SS: Day two of creation

Have you ever stopped to thank God for air today?  Why would we thank God for giving us air to breathe?  What would happen if there was no air?  Did God have to give us air?  No, God doesn’t have to do anything.  He does it all because he is good and kind. 

What about water?  What if there was no water?  Let us stop to pray and thank God for our air and water.

Read Genesis 1:6-8

And God said, “Let there be a space between the waters to separate water from water.”  So God made the vault and separated the water under the space from the water above it.  And it was so.  God called the space “sky.” And there was evening, and there was morning – the second day.

For a long time I did not really understand what God created on day two.  In fact, not really until I had to teach the lesson this week.  Reading this, what do you think God created on day two?

·        God said, “Let there be a space between the waters to separate water from water.”

This shows the power of God speaking.  If he wants something to exist, he must speak it.  He said for a huge space to be between the waters.  Until this point, everything was water.  There must have not been anything except water.  We cannot imagine this.  God knew that we would need to breathe, so he made air.

·        So God made the space.

God wanted a space, so that’s what happened.  He made a space.  It does not say that God wanted a space so he kind of made one.  No, he wanted a space, so he made a space.  He made a huge space between the waters, and it was exactly how he wanted it.

·        And separated the water under the space from the water over the space.

God separated the water.  Only water filled the earth, but now God made a space in the water.  We can understand the water below the space because of the oceans and rivers and lakes.  Where is the water above?  Remember, clouds are made of water.  Rain, snow, and sleet all come from above the space.

·        God called the space “sky.”

God name it “sky.”  We still call it the sky.  God knew that we would need to call it something.

·        And there was evening, and there was morning – the second day.

So far, in two days, God created the heavens, the earth, light, and a sky space.

Basically, God turned water into something completely different: air.  Before that, people would not be able to breathe, and God wanted to create a world for people, so he made air.

Activity

Fill a bowl with water.  Scrunch up a piece of paper.  Push the paper into the bottom of the glass so that it cannot fall out.  Turn the glass upside down and plunge it straight down into the bowl of water.

What happened do that paper?  It stayed inside the glass.  That is the power of air.  It held up this paper just like it holds up the water in the sky.  How this works is that the air inside the glass takes up space and pushes.  The paper stays dry because the water can only get into the glass by squashing the air inside it.  Air can be squashed or compressed a little but then it pushes back and prevents water from reaching the paper.  This is something you can show your parents later today.

Do you want to know another time that God changed water into something else? (Does anybody else feel awkward teaching this next passage to children?  What if they ask if Jesus really made wine?  They didn't today, but seriously.)

John 2:1-12.

On the third day, a wedding took place at Cana in Galilee.  Jesus’s mother was there, and Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding.  When the wine was gone, Jesus’s mother said to him, “They have no more wine.”

“Woman, why do you involve me?” Jesus replied.  “My hour has not yet come.”

His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.”

Nearby stood six stone water jars, the kind used by the Jews for ceremonial washing, each holding from twenty to thirty gallons.

Jesus said to the servants, “Fil the jars with water”; so they filled them to the brim.

Then he told them, “Now draw some out and take it to the master of the banquet.”

They did so, and the master of the banquet tasted the water that had been turned into wine.  He did not realize where it had come from, though the servants who had drawn the water knew.  Then he called the bridegroom aside and said, “Everyone brings out the choice wine first and then the cheaper wine after the guests have had too much to drink; but you have saved the best till now.”

What Jesus did here in Cana of Galilee was the first of the signs through which he revealed his glory; and his disciples believed in him. 

After this he went down to Capernaum with his mother and brothers and his disciples.  There they stayed for a few days.

In this passage, Jesus, who is God the Son, turned water into a drink that would bring life to a party.  Without it, a newly married couple could not properly celebrate their new marriage, and Jesus graciously turned something boring and possibly full of germs into something that tasted good and could even make people silly.

So, many times, God sees that we don’t have something that we need, and he will provide for it whenever the time is right.  For Jesus, it was after the wedding planners had run out of wine.  For God the Father, it was when he realized that people would need air to breathe.  What about for you?  When did God finally give you something you needed at the right time?

Just this year, God let me have a full-time job and a house closer to this church.  I didn’t get them until this year and I have been going to this church 4 years now and have been needing a job since I became an adult.  He also provide a husband when I was in my late 20s after being single for so long.  He brought me everything I needed in just the right time, though he did not have to do so.