(15-20 minutes, easy set up)
Students will examine Genesis 1:1-5 and Acts 17:22-28 to discover that God has always existed and needs nothing.
Provide a copy of the Student Worksheet and a pen for each student. Also provide a dry erase board and markers.
Learning Goal: Students will discover that God has always existed and needs nothing.
Ask: Have you ever wondered, if God created us, who created Him? Share that this is one of those difficult questions that, even when answered, is difficult to comprehend. Explain that this is one issue students will have the opportunity to consider in this session. Distribute a copy of the Student Worksheet and a pen to each student.
1. God’s self-existence is revealed through His work in creating the world (Genesis 1:1-5).
Explain that God exists in three persons, God the Father, God the Son—Jesus Christ, and God the Holy Spirit, and that this study will focus on the person of God the Father. Ask: What do you remember from past studies of the account of creation in Genesis 1? After responses, call on a student to read Genesis 1:1. Instruct students to get with another student to discuss the question written above the chart on their worksheets: If God created everything, than who created God? After one minute, call for responses.
Read the first four words at the beginning of verse 1 again (In the beginning God) and write them on the board. Instruct students to work with their partners to identify what these four words reveal to us about God. After one minute, call for responses and list these on the board. (Make sure responses include: God existed before the world was created.) Explain that these words reveal that God has always existed, or is self-existent, which means that He was never created but has always been, and always will be. Draw attention to the chart on the Student Worksheet and explain that this chart will be worked on for each lesson, so that students will have a fuller picture of God’s divine nature by the end of the six-week study. Encourage students to write “self-existent” in the first section of line 1 and to record what they’ve discovered about what it means that God is self-existent. After 30 seconds or so, call on responses. (Make sure responses include: God has always existed, which is revealed in His role as Creator of our world.)
Call on another student to read Genesis 1:2-5, and then lead students to discuss the following questions:
Explain that the word “good” in Hebrew helps us understand God and His creation better, because the word means “fit the purpose” and “perfect.” Ask: What does that tell us about God . . . that His creation was exactly what He wanted to fit His purpose? (That God had a plan for His creation; that everything God does is good/perfect and fits His purpose; that He created exactly what He wanted for us.)
2. God’s self-existence is revealed in His role as the Creator and Sustainer of life (Acts 17:22-25).
Lead students to turn to Acts 17 in their Bibles and share that the chapter records Paul’s discussion with the philosophers of Athens, Greece, about God. Call on a student to read Acts 17:22-25. Ask: How did Paul describe the Greek philosophers? (Very religious, ignorant about God) Explain that Paul used his understanding of Greek thought and culture to explain to these men about the true God. Say: Paul acknowledged that the philosophers worked very hard at being religious, even to the point of creating a special altar “TO AN UNKNOWN GOD” just in case they had missed one of the gods they should be worshipping. Ask: How powerful would a god be if you weren’t sure he existed? (Probably not very, or you would know he existed.) Explain that Paul wanted his hearers to understand that God Is self-existent and is the Creator of the universe and all people in it.
Instruct students to return to their worksheets to discuss with their partners what God’s self-existence means to them personally and to record their responses in the final section on line 1. After a minute or so, call for responses. (Make sure responses include: Because God will always exist, I can trust that He will never leave me.)
3. God’s self-sufficiency means He needs nothing people can supply (Acts 17:25-28).
Ask: What would God, who spoke and the world was created, need for us to make or provide for Him? (He can create whatever He wants and needs nothing.) Call on a student to read verses 25-28. Point out that verse 25 (which was looked at under point 2) is a pivotal verse that ties God’s self-existence to another of His attributes––His self-sufficiency. Ask: What does it mean to be self-sufficient? (Don’t need anyone else because you can take care of yourself.) What does it mean that God Is self-sufficient? (That God needs nothing, especially anything that His creation could make.) Encourage students to write “self-sufficient” on line 2 on their worksheets and to write in the second section that, because God Is self-sufficient, He needs nothing.
Instruct students to work with their partners again to complete the final section on their worksheets for line 2: What Does This Mean to Me? After a minute, call for responses. (Make sure responses include: If I can’t depend upon myself or others, I can depend upon God.)