It's very clear that the story of creation moves toward a culmination: the creation of human beings, male and female. It's also interesting to note that with the creation of animals God issues a blessing for the first time (1:22). Virtually the same blessing is repeated at the creation of human beings (1:28), and land animals are included in the blessing on human beings. So encourage the children in your group to respect and deal gently with all their fellow living creatures!

With the creation of human beings comes a brand new truth: people are created in God's image! But what does this mean?

• Humans have a direct relationship with God. They can listen to God, respond to God, worship and love God.

• Human beings are created in community, male and female. That reflects the being of God, who is a triune community of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

• Most important, God gives humans dominion. The sovereign Creator and Lord of all calls humans to be lords over the creation God has made.

The fact that humans are to rule over the rest of creation has been misunderstood and abused by people, including some Christians. It's been seen as a license to do whatever we want with creation. Over the centuries, people have heedlessly ruined and polluted the land, water, and air; mistreated animals; and made many other disastrous choices.

We are called to rule the creation on behalf of the loving, caring Creator. As many have pointed out, that's not a license to exploit creation---it's a call to be stewards. That is certainly at the heart of our being imagebearers of God.

As this great hymn of creation told in Genesis 1 comes to a close, the refrain "and God saw that it was good" changes to a great chorus: "God saw all that he had made, and it was very good." We often talk about original sin, but before there was sin the world was filled with original goodness---the way God made it to be. Vestiges of that goodness remain in our lives and in our world, and will one day be fully restored in the new creation.

Then on the seventh day God "rested from all the work of creating that he had done" (2:3). God wasn't exhausted from all the labor of creating. Resting was a sign that God's work was finished; the good creation was complete, and God took pleasure in all he had made. The Sabbath rest is also a sign for us that we can rest from our labors and enjoy the love and blessing of our Creator and Redeemer.