THE CREATION

Who wrote Genesis? Age-old Hebrew and Christian tradition answers: "Moses." God gave Moses by direct revelation the information in this "creation -hymn" (1:1-2:3), a poetic description, in measured, majestic movement, of the successive steps of creation, cast in the mold of the oft-recurring Biblical "seven."

Genesis is the book of beginnings. It records the beginning of the universe, man, woman, marriage, the family, sin, the Hebrew nation, and other beginnings.

The "Creation Hymn" (Gen. 1:1-2:3) is followed by ten (10) "Books of Generations" which constitute the framework of Genesis. These eleven documents are:

These eleven documents, originally the family records of God's Chosen Line, and kindred families, which compose the book of Genesis, cover the first 2000 years of man's history from the creation of Man to the settlement of God's chosen people in Egypt. Genesis begins with CREATION; it ends with Joseph in a COFFIN in Egypt (Gen. 50:26).

"In the beginning. . ." (Gen. 1:1): This was the beginning of the first creation of the "heaven and the earth." Nothing is said which enables us to fix the date of their creation. Nothing is revealed concerning their appearance. Nothing is added to gratify the curious. This "beginning" will take care of thousands of millions of years of which some glibly speak regarding "geologic ages."

"God created. . ." (Gen. 1:1): The "beginning" refers to the time of creation, not to the beginning of God. God had no beginning. "Time" is that part of eternity that gives to man an earthly existence. There will come a time when "Time shall be no mare" (Rev. 10:6). Time is a brief period sandwiched between two expanding eternities. God is eternal. God is the UNCAUSED CAUSE of all material existence. "WHO MADE GOD?" No one. God has always been! God was from the beginning (Psa. 90:2; Heb. 11:3). This verse denies atheism (Psa.14:1), and polytheism (many gods). God created matter. "This is my Father's world" (Malbtie D. Babcock, THOUGHTS FOR EVERY-DAY LIVING, New York, Charles Scribner's Sons, 1901, page 180). God existed before material things were created. Existence, then. can be viewed with trust, not tragically.

"The heaven and the earth" (Gen. 1:1: This is the record of the beginning of all that man sees, knows, and feels. "Heaven" is God's abode. It is the chief goal of God's redeemed people. "Earth" is man's abode and the footstool of God (Isa. 66:1). This "heaven" is to be distinguished from "the heavens" that are referred to as the air, the sky, etc. This is the "third heaven" of II Cor. 12:2 the place to which Jesus went following his resurrection (Acts 1:11), the one Stephen saw opened (Acts 7:56).

"The earth" was perfect and complete (Isa. 45:18). Between verses 1 and 2 was an INDETERMINATE PERIOD which ended in a Divine judgment brought about by withdrawal of Light (Job. 9:4-7). Was this when Satan sinned and was cast out of heaven (Jeremiah 4:23-26) and marred God's beautiful earth?

"And the earth was without form, and void" (Gen. 1:2): It has been suggested that the word "was" in Genesis 1:2 should be translated "BECAME," and that some terrible catastrophe marred the perfection of the earth as God created it in Genesis 1:1. This formless mass was vacant, enveloped in an abyss of darkness. The "Spirit of God" hovered above it, as a bird hovers over its nest.

"And God said, Let there be LIGHT. . ." (Gen. 1:3): The word "God" appears in Genesis 1 thirty-two (32) times. God commanded that there "BE LIGHT." Before this all was darkness. God was His own light, but the abyss of space was darkness. "There was light"-a fact. Jesus whom we know as God's Son is the medium of creating light (Col. 1:16). Light is good. Light drives out darkness; that is good (Gen. 1:4).

Only the wicked choose the dark, and hate the "light" (John 3:19; Prov. 4:19; Ex. 10:21-22; Eph. 2:2-12; Luke 23:44, 45).

Light and darkness have nothing in common. Spiritually Jesus is the Light of the world (John 8:12). We are to reflect His light (Matt. 5:14-16). Heaven is a place of perpetual light (Rev. 21:23; 22:5)!

"And God called the light Day. . ." (Gen. 1:5): Were these "days" of (24) hours, or long successive periods? The word "day" has variable meanings. In Gen. 1:14, 16 it seems to mean a 12-hour day. In Gen. 2:4 it seems to cover the whole period of creation. In passages such as Joel 3:18, Acts 2:20, John 16:23, "THAT DAY" seems to mean the whole Christian era. In such passages as II Tim. 1:12 it seems to refer to the era beyond the Lord's Second Coming. In Psalm 90:4 and II Pet. 3:8, "One day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day."

"Light." (Gen. 1:5). Light must have been included in the "heavens and earth" that were created in the "beginning." But the earth's surface must have been still in darkness, because the cooling earthcrust, covered with boiling waters, must have sent up dense layers of mists and gases that completely shut out the sun's light. Light, and the succession of Day and Night, were established on the earth's surface when the cooling processes had diminished the density of the fog sufficiently for LIGHT to penetrate. The Sun itself did not become visible till the fourth day.

