In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.
Most Christians recognize this as the opening to the first book of the Bible, Genesis. But how much more of it do you know? Our junior high students began memorizing Genesis 1 in September. They continued to memorize Genesis 1 throughout the school year. By the last week of school, they had memorized all of Genesis 1, from God bringing form to chaos and light into darkness to God looking at all of his creation on Day 6 and declaring it was very good.
Why? Is this simply rote memorization? No, it is preparation for a lifetime ahead of each of the students who will be confronted with temptations to doubt God’s word and to believe the modern myths around them. Ideas that come from the culture they live in, the friends that they confide in and especially in the media that entertains them.
The junior high literature selections this year were mostly mythology and fantasy. One reason for this is they are historically applicable, and for another, they are highly engaging. Stories from Ancient Egypt and Greece, fantastic stories about entering worlds through doorways and mirrors, stories with curious races of people and magical places and others. Since these tales are so engaging, it was essential to have frequent discussions and constantly compare the ideas to God’s word, especially the accounts of how all things came to be.
In most discussions, the surprising things to the students were the whispers of truth in many of these accounts. And that is why it is important to not only talk and compare the ideas found in the stories to Genesis 1, but to know Genesis 1.
As the year progressed, the students found allusions to Genesis in the books they read. They found symbols of trees that give life and knowledge. They found and pondered themes that we first saw back in Genesis: light and darkness, knowledge, living in community and more.
By memorizing Genesis 1 and seeing that it applies to our daily lives, these impressionable students see that God’s word is true. They are prepared and know that other stories will try to take the place of God’s true account. They are well informed that a myth is a story that attempts to explain something that we cannot easily. Our modern world is full of myths, stories that our culture and past cultures have made up to explain something without reference to the absolute truth given in the Bible.
And this is the most important part of their memorization this year. The students have hidden God’s word in their hearts so that they can withstand the wiles of the devil. They have heard and recited the truth each month. In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.
To see one of the students' recitations of Genesis 1:1-31 from the last week of school, watch here. https://youtu.be/vRFxthqJHXw
