Genesis

Lesson 5 w/Answers The Seven Days of Creation Part One — Days One Through Five

Of the 31,102 verses written by God in the Bible (2 Timothy 3:16 and 2 Peter 1:21), God chose to speak to us about His creation of everything in only 31 of those verses. Amazing! The vast majority of the Bible isn’t about the Creation. It is about the Creator and His eternal plan for mankind, i.e., our salvation and our eternal destination—all made possible through His only son Jesus. I point this out because it’s not important how the earth came about, or how old the earth is. What is important is the recognition that God created it all out of nothing; He spoke and it came into being. As I mentioned in an earlier lesson, if you cannot accept Genesis 1:1, then the rest doesn’t matter.

Beginnings

I also mentioned previously that no one was there when God began creating. So, only God knows what He did and how the earth and mankind came into existence. Everything else is pure speculation and theories, at best. Our one true source is God’s Holy Word, and He would not lie—in fact, He cannot lie, or He would not be God.

Read the following verses and note what they say about God:

  1. Numbers 23:19 – "God is not a man, that He should lie, Nor a son of man, that He should repent; Has He said, and will He not do it? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good?"
    1. ANSWER: God is not man. God does not lie.
  2. 1 Samuel 15:29 – "Also the Glory of Israel will not lie or change His mind; for He is not a man that He should change His mind."
    1. ANSWER: God is the "Glory of Israel." He will not lie.
  3. Hebrews 6:18 – "So that by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have taken refuge would have strong encouragement to take hold of the hope set before us."
    1. ANSWER: God is "unchangeable" and it is "impossible for God to lie." From this, we should take comfort, "encouragement," and "hope."
  4. Psalm 89:35 – "Once I have sworn by My holiness; I will not lie to David."
    1. ANSWER: God himself testifies that He does not lie.

If this is true, i.e., that God cannot lie, and if it is also true that God’s Holy words are all that is contained in the Bible; then why should we doubt, speculate, or manipulate what he says to us in Genesis Chapter 1—or for that matter, in any of the Bible? God says that He created everything in six days and provides the order, period. It requires no further explanation.

Of course, not accepting that God created everything, or that he did it in six literal days, leads to all sorts of theories about Creation; from the Big Bang theory on through to the theory of evolution—all theories. Even when we consider material written from a Christian point–of–view, as in Henry M. Morris’ work on creation that was published in his famous book, The Genesis Record, is theoretical. He wasn’t there at creation either.

We aren’t going to spend time in this study examining these theories. Rather let’s simply acknowledge that most worldly theories on how the universe and mankind came into being start with something—a particle of dust, an amoeba, or something else—but no explanation is ever given for who created that original particle or amoeba, or whatever. Where did the particle of dust come from? Or the amoeba? At some point, they came into being (i.e., matter created out of nothing), and they must have been created by an outside source—but that outside creator is never addressed.

Secondly, these theories, e.g., the Big Bang, Evolution, etc. posit a universal, organized, structured, creation coming out of chaos, and life coming out of non–life—all occurring as an accident or as a random event. And from this accident or random event, all of creation occurred. No plan, just an explosion or evolutionary accident where chaos births order and life—the complete opposite of God’s approach. The Bible offers the only real plan and path for how the earth and the universe came about, all at the will of God. The rule we see at play today, in this fallen world impacted by sin, is that order degrades into chaos, and life degrades into death—not the other way around, as the evolutionists would have us believe.

Further as we prepare to study Genesis Chapter 1, let’s consider whether the earth was created in six literal days. Where they actual, specific days, or simply a figure of speech? Many believe that they are a figure of speech, i.e., that you can make a case for each day being an era or epoch of time. They often cite 2 Peter 3:8, which asserts, "But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day." Unfortunately, this verse is taken out of context to prove their point. Peter is writing to encourage everyone and to emphasize how patient the Lord is; and that they should hold on to the promises of Jesus and the prophets until he returns. However, the followers of evolutionary creation who use this verse say that a "day" in Genesis chapter 1 can be a thousand years or more. They do this as way of using the world of science to support, or synchronize with, the Creation narrative in the Bible. But they are in error; the scriptures that God gave us do not support this position—nor is any explanation that mankind can offer going to explain Creation any better than God’s account in Genesis Chapter 1.

I apologize if any of this offends some, but this is my position; it is also the Bible’s position. God cannot lie, and God tells us in Chapter 1 that He created the heavens and the earth, and that He did it in six days, period, end of discussion. I take God’s word on its face, and I want you to be aware of my position before we study God’s Creation.

If Genesis 1:1 is not true, then nothing in the Bible is true. How can we know the truth, if God didn’t create everything? Where can we find the truth in the Bible about God’s plan and our salvation if we don’t believe Genesis 1:1? John 17:17 asserts that God’s Word is truth—all of it! You can’t compromise on Genesis 1:1. God created everything in six literal days, period. There is no room for evolution in the Creation story; so for this study, we are using literal days and trusting God’s Word, and accepting that what Genesis Chapter 1 has recorded about Creation is the truth.

As we prepare to look at the six days of creation, let’s consider if there are any other events recounted in the Bible (beyond the Creation story) for which something was created out of nothing in an instant? Is it really possible that God could create the heavens, the universe, and every living thing in just six literal days?

