Heidelbergian Children's Catechism (age 8- 10 years)
Lord's Day 9
This Lord’s Day is about the God the Father. He is the first of the three: Father, Son and Holy Spirit.Why is He called Father? If someone asks you:”Does every father have a child?” you say:”Of course. How else could he be a father1” God the Father, too, has his own Son, who is also called the Lord Jesus. Because God has a Son, we call him Father. God the Father is the Creator of heaven and earth. He has made everything. You can find that in the first pages of the Bible: He made the trees, the flowers, the animals, the fish, the stars, you name it.
There are people who do believe that God has created everything. But they do not believe that He daily looks after the things he made, so that everything comes about as He wants them to be. “Do you really believe that God is involved in everything1” they ask. And they add:”God is too great to keep himself busy with all those little things.” How do they think the world was made? I will try to explain. Do you have a set of dominoes? You can do a trick with them. You line up all those dominoes, the one after the other. Then you push over the first, it topples the second, and from there the whole row of dominoes falls over. Same people think God’s creation happened in that way. God gave the first push. And after that everything happens by itself. God started it off, but now the world runs by itself. Well, these people are wrong. God is always busy with all the things He has made. He makes sure things happen as he planned. And He is working at you, too. He knows you inside out. He is with you when you sleep, and when you are awake. When you are sad, and when you are glad. The creator of heaven and earth is also your Father. Now you can believe that it will go well with you. God knows what is best for us. And when sad things happen, God makes them work for our good. You can trust God for that! Remember Jonah, who was disobedient? That was wrong. But we can also learn from him. He dared to say to the sailors in the storm that he believed in the God who made the sea and the land. He believed that God is the creator of heaven and earth. He said what he believed. You should do that too. That may be hard, when you talk with unbelieving friends. What answer do you give when your friend says:”Do you believe there is a God who made everything? That is ridiculous. Don’t you know that we have descended from monkeys?” What can you say? That is not easy. But don’t say nothing. Speak up, and the Lord will help you. Think again about Jonah. He believed that God is the creator of heaven and earth. And he said that to those unbelieving sailors. He was a sinner, but he also confessed God as the maker of heaven and earth. We can learn something from him.