DETAIL STUDY : THE CREATION IN GENESIS

INTRODUCTION

We believe that God is the Creator of all things.
let’s make a detailed study of this much accepted but little understood question that troubles many students today.
Some Bible teachers steer clear of this subject because of the bitter struggle between the theories of evolution and so-called science. I Tim. 6:20.
We gladly take our place with John in Rev. 4:11, “Thou art worthy, 0 Lord, to receive glory and honor and power: for Thou hast created all things, and for Thy pleasure they are and were created.” True, there may be many things that we do not understand but that does not influence ion or undermine our belief in God as our Creator.

I. THE AUTHOR OF GENESIS AND THE CREATION STORY
Gen 1:1, “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.”
We accept the first verse and all succeeding verses of the Bible as the infallible, inspired Word of God .
Who wrote Genesis? Was the author present at creation? Who gave him the details?
We believe that Moses wrote this book; in fact he wrote the first five books.
Genesis is accepted as the Word of God and is quoted more than sixty times in books in the New Testament.
In Matt.19:4-6, Jesus refers to the beginning of time and the creation of Adam and Eve.
In Matt. 24 :37-39, Jesus refers to the details of the flood.
God gave the story of creation to Adam as a revelation of past history.
As God is capable of foretelling the future, He can accurately reveal the past.
(Perhaps a playback of a tape recording for Moses to hear!) We admire the beauty, brevity, logic and simpleness of the creation story, particularly as we contrast it with existing human accounts of creation.
The resurrected Christ in remonstrating with the disciples on the Emmaus road began to teach them from the beginning and so Luke 24 :27 says He began at Moses. Cf. Luke 24 :44.

II. THE PURPOSE OF THE CREATION STORY IN GENESIS
Some see only difficulties, contradictions and scientific puzzles here. What do you see? I see God revealing Himself as the powerful Creator. We see Him as a God of order, logic, reason and masterful planning. The purpose of Genesis is not to answer all the questions of man.
The purpose is not to make us astronomers or geologists.
The purpose of this story is to lead us into worship of God Himself.

III. THE DATE OF CREATION
Here is where the controversy rages between evangelicals and evolutionists.
The scientists maintain from the study of geology etc. that the earth is a few million years old and others say that it is only 6,000 years old.
Perhaps both sides are correct and a misunderstanding has arisen because of the unknown length of time between Gen. 1:2 and Gen. 1 :3.
The figure 6,000 years is quite accurate as the length of man’s existence on earth.

Gen. 1:1 refers to a date much earlier, maybe millions of years earlier, we do no know the time of the original creation of the world.
Reason demands that whatever God created would be perfect. Gen. 1:10 ,12,18,21,25. We are assured that verse 2 does not refer to the original perfect creation but describes the desolation after some cataclysmal event after the original creation.
Gen. 1:2 infers that something terrible has happened; a great calamity; terrible punishment; “without form and void”; darkness describes the awful condition.
We believe that the events of Ezek. 28 :12-15 and Isa. 14,:9-14 fit in here; these pas sages describe the fall of Satan which was previous to the story of Gen. 3:1-7 From Gen. 1:3 we have the story of the new beginning of the world.
Jer. 4 :23-26 describes in greater detail the condition of Gen. 1 :2.

IV. FACTS IN SUPPORT OF THE BIBLICAL ACCOUNT OF CREATION
1. The Biblical account of all sacred books proclaims that there is but one God, who by a spoken Word created all things.
2. Note the wonderful design in division of the land and water, air and atmosphere.
If the level of the ocean were to rise a few feet, large portions of land would be submerged. (Sahara Desert would become a lake, etc.)
Considering heat and evaporation of water, the balance is maintained.
The air is perfectly balanced with oxygen and nitrogen (ratio 21-79).
No physical or chemical law maintains this balance; kept by creative power of God. The lavishness of creation; hundreds of varieties of birds, flowers, animals, herbs, fruits, fish, trees and ferns. Evolution could not provide this.
3. A study of history and primitive man shows the savagery and natural brutality man as mentioned in Genesis as a result of the fall.
An isolated tribe, newly discovered will be an instance of degeneration.
Animals are not brutal like man. The male of a beast does not maltreat his female the animal does not continually eat foods that harm him; this is a mark of degenerate mankind. Brutality is the result of the fall.

V. THE PROGRESSION OF CREATION OR RECONSTRUCTION
The Bible speaks of six creative days; Some argue that each day was a Millennium long in accordance with II Pet. 3:8; I believe that they were days of 24 hours only.
Geologists tell us that the order of creation follows earth patterns;
First day: night, with the division of light and darkness; day and night, Gen. 1:3-5.
Second day: firmament–division of atmosphere and water, Gen. 1:6-8.
Third day: dry land–division of land and water–grass, herbs, trees, Gen. 1:9-13.
Fourth day: sun, moon, stars, division of day and night rulers, Gen. 1:14-19.
Fifth day: life, fish, fowl, whales, Gen. 1 :20-23.
Sixth day: creatures, cattle, creeping things, beasts, and lastly man, Gen. 1:24-31.
“And God saw that it was good” is the chorus that echoes day by day.
VI. MAN CREATED IN THE IMAGE AND AFTER HIS LIKENESS
“Image” means the shadow or outline of a figure.
“Likeness” denotes the resemblance of that shadow to the figure.
“In the creation story the two words are practically synonymous.” -Dr. Wm. Evans
1 Cor 11:7., “He is the image and glory of God: but the woman is the glory of the man.” A free translation of Gen. 1 :26, “Let us make man in Our image to be Our likeness.”
1. The image of God does not denote physical likeness for God is a spirit and a spirit does not have parts and passions as a man does.

2. The two expressions mean more than man having dominion over nature.
3. From Scripture we learn that it means knowledge, righteousness and holiness.
It refers to moral likeness not physical likeness.
Eph 4:23,24, “. . . and that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.”
Col 3:10, “And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of Him that created him.”

CONCLUSION
Adam and Eve were created with intelligence for Adam named the animals.
The evoluted man, they say, started from ignorance and developed.
Man was created with moral and spiritual qualities and could have resisted Satan.
The creation that came from God was pronounced “good” for no evil comes from God. ?In the beginning God”–let God be in all our beginnings.

From the book – 100 Bible lessons, Alban Douglas
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