the tower. He also saw their disobedience and pride. So God said, “These people are one people. They are speaking one language and have begun to build a tower. Now they will be able to do anything they plan to do. I will go down and give them different languages so they will not understand each other.” That is what God did. In this picture the people cannot understand one another anymore. This place is called Babel. There they stopped building the city and the tower, and they went to live in different places.

It was man’s disobedience that caused so many languages. Disobedience separates people from each other. Disobedience also separates people from God.
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Picture 9. Job Worships God

Job 1:1-12

There was a man called Job. He was very rich. He worshipped the one true God. He was pure and blameless and refused to do evil. Job had seven sons and three daughters. He often made offerings to God on behalf of his children. He asked God’s forgiveness for them if they had sinned against 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 knew that Satan lied. He knew that Job would worship Him even if everything were taken from him.

So God allowed Satan to take everything away from Job to test him.
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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 (thieves or robbers) had attacked them and had stolen all his camels. Another servant told Job the worst news of all. He said, “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 (God) gave and the Lord (God) has taken away. May the name of the Lord (God) be praised.”

Although all these bad things happened, Job did not dishonour God by blaming Him. Job did not curse God. Instead, Job worshipped God.

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. He did not lose his faith in God.

Then God Himself appeared to them. God showed them that they did not understand.
God has unlimited power. He knows all things. He knows what is best for us. He alone knows why He sometimes allows difficulties to come into our lives.
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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. Job will pray for you and I will forgive you.” Job did pray for his friends and God accepted his prayer.

After this God made Job richer than before. Job’s friends and relatives came to feast with him and to bring him gifts. God gave him seven more sons and three more beautiful daughters. Job lived to see many of his descendants, and he died a very old man.

Friends, God knows why you suffer in this life. Remember, God loves us and only wants the best for us. He wants us to trust Him so that we may have victory over Satan. (This victory is only available through {the Lord} Jesus Christ.)
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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. Through (Because of) him many people have been favoured (blessed) by God.

God commanded Abram saying, “Leave your country, your people and your father’s household. Go to the land I will show you. I will make you into a great nation and I will put My favour on (bless) you. And all peoples on earth will receive My favour (be blessed) through you.”

Abram believed God’s promise and did as God told him. In this picture you see Abram, his wife Sarai, his nephew Lot and their servants. They are going on a long journey. They took all their possessions and travelled for many days until they reached the land of Canaan. There, God appeared to Abram again and said, “To your offspring (descendants) I will give this land.”
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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 the herdsmen of Lot quarrelled. Then Abram said to Lot, “Let’s not have any quarrelling between you and me, or between your herdsmen and my herdsmen, for we are family (relatives). 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. There were also cities in that area. Lot went to live in this valley near a city called Sodom.

Abram stayed 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 to your offspring forever.”
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Picture 15. Abram Meets the King of Peace

Genesis 14:1-24

Lot lived in the valley where the people of Sodom were very wicked. They displeased God. War broke out between the kings in the valley.

Lot and his family were taken away captive with 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 good king, as you can see in this picture. This king’s name was Melchizedek. He was king of a city called Salem, which means ‘peace’. He was a priest of the Most High God, and worshipped Him. He brought bread and wine to Abram and said, “May you be greatly favoured (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 gifts from that evil king. However, after Abram had rescued Lot and all the people of Sodom, Lot returned to that wicked city.
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Picture 16. Abram and the Stars

2 Chronicles 20:7; Genesis 15:1-21

Abram was God’s friend. God spoke to him and said, “Do not be afraid, Abram. I will protect you, and your reward will be great.”

But Abram was sad because he had no son. Abram said to God, “What good is this reward, when I don’t even have a son? Who will inherit all my wealth?”

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. God accepted his faith, and that faith made him right with God.

God told Abram again that his descendants would own all the land of Canaan.
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Picture 17. The Baby Ishmael

Genesis 16 - 17

Ten years passed, but Abram and his wife Sarai still had no children. Then one day Sarai said to Abram, “Sleep with my maid servant. Perhaps I can have a family through her.”

So Sarai’s servant, Hagar, became pregnant by Abram. When Hagar became pregnant Sarai became jealous of her and treated her badly. God sent an angel to comfort Hagar. He told her she would have a son called Ishmael. Ishmael would become a great nation. (Ishmael became the father of the Arab nations.) But this was not the way God planned to fulfil His promise to Abram.

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 agreement between Me and you. No longer will you be called Abram. Your name will be Abraham, for I have made you a father of many nations (which the name Abraham means).”

Then God said to Abraham, “As for your wife, you must no longer call her Sarai. Her name will be Sarah. 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.”
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Picture 18. Sarah Laughs

Genesis 18:1-15

One day, when Abraham was 99 years old and Sarah was 90 years old, three men came to Abraham’s tent. One of these men was God (the Lord God) Himself. Abraham bowed down before them. Then he called Sarah to prepare food. Abraham served them himself, outside under the tree.

Then the men asked Abraham, “Where is your wife, Sarah?”
Abraham answered, “There in the tent.”
God (the Lord) 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 child-bearing. Then God (the Lord) asked Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh and say, ‘Can an old woman like me really have a baby?’”

