You will remember that in the "Ground Rules" we will try to understand Scripture just as it reads. The first two verses of Genesis describe the conditions that existed at a period in time, the beginning of Creation.
1In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 2 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.
As stated, the earth had no form and was void. To have a form some substance or matter must exist, but there was no form, so nothing existed. Also it is stated that it was void, which means nothing there.
We find that the heaven and earth that God created are explained within the same chapter. On the second day of creation God placed the firmament to divide the waters which were above and below It. We read in verse 8 that God called the firmament, Heaven. This would indicate that the "Heaven" referred to, is in relationship to this earth.
We also need to know what "earth" actually means. We read ahead on the third day and find that "dry land appeared" and God called it "earth." This gives us the meaning of earth.
Continuing In the same verse we know that darkness Is the absence of light. but what does "deep" mean?
Darkness covered the face of the "deep, used here as a noun. The Hebrew describes the deep as a sea of waters. The dictionary indicates an immeasurable expanse or abyss in the deep of space.
The third member of the Godhead, the Spirit of God, moved on the face of the waters. One Hebrew meaning of "moved" is to hover. This would indicate that the Spirit of God was available, to go into action, in the beginning of creation. The first day.
3 Then God said, "Let there be light"; and there was light. 4 And God saw the light, that it was good; and God divided the light from the darkness. 5 God called the light Day, and the darkness He called Night. So the evening and the morning were the first day.
First there was darkness, then God said. "Let there be light and there was light." God divided the Light and the Darkness calling the Light, Day, and the Darkness. Night. This sequence, darkness first and then light, fits in with God saying that the evening and the morning were the First Day.
At this point let it be said that Faith Is needed to accept the record of Creation In God's Word, but more secular faith is needed to accept the illogical theory of Evolution, that everything just happened!
Faith in the Creator strengthens as we study evidence that surrounds us, and is "us, the human body itself, the most powerful exhibit.
6Then God said, "Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters." 7 Thus God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament; and it was so. 8 And God called the firmament Heaven. So the evening and the morning were the second day.
The Hebrews considered the "firmament" to be a vault or something solid supporting waters above. God divided the waters, some above the firmament and some below the firmament. What a day that was! The waters were separated into two bodies. on the earth and above the earth. The waters stayed in that same relative position until:
11 In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, the seventeenth day of the month, on that day all the fountains of the great deep were broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened. 12 And the rain was on the earth forty days and forty nights.
19 And the waters prevailed exceedingly on the earth, and all the high hills under the whole heaven were covered.
Water is a mighty force on our planet Earth. Think of the Lakes, Seas, Oceans, Rivers, how torrents of water cascade over the Niagara Falls year after year. The rivers keep flowing. How dependent we are on water. Without it we or vegetation could not survive.
But there are times it becomes deadly, as during the great Flood, just referred to. We have a taste of that Flood when unmanageable waters from above fall to the earth.
Not only do floods come from rain, but storms and earthquakes disturb the oceans and cause great tidal waves, flooding coastal shores, recently Asia's deadly Tsunami.
Following this was one of the greatest natural disasters to s trike the Uni ted States, when Hurricane Katrina unleashed wind and wave on the Gulf Coast, obliterating miles of habitation along the coast line: breaching levees, allowing the water of Lake Pont Chartrain to level in New Orleans. leaving a city hardly fit for habitation. And then just weeks later, Hurricane Rita, reflooding New Orleans and rending damage and flooding in the western Gulf Coast Area.
Asia's Tsunami was not like "a drop in a bucket," but more like a "drop in an ocean," as compared to Noah's Flood. Perhaps this helps us to visualize a little of what the great Flood did to the earth.
We are reminded of man's inability to control the powers of nature.
9 Then God said, "Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear"; and it was so. 10 And God called the dry land Earth, and the gathering together of the waters He called Seas. And God saw that it was good. 11 Then God said, "Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb that yields seed, and the fruit tree that yields fruit according to its kind, whose seed is in itself, on the earth"; and it was so. 12 And the earth brought forth grass, the herb that yields seed according to its kind, and the tree that yields fruit, whose seed is in itself according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. 13 So the evening and the morning were the third day.
