Creation By Bruce W. Robida Revised March 12, 2014

 

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. GE 1:1

According to the Bible, in the beginning, God created all matter, energy, and every element necessary for life.  Genesis 1:1 speaks of these things being created, but there is no time reference involved.  It merely says that “...God created the heavens and the earth.” It must be assumed that everything necessary for the creation of the stars, the planets, the entire universe, plants, animals, and then man, was created during that period.  We cannot even begin to guess the amount of time God used to place all of these things into existence.   It is irrelevant to know the answer to that question at this point because even though the recipe was there and all of the ingredients were ready, we did not yet exist except perhaps in the mind of God (Pr 8:23, 2 Th 2:13).  Our physical existence came later.

Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. GE 1:2

During this period of time, the earth existed, but without form and devoid of everything but water, even light was not yet present.  Water was present and God hovered there above the waters for some time.  We don’t know how long He was there, why He was there, or what He was doing there. We only know that He was hovering there. Again, there is no time reference.  He could have been hovering for what we might consider an eternity but to Him, mere seconds.  The point is, that the earth and water existed and was created over a period of time which cannot be established, but the earth and the waters were empty. It is important to understand that a day has not yet been established, but now, the earth and the water exists.

And God said, "Let there be light," and there was light. GE 1:3

These are the first recorded words of God that were spoken.  Now we know that just by speaking, God is able to accomplish His creation.  But even though He has created light, He has chosen not to reveal it just yet.  He keeps it hidden for an unknown period of time.

God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness. GE 1:4

God separated the light from the darkness, leading us to the first sign or reference to a specific period of time. 

God called the light "day," and the darkness he called "night." And there was evening, and there was morning--the first day. GE 1:5

Until God created light and separated it from darkness, there was no reference to time.  He could have taken billions of years to come to the beginning of that first day.  We cannot know from the Bible how long it took Him to get to that point.   We can only wonder about those things, but it is really an exercise in futility, because it makes no difference how long it took God to create these things leading to the beginning of the first day.   What we know so far is that the entire universe was created with all of the ingredients necessary for life to exist, including water, light and darkness.  The earth and waters were empty, light did not yet shine and life, except God’s, did not exist.  We cannot say that what God created up to that first day, was created in a single 24-hour period because the first day (24 hour period) was established after He separated light from darkness. The earth, the waters, darkness and light had all been created before God separated darkness from light establishing the first day.

And God said, "Let there be an expanse between the waters to separate water from water."   So God made the expanse and separated the water under the expanse from the water above it. And it was so. God called the expanse "sky." And there was evening, and there was morning--the second day. GE 1:6-8

On the earth, it seems that our atmosphere, all the way down to the ground, consisted of water.  It seems that God separated the oxygen from the water, placing it above, calling it sky.  The Bible says, “And there was evening, and there was morning--the second day.”   This is certainly a reference to the 24-hour period that God had established, calling it a day.  On the second day, God separated the water from the air, giving us the sky.

And God said, "Let the water under the sky be gathered to one place, and let dry ground appear." And it was so.  God called the dry ground "land," and the gathered waters he called "seas." And God saw that it was good.  Then God said, "Let the land produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants and trees on the land that bear fruit with seed in it, according to their various kinds." And it was so.  The land produced vegetation: plants bearing seed according to their kinds and trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good.  And there was evening, and there was morning--the third day. GE 1:9-13

On the third day, God moved the water under the sky into one place so that there would be dry ground.  He called the ground land, and the waters, seas.  Then, He created plants and trees, which produced their own fruit and seeds, according to their own kinds, so that they could reproduce after their own kind.  In other words, their offspring would look, taste, smell, and feel like they did.  On the third day, God was preparing the earth for habitation.  Again the Bible says, “...And there was evening, and there was morning--the third day.”

And God said, "Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let them serve as signs to mark seasons and days and years, and let them be lights in the expanse of the sky to give light on the earth." And it was so.  God made two great lights--the greater light to govern the day and the lesser light to govern the night. He also made the stars.  God set them in the expanse of the sky to give light on the earth, to govern the day and the night, and to separate light from darkness. And God saw that it was good.  And there was evening, and there was morning--the fourth day.  GE 1:14-19

On the fourth day, God finally revealed the light that He had created on the first day. Until then, there was no need for light, but after He had created the plants and trees on the third day, the light was necessary for them to thrive.  And these lights would serve us as signs to mark the seasons, days, and years.  God had earlier established that the light separated from the darkness would separate the day from the night, but now it was necessary to make that light visible. Now, our own sun and moon and the stars would give off their light.  The planets and moons would reflect the light so that even at night we would not be in complete darkness.  And again the Bible says, “... And there was evening, and there was morning--the fourth day.”  It is easy to see that these things all took place in one 24-hour period known as the fourth day.

