Genesis 1:24-28

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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." ~ Genesis 1:24-28

Today, we continue our study of Genesis where God has created the infrastructure for all created living things to enjoy. Today, we consider day 6 of the six days of creation and it is Friday. Everything to this point had been created by God in anticipation of His final creation, the creation of man.

In v.24-25 of today's passage we read, "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."

Every animal that has ever roamed the face of this earth has a specific purpose and was designed in a specific way in anticipation of the coming man. God knew and knows every thing about every created being ever created, every thought they think, and every move they will make. In Psalm 139 we read, "Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; It is high, I cannot attain it." After God created all of the animal kingdom, He said that it was good. Seven times in this chapter God said, after He made something, "It's good." 

In v.26-27 of today's passage we read, "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."

The creation of man was strikingly different from the creation of the animals. Animal life appeared much as plant life did, and as the fish and the birds appeared. The creation of the earth and the animal world is all described in very much the same language and their creation followed the same pattern. But, when God created man, a different note was struck. For example man was created by God only after God had held a divine consultation about man. God said, "Let Us make man in Our image."

God’s final part of the created order was man. Man is the most complex and sophisticated organism in the universe and even more, man bears God’s image. Mankind is like God in the sense that we have the ability to communicate attributes like God. In addition, we can reason, we are rational creatures. We have the ability to apply intellect and reason and research and come to conclusions. Logical thoughts attached to other thoughts. Animals can't do that. 

We are trichotomous beings. This means we are composed of three parts: body, soul, and spirit. In 1 Thessalonians 5, Paul prays that God would sanctify us completely, body, soul, and spirit until the coming of Jesus Christ. Not just body and soul; not just flesh and conscious life, but body, soul, and spirit. There is a clear difference between our spirit and our soul. When we were justified through Christ our spirit was made alive to God. And now that we know Him, we are experiencing change in our souls. This is sanctification.

The Hebrew word translated "God" throughout this chapter is Elohim which is a plural noun but singular in meaning. God referred to Himself in the plural when He said, "Let Us make man in Our image." This is the first time that it is revealed in the Bible that God is Trinity. These words were inter-Trinitarian communication. This is the Father and the Son and the Spirit convening together. "Let Us make man in Our image."  

The idea of the Trinity is one of those imponderables of Scripture. But, in an attempt to help us understand the Trinity, think of the fact that time can exist in three different dimensions. It can be yesterday, it can be today, and it can be tomorrow; it just depends on what reference we have. Another example is that of water which can exist in ice and in vapor and in fluid form. In like manner, the Bible teaches that there is one God existing in three distinct Persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. 

Note the words at the end of v.27: "Male and female He created them." Although this point ought to be obvious and unnecessary, it seems that in the confused world that we live in people can’t figure out even the obvious. God created man as man and God created women as women. In an attempt to deny this, modern thinking has taken almost everything to extremes never intended simply to deny the difference between the sexes. This is a ploy of the enemy.

In v.28 of today's passage we read, 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."

God’s first command to man was that man would have children sufficient to fill the earth especially since mankind began with only two people. The function of subduing the earth and having dominion over it would necessarily require a long time for the growth of a large enough population to fill the earth, and for acquiring sufficient knowledge and skills to enable man to bring it under full control and development. God's command to subdue and exercise dominion over creation in no way implies hostility and resistance from the earth. Rather, it suggests intensive study, study of the earth and its creatures and then application of that knowledge for the optimum benefit of all affected for the glory of God.

We must also note that God gave to man no instruction to exercise dominion over other people, but only over the earth and the animals. Had man not rebelled against God’s Word, all would have remained in perfect fellowship with God and, therefore, with one another. But, when man followed the deceitful words of Lucifer, the perfection of the Garden of Eden was dramatically altered. This just underscores the fact that God always has our best interest at heart even though the circumstances may scream the opposite. It is the most resounding message of the Bible that if we trust the Lord and give Him enough time, He will direct our paths resulting in His best for us.

Genesis 1:20-23

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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. ~ Genesis 1:20-23

Today, we consider day 5 in the six days of creation. In a little less than two days, the fifth and part of the sixth days of creation, which were Thursday and Friday of the first week, God created every type of animal that exists. And so, on that first Thursday ever, God created the wildlife in the waters, birds, and other winged creatures, and all of the life in the sea.

In v.20 of today's passage we read, "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.'"

During the first three days of creation, God created the infrastructure needed for this world to operate successfully. Then, during days four through six, God created the animals, the fish and man to inhabit the creation that He had made. We are told the Earth is 25,000 miles in circumference and weighs approximately 6,586 sextillion tons. It hangs in empty space. It spins at 1,000 miles an hour with perfect balance. At the same time that it’s spinning at 1,000 miles an hour, it is moving through space around the sun at 1,000 miles a minute in an orbit of 580 million miles. Mind blowing!

In v.20 here we have the first appearance in Scripture of a very remarkable and important word. We are told that God brought forth in the waters "an abundance of living creatures." Those two words "living creatures" is a translation of a single Hebrew word which means "soul." Here we have the first appearance of creatures with souls. Animals, as well as humans, have souls, and it is the soul that marks the major difference between animal and plant life. The mark of animal life, even marine life and bird life, is that they can think and feel and decide. The three functions of the soul are the mind, the will, and the emotions. What sets man apart from other created beings is that we have a spirit.

