God Made Everything

Have you ever wondered where everything came from? The stars and the sea, the giraffes and the bumblebees, and you? The very first page of the Bible tells us.

It begins like this: "In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth."

At first, the earth had no shape, and it was empty. Everything was dark, and God's Spirit was hovering over the waters. Then God spoke. He said, "Let there be light," and there was light! God saw that the light was good. He called the light day, and he called the darkness night. That was the very first day.

On the second day, God made the sky, a great big space between the waters above and the waters below.

On the third day, God gathered the waters together into seas, and dry land appeared. Then God filled the land with green and growing things: soft grass, tall trees, and fruit trees with juicy fruit and seeds inside. And God saw that it was good.

On the fourth day, God made the sun to shine in the day, and the moon to glow at night. And the Bible says, "He also made the stars." Just like that! There are more stars than anyone could ever count, and God made every single one.

On the fifth day, God filled the seas with fish and whales and wriggly sea creatures. And he filled the sky with birds. Splish, splash, flap, flap! The world was getting busy.

On the sixth day, God made the animals: cows and sheep, lions and elephants, and every little creepy crawly that creeps along the ground. And then God made something very special. He made people. The Bible says, "God created man in his own image." That means people are special to God, made to know him and to love him. God shaped the first man from the dust of the ground. Then he breathed into him the breath of life, and the man came alive!

God planted a beautiful garden in a place called Eden, full of trees that were lovely to look at and good to eat, with a river flowing through it. But God said, "It is not good for the man to be alone." So God brought the animals to the man, to see what he would call them. And whatever the man called each one, that was its name. Imagine naming every animal! The hippopotamus, the giraffe, and the funny little duck-billed platypus!

But none of the animals was just right to be his partner. So God made a woman, a partner just right for him. The first man and the first woman. We know them as Adam and Eve.

Then God looked at everything he had made, and the Bible says, "it was very good."

On the seventh day, God rested. He wasn't tired, because God never gets tired! He rested because his work was finished. God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, a special day for resting, and for enjoying all that God has made.

This story teaches us that everything good comes from God: the sun and the rain, the animals and the trees, the people we love, and you. So every day, we can look around and say, thank you, God, for all you have made!