And God said, "Let the water teem with living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the expanse of the sky." So God created the great creatures of the sea and every living and moving thing with which the water teems, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.  God blessed them and said, "Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the water in the seas, and let the birds increase on the earth." And there was evening, and there was morning--the fifth day. GE 1:20-23

On the fifth day, God created all of the living things in the sea, and all of the living things in the air.  He created them so that they too could reproduce after their own kind.  God also gave His first command to His creation on this day.  He commanded the life that He had created so far, to "Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the water in the seas, and let the birds increase on the earth." Once again the Bible is clear on the point that these things occurred in a single 24 hour period called the fifth day when it says, " And there was evening, and there was morning--the fifth day.”

And God said, "Let the land produce living creatures according to their kinds: livestock, creatures that move along the ground, and wild animals, each according to its kind." And it was so.  God made the wild animals according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, and all the creatures that move along the ground according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good. Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground." GE 1:24-26

On the sixth day, God created living creatures to inhabit the land.  He created them to also reproduce after their own kind.  Then later, He created man in His image and likeness.  Notice when He speaks, He is speaking to others.  Who is He speaking to and in whose image were we created?  When we read, "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness...” , we understand that God the Father, Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit were together from the beginning.  We were created in the image and likeness of God the Father, Christ the Son and the Holy Spirit. Notice also that on this day, God has separated His creation.  First it was the animals which He created, calling them creatures.  Later, it was man that He created in His image.  There is a distinction between man and animal and we must recognize that difference.  If there were no distinction, why would God refer to living creatures and to man separately? 

So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.  God blessed them and said to them, "Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground." GE 1:27-28

Here again we see that God created man in His image and He made man to be special.  The second command He gave to His creation was that man should reproduce offspring to fill the earth and subdue it.  He also commanded man to rule over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, and every living creature that moves on the ground.  Again we see a great distinction between man and animals.  We were created differently and we were given a command that the animals were not given.  Man was commanded to rule over the creatures.

Then God said, "I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food.  And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds of the air and all the creatures that move on the ground--everything that has the breath of life in it--I give every green plant for food." And it was so.  God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning--the sixth day. GE 1:29-31

God handed over the things He had created on the previous days, the plants, trees and fruits for man and all of His living creatures, to use for food.  His living creation, man and animal alike would now be able to enjoy all that God had created.  These things He did on the sixth day.  It is once again plain to see that this day consisted also of a period of 24 hours, for the Bible says, “ ...And there was evening, and there was morning--the sixth day. “

Thus the heavens and the earth were completed in all their vast array. GE 2:1

The Bible says that in those six days, the heavens and the earth were completed in all their vast array.  This leads me to believe that His creation was finished.  There was not another thing created after the sixth day.

By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. And God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done. GE 2:2-3

Here we see confirmation that God had indeed finished His work of creation.  On the seventh day, He rested.

Now, on the sixth day, God created man in His image and likeness.  The Bible gives us an the account of how God created man.

...The LORD God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being. GE 2:7

Here is the account of how God created the animals.

Now the LORD God had formed out of the ground all the beasts of the field and all the birds of the air...   GE 2:19

And this is how the woman was created.

...But for Adam no suitable helper was found.  So the LORD God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep; and while he was sleeping, he took one of the man's ribs and closed up the place with flesh.  Then the LORD God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man. GE 2:20-22

There are many people these days, which accept that we somehow evolved from some slimy soupy substance into what we are today.  The so-called theory of evolution has permeated most of our educational institutions where it has been taught to us as though it were fact.  Even many Christians have embraced evolution as being fact.  There are a couple of reasons for this problem.  One reason is that they have not read, or carefully considered the Biblical account of creation. Another reason is that they have not believed the Biblical account of creation. Evolutionary theory has been so embedded in our education, that if a person is not diligent in his study of the Scriptures, the theory of evolution can be believable.  Another problem some Christians have is that while they believe the Biblical account of creation, they also have no trouble accepting the possibility that God created man through evolution. This dangerous thinking undermines the authority and infallibility of the Scriptures that they claim to believe. It is not possible for us to have evolved when God clearly states that He created us in His image and likeness.  Evolution also requires a vast amount of time, which we know from the Scriptures that after the end of the first day of creation, every day consisted of a 24-hour period.  Man was created on the sixth day, which was literally 24 hours long.  Some people would quote 2 Peter 3:8 which says, “But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. “ Those who use this Scripture to justify a longer period of time for the creation, fail to remember that God gave us a specific reference to what He called a day, which is; “ ...And there was evening, and there was morning...” They also ignore Genesis 2:7 which is the account of how man was created, Genesis 2:19 which is the account of how the animals were created, and Genesis 2:20-22 which is the account of how woman was created.  God clearly created man in a specific way and also as a special being. He created man not only to be different from the animals, but also to be superior to them as well.  Christians should not be willing to accept anything that undermines the authority of the Scriptures and should defend its integrity veraciously!  This requires reading and personal study of the Scriptures so that these kinds of things would not be allowed to creep into the church.

