air with flying birds, and the dry land with walking and
creeping animals. And then He said, 'Let _Us_ make man.' Who were
meant by 'Us'? Who was with God when He made the world? It was Jesus.
The Bible says:

'THE WORD (that means Jesus) WAS WITH GOD, AND THE WORD WAS GOD. THE
SAME WAS IN THE BEGINNING WITH GOD. ALL THINGS WERE MADE BY HIM.'

So after He had made everything else, God made a man, and named him
Adam. God put Adam into the beautiful Garden of Eden, and at first he
was good and very happy. God also made a woman, named Eve, to be his
wife, and to help him to take care of the garden. All the fruit in the
garden, except what grew on one tree, was given to Adam and Eve to eat;
all the animals were their servants; and God was their Friend.

A wicked angel, who had been turned out of heaven, saw how happy Adam
and Eve were, and he was angry, and thought, 'I will make them as bad
and unhappy as I am; I will make them do what God has told them not to
do. Then he will turn them out of Eden, and they and their children
will be my servants for ever, and I shall be king of the world.'

So the wicked angel, whose name was Satan, came into Eden. He got Adam
and Eve to take the fruit which God had told them not to eat, and God
had to send them out of the beautiful garden; for God had said He would
punish Adam and Eve if they took that fruit, and God always keeps His
word.

But God went on loving Adam and Eve even when He knew that He must
punish them, and He tried to make them good in this way. He thought,
'I will send My dear Son down to the earth. He shall become a little
child, and grow up to be a man, and shall die for the sins of the
world.'

Hundreds and hundreds of years passed away before Jesus came. But a
great many of the people who lived in Palestine were expecting Him.
God had said that when Jesus came, He would be a Jew. The Jews were
very proud about that. They often talked about the coming of Jesus.
When they talked about Him, they called Him the Messiah.

Just before Jesus was born, the Jews were very unhappy. Roman soldiers
had been fighting with them, and had conquered them, and made them
servants of the great Roman king. He was called Augustus Caesar, and
he gave the Jews another king called Herod. He was very wicked.

[Illustration: Map of Palestine at the time of Christ.]

The Jews longed to get rid of Herod, and many of them thought, 'It will
be all right when the Messia