God Makes the World

Before there was a world, before there was a single star, there was God. God has always been. He wasn't lonely or bored. He made the world because he is good and wanted to share his goodness.

On the first day, God spoke, and light broke through the darkness. God named the light Day and the darkness Night.

On the second day, God made the sky, stretched like a great blue roof over the waters.

On the third day, God gathered the waters into seas so that dry land could appear. Then he covered the land with grass, plants and fruit trees, each with seeds to make more.

On the fourth day, God set the sun in the sky to brighten the daytime, and the moon and stars to light the night.

On the fifth day, God filled the seas with fish and whales, and the sky with birds of every kind.

On the sixth day, God made animals: farm animals, wild animals, and tiny creatures that crawl. Then God made the first man and woman. People were different from everything else. God made them like himself in a special way: able to think, to choose, and to love. God blessed them and asked them to take good care of the earth and its creatures.

God looked at everything he had made, and he was delighted with all of it.

On the seventh day, God rested from his work. He blessed that day and set it apart as holy. That is one reason Christians keep Sunday as a special day for God and for rest.