God had one more move with the "waters." He gathered them together to make room for the "dry land." This would have been mud, had it been contained in the waters. The dry land came into existence, it appeared.
As previously mentioned, this dry land, God called "Earth." He called the waters, "Seas." At this stage the basic topography of the earth was ready for vegetation-grass, herbs yielding seed and trees yielding fruit. All this God called into being and called it good.
This, in a few words, sounds simple, but think of the many fruit trees bearing apples, pears, peaches, plums, cherries, oranges, grapefruit, tangerines, bananas, papaya, mangoes, avocados, walnuts, pecans, each tree with its own leaf shape, configuration and characteristics. Then the plants having seed-tomato, cucumber, okra, squash, pumpkin, grape and even the prolific zucchini.
In addition to food-bearing vegetation, God made many beautiful trees, both flowering and non-flowering and plants with gorgeous flowers also ferns. From the evergreens to the seasonal leaves, from the cool of the mountains to the tropical beaches, an array of vegetation for the enjoyment and sustenance of mankind.
14 Then God said, "Let there be lights in the firmament of the heavens to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs and seasons, and for days and years; 15 and let them be for lights in the firmament of the heavens to give light on the earth"; and it was so. 16 Then God made two great lights: the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night. He made the stars also. 17 God set them in the firmament of the heavens to give light on the earth, 18 and to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good. 19 So the evening and the morning were the fourth day.
The far distant Sun Is so bright we cannot look at it, so hot that it will blister our skin. It provides our earth with Its life-giving energy, keeping life alive. setting a part the day and the Night with glorious sunsets and sunrises, beauty which man cannot begin to match.
When the sun is set at the end of each day, in the ensuing darkness we see the myriad of stars and the moon. repeating its phases methodically.
What a powerful God, keeping the heavenly bodies cycling harmoniously so that finite man can predict astronomical events, many years ahead, to the very minute.
20 Then God said, "Let the waters abound with an abundance of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the face of the firmament of the heavens." 21 So God created great sea creatures and every living thing that moves, with which the waters abounded, according to their kind, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. 22 And God blessed them, saying, "Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth." 23 So the evening and the morning were the fifth day.
On the fifth day God directed His attention to the waters on the earth and to the firmament of heaven. First He populated the seas with many creatures from the mighty whale to the smallest tropical fish. Some had to surface to breathe while most had the ability to live entirely under water.
Just to watch a hummingbird manoeuvre with wing movement a blur, to the seagulls as they glide effortless, is but a sampling of the winged fowl. They have no arms and hands but survive and feed their young with beaks, (their mouths).
When we see the various forms of life, how can anyone doubt that there Is an Almighty Power, a designer, whose ability we cannot even begin to comprehend.
24 Then God said, "Let the earth bring forth the living creature according to its kind: cattle and creeping thing and beast of the earth, each according to its kind"; and it was so. 25 And God made the beast of the earth according to its kind, cattle according to its kind, and everything that creeps on the earth according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.
26 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." 27 So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. 28 Then God blessed them, and God said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth."
29 And God said, "See, I have given you every herb that yields seed which is on the face of all the earth, and every tree whose fruit yields seed; to you it shall be for food. 30 Also, to every beast of the earth, to every bird of the air, and to everything that creeps on the earth, in which there is life, I have given every green herb for food"; and it was so. 31 Then God saw everything that He had made, and indeed it was very good. So the evening and the morning were the sixth day.
Inhabitants of the land, sea, and air were created to complete our wonderful world. God made vegetation, sea, air and land-life, in full maturity, all to reproduce its own kind.
After the cattle, the beasts and creeping things were created. God said. "Let us make man in our image…" The word "us" is plural. This Indicates that God was not alone in Creation. We go to the book of John in the New Testament and find that the Word, to become Jesus, was right alongside God in every step of Creation:
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.
14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.
Details of this crowning act of Creation, giving life to Adam and Eve follow:
7 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.
In these few words we are told how God actually formed man from the dust of the ground and as we already have read God said: "Let us make man in our image, after our likeness." The plural "us" and "our" lets us know that the likeness refers to both the Father and the Son.