God (the Lord) said, “Is anything too hard for God (the Lord)? I will return to you at the appointed time next year, and Sarah will have a son.”

Just as God had promised, Sarah gave birth to a son in her old age. They called him Isaac, which means, ‘Laughter’.
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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 towards 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 very wicked and doing extremely evil things.
Abraham remembered Lot and said to the Lord God, “Will you destroy the innocent with the wicked? Surely you would not do such a thing, destroying the innocent along with the wicked?” Abraham began to plead with God. Finally, God said that He would not destroy Sodom if there were only ten innocent people there. When God had finished speaking to Abraham, He left, and Abraham returned home. But there were not even ten innocent people 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 get out of Sodom immediately and not to look back. But on the way, Lot's wife looked back, and immediately turned into a pillar of salt. God waited until Lot and his two daughters were safe. Then He sent fire from heaven and destroyed all the cities in the valley, and everything in them. He also destroyed all the wicked people, the plants and all the animals.

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Picture 20. Abraham's Sacrifice

Genesis 21:1-7, 22:1-19

Just as God had promised, when Sarah was over 90 years old, Sarah gave birth to a son. Abraham was already 100 years old. They called him Isaac, which means, ‘Laughter’ (‘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 needed for the sacrifice. Then they left to go to the place of sacrifice. Isaac carried the wood and Abraham carried the fire and the knife. As the two of them walked together, Isaac asked, “Where is the lamb for the burnt offering?” Abraham answered, “God Himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.”

When they reached the mountain, Abraham built an altar and he put the wood on it. Then he tied up his son Isaac, and laid him on the wood. Abraham picked up the knife to kill Isaac. As he did this, God’s angel called to him. “Abraham, Abraham. Do not lay a hand on the boy. Do not hurt him in any way. Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from Me your son, your only son.”

Then Abraham saw a ram (male sheep) caught in a bush. He offered the ram as a sacrifice to God instead of his son. So God said to him, “You have obeyed Me and not kept your only son from Me. So I make this promise to you again. I promise that I will favour (bless) you and give you many descendants. They will be like the stars in the sky and the sand of the seashore. They will defeat their enemies. Through your descendants all the nations of the earth will be blessed.”
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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 that God had promised. Also he did not want Isaac to marry a woman from the Canaanite people. The servant obeyed Abraham and travelled to the city where Abraham’s brother Nahor lived. At a well just outside the city, he asked God to guide him to find the right woman for Isaac.

This is what he asked God. “The young women come to this well to get water. I will ask one of them for a drink. If she says, ‘Yes, and I will give water to your camels also,’ let her be the one You have chosen to be Isaac’s wife.”

A beautiful young woman named Rebekah came out of the city to get water from the well. She was willing to give water to Abraham’s servant, and she offered to water his camels also. Then 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 Nahor. God had answered the servant’s prayer and led him to his master’s relatives.

So Rebekah became Isaac’s wife. They had a son named Jacob. His descendants still live in the land that was called Canaan.

Abraham died when he was very old. All his life he trusted God to keep His promises, so God accepted and blessed him. Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob were the forebears (ancestors) of the One called Jesus, who came to bring blessing to the whole world.
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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. God warned Noah that He would destroy those who were 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 into the world. He had existed from the beginning. He was born as a (human) baby and was named Jesus. You can seem Him in this picture. His mother’s name was Mary. She was a descendant of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Mary was a virgin when she gave birth to Jesus by the power of the Spirit of God. Jesus had no human father (because God was His Father). Jesus is the one who brings blessings to the whole world. He humbled Himself in order save us and make us children of God. He came from Heaven to fulfil God’s promise that Satan would be defeated. He would buy our freedom, and we would be free from Satan’s bondage. God did this so He could adopt us as His children. Jesus came to bring us back to God. How did he do this?
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Picture 23. The Death of Jesus

Romans 6:23; John 3:16; 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 came 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. A soldier pierced His side with a spear. He was really dead.

Friends, remember that God told Adam that he would die if he ate the forbidden fruit. When Adam disobeyed God, he sinned against God. God’s Word says, “The wages of sin is death.” We are all sinners and we all deserve everlasting death. But Jesus died to take our punishment.

Remember that God provided Abraham with a ram to die in Isaac’s place. In the same way, God provided His only Son, Jesus, to be punished in our place. Jesus had never sinned.Do you remember how God said to Adam that He would send someone to defeat Satan? When Jesus died, he defeated Satan’s power to cause everlasting death.

The Bible says, “God loved the world so much that He gave His only Son, so that whoever believes in Him might not die, 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.
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Picture 24. Jesus Is Alive

John 20:19-29

Jesus’ followers laid His dead body in a grave. But death could not hold Jesus, the Son of God. 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. Jesus 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. Those people who have not seen Me and yet believe are happy (blessed).”

Friends, don’t be like Thomas who doubted God. Let us be like Abraham who believed God’s promises.

Jesus is the fulfilment of the promise that God made to Adam to destroy the work of Satan.

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.

Jesus is the fulfilment of the promise to Abraham to bless all nations.

Jesus is the sacrifice God provided so that we would not need to die forever.

When we believe in Jesus, we become the people of God who will share His life with Him forever.

(Optional: To learn more about God’s great plan, listen to Unit 2 of the “Look, Listen and Live” series.)

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