In v.21 of today's passage we read, "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."

For the second time in this entire chapter the word "created" appears. The first use was in the very first verse of the chapter. It is significant that again we have this particular word brought in, because with its usage, God did something different. There had been no animal life of any kind before, but now God created different than He did before. Whereas before He created everything out of nothing, here God created the animals out of something that He had made before. This is important to point out because according to the fossil records, the major divisions of animal life as we know them, except vertebrates, appear nearly simultaneously very early in the fossil records. And in those fossil remains the crustaceans, for example, are found to be fully developed crustaceans. Of course, this contradicts the teachings of the evolutionists. Just as God created Adam and Eve as adult, He created all of creations as adult.

In v.22-23 of today's passage we read, "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." 

The fifth day of creation came to a close after God blessed and commanded the animals to multiply. This is the first time in the Bible that God commanded living beings to procreate. Animals are precious to God. In fact, when Job complained that God had mistreated him, God pointed him to creation to help Job understand His sovereignty and His goodness. Animals figured prominently in God's response to Job’s attempted indictment. In Job 38:39-41, God reminded Job that it is He who provided for the animals. According to Job 40, God also pointed out that he is more powerful than the feared Behemoth and Leviathan by the very fact that He is their Creator. While they may have been beyond Job’s reach, these creatures were never beyond God’s reach.

In response, Job acknowledged God’s sovereignty. In Job 42:6 we read, "I take back my words and repent in dust and ashes." The fact that God used examples from the animal world to convince Job of His sovereignty suggests strongly that this is part of God’s intended purpose for His creation of the animals. God has built wonder into animals, and by design, they point us all to the God of the Bible as the great and only sovereign. And, our response should be the same as Job's; respect, and honor and awe and wonder in the presence of our mighty God.

Genesis 1:16-19

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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. ~ Genesis 1:16-19

Today, we come back to day 4 of creation where God has created the heavens, the land, the sea and also the stars. And now, as we will see in day 4 on the very first Wednesday, He will create the sun and the moon. In all of this we are yet again reminded of God's vastness. The vastness of the universes underscores His greatness and His sovereignty. This, once again, highlights the fact that we can trust Him with our very lives, totally.

In v.16 of today's passage we read, "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."

These two great lights are obviously the sun and the moon. God created these bearers of light and gave to them their tasks; it is the job of the sun to bring the light during the day. And, it is the task of the moon to deliver reflective light to the earth during the night. It is the moon that determines the month in the course of its movement through its somewhat odd orbit. The moon also generates the seasons, as does the sun. Because the earth is tilted on its axis, it causes the sun to be at varying distances from its surface at different points on the globe at different times of the year. This produces the seasons which are critical for the rejuvenation of life and the growing of crops and the flourishing of the earth. God designed the sun and the moon to function in determining seasons. God also designed the sun and the moon to serve in the matter of days. Right now, our 24 hour day is determined everyday by the cycle of both the sun and the moon from sunset to sunset. 

God determined that the earth would orbit around the sun and the orbit of the moon around the earth. A day then is determined by the earth’s rotation around its axis, and one 24-hour period is the time of the earth’s rotation. God determined that; it is impossible for that to be the product of time plus chance plus nothing. The sun also determines our years. God did this by establishing the fact that it would take one full year for the rotating earth, each rotation meaning a day to continue its orbit all the way around the sun. That’s a 365 day time period. So God created the sun and it rules in the sense that it dominates life on the earth.

The sun is the agency by which our time in light and dark is determined. The sun is the agency, along with the moon by which seasons are determined. The sun is the agency by which the calendar year is determined. Whereas, it is the rotation of the earth on its axis that determines the 24-hour day, specifically, it is the rotation of the moon’s orbit around the earth that determines the month. And it is the earth’s rotation around the sun that determines the year. This is why God said that the sun would rule the day and the moon the night.

In v.17-18 of today's passage we read, "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."

The word "rule" used here in this verse packs a punch. For example, the moon helps to create the daily rise and fall of water along our shorelines. Tides are caused by gravity. The closer two things are, the stronger the force of gravity between them, and the faster they accelerate toward one another. If the earth were sitting still in space, which it is not, due to gravity, it would immediately begin to fall toward the sun. But gravitational attraction depends on distance. Thus, the near side of the earth would be attracted to the sun more strongly than the far side. But the earth is solid. Even if one side wanted to accelerate toward the sun faster than the other, the whole mass would move as one and the earth would not stretch into an egg shape.

The oceans, however, are not solid. They are free to react to the sun’s gravitational pull. The ocean on the near side of the sun would literally fall toward the sun faster than the earth and the ocean on the far side would literally fall more slowly than the earth. It blows my mind to think of the sun suspended in mid air out there 93 million miles away. And the moon, faithfully companions the earth. The moon is just the right size and just the right distance to produce tides that gently flush our coastlands. If the tides were much stronger, the earth would experience twice-daily tsunamis that would rip apart and destroy any living thing even within great distances from the shore. If the tides were much smaller, bays and estuaries would be stagnant and inhospitable to life. The earth-moon system is unique in our solar system. It defies the possibility that it has arisen by chance. Thus, the presence of tides points to intelligent design, by a loving God, who gave us a wonderful place to live. All of God's creation was placed in the heavens and on the earth by an infinitely intelligent and loving Creator. And, He saw that it was good, because it all benefitted us.