Consider the following verses and note what is being "created" in each of them:

  1. John 2:1-11
    1. ANSWER: These are remarkable verses, even more so if you know anything about the making of wine, and more specifically great wine (verse 10). Just planting a vineyard and caring for it until it can begin to produce the right grape takes years. Then there is the harvest and all of the activity around making the wine. Then finally, there are several years of waiting for the wine to mature. Jesus accomplished all of this in an instant, and without the vineyard!
  2. Exodus 16:1-4
    1. ANSWER: Manna, bread from heaven, made available in an instant, without growing and grinding the wheat, without ovens to bake it in, and provided every day for six days a week, every week—all coming from God, not man.
  3. Matthew 14:13-21
    1. ANSWER: This well–known account of Jesus feeding thousands of people with only five loaves of bread and two fish. In this example, in an instant, he created enough food to feed everyone and have twelve basketfuls left over. Amazing!
  4. 2 Kings 4:1-7
    1. ANSWER: Again we see God do a miraculous thing, i.e., filling many empty vessels with olive oil. This is also something that requires time and patience, i.e., to plant olive groves, grow the olives, harvest the olives, press the olives, and gather the oil. And it was all accomplished and all created from nothing, and quickly.
  5. Mark 10:27
    1. ANSWER: "Jesus looked at them and said, ‘With man this is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God.’" Man says it is impossible that God did all that he did in just six literal days, but God states, and clearly demonstrates, that God can accomplish the things which are impossible for man to even comprehend. I believe that God did all of His creating in six literal days. He is God, and I believe it.

Now read Genesis Chapter 1 and beside each of the six days of creation note what we are told that God created on that day. Also note how God defines a "day" in Genesis 1:5.

  1. Day One, Genesis 1:1-5
    1. ANSWER: God creates the heavens and the earth as well as light and darkness. In Genesis 1:5, God defines a "day" as "evening and morning." This is why, traditionally, the Jews count a day as starting at sunset. The official rabbinic day for holy days, such as Shabbat, is sunset to sunset, 12 hours of night followed by 12 hours of day.
  2. Day Two, Genesis 1:6-8
    1. ANSWER: God creates waters and heaven, or an expanse or a vault, which he uses to separate the waters above and below the expanse. Above the expanse or vault is called heaven. Some interpret this expanse as the sky above us. Heavens (plural) is also a term that is typically used to refer to the sky above us. Then the area above that, we call space or outer space, where the stars and planets are. The Heaven where God is seen on His throne is even above and beyond that. You will recall that Genesis 1:1 refers to God creating "the heavens." This term is also used in Genesis 2:1, "Thus the heavens and the earth were finished…" Further, Paul in 2 Corinthians 12:2 referred to a man being taken up to the "third heaven." Again, the first heaven is the sky above, the second being what we call outer space, and the third is where God’s throne is today.
  3. Day Three, Genesis 1:9-13
    1. ANSWER: God creates the seas, oceans, and so on, and in so doing also creates dry land. He then had the earth sprout vegetation and plants yielding seed, "each according to its own kind." Trees also, bearing fruit, with their seed, "each according to its own kind."
  4. Day Four, Genesis 1:14-19
    1. ANSWER: God creates the sun, the moon, and stars. This verse, God creating the sun and moon on Day 4 has for centuries sparked much controversy, debate and numerous theories. Essentially, the question is: If God didn’t create the sun and moon until Day 4, how can we have "evening and morning" marking days in Days 1, 2, and 3? What light was being used for these three "days"? Our limited time in this chapter doesn’t allow for a thorough review of centuries of debate, so I will share my view, which also aligns with many Christian apologists. This argument is that God created light in Day 1. That light, as I mentioned earlier, like our light today, can be measured in photons. It is created light, and not the light of God’s Glory, which cannot be measured. Also, while it is true that our main source of physical light is the sun, there are other sources, such as those found in the universe. We simply do not know the source or type of light that was in existence, that God created, for the first three days of creation. God does not tell us. However, we know that light was created in Day 1, and the sun and moon were created in Day 4. We can also assume that when God created the earth, it was a rotating earth which gave it perhaps twelve hours of day light and twelve hours of night—but again we do not actually know. As we study our solar system today, rotating bodies, gravity, and so on are all physical laws we see in God’s creation. It appears that earth would therefore have been created as a rotating sphere, with the sun, moon, and stars all set in the sky by God on Day 4.
  5. Day Five, Genesis 1:20-23
    1. ANSWER: God creates all of the living things in the sea and the birds, or fowl, that fly "above the earth." "And God said, ‘Let the waters swarm with swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth…’" In verse 21 we again see the phrase, "according to their kinds." God commands the fish of the sea and the birds of the air to "be fruitful and multiply."

Throughout these first five days, the phrase "according to their kind, or kinds" dominates God’s creative plan. Again, this runs counter to the theory of evolution. We do not see monkeys slowly evolving into man; there are no half–cat/half–dog creatures. We don’t have a half–fish/half–man evolving, and so on. Each specie was created in a particular order and "kind." Dogs are dogs, eagles are eagles, and salmon are salmon—nothing is evolving into a different creature in God’s creative plan.

It is also worth noting that order implies a designer and a plan, and what is created reveals a lot about the plan and the creator/designer.

  1. Read Romans 1:19-20. What does creation tell us about God?
    1. ANSWER: Creation reveals to us God’s "invisible attributes," i.e., His "eternal power" and His "divine nature." Clearly, looking at all that God created simply by speaking or commanding it into existence shows us the power of God. The universe above, and its planets and the stars, provide us a sense of how great and glorious God is. "The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork." (Psalm 19:1)

In these first five days of Creation, God begins to reveal himself to us in mighty ways. More revelation is coming on Day 6, when God creates the animals and man. We will address these events in the next lesson.

In Christ,

Wes

[2022]

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