FIC Home

                                            Hyperlinks

                                    Facts about Creation 

Gen 1:1 In the beginning - Notice it says in the beginning not from the beginning God Himself has always existed. This is the begging of creation as we know it today.

 CREATED. (Gen. 1:1) bara (bah-rah); Strong’s #1254: To form or fashion, to produce, to create. Originally this verb carried the idea of “carving” or “cutting out,” and that concept is still expressed by the intensive verbal form in Joshua 17:18, referring to “cutting” down trees to “clear out” the land. This suggests that creating is similar to sculpturing. Thus bara is a fitting word to describe both creating by bringing into existence and creating by fashioning existing matter into something new, as God did in “creating” man (Gen. 1:27) out of dust from the ground. God is always the subject of the verb bara in its standard form; creating is therefore a divine capacity.

“By faith we understand that the world was framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible” (Heb. 11:3).

 “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. - Some see a time gap between Gen 1:1 and 1:2 in which they place long geological ages and the chaos stemming from the fall of Satan to earth, they say their were cave men and prehistoric dinosaurs in this time. If, however, God originally created the earth as formless and empty, there is no need for such a gap. For this to be true. Adam and Eve would have had to been walking on bones of dead creatures and dead men. This is in stark contrast with scripture which clearly says that death entered into the world by one man Adam (Rom 5:12). Death did not enter into the world until Gen 3.

Genesis 1:2  introduces three environments for God’s first step in creation (1) an empty and formless earth, (2) a formless mass cloaked in darkness, and (3) the Spirit of God hovering over the surface. The words “formless” and “empty” can be literally translated “unformed and unfilled.” This phrase is the literary key to the creation account. In the first three days the earth was “formed,” and in the second three it was “filled.” The arrangement of those first six days shows a clear order in God’s creation. Day’s one, two, and three move creation from a formless to a formed state. Day’s four, five, and six move creation from an empty to a filled state. Order and population form the thrust of God’s creative work. Genesis 1 outlines God’s creation of the world and everything in it.

The earth was empty, a formless mass. This traditional translation teaches that God created everything out of nothing. Therefore, his first step was to create the earth, which prior to that time did not exist, and he created it without form and population (empty). God then proceeded to shape and populate the world he had made as witnessed by the Genesis account. This framework with its beginning and ending statements substantiates the argument for 1:1 (“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth”) being independent of Gen1:2 (“The earth was empty, a formless mass”) and standing alone as a comprehensive statement of God’s creative work. Gen 1:1 is a title that refers to the whole creative process described in Genesis 1:2 extending to 2:3. It is not a simple introduction that notes when God began to create. Literary form supports the conclusion that Genesis 1:1 is an independent and general statement of God’s total creative activity from its start to its Sabbath wholeness. The phrase “heavens and the earth,” in 1:1, functions much like the English idioms “A to Z” or “top to bottom.” It is a phrase that covers not only the “heaven” and the “earth,” but everything in between as well. This reveals that God created, that he created in the beginning, and that his creative work involved the heavens, the earth and everything in between (see Gen 2:4). Back to the Top

                                                                    Time Began

God created Gen1:1 not only denotes the beginning of all visible things, but also the beginning of time. In the account of creation God gave us times and seasons, and set everything into motion. Time effects due to motion were observed in the 1970s. Researchers placed atomic clocks on commercial airliners and observed the changes relative to similar clocks on the ground. When the planes traveled east in the direction of the earths rotation, the clocks on the planes were 59 nanoseconds or 59 billionths of a second slower to the atomic clocks on the ground. When the planes traveled west in the opposite direction of the earths rotation. The clocks were 273 billionths of a second fast. Its obvious the changes in the time were due to the earths rotation. Gravity effects time if you were to put an atomic clock on top of a mountain it reads different than one placed below sea level. Not much of a deference, but it is different and measurable This is in direct agreement with Einstein's theory of relativity, which includes how time changes with motion. This gives us proof time is a physical property that came into existence when God created all things time space and matter.

In an imaginary experience of two boys born at the same time when sending one to the nearest star Alpha Centauri which is about four and a half light years away. Traveling at half the speed of light if that was possible. Its been computed that it would take him nine years to get there and nine years to get back on our clock, earth time. On the clock that he is carrying with him that's a different thing. He will return to the earth two years and five months younger than his twin brother who has been here on earth. Einstein's theory of relativity is no longer a theory its been proven in fourteen different ways. The Bible speaks of so called science, because some things cannot be proven or has not been proven. Such as evolution, and many other fallacies declared today. But there is true science.