In v.19 of today's passage we read, "So the evening and the morning were the fourth day."

Here we have the completion of the fourth day of creation. Genesis frames God's creation of all things using a poetic structure which follows a strict and consistent pattern, where God speaks, creates, observes, and blesses His work. This verse closes out the description of the fourth creative day, referencing the concept of "evening and morning" once again. God's creation of the sun, moon, and stars counters any belief that these are deities themselves. Many cultures, including ancient Egypt, worshipped the sun and moon as gods. Other religions, and modern astrology, believe that the position of these objects determines a person's fate. By making it clear that these are just pieces of God's creation, the book of Genesis dispels any claims that there is supernatural power in the heavenly bodies. Truly, the God of the Bible is the One true God and I trust you are in a personal relationship with Him.

If you are not in a personal relationship with God, let me encourage you to have a conversation with Him. Tell God that you agree with Him that you are a sinner who is in need of His help. Invite Him into your life. Trust His Son's sacrifice on the cross for the payment for your sin which separated you from Him. And, as the Scriptures say, "You shall be saved."

Genesis 1:14-15

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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.  ~ Genesis 1:14-15

Today, we continue our study of Genesis 1 wherein God created the world in six 24 hour days. In today's passage we return to day 3 when God created the stars of the heavens. Our universe is vast, in fact, it would take us 150 billion light years to cross it. God's creation is incomprehensibly vast, and the main reason God created it to be so vast was to remind us that we are indeed very small. 

In v.14 of today's passage we read, "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.'"

There is that little phrase again: "Then God said." We totally underestimate God's word which includes His definition of all things but that's not all. And, only knowledge of God's word does not produce the life that we all long for on a day to day basis. Our hearts must be engaged and we must be willing to be defined by God's word. The power of God is best revealed and experienced when His word fills in the gaps of our broken souls.  

In Isaiah 55:10-11 we read, "10 Rain and snow fall from the sky and don’t return without watering the ground. They cause the plants to sprout and grow, making seeds for the farmer and bread for the people. 11 The same thing is true of the words I speak. They will not return to me empty. They make the things happen that I want to happen, and they succeed in doing what I send them to do."

Rain and snow are part of a cyclical process of precipitation which falls from the heavens to the earth, and seeps into the land to grow crops and feed the hungry. God compares His Word with rain and snow, it is faithfully sent by Him to be received by those souls that are prepared for it through their trials.The fascinating thing to it all is as He breathes out His Word and we take it in; it is always for specific purposes. The Word of God accomplishes what God desires and what we need.

When God created everything, He did it without process. There was not any length of time involved. Time added nothing to it. Therefore millions of years, billions of years, thousands of years add nothing to His creation. It was not some process that God initiated, this was something that God completed. God simply said it and it came into existence. That's a blow to the evolutionist.

In Psalm 33:6-9 we read, "6 The sky was made at the Lord’s command. By the breath from his mouth, he made all the stars. 7 He gathered the water of the sea into a heap. He made the great ocean stay in its place. 8 All the earth should worship the Lord; the whole world should fear him. 9 He spoke, and it happened. He commanded, and it appeared." 

God spoke everything into existence, and, it remained exactly as He spoke it into existence. The moon, the sun, the stars, the galaxies, the billions upon billions of galaxies, everything that is in space, all the material that is there, all the gases that are there, all the atoms, it all remains as it was created. And, as was pointed out back in v.4, the light was given to divide. 

God separated the light from the darkness. God called the light day, the darkness, he called night. Each day was made of one evening and one morning. As a result, our view of the universe was influenced by timekeeping. So at the very outset when God created light, before there was a moon, before there were any stars, before there was a sun, there was light. It wasn’t attached to any of those celestial bodies; there was light and it was attached to the 24 hour day period. By the way, God created light, He is the maker of light. He then decided to attached the light to the luminaries. This can be said of us of whom He said in Matthew 5:14, "You are the light of the world."

On the first Wednesday of the world there existed what looked like diamonds in the sky. As was the case then, on the clearest night, the human eye can only see about 3,000 stars. There are an estimated 100 billion in our galaxy alone and it is estimated there may be 500 billion galaxies. Our milky way galaxy has as its measurement 10,000 light years by 100,000 light years. And where the earth is situated, scientists have discovered, it is perfectly situated for life as we know it. If we were to travel 186,000 miles per second, it would take us 100,000 years to get from one end of our milky way galaxy to the other end of it. Such vastness and yet one of those many stars represents you and one represents me. In Genesis 15, "Then the LORD took Abram outside and said to him, 'Look up into the sky and count the stars if you can. That’s how many descendants you will have!'"

In v.15 of today's passage we read, "And let them be for lights in the firmament of the heavens to give light on the earth"; and it was so."