And then we have the creation of the "better half" as we sometimes say. "And the LORD God took the man. and put him into the garden of Eden to dress It and to keep it." (Genesis 2:15, KJV)
20 So Adam gave names to all cattle, to the birds of the air, and to every beast of the field. But for Adam there was not found a helper comparable to him.
21 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. 22 Then the rib which the Lord God had taken from man He [h]made into a woman, and He brought her to the man.
23 And Adam said: "This is now bone of my bones And flesh of my flesh; She shall be called Woman, Because she was taken out of Man."
24 Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.
25 And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.
Yes. male and female were created in the image of God, to have dominion over everything in the sea, in the air and on the earth. with the ability to multiply and fill the earth with inhabitants.
Consider the human body and all that It can accomplish beginning with the brain, our mind, and how icontrols the entire body.
Man will never invent a computer that will be able to do what our brain can do. Man has made some awesome inventions, but nothing to compare with the human body. Think of the relatively small amount of fuel, the food that provides energy, enabling the human heart to beat continuously day and night, with no electrical connection, circulating the life-giving blood year after year-God's Creation.
What an engineering feat, all the structure and systems of the human body-the skeletal system, the pulmonary system, the nervous system, the circulatory system, the digestive system, the muscular system, the glandular system, the elimination system, and the reproductive system, all working in unison. On the reproductive system, God made sexual relations a pleasurable experience for two purposes, to be a culmination of love and for procreation of mankind. This sacred experience, an act of love, Satan has Influenced humanity to turn into tawdry relations, with many sexual preferences and all kinds of pornography.
God then started them off with a vegetarian diet, in fact a vegan diet:
29 And God said, "See, I have given you every herb that yields seed which is on the face of all the earth, and every tree whose fruit yields seed; to you it shall be for food."
Who dares to say this all came into being by happenstance? Just think about the incomprehensible magnitude of what happened in these six 24 hour days.
The first, second, and fourth day begin with. "And God said, Let there be…" The Hebrew expands this meaning, to happen, to come to pass, to take place, to appear, all of which indicate an instantaneous result as God spoke.
Our world is evidence that indeed there was "Intelligent Design" in creation. Prior to creation we find that God always existed.
17 Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, to God who alone is wise, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.
Eternal, used here in describing God, establishes that He is ageless, timeless, infinite and has always existed. We also find that the Word was with God.
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.
So we have God, the Word, and the Holy Spirit in existence for the past Eternity, a period of time we cannot begin to perceive. There was no time-limit on God and the Word to intelligently plan every segment of our orbiting planetary system, this world and its eco-system, the lighting and the entire environment for all forms of created life to exist, from the largest, like the whale, to the smallest insect, (all design ed to reproduce after its own kind).
Then one day God said to the Word,
26 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." 27 So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. 28 Then God blessed them, and God said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth."
Thus, with this crowning act of creation, (man made in God's image), they planned for the possibility that the power of choice, they would give to humanity to obey or disobey, could lead to sin and eternal death. With this possibility in mind, they lovingly conceived the Plan of Salvation for Sinful beings.
Around, 6,000 years ago. God spoke and each day the results of "Intelligent Design" came into being on this earth. A perfect world with its inhabitants was a reality, only later, to be marred with disobedience.
About 4,000 years after creation,
14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.
It was then, the baby Jesus was born.
21 "And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus…"
God the Father watched His only begotten Son grow each step of the way, from a baby to His death on the Cross and then His glorious resurrection.
16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.
After His death and resurrection, Jesus ascended to heaven, for the third role of the Word,
34 …It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us.
Just as we now have the privilege of living in God's literal Creation, so also we have the privilege of participating in the Plan of Salvation, which as mentioned before, was conceived in advance of the creation of man. Our perfect God thought of everything! What love!
1 Thus the heavens and the earth, and all the host of them, were finished. 2 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. 3 Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made.
What a week! We come to the seventh and last day of Creation and our God, knowing that mankind would need a day of rest, also rested , signifying His work ended, setting an example for mankind. We in resting and recognizing the seventh day, as God has set it apart, are honouring and worshiping our Creator.