*The kids are standing at easels. Each is painting an animal. *
NARRATOR: What are you two up to?
EIMEAR: We’re painting our favourite animals. Mine is a red panda!
JACOB: And mine is a three-legged dog!
NARRATOR: That’s very creative. And it reminds me, today I wanted to tell you about creativity and Christianity.
JACOB: Just one minute …
Jacob puts the finishing touch on his animal painting.
JACOB: Voila!
EIMEAR: Wow!
The easels disappear we are transported to an art gallery. There is a painting of a mountain range.
NARRATOR: Christians believe that God created the Earth, from the biggest mountain range to the deepest ocean, the smallest insect, and even the human body.
*The picture changes to an ocean, a small insect and then a human body as the narrator speaks. *
EIMEAR: God must be very good at art. I bet he could paint a hundred red pandas!
JACOB: And a kajillion three-legged dogs!
NARRATOR: Christians believe that because God created humans, humans are creative beings as well. They believe that creativity is a gift from God that can be used in many different ways.
JACOB: My granny always makes a blueberry smiley face on my pancakes, is that creative?
NARRATOR: Exactly! And there are even more ways to be creative than that - you could build a bridge, design clothes, or even invent a new space rocket!
*As the narrator speaks these images appear in the picture frame. *
EIMEAR: Or… paint your favourite animal?
*As she speaks the kids’ paintings pop into frames on the wall. *
NARRATOR: Yes, I don’t think it gets more creative than that!
How was the world created?
There are many different theories and beliefs about how our world was created.
Christians believe that God caused the universe to exist and so, He created our world. The Bible states, “In the beginning God created the Heavens and the Earth.”
It goes on to describe how, over a period of six days, God created light and darkness, water and sky, dry land and plants, the Sun, Moon and stars, creatures that live in the sea and creatures that fly, animals that live on land and human beings.
A day of rest
On the seventh day, the Bible informs us that God rested because His work was finished.
God then blessed this day. Christians believe that God did this in order to establish a pattern for His people to follow. This was later emphasised in one of the Ten Commandments, "Remember the Sabbath Day and keep it holy."
Many Christians see Sunday (the seventh day of the week) as a day of resting, attending church and spending time with loved ones.
What is a day?
Even amongst Christians there can be different opinions on what is meant in the Bible by a 'day'.
Most believe it to mean 24 hours. However, some people believe that each of the days that God spent creating the world symbolise a much longer period of time, perhaps up to millions of years!
Is God an artist?
In the video, Eimear and Jacob compare God to an artist.
As you look around our world today, you would be forgiven for thinking that God had made a few mistakes in His ‘masterpiece’.
We have global warming, pollution and poverty - to name just a few of our problems.
However, the Bible details how God’s original creation was perfect.
According to Christian belief, all imperfections in our world have been caused by mankind and only occurred after Adam and Eve disobeyed God’s instructions.
Is God's creation perfect?
Thankfully, many people believe that we can still see glimpses of God’s perfect creation.
Just look at the hands of a new-born baby, or the beauty of a leaf or a ladybird.
We might even see God's perfect creation in our own talents, such as our creativity!
Now you know more about God's creation, why not explore the word of God in the Bible?
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