During each of the first three days of creation God prepared a setting, while, as we will see, each of the second three days God will populate the setting. On the first day of creation, God created light. As we are seeing and will see, God created specific sources of daily and nightly light upon the earth. The light existing before God made the stars, the moon and the sun. Light has always been a priority with God for it represents Himself, it represents the truth or the ability to see accurately. 

God made the stars in order to shed light upon the earth at night and He made the moon to reflect the light of the sun upon the earth at night. The light represents the truth which is the nature of things as they are defined by God. Truth is seeing through all the illusions of the imperfect, all the facades and the unreal images. The Lord Jesus promises the one who follows Him, "The truth will set you free." The truth permits and enables us to view life from God's vantage point. The truth frees us from the distortions that have long prevented us from the light and reality. The one thing we must do in this scenario is to follow Him as He leads.

Genesis 1:11-13

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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. ~ Genesis 1:11-13

Today we continue our study of day 3 in the order of creation. At the beginning of day 3 there was just land and sea. There was nothing alive, nothing growing, just a barren landscape waiting for the hand of God to dazzle us with His magnificent mind. In the most amazing display of wisdom, love, and beauty, God provided grass, fruit, herbs, and trees. I can’t even imagine what the incomplete world was like when God had not yet added His finishing touch upon it.

In v.11-12 of today's passage we read, "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."

By the end of the third day things on earth changed dramatically from the way they were just two short days earlier. It was so breath-taking that God said of it twice "it was good." Then God commanded the earth to bring forth fruit. For the first time in creation, God did not make something out of nothing. Rather, He commanded that which He had made to produce the life.

The phrase, "according to its kind," highlights the fact that there are vast numbers of fossils which show that there are modifications of both plants and creatures within a commonly recognizable group. Dogs are an example of this; there are many kinds of dogs, yet, the different kinds of dogs are of the dog family. Dogs, of whatever variety they are, never mutate into cats or horses or donkeys. They remain forever dogs as do all the other species.

Furthermore, it is quite evident that all living things possess this amazing power to reproduce true to type. It is incredibly difficult to produce real deviations. If we turned all the dogs loose and let them run together, in a relatively short time they would revert to a common ancestral type which would probably be very much like a wolf. The strains which we produced by careful selectivity would simply disappear. Thus modifications are contained within the limits of "each kind."

There has never been mutations that happen vertically, though there is certainly movement horizontally. This defies the evolutionary theory which believes in the principal of transmutation: that over a period of time a species changed and tails fell off and limbs grew. The only problem with this is there has never been any real evidence of this transmutation. If that were true, there wouldn't just be evidence--there'd be an abundance of transmutative forms in our world but they are nowhere to be found. 

In the Bible, the third day is the day of resurrection, the display of the power of God to produce a new life. It is only that which takes place in the power of a new life, or a new birth, or a resurrected life, that can produce a fruitful humanity. It was on the third day that God called forth fruit upon the earth and there became fruit.

Further, the fruit of God is only produced by the life of God which is allowed to work in the soul of a believing human. In the same way that God commanded the earth to bring forth fruit, so He said to the Lord Jesus Christ to rise again and bring forth fruit in the lives of all who believe in Him as Savior. The only thing that makes the fruit possible is the fact that there is the life from Christ within. A Christian is a new being, produced by a new life that has been imparted to him. It is only when we possess that new life that there is any chance at all that we can be what God desires for us.

And, God looked at His world, filled with the beauty of plant life, ready for the animal life that was to be introduced into it, and said, "It is good." His created world pleased God. When the repentant sinner turns to God for forgiveness, God says of that: "It is good." Humility being given safe haven in the heart of a sinner pleases God. We are told in the New Testament that we must die first before life can emerge in and through us; just like a grain of wheat.

In v.13 of today's passage we read, "So the evening and the morning were the third day."

Once again a 24 hour day is described, and, God pulls back the curtain pointing us to the reality of the Fall of man when tempted to be defined by himself. I am so glad that God didn't stop with the bad news. No, He continued on to that third day when the Lord Jesus made it possible for our souls to be filled with hope through His resurrection and our trust in Him. Martin Luther once aptly said, "The cross is the victory, the resurrection is the triumph...The resurrection is the public display of the victory, the triumph of the crucified one." 

The amazing part of the resurrection story was that it produced in the earliest Christians a deeper faith in the Lord Jesus Christ as God. It was against all odds and against all expectations, that those earliest believers believed further, especially due to the fact that believing as they did invited a greater degree of persecution from the unbelieving world. This is what God's recreative work renders in our souls, a deeper conviction that endures no matter what. 

Genesis 1:9-10

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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. ~ Genesis 1:9-10

Today, we return to our study of Genesis 1 wherein God chronicles day 3 when He created the infrastructure for the ultimate place for His highest creation to live. Here, at the end of day three, God completed the work for His remaining creation, as well, to live. God's ultimate purpose of all of this creating was His glory because all of creation, especially man, is not complete unless we are in relationship with Him.

In v.9 of today's passage we read, "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."