Time varies with mass, acceleration, and other various different properties. God is as the Bible declares all powerful inhabiting eternity, and even His eternal power is seen in creation. God lives out side of time, and sees the begging to the end all at once. God is not somebody who has lots of time on His hand. God is all powerful. Not subject to mass acceleration or gravity. He lives outside of time all together. Back to the Top

                                    The Wisdom and Power of God Displayed

Creation speaks of the wisdom power, and knowledge of God. The size of the universe is staggering. The sun is so large that it could hold 1.3 million planets the size of earth inside it. It takes sunlight, traveling at 186,000 miles per second, about 8.5 minutes to reach earth. Yet that same light would take more than four years to reach the nearest star, Alpha Centauri, some 24 trillion miles from earth. The galaxy to which our sun belongs, the Milky way, contains hundreds of billions of stars, and astronomers estimate there's millions, or billions of galaxies. They've estimated the number of stars in our galaxy to be 1025. That's about the number of all the grains of sand on all the worlds’ beaches. Donald B. Young speaking about the Anthropic Principle. Which says the universe is carefully designed for the well being of mankind? That a change in the rate of earth’s rotation around the sun or on its axis would be catastrophic. If the moon were much nearer to the earth, huge tides would inundate the continents. A change in the gases that make up our atmosphere would be fatal to life. A slight change in the mass of the proton would result in the destruction of the universe, because hydrogen is its dominate element. Back to the Top

Regarding the word day (yôm). They are literal 24-hour days of divine activity. In favor of this view is the fact that the term yôm with an ordinal (first, second, etc.) adjective means 24-hour days wherever this construction occurs in the Old Testament. Also the normal understanding of the fourth commandment (Ex. 20:11) would suggest this interpretation.

Day 1. Gen 1:3-5 And God said, Let there be light: and there was light. 

God’s first creative word produced light. The light was natural, physical light. Its creation was an immediate victory because it dispelled darkness. Light and darkness in the Bible are also symbolic of good and evil. Jesus is the light of the world, and was crucified before the foundation of the world.

Here began God’s work which will culminate in the age to come when there will be no darkness (Rev. 22:5). Israel would know that God is Light—and that the Truth and the Way are with Him. In the darkness of Egypt (Ex. 10:21-24) they had light; and in the deliverance they followed His light (Ex. 13:21).

 God the Covenant-Maker (Gen. 1:3-5). From the beginning, God is revealed as the covenant-maker. Jeremiah referred to God’s activity in creation as acts of covenant (Jer. 33:20), speaking of God’s “covenant with the day” and “covenant with the night.” Thereby, the unchangeable character of God’s nature is emphasized as His relationship with all of His creation is portrayed as an immutable bond under His sovereign administration.^[1]

Day 2. Gen 1:6-8  ⁶And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters. 

On the second day God separated the atmospheric waters from the terrestrial waters by an arching expanse, the sky. This suggests that previously there had been a dense moisture enshrouding the earth. God’s work involves making divisions and distinctions.

Day 3. Gen 1:9-13  ⁹And God said, Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear: and it was so. 

Dry land with its vegetation was formed on the third day. Vegetation is part of the ordered universe of the true God. There is no cyclical, seasonal myth to explain it. God started it, once and for all. Moreover, while pagans believed in deities of the deep as forces to be reckoned with, this account shows that God controls the boundaries of the seas (cf. Job 38:8-11). Notice God said let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after His kind in verse 11. Jesus is the last Adam. I do not believe it coincidental that the scripture uses the male gender as to bringing forth the herb seed after His kind. Nor is it coincidental that it's on the third day of creation. It is prophetic of Christ and the resurrection for He is the first fruits from the dead, and on the third day He rose from the dead (1Co 15:20-26, and 35-38).

Day 4. Gen 1:14-19  ¹⁴And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years: 

Day four included the sun to rule (govern, v. 16) the day and the moon and the stars to rule the night.

These heavenly bodies were to serve as signs for seasons and days and years (v. 14). These terms, as well as “day” and “night” in verse 5, are meaningless without the existence of the sun and the rotation of the planets.

In astrology unbelievers use stars and planets for guidance, but the Bible says they merely display the handiwork of God (Ps. 19:1). What folly to follow astrological charts of the Babylonians or worship the sun god in Egypt; rather, one should trust the One who made these objects in the heavens. However, many humans repeatedly reject the Creator to worship the Creation (Rom. 1:25).

 Day 5. Gen 1:22-23  ²⁰And God said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life, and fowl that may fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven. 

The great creatures of the sea and the air were created on the fifth day. In this section (v. 21) is the second use of bārā’ (“created”; cf. v. 1). Great creatures of the deep, worshiped as dragons and monsters in the ancient world, were nothing more than creations by Almighty God. Moreover, fertility of life comes from the blessing of the true God (v. 22).