It is easy to see why non-Christians would accept the theory of evolution as though it was a fact.  If it is true that we are nothing more than animals, acting on instinct and not having to answer to some higher, moral authority, then all sin is justified and there is no eternal consequence for immoral behavior.  In fact, there is no sin, and there is no immorality.  It is no coincidence that this teaching against creation is an attack on the very first act of God in the Scriptures.  If Satan can make even Christians question the validity of the Scriptures, he can do it much more effectively on those who don’t believe. 

Just take a look at what society is being taught about evolution. 

theory, noun, pl. -ries.1a. an explanation; explanation based on thought; explanation based on observation and reasoning, especially one that has been tested and confirmed as a general principle explaining a large number of related facts. Ex. the theory of evolution. Einstein's theory of relativity explains the motion of moving objects. According to one scientific theory of life, the more complicated animals developed from the simpler ones.  World Book Millennium 2000.

According to the World Book Millennium 2000, a theory is an explanation based on thought, observation, reasoning, and especially one that has been tested and confirmed. It seems that even the World Book Millennium 2000 is confused by the facts when it uses the theory of evolution as an example.  One of evolutions primary problems, which have been admitted by all reputable scientists, is that in the entire fossil record, there are no transitional forms.  That means that, in more than sixty million fossils, there is not one fossil, which can be shown to be a link to another fossil.  In other words, every living creature, which has been fossilized, had suddenly appeared on the earth at a specific point in time, and there is not one that can be linked to another.  Scientists have not observed evolution in action and logical reasoning would suggest that these fossils which suddenly appear in the fossil record (the Cambrian Explosion), must have been created not over a period of millions of years, but relatively, instantly. If science would be true to itself, evolutionary thinking would be discarded until real evidence could be established.  However, if one is to believe the Biblical account of creation, that will never happen.

Another source of so-called education about evolution that I came across is AUDESIRK INTERACTIVE. It is a Student CD-ROM to Accompany Audesirk/Audesirk, Biology: Life on Earth 5/E ISBN: 0-13-792615-4. This is the kind of thing that college students, Christians and non-Christians alike are learning.  One only has to look at The Introduction To Life On Earth to know that this course is slanted away from creation.

Here is a sample of actual study questions taken from this course.

Question 5.  The scientific principle of natural causality assumes that:

a. All events can be ultimately traced to supernatural causes.
b. All events can be ultimately traced to natural causes.
c. Natural causes are responsible for events involving non-living things.
d. Natural foods have more nutrients than processed ones.

If you chose a. All events can be ultimately traced to supernatural causes, you would be wrong.  Their answer is b. All events can be ultimately traced to natural causes. Automatically, they have preconceived notions that there are no supernatural occurrences.  Without the supernatural, God doesn’t exist.

Question 7.  The word theory is used differently in science than in common English.  To a scientist, a theory is equivalent to a:

a. Possibility.
b. Natural Law
c. Hypothesis.
d. Guess.

If you chose a. Possibility, you would be wrong.  According to this course, “To a scientist, a theory is much more certain than a possibility.” The correct answer for this course is b. Natural law.  They go on to say that, “Scientific theories reflect extensive and reproducible observations that can accurately explain a natural phenomenon.”

As you can see, these examples show their bias when it comes to creation and the supernatural.  They also contradict themselves because on one hand they define a theory as having to meet certain requirements, which include observation, reasoning, and testing to confirm their theory.  On the other hand even when their observations show that evolution doesn’t work, they continue to teach it as though it does. 

A species could possibly adapt to specific environmental changes, but cannot change, or evolve into another species.  If that were true, the fossil record would certainly show some examples, but it does not.

Conclusion: God created the universe by speaking it into existence. There is no way to know how much time passed leading up to the first 24 hour period known as the first day. We do know that God defined the 24 hour period by the separation of the light from the darkness, calling the light, day and the darkness, night, morning and evening, a single day.

God created man and animals from the dust of the earth and literally, breathed life into them. The Bible is specific on the details of how man and animals were created. And the Bible explains very specifically how God created a woman from the rib of Adam. There is no room here for evolution to take place. Either evolution is wrong or the Bible is wrong, logically, one or the other is wrong. If you believe God exists, why is it so difficult to believe that He completed His creation in 6 literal 24 hour periods? How is it possible to believe in evolution over billions of years when God's Word says, He created everything in 6 days? Christians who believe in eolution, do not believe the Bible is literally the Word of God. Unfortunately, many Christians will even admit it.

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