Again, we have the words, "Then God said." This is yet another example of God defining things for us. When we ignore God’s Word, we cut ourselves off from the primary source of truth. Being defined by the Lord Jesus Christ is counter-cultural in every society, though often in different ways. In some cultures, it’s the Lord's teaching on marriage and sexuality that offends the culture. In others, it’s His emphasis on grace and generosity and mercy. Sometimes it’s His emphasis on the equality of all peoples as made alike in the image of God. Having said that, there are no better definitions of things in this world than the definitions of God. And, when we seek to follow Him, we will be offended and that is good because His ways, His culture is the best for us.

With the separation of the seas and the dry land, there must have been some incredible cataclysmic upheavals as the shifts in the tectonic plates took place. When all of this happened, the water was plunged downward and gathered into what God called "seas." And, God saw that it was good because water is so essential to life. Three-quarters of this planet is covered in water. Sixty-five percent of your bodies are made out of water. Ninety percent of your blood is made out of water. Water is essential to digestion, reproduction, respiration. 

As God spoke and defined things, the continents, once submerged beneath the oceans, became visible. Science has long discovered that the earth has indeed been under the oceans, and in certain places this has occurred many times. Further, there is considerable evidence that all of the land was once one great undivided mass. The theory of continental drift holds that once they were one great mass, but were later divided and drifted to their present locations. This original unity is suggested here, and the drift theory is confirmed by other biblical and scientific evidence. I mention this to show again the remarkable agreement here with much that science has discovered.

In v.10 of today's passage we read, "And God called the dry land Earth, and the gathering together of the waters He called Seas. And God saw that it was good."

Out of Genesis 1:1-10, we have the three parts of God's creation: the earth, the seas, and the heavens. After the creation of these three, God then saw it was good because it had reached the point where it was inhabitable. God called the waters "seas," not sea, singular, but seas, plural. This meant that though the ocean was one connected body of water, so that sea level is approximately the same anywhere in the world, yet the oceans themselves were divided into large bodies of water. The knowledge that is revealed here in this passage is not primitive at all; It is very up to date. Genesis 1 is thoroughly relevant today and is as meaningful and accurate in its scientific aspects as it is in its moral judgement. Yet, we are commonly told that Genesis 1 is a primitive document, and reflects mythological legends and ideas.

Each of the days of creation consisted of an evening and a morning; an evening which is incomplete, imperfect, unfinished, merging into that which is perfect and complete according to the phase that God desired for the earth at that time. During this period there was the rising of the continents, the weathering of the rocks and the soil forming gradually to make preparation for the plant life that was to follow. But remember too that all this on the physical level is but a manifestation of a parallel spiritual reality. If we do not study Genesis with that well in mind we will miss the great purpose of this book. 

Man's greatest pursuit is God who has defined all things for us. His definitions of life are right. In fact, all things are sacred, it is just that man has devalued what God made as sacred. Man's worst pursuit is that which is different than the culture that God has given us. One might think that Satan is our worst pursuit, and that is true. But who pursues Satan? In fact, since Satan knows he can't get most to follow him directly, his strategy is to get us to follow him indirectly. He does this by getting us to worship and follow ourselves. Every day we have a variety of choices and each choice either goes the pathway of God or the pathway of the self. We are wise to give safe haven in our souls to the culture of God which is made up of His definition of things.

For the believer in Christ, success means growing closer to God. A key aspect in this pursuit is our fight against temptation. Overcoming the temptation to sin or to go our own way is accomplished as we choose daily to be defined by God. We will know that we are being defined by God when we obey His word and follow the leading of His Spirit. Only God knows perfectly what is best for us; when we try to do things our own way, we invariably miss the mark. Obeying God is the only way to know we are doing the right thing in the end. 

Adam and Eve, our first parents, rejected God’s authority and fell into sin. After the Fall, the original state of perfect communion between God and man was broken, meaning that we can no longer know what God wants for us without being told. Even if we don’t immediately understand all of God’s commands, we must trust in His wisdom and obey. Obedience is connected to trust and respect. It actually comes from a Greek word meaning "to hear." When we obey God, it is a sign that we really trust Him and we are really listening to Him. He truly knows what is best for us. If we don’t obey God, we are essentially saying, "I know better than You do, God" which is precisely what happened in the Garden of Eden.

Genesis 1:6-8

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6 Then 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. ~ Genesis 1:6-8

Today, we return to our study of Genesis 1 where the second day of creation is described. This first chapter of Genesis is the key to understanding nature and science. The scientists who are willing to acknowledge that this passage is from God and contains accurate and authentic information about the beginnings of the universe will find that they have been provided with a wonderful framework within which the discoveries of science can provide endless confirmations of the wisdom and the power of God. 

In day one, God separated light from darkness. In day two, God separated heaven from earth.  That’s what the expanse is referring to. Day three, as we shall see, God separated water on earth from dry land. So day one, day two, day three, are all series of separations. Before God could create life He had to separate light from darkness, and create the continuum of light and dark in the 24-hour solar day. He had to separate heaven from the earth, which He did on day two. Then He had to separate the water that is now completely engulfing on day one and two. He had to separate that from the dry land so there would be a place for the fish in the sea and the land life on dry land. Thus the universe was made ready for life in those first three days. Light from dark, heaven from earth, dry land from water.