 Day 6. Gen 1:24-31  ²⁴And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after his kind: and it was so.

Day six was Creation’s climax for it included mankind. Though man was the last creature mentioned in the account, he did not evolve; he was created.

Human life was created in (lit., “as,” meaning “in essence as”) the image of God (v. 27). This image was imparted only to humans (2:7). “Image” (ṣelem) is used figuratively here, for God does not have a human form. Being in God’s image means that humans share, though imperfectly and finitely, in God’s nature, that is, in His communicable attributes (life, personality, truth, wisdom, love, holiness, justice), and so have the capacity for spiritual fellowship with Him.

God’s purpose in creating human life in His image was functional: man is to rule or have dominion (1:26, 28). God’s dominion was presented by a “representative.” (Egyptian kings later, in idolatry, did a similar kind of thing: they represented their rule or dominion by making representative statues of themselves.) However, because of sin all things are not under man’s dominion (Heb. 2:8). But Jesus Christ will establish dominion over all the earth (Heb. 2:5-8) at His second coming.

 Man’s Dominion over Creation (Ps. 8:4-8). Not only was man intrinsically distinct from the rest of creation, he was given authority over the earth and everything upon it. Man was made to rule (v. 6). Our ability to exercise authority over the earth is dependent on our willingness to submit to, serve, and obey the living God who holds authority over us.

 The sin of one man, Adam, corrupted the world. The continued sinfulness of mankind caused the Flood (6:12-13). In contrast, the obedience of one Man, Jesus Christ, brought justification and righteousness to many (Rom. 5:18-19). If redeemed men were to walk in that justification and righteousness, could they not cause the world to bloom and blossom? God wants to reveal His truth and beauty to the world only through redeemed mankind. Although we know that only through the 2cd coming of Christ will this take place.

 HUMAN WORTH - Fallen though he be, man is still deemed by the Almighty to be of inestimable worth. Though incapable of saving himself, man—as creature—represents God’s highest and best, made in His image and intended for His glory. In the light of Christ’s will to spend His own life for man’s redemption, an eternal insight into the worth of man from God’s viewpoint is gained (1 Pet. 1:18-19). Thus, in our understanding, essential to personal growth and relational development with both God and man is a biblical perspective on the fundamental value of the individual, both in God’s sight and in your own. Having created man in His image, God has invested unmeasurable worth in each being. His quest for the redemption of sinful, fallen man is evidence not only of God’s love but of His wisdom in working to retrieve that which is of infinite value to Him. Man is a spiritual being who is not only body, but also soul and spirit. He is a moral being whose intelligence, perception, and self-determination far exceed that of any other earthly being. Capacity and ability constitute accountability and responsibility. We should never be pleased to dwell on a level of existence lower than that on which God has made it possible for us to dwell. We should strive to be the best we can be and to reach the highest levels we can reach. To do less is to be unfaithful stewards of the life entrusted to us. (See Ps. 8:4-5; 139:13-14.)

 Hayford, Jack W. ; Thomas Nelson Publishers: Hayford's Bible Handbook. Nashville : Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1995

 God pronounced His blessing on the male and the female: they were to be fruitful and increase in number. In Genesis, to be blessed was to be enriched and fertile. Such marvelous decrees of God would be significant for Israel that was God’s representative on earth. She would enter the land of promise and would expect God’s continued blessing.

 Day 7. Gen 2:1-3  ¹Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. ²And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made.

The seventh day was the day of rest, the Sabbath. The structure of verses 2 and 3 in the Hebrew is well ordered in its clauses with parallel emphases on the adjective seventh. The number “seven” often represents the covenant (the verb “swear” is related etymologically); thus it is no surprise that the Sabbath became the sign of God’s covenant at Sinai (Ex. 31:13, 17).

God blessed the seventh day and made it holy (sanctified it) because it commemorated the completion or cessation of His creative work. God’s Sabbath rest became a predominant motif of Scripture. Here before the Fall it represented the perfect Creation, sanctified and at rest.

     After the Fall this rest became a goal to be sought. The establishment of theocratic rest in the land, whether by Moses or by Joshua at the Conquest, demanded faith and obedience. Today believers enter into that Sabbath rest spiritually (Heb. 4:8-10) and will certainly share in its full restoration.

The account of Creation, seen through the eyes of the new nation of Israel in Moses’ day, had great theological significance.

     Out of the chaos and darkness of the pagan world God brought His people, teaching them the truth, guaranteeing them victory over all powers in heaven and earth, commissioning them to be His representatives, and promising them theocratic rest. So too it would encourage believers of all ages. Back to the Top

FIC Home