The Biblical story of creation. Where did we come from?
Some years ago, we lived in Northern Ireland and sometimes we used to drive along the Antrim Coast which is an area of outstanding natural beauty. As we drove around the winding coastal road we would come across vista after vista of sea and cliffs and meadows blended in beautiful harmony that would leave us in awe. How much beauty there still is in our world!
Let your mind travel back in time nearly 6,000 years to the conclusion of earth’s most amazing week. For six days God has been transforming the earth from a formless and void planet to one of exquisite beauty.
At the conclusion of the six days of Creation imagine you are standing next to Him as He beholds what He has created and exclaims that it is very good! (Genesis 1:31). For God to declare something to be very good, it must have been amazing indeed!
And then that memorable seventh day, the first Sabbath in the history of the earth, with everything interacting in perfect harmony, and God spending the day with His beloved new children, Adam and Eve.
What an amazing week! What an amazing day!
In this study we will explore the Biblical story of creation and see why alternative models of origin don’t make sense.
“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters” (Genesis 1:1-2).
There are three points we need to note here. First, God created planet earth, and indeed the heavens, the whole universe.
Second, for some time after God created the earth, it lay without form and void. How long for we do not know.
Third, the acts of creation described in the remainder of Genesis 1, based on Biblical chronology, took place about 6,000 years ago.
So, God creates the earth at an unspecified point in the past. For an unspecified period, it remains without form and void. And then, around 6,000 years ago, God visits this empty planet and begins to give it form and beauty.
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made” (John 1:1-3).
John describes the Father and the Son (here called Word), as being together from the beginning. Then he declares that all things were made “through” the Son. Which means that both the Father and the Son participated in Creation, but it was the Son who was the active agent – everything was made through Him.
“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters” (Genesis 1:1-2).
Here we see that the Spirit of God was also present at Creation, hovering over the waters.
So, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, were all present and working together in the Biblical story of Creation, but it seems that it was the Son who was the active agent.
According to the Biblical story of Creation, the material things we see around us were created in six days. There is a pattern. God creates something and then populates it:
First Day Second Day Third Day
Night and Day Firmament/Sky Dry Land/Plants, Sea/Fish
Fourth Day Fifth Day Sixth Day
Sun/Moon/Stars* Birds Land Animals/Humans
*It is important to note that in the Hebrew text there are two words to describe God’s creative acts – bara and asah. The former refers to God’s creative acts when God creates something out of nothing. The latter has a broader meaning and can refer not only to creation but also to assigning.
The former, bara, is used in Genesis 1, when it comes to most of God’s creative acts. However, in Genesis 1:16 when the sun, moon, and stars are mentioned, asah is used. This means that the sun, moon, and stars were not created out of nothing on the fourth day. We know for sure that the stars existed earlier (Job 38:7). Maybe the same is true of the sun and moon too, just like the earth existed. On the fourth day their relationship vis-à-vis the earth was determined.
While material Creation was completed on the sixth day, the Biblical story of Creation includes the seventh day.
“And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done. Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made” (Genesis 2:2-3).
On the seventh day God rested. The Hebrew word shabat has the idea to cease or observe. It from there that we get the word Sabbath. Having spent six days creating, like a Master Artist, God took some time to admire His creation and spend the day with Adam and Eve, the crowning act of creation.
He then blessed the seventh day. The seventh day of the week was blessed at Creation and this blessing has never been removed! Everybody who enjoys shabat like God did on the seventh day of the week, receives this blessing from God.
God also sanctified the seventh day. To sanctify or make holy, means to set something apart from everything else. God set apart the seventh day from the other six days of the week. This declaration of holiness has never been removed. Everybody who like God sanctifies the seventh day, i.e. sets it apart from the other six, lives in the likeness of God!
So, on the seventh day God did not create anything material. He instead created a recurring space in time so that His Creation can rest, be refreshed and enjoy the blessing God has pronounced on the seventh day.
The seventh day stands at the apex of Creation Week.
Seventh Day
Fourth Day Fifth Day Sixth Day
First Day Second Day Third Day
The Biblical story of Creation informs us that for everything else, God spoke, and things came into being. With Adam and Eve, God created them with His own hands!
“Then God said, ‘Let there be light;’ and there was light” (Genesis 1:3).
We see the same pattern for the other creation acts.
“Then God said...” (Genesis 1:6, 9, 11, 14, 20, 24).
But then when it comes to Adam we read:
“And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being” (Genesis 2:7).
What an amazing experience for Adam to open his eyes and see the loving face of the Creator looking at him!
And of Eve:
“And the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall on Adam, and he slept; and He took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh in its place. Then the rib which the Lord God had taken from man He made into a woman, and He brought her to the man” (Genesis 2:21-22).
Moreover, both Adam and Eve were created in the image of God:
“Then God said, ‘Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.’ So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them” (Genesis 1:26-27).
Humans therefore are a class apart from everything else God created on earth. They were created in God’s image to have a close personal relation with Him.
A literal week.
Some Christians suggest that each of the six creation days represents a long period of time, maybe thousands of years. They say that the Hebrew word yom, “day,” can occasionally refer to longer periods of time, not just a single day.