In v.6-7 of today's passage we read, "6 Then 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."

When God created the earth, He made a firmament above it. The firmament was a vapor canopy which was solid and fixed. Thus the "waters above" kept out all of the harmful solar and electromagnetic radiation. It was like a super ozone layer. The protective layer not only affected the appearance of the skies and the brightness of the sun, but the solar and electromagnetic rays that were kept out certainly allowed people to live for exceptionally long periods of time. 

Since this protective sheath was there, the light that was needed to produce a rainbow was already refracted and therefore no rainbows occurred. When Noah stepped out of the ark and saw the rainbow, he also saw for the first time a completely different view of the heavens. There was no longer a protective sheath there; at that point there was a gentle blue color to the sky. He probably saw the sun much brighter than he’d ever seen it before and he and his family probably got their first sunburn very quickly.

The earth's atmosphere is to this day unique in our solar system. Other planets have an atmosphere, but they do not have one like ours. No other planet has an atmosphere composed of the same gases as earth's and able to support human life as we know it. No other planet has an atmosphere which contains immense quantities of oxygen and also great quantities of nitrogen which is necessary for the health of the soil.

The primary purpose of this firmament or expanse of the atmosphere, according to the Bible, was not to support life. According to the Scriptures, the primary purpose was to provide a platform for suspending billions of gallons of water above the earth. It "divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament." As a matter of fact, the ability of the atmosphere to support animal life did not develop until later when the plants were formed and began their centuries-long process of taking carbon dioxide out of the air and replacing it with oxygen. It was this that made the support of life possible. But the atmosphere's original function and its primary purpose, according to the book of Genesis, was to provide certain gases that would support the cycle which suspends billions of gallons of water in the atmosphere in the form of water vapor, to condense and fall later in our familiar phenomena of rain and snow.

In v.8 of today's passage we read, "And God called the firmament Heaven. So the evening and the morning were the second day."

The word translated here "heaven" literally means "the sky." It refers to the universe and the space above us. So, there was no space until the second day, and God just cut all the way around that sphere and released some of the water and sent it up, creating between the waters above and water below, space.  So, as soon as the firmament was established in the midst of the layer of water, it began to rise, arching like a vault.

In the Bible there is referenced three heavens. In 2 Corinthians 12:2 the Apostle wrote of a man who was caught up in the third heaven. Logic dictates that if there is a third heaven, there must be a first and second heaven. The first heaven is the heaven we can see with our physical eyes. It contains the sun, the moon and the stars. The first heaven is known as the atmospheric heavens including the air that we breathe as well as the space that immediately surrounds the earth. It extends about twenty miles above the earth. The second heaven refers to outer space. Biblically speaking, the second heaven is where Satan rules his evil empire with legions of demons and fallen angels. Demons have power. They have personality. They have purpose. Satan has come to rob, to kill and to destroy. If he can mislead you down a wrong path that will destroy your life’s purpose, he has won the battle. 

Unlike the created first and second heavens, the third heaven is the eternal dwelling place of God and His heavenly host of angels. And ever since the Lord Jesus conquered sin and opened the way to heaven for forgiven sinners, all departed souls that have been redeemed by His blood are now in that third heaven. Since the third heaven is outside of our time and space dimension, it is infinite. And it’s impossible for a finite mind to truly comprehend things of infinite proportion. The exciting news is that the Lord Jesus is preparing a place in the third heaven for all who have come to the end of themselves and have trusted Him as our Savior.

Genesis 1:3-5

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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. ~ Genesis 1:3-5

Today, we return to our study of the book of Genesis. In today's passage we are given God's description of the first day of creation. When God created the heavens and the earth, it was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. This explains why His first work of creation was light. This light was different from the light as we know it on planet earth that emanates from the sun.  

Creation is God calling into existence that which did not exist before. God spoke the world into existence and He made all of the planets to rotate and orbit in perfect harmony. In all of His creation, we see relationship. I have been struck like never before by the fact that God spoke creation into existence, accentuating the utter need for communication in order for relationships to happen and flourish. Communication is essential for community. 

In v.3 of today's passage we read, "Then God said, 'Let there be light'; and there was light." 

On that first day light was created independently of the sun, the moon, and the stars which were created on the fourth day. The order of God's creation shows that light comes from God. He made it. Light did not come in the first place from the sun. On the first day God created light. This light did not come from from the sun because the sun had not yet been created. In 1 Timothy 6:16 we are informed that God dwells in unapproachable light. In the Old Testament we learn of God's shekinah glory; the visible, light-filled presence of God that appeared in the tabernacle and later in the temple. This glory was the manifestation of God and it was there before God created the sun. 

In v.4 of today's passage we read, "And God saw the light, that it was good; and God divided the light from the darkness."

The moment God saw light, He pronounces it "good." Goodness is that which relates in some way to God only in Himself. God is good, and only that which is of Him, or from Him, can be called good. This is why God said light is good, because it is from Him and is characteristic of His nature. In 1 John 1:5 we read, "God is light and in him is no darkness at all." God is light, because the characteristics which we observe in light are also true of God.