"God. . Let there be a firmament" (Gen. 1:6): Or, expanse called "heaven" (verse 8). It means the atmosphere, or layer of air, between the water-covered earth and the clouds above, made possible by the cooling of the earth's water, still warm enough to make clouds that hide the sun.

The region above the earth, the air and all space between the earth and the "third heaven" where God dwells, is the `firmament or expanse.

Without air with its chemical elements there could be no light, or life. What appears to be the blue dome or sky, scientists say, is nothing more than the darkness that surrounds the earth pushed back a distance of about forty-five (45) miles. Above this is frigid darkness. See Psalm 104:2.

"Waters …. dry land" (Gen. 1:9, 1C1): The earth’s surface, till now it seems, had been wholly covered with water. Continual breaking of newly-formed thin crust must have kept the earth's surface smooth like a liquid ball. The crust, as it became cooler and thicker, began to buckle up. Islands and continents began to appear. Three-fourths of the earth's surface is still water. God commanded the waters to gather in one place; He called the waters "Seas." The land God called "Earth."

"After his kind. . :' (Gen. 1:11): This principle is stated ten (10) times in this chapter. It is applied to both vegetable and animal life, including man. This process of propagation has never been changed. IT COMPLETELY DESTROYS THE THEORY OF ORGANIC EVOLUTION. Man has always been man, vegetables have always been vegetables; fish have always been fish. The "missing link" between animals and man is still missing! Remember that organic evolution is a theory-it has never been proven!

"God. . . Let there be lights in the firmament" (Gen. 1:14): The sun, moon, and stars must have been created "in the beginning." On the "first day" their light must have penetrated the earth's mists (Gen.1:3), while they themselves were not visible. But now, due to the lessened density of clouds, as a result of further cooling of the earth, they become visible on earth. The seasons came when the earth's surface ceased to receive heat from within, and became dependent on the sun as its only source of heat.

The sun, moon, and stars (15-18) were created to divide night from day, to be "for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years." The sun is the "greater light," and the center of our solar system. The planets, of which the moon is chief are cold badies and reflect the light of the sun. "Twinkle, twinkle, little star." Stars send forth rays of their own light; planets do not. Light travels at 186,000 miles per second. Some of these stars are so far away their light has never reached the earth, so scientists tell us.

"Let the waters bring forth. . . and fowl" (Gen. 1:20): Note the progression. On the first and second days, inanimate things were created. On the third day, vegetable life. On the fifth day, animal life. Just why fowls were created at the time fish were created we are not told. This is the record of the first animate life to be created. The process of creation is from the lower to the higher, and is the only basis for any claim of evolutionists.

"And God said, Let the earth bring forth. . ." (Gen. 1:24): The cattle are represented as having been produced from the earth. They are given a three-fold classification: "Cattle"--domesticated animals, roughly Herbivora; "creeping things' -- reptiles, insects, and very small quadrupeds; and "beasts of the earth"--wild beasts, roughly Carnivora. "And it was so. . . . God saw it was good" (verses 24, 25).

"And God said, Let us make man in our image" (Gen. 1:26): God's crowning work was man. All else was created for man.

"Let us": `God is deliberating with his own family; Father; Holy Spirit (2); and the Son "through whom all things were made" (John 1:3; Col. 1:16; Heb. 1:2). "Our image": Man like his Creator is immortal, a spiritual and rational creature. Man can commune with God and through the new birth (John 3:5) actually becomes a "son of God" (Heb. 2:10). Man has a conscience; he knows when he does wrong. He is accountable for his rebellion against God (Psa. 139:14; Gen. 6:6; Heb. 4:12). The Christian will have a new glorified body (Phil. 3:21; I Cor. 15:35ff; I Thess. 4:14ff).

"Let them have dominion. . .' (Gen. 1:26): God made man to rule over the earth and all life (verses 28, 29), but "his lordship was wrested from him by Satan. However, there is a glorious world in the making over which one day re-created man will reign supreme" (Heb. 2:5-8). "So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them" (verse 27). God blesses them (verse 28) and gives them power to multiply and fill the earth. The universe is rooted in the thought and activity of God, and of man as being His offspring. The food of both man and beast is pointed out in verses 29, 30. After the flood, men received authority from God to use the flesh of animals as well as green herbs for food (Gen. 9:3).

"And God saw everything. . . it was very good" (Gen. 1:31): The creation of man and his installation as ruler on the earth brought the creation of all earthly things to a close. God saw His work, and "behold, it was very good," that is, everything was perfect in its kind, so that every creature might accomplish the purpose of its existence. "Very good" would deny the existence of anything evil in the creation of God.