Drawing Lesson IV: What Happened to God’s Perfect Creation?

For the next several weeks we will share a number of step by step drawing lesson/presentations for teaching children some important concepts about Biblical creation.

This week’s lesson deals with the food that God originally created for all the animals and people to eat before sin and death entered creation. That food, of course, as stated in Genesis 1:29-30, was plants. A world without death means a world without steak!

This presentation is meant to be interactive with the audience, so I have placed examples of comments and questions into the animated example that the presenter can use to keep the audience thinking as he or she draws.

An accompanying animation demonstrates the drawing progression for this lesson.

Materials:

For those using an overhead projector, the following are suggested:

Four different colored markers (one color will work, but four will make this presentation clearer).

Three blank overhead transparencies.

This lesson can also be presented on a chalk or marker board. The steps outlined here will need to be altered a little for those methods.

The purpose of this lesson is to help children to understand why “bad things” happen in this world God created.

Step One:

Write the words “VERY GOOD” in large capital letters.

Begin by explaining God is perfect and His original creation was perfect.

In Genesis 1:31 He called it “very good”.

Step Two:

“But we look at the world today and there are lots of bad things in it. Have you noticed all the plants with those sharp things called thorns? Have you ever been pricked by a thorn? OUCH! That’s definitely NOT very good!”

Place the second transparency over the first. Use a different colored marker and draw in two leaves using the lines of the “V” as a starting point.

Then draw the rest of the plant. There are two parts to this plant that when drawn out should form an “S” shape.

Once the plant is finished, add thorns (Genesis 3:18).

Step Three:

Next point out the death in this world. Death is a very bad thing. It’s very painful to lose a loved one to death.

Draw a bone shape using the shape of the “Y” as a starting point.

The bone will serve as an “I” later in this lesson. Explain that the world is full of fossils. They are the bones of millions and millions of dead animals that were once alive and have died. That’s not very good!

Step Four:

Now move over to the word “GOOD”. The lines you draw around this word will

Look like a face and also provide the structure for a letter “N”.

Begin by talking about how we look at the things from the curse (thorns, death, and sickness) and we can see this world is no longer “very good”.

Draw dots in the two letter “O’s for the eyes. Next draw the nose. Be careful to draw this nose just right because it is an important part of the letter “N”.

Next add the other details of the face as in the art example. Try making the lines that are part of the “N” thicker than those parts of the face such as the mouth that is not part of the “N”.

Once the face is finished, add a tear by one eye. Explain how sadness and pain are part of the curse as well. All the sadness and heartache in this world is not very good.

Step Five and Six:

We shouldn’t blame God for those bad things. We must always remember this world is no longer “VERY GOOD” as a result of our SIN. The first people, Adam & Eve disobeyed God; that sin resulted in God cursing His creation. All the bad things in our world are there because of that curse. Sin is very bad!

As you say that, remove the overhead that has the words “VERY GOOD” written on it. The letters for SIN will be left to see, but may need a little finishing. At this point you can write a big S over the thorn plant. Then write a big ‘ I” over the bone. And finally write a big “N” over the face. Our sin is the reason we suffer in this world God created.

Step Seven and Eight:

That’s the bad news. Now for the Good news. God didn’t want us to be separated from Him forever, so He sent His Son to pay for our sin. Jesus has crossed out the sin of those who receive His sacrifice on their behalf. Draw a big cross over the word “SIN” as shown in the illustration. Then take out the transparency with the sin elements on it.

The work on the cross has taken it away.

Step Nine:

Those people that receive forgiveness for their sin through believing in the finished work Christ did on the cross will live with God forever in a world that is once again, “VERY GOOD”. Take away the cross and replace it with the overhead that says “VERY GOOD”. Heaven will be very good.