This underscores the fact that truth is found at various levels, but is always equally true at any level of meaning. There are two levels at which we can understand truth: In the physical realm, and in the spiritual realm. Light can be viewed from these two levels. Like light, truth is not to be viewed only on the physical level. To limit the truth to just the physical realm is to miss the major point of revelation. In fact, the Apostle Paul used the word "light" in 2 Corinthians 4:6 which reads, "For it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ." 

In v.5 of today's passage we read, "God called the light Day, and the darkness He called Night. So the evening and the morning were the first day."

God called the light "day." The Hebrew word for day is "Yom." God made this world in six twenty-four hour periods. He could have done it in six seconds but He chose to do it in six 24 hour days. Note the order of "evening and the morning." The evening came first. In the Eastern world the day begins at sunset so that each day starts with an evening and ends with a period of light. That is in line with this revelation of the way God works. Each day begins with a period of darkness, and then a period of light. 

This provides for us a picture of our reality. We all began our lives in the grips of death and darkness. And, one day when we trusted in Christ's finished work on the cross, we passed from darkness into His light. We can see this order in the work of the Lord Jesus while on the cross. There was the darkness of the crucifixion, and then the morning of the resurrection which began a new day and a new life. An evening and a morning constituted one day. 

The testimony of Scripture is that those who cling to the darkness, who refuse to be brought into the light, become at last, as Jude described them, "wandering stars for whom is reserved the blackness of darkness forever."  

In Ephesians 2:4-5 we read, "But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ." 

"But God!" What an amazing set of words! There are literally dozens of verses in the Bible that begin with "But God." That phrase underscores the fact that God did something about our worst darkness; He sent His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ to take the penalty we could not pay. God is not a God of indifference or unconcern. He was touched with our misery and He came and He wept and He suffered. He became the poorest of the poor, He felt the pinch of poverty. He was rejected, He was frightened, He felt all of the uncertainty of the trials which come into our lives. And when He had fully identified Himself with us, He went out in indescribable anguish and pain and hung on the cross, subjecting Himself to darkness. He bore the penalty of our sin so that we could come into His light.

Genesis 1:2

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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 1:2

Today, we continue our study of the book of beginnings. When God initially created the earth, it was empty and alone. It was dark. It was unfinished in shape; it was uninhabitable by living things. That was in the beginning. And the Spirit of God was hovering; In so doing, He was bringing order out of disorder. God was creating that which He had yet created. Disorder garners our attention the most because we intrinsically know that it should be about order. Yet, disorder has its purpose. I find that I lack appreciation for order when I am only focused on disorder. But, the presence of disorder makes me long for order.

Some believe there was a gap between Genesis 1:1 and Genesis 1:2. They see an initial creation in v.1 and then a subsequent re-creation in v.2. This is due to the usage of the words, "The earth was," which is a Hebrew word which can be, and often is translated in the Scriptures, "became."  Those who believe in The Gap Theory believe the earth became without form and void. They believe that it was not made that way in the beginning. They point to Isaiah 45:18 which reads, "For thus says the Lord who created the heavens who is God who formed the earth and made it who established it who did not create it in vain." This verse says God did not create the earth in vain. 

Gap theorists point to a cataclysmic pre-Adamic catastrophe took place in between Genesis 1:1 and Genesis 1:2. They explain that between Genesis 1:1 and Genesis 1:2 the fall of Lucifer from heaven took place. According to Gap theorists, when Lucifer fell the whole universe including the earth fell into chaos. They go on to say that out of that chaos God recreated the earth. The Gap theory is embraced in order to explain the signs of death and violence and other marks of sin in the primitive world before the fall of man, and, at the same time, to account for the long geologic ages that scientists insist the earth records.

The traditional interpretation of today's passage is that the earth began as a planet covered by an uninterrupted ocean, which was itself wrapped in darkness. There was no land on the earth, it was simply one great vast body of water covering the whole world, with no life in it. It was empty of created creatures. "And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters." Although the earth was void, God was at work in His universe, interacting with it and creating. In doing so, God gave us a demonstration of connection and of community.

Today's verse provides us with the first distinction made in the Bible about the character of God. The Hebrew word translated "Spirit" can also be translated as "wind." This parallels the words of the Lord Jesus in John 3 where the Lord Jesus explained to Nicodemus how to be made right with God. That conversation between the Lord Jesus and the Pharisee Nicodemus illustrates, as well, connection and community for it led to Nicodemus coming into a personal relationship with His Creator.

The book of Genesis doesn’t tell us "how" God created this world, but the Psalms do. The Genesis account just says He did and then tells us the order in which all this took place. And, everything about the creation account is intended to instruct us concerning the workings of God in relation to man. The earth and in fact the whole universe has been made for our benefit, not God’s. God is complete in Himself, and therefore what He has done and the way in which He’s done it is for us and for our benefit.

In Psalm 8, King David was driven by his awe of the night sky. In considering the heavens that God had made, David asked, what is man’s significance? He concluded that the answer was firmly based in creation, in that God made man just a little lower than the heavenly beings. And yet, God has made man the crown of His creation, with glory and honor. This was due to the fact that God made man uniquely, in His image and likeness. More on that in a few days.  Furthermore, Psalm 8:6–8 reasserts man’s dominion over creation, again echoing creation. Man's meaning and purpose is closely derived out of the fact that God made us in His image in order that we might connect and experience community with Him.