This is misleading. The cases where yom refers to something other than a literal day are very few. In most cases, yom simply means “day.”
Moreover, such reasoning detracts from the power of God – He spoke and things came into being. If it took thousands of years, then Creation is not so special. Even humans with modern technology can create many things in thousands of years.
There are a couple of pointers in the text that confirm it was a literal week.
“So the evening and the morning were the first day” (Genesis 1:5).
“So the evening and the morning were the second day” (Genesis 1:8).
This phrase is repeated with subsequent days.
There are two things we need to note. First, while rarely yom can refer to periods of time other than a day, whenever it is numbered as it is here, first, second, and so on, it refers to literal days.
Second, note that the words “evening” and “morning” are in the singular. One evening and one morning, makes a literal day. There simply is no reason or room to interpret the language otherwise.
By the best historical and Biblical calculations, the construction of the temple in Jerusalem began about the year 966 BC.
The Exodus happened 480 years before the beginning of the construction of the temple (1 Kings 6:1). It happened around 1446 B.C.
Abraham was called by God 430 years before the Exodus (Galatians 3:15, 17), i.e. 1,875 B.C. He was 75 years old at the time (Genesis 12:4). So, he was born around 1,950 BC.
God called Abraham 427 years after the Flood (Genesis 11:10-26; 12:4). Which means the Flood happened around the year 2, 302 B.C.
Based on Genesis 5 and 7:6, from Adam to the Flood were 1656 years. So, Creation must have taken place around 3,958 BC.
These dates are approximate and should not be considered as authoritative. For more details you can consult the link below:
http://timeline.biblehistory.com/period/first-generation
Based on the information given in the Bible, Creation week took place less than 6,000 years ago.
Absolutely!
In Luke 3:23-38 Luke traces the genealogy of Jesus all the way back to Adam, the first person.
Jesus mentions Noah twice (Matthew 24:37, 38) indicating that He accepted the historical accuracy of the Genesis account.
He also mentions the creation of the Sabbath: “And He said to them, ‘The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath. Therefore the Son of Man is also Lord of the Sabbath’” (Mark 2:27-28).
And in Revelation 21:5 He declares: “Then He who sat on the throne said, ‘Behold, I make all things new.’ And He said to me, ‘Write, for these words are true and faithful.’”
The fact that Jesus has the power to recreate everything (“make all things new”) confirms that He created everything to begin with.
Absolutely!
“Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those who had not sinned according to the likeness of the transgression of Adam, who is a type of Him who was to come” (Romans 5:14).
“For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive” (1 Corinthians 15:22).
In these two texts the apostle Paul recognizes Adam as the first created being and his sin as the cause of death.
“For Adam was formed first, then Eve” (1 Timothy 2:13).
Many more texts could be cited.
Sin. This one word wreaked havoc on the perfect earth God created. We will discuss more about this in a subsequent study.
“Therefore… through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned” (Romans 5:12).
Absolutely!
We will study more about this in subsequent studies. But here is a description of it and a promise coming from the lips of God Himself:
“Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. Also there was no more sea. Then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, ‘Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.’
Then He who sat on the throne said, ‘Behold, I make all things new.’ And He said to me, ‘Write, for these words are true and faithful’” (Revelation 21:1-5).
Absolutely not!
Some Christians attempt to harmonize the Biblical story of Creation with the Theory of Evolution so as to incorporate the latter into their belief system. So that they do not look anti-scientific. That God somehow used Evolution to create this earth. They call this, Theistic Evolution. The reality is that the two systems are totally incompatible. Consider the following:
- The Bible speaks of Creation in one week and a short history. Evolution speaks of billions of years. If it took God billions of years to create the world, how can we believe that He will soon recreate it, as Revelation 21:1-5 promises? Is He going to need a few billions of years more to do so?
- The Bible says that death is the result of sin. In Evolution death is part of the process of evolution. If we accept Theistic Evolution, and accept death as part of God’s plan, then why did Jesus die to redeem us from death?
- The Bible describes God’s created earth as one of complete harmony and beauty. The chaos we witness today is the result of sin. Evolution is violent in nature, and chaotic in development. Is violence part of God’s creation tools? Will we have to live with it in the world made new?
- The Bible describes a God who takes an active care in the life of creatures He created, humans, animals, and plants. Evolution relies on impersonal forces and random happenings for progress. Is God going to be aloof forever? Or are we going to see Him face to face as the Bible promises? The personal God of the Bible is incompatible with the impersonal forces at work at evolution.
No, the Biblical story of Creation and Evolution are not compatible. They are complete opposites.
In another study we will explore the topic of Evolution in more detail.
God is our Father by Creation. The Son created us with His own hands. The world was perfect as He created it, and He instituted the Sabbath as the day to remember His creative work.
Sin has marred God’s creation. But we look forward to the day when He will recreate everything, and we will live in a new earth without any of the evils and pain we witness today.
It is a privilege to know that I am not a product of accident and random forces, but a thoroughly planned act of God, and I have been created in His image and for close communion with Him.
I choose to live my life under the guidance of my Creator and want to be part of the new earth He will recreate!
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