Advanced Level, Block 1—Result of Fall
Week 2
Man Resembles God
Point to Emphasize: As those who resemble God, we will always feel uneasy inside until we like what God likes and love what He loves.
Reference Reading: Genesis 1:26-28; The Subjective Experience of the Indwelling Christ, ch. 5, Life-study of Genesis, msg. 8
Memory Verse: And God said, Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of heaven and over the cattle and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth. (Genesis 1:26)
Story Sample
In the very first chapter of the Bible, we saw how the beautiful earth created by God became waste, emptiness, and darkness (Genesis 1:2). A lot of people don’t know why this happened. There are many ideas about how this happened during that time, but at your age, you are all learning the truth. You are learning what the Bible tells us about what happened.
Do you think God gave up on the earth? No! You have to realize that God loved the earth, and He had already planned to change this situation of waste and emptiness. God restored the whole situation. He began by separating the light from the darkness. He called the light, Day and the darkness, Night. I hope you all can know how God continued His creation and what He did on each day. If you don’t know what God did on each day, I encourage you to go home and read with your parents Genesis chapter 1.
Well, God created the animals one way and he created man in quite a different way. God created each animal after its own kind; after its own species. This means that all cows, whether it is a Texas longhorn or an Indian Brahman have something in common. [Storyteller, show pictures.] BUT man was made VERY differently. Man was made of red clay. God breathed into his nostrils and man became living. Man resembled God!
When I tell you that I resemble God, I am not referring to the outward appearance, which you can see with your eyes. I am referring to the inward resemblance. Let me explain this to you, [Storyteller, bring a family picture and have the children point out how the children look like their parents.] If you see my family here, you would see that my sons both look like their father. They have the same smile, the same nose, etc. This is the outward resemblance. Another kind of resemblance is the inward resemblance. As you get to know my sons you will see that my boys think like their father. They have the same likes and dislikes. They are very much alike in who they are in the inside.
In the very same way, the man created by God resembled God. Not in the outward resemblance, but in the inward resemblance. This means you can love your family, because God is love. You can be kind to others, because God is kind. God wants you to be loving and kind; He wants you to be honest and upright. Throughout the ages, anyone who steals will have a sense of shame. A person does not have to be educated to develop this sense, because this is just the way we were created. We have a desire to honor our parents and to love and care for others because these are qualities of the created human nature.
I once was your age and I had many experiences just like the ones you have now. For the most part, I was always happy with my parents. But there were some days that I would get upset at them. One day I wanted to go to a certain place with my older cousins and my parents said “no.” I was upset, very upset. I was so upset that I told them they didn’t know what was best for me and that I was not happy they were my parents. I left the conversation and went to my room and slammed the door. But no matter how upset I was, something inside of me would just not let me be upset at them for too long. I couldn’t explain why, but I felt more ashamed than upset. I had to go back to my parents and apologize for the things I had said. When I apologized to them, I immediately felt so relieved. Even though I had this experience and knew better, this kind of thing happened over and over again, many times. [Storyteller, share your own experience.]
No matter how hard you try to convince yourself to feel good after dishonoring your parents, you will always feel bad. Why? Because you resemble God, this is the way you were created. As you are growing older, and as you become a young person and then an adult, you must remember how you were created. You will find that when you do things or say things that God doesn’t like, you will feel uneasy inside. You will always feel uneasy inside until you dislike the things God doesn’t like. You will always feel uneasy inside until you like what God likes and you love the things God loves. This is how and why you were created. You were created to resemble God.