Purpose and meaning, therefore, can never be found in just rocks and fossils and sand and stars as the evolutionists say. This is why science cannot explain life by observation alone. Its field is too limited. It does not involve other great and powerful factors in man's makeup which are as real as anything physical. This is why science, which limits itself completely to the imperical and the observation of events and processes, can never discover God. God moves in invisible ways to accomplish His purposes and to deliver meaning to our souls. To find Him by the methods of science solely will never yield the desired end. The process that takes us from chaos to order is quite instructive for in it we see the development of connection and community.

All of the order in this world screams God's existence. But, if we only conclude there is a God, we have missed the mark. The point of all of this order is that we might seek the Creator, and, when we find Him, that we learn to connect with Him and enjoy His community. This is why the Lord Jesus went to the cross in order to embrace the chaos of the penalty of sin so that we can know the order of a life in community with God. He is the One who bring purposes out of our senselessness. I trust that you have invited Him into your life and that you are learning to let Him define you according to His purposes.

Genesis 1:1

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In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. ~ Genesis 1:1

An understanding of the Bible and God's redemptive plan of mankind begins with a study of the book of Genesis which is quoted more than two hundred times in the New Testament. Genesis is foundational, it tells us about the origin of the universe, the origin of man, the origin of sin and the fall of man, the origin of marriage, the origin of human government, the origin of the nation of Israel through whom the Messiah came.

The book of Genesis, written by Moses, covers 2,500 years of human history. From the Fall of man in the early chapters to the death of Joseph, we discover that Genesis has three main divisions. The first is Genesis 1-2 which is about creation. The second section is Genesis 3-11, degeneration. And then the last section, Genesis 12-50, is about regeneration. Genesis is divided into four events and four people, The four events are: Creation, The Fall, The Flood, The Tower of Babel. Then the four people are: Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Joseph.

Today's verse begins with: "In the beginning." We can't go back any further than that. And, when we tally up the time, many speculate that the earth is around 10,000 years old. Some say it is as young as 6,000 years old. And, then there are those who teach the Gap Theory which presents the earth as millions of years old. It really doesn't matter at the end of the day how old the earth is; The main thing is that God created it with its time, force, action, space, and matter. "In the beginning," that's the time. "God," that's the force. "Created," that's the action. "The heavens," that's the space. "And the earth," that's the matter. 

The Bible assumes God's existence. Many try to eliminate God out of the equation but no matter how far back we go into the farthest reach of the past, we still would not have answered the question: "How did it all begin?" Until we acknowledge there must be some first uncaused cause, we will not have drawn any plausible conclusion. Many have sought to eliminate God from the beginning because as Romans 1 tells us, they did not wish to retain God in their minds. As soon as we acknowledge there is a God, we are then made accountable to Him. The so-called "theory of evolution" was invented in order to try to eliminate the God of the Bible. The goal of the evolutionists was to try to do away with universal morality and universal guilt and universal accountability. Evolution was invented to eliminate the judge and leave people free to do whatever they want without guilt and without consequences. But, it makes no sense to believe in time plus chance plus nothing. The idea that the universe was created by chance, without no ultimate creator and design and purpose is not logical.

God didn't tell us a lot about His creative process. In fact, there are only 630 words used by God to describe the origin of everything. He spent far more time talking about people like Abraham than He did creation. This merely reminds us that the purpose of Genesis isn't a biology lesson. God, the Author of all, has endeavored to show us briefly the origin of all things and then to take us quickly to reveal to us His redemptive heart.

The modern mind believes that evolution is such a done deal and such a closed case that it can't even be argued. Some of the most brilliant minds in the scientific community would say, "not so fast, my friend!" These say it is not a closed case because evolution is even more speculative today than it was when Darwin presented his "theory" to the world. In fact, Molecular biologist Michael Denton said, "The evolutionary theory is still, as it was in Darwin's time, a highly speculative hypothesis entirely without direct factual support." 

One of the glaring problems Charles Darwin saw with his "evolutionary theory" was the fossil record. He knew that there were huge gaps, inexplicable by him, in the fossil record that paleontology did not agree with. But he also believed and stated that time would vindicate him. That the more we study the fossil record the more we will know that evolution is a fact. Well, in over one hundred and twenty years since Darwin's time we have discovered this not to be so. In fact, the curator of the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago writes, "We are now over 120 years after Darwin and the knowledge of the fossil record has been greatly expanded. We now have a quarter of a million fossil species but the situation hasn't changed much. We have fewer examples of evolutionary transition than we had in Darwin's time."

Anyone who believes in evolution has to have way more faith than the creationist because evolution teaches that over billions of years just random time and space created by nothing is responsible for this highly complex carbon life in our biosphere. The evolutionist rejects the idea that "God has placed eternity in our hearts." They reject Augustine's words, "You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our hearts are restless until they rest in you." They reject the words of C.S. Lewis who said, "If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world." And, it takes far more faith to believe in that than to believe, "In the beginning God created."