FIRST MAJOR EVENT

: CREATION - Chapters 1-2

. 1:1, IN THE BEGINNING GOD CREATED THE HEAVEN AND THE EARTH.

A."In the beginning God" is the foundation of all revealed religion. Note the remarkable parallelism: IN THE BEGINNING, Time -- GOD, Energy -- CREATED, Action -- THE HEAVENS, Space -- AND THE EARTH, Matter (Five fundamentals of scientific knowledge in the first ten words! --TEASM!)

B.That first statement of ten words is sublimely simple; Yet it is the foundation of all that is to follow. Let us be aware that only God can tell us about it, for only He was there -- The Bible is His record.

C.No date is given for the beginning; We do not know the exact age of the earth or of any of the universe.

1.Science does not know, and the Bible does not say.

2.Earth (as Adam) may have been created with apparent age.

D.These first ten words are not only positive, but also negative -- The statement denies all major false philosophies:

1.GOD: Denies Atheism (no god) and Polytheism (many gods).

2.CREATED: Denies Fatalism (doctrine of chance) and Evolution (doctrine of infinite becoming).

3.HEAVEN AND EARTH: Denies Pantheism (God and the universe are identical) and Materialism (the eternity of matter).

E.All the wonders of the creation and formation of the universe and all within it is not discussed or given in detail; No dates or methods are given. Perhaps most speculation is out of order, whether in an effort either to deny or to substantiate the Genesis account.

F.ELOHIM CREATED: In Hebrew, there is a plural noun and a singular verb. The plural noun is used as a singular; That demonstrates a plural number of Personalities in one Godhead; But at the same time it shows us this Plural Deity is a Unity -- Oneness in Majesty, Rulership, Nature, Purpose - cf Jn 1:1; also note Col 1:12-19; 2:9; and Heb 1:1-2. The Plurality comes softly to view again in verse 26; cf Mt 28:19. Thus with brevity the first verse introduces the Godhead, which we do not understand, but which we accept by faith - 2Co 5:7. The uniplural noun ELOHIM (a plural name with a singular meaning, indicated by the fact that it is used with a singular verb) is used in Deu 6:4 (note the singular "is") as a contrast to paganism's plural gods who were not one - Deu 6:14. So God the Son was there in the beginning, even before the beginning, in that He has forever been co-equal with the Father - Mic 5:2; Jn 8:58; 10:30; Compare Isa 44:6 with Rev 1:11,17; 22:13. This amazing truth is just one of the things that shows us the greatness of God; Greatness that is beyond our ability to comprehend - Isa 40:28; Psa 147:5.

G.CREATED: Caused existence where there had been nothing. 1.Before THE BEGINNING the world was not - Heb 11:3.

a.So it is old (it is from THE BEGINNING).

b.But it is not eternal - Heb 1:10-12; Psa 33:6,9; Ac 14:15; Col 1:15-17.

2.But Deity was eternal, and is eternal - Psa 90:2.

H.The atheist denies this because he has an unreasonable "faith," in that he "believes" that God does not exist, that matter is eternal, and that matter created mind and life from dead matter, all purely by accident and chance!

1.He says he cannot accept that which he cannot comprehend.

2.But how about gravity? Life? Mind? Senses?

3.Genesis is not a treatise on science; It just begins with GOD; But where it touches on science, history, or any other subject, it is accurate; No critical contradiction has ever been shown.

1:2, AND THE EARTH WAS WITHOUT FORM, AND VOID; AND DARKNESS [WAS] UPON THE FACE OF THE DEEP. AND THE SPIRIT OF GOD MOVED UPON THE FACE OF THE WATERS.

A.WITHOUT FORM: Formless, not yet molded, without arrangement.

B.VOID: Empty, lifeless.

C.THE DEEP: A mass of matter? Or perhaps that all was in a fluid state? (I hold to the fluid state. Notice the division of the waters in v.6. I believe this will become more evident in Gen 7:11 when the fountains of the earth opened up. More on this later. Even today, the oceans are commonly referred to as "the deep". See also Gen 8:2;Psa 69:15;Jonah 2:3; Luke 5:4; 2Cor 11:25. See also "depth/depths" cs)

D.WAS WITHOUT FORM: We are told that "WAS" could be translated "BECAME," so a theory has been circulated which is called by various names, such as Ruination, Re-Creation Theory; Pre-Adamic Cataclysm Theory;

Ruination-Restitution Theory; But popularly known as The Gap Theory.

1.The Gap Theory: This allows for the world to be billions of years old, so as to accomodate the statements of the unbelieving geologists and other scientists who claim the earth is of great antiquity. It states that between Verses 1 and 2 a so-called "vast gap" of time intervened, and that during this "gap" there lived successive generations of plants, animals (including dinosaurs), and even pre-Adamic men. According to this view, this "perfect creation" was then made "imperfect" through the sin of Satan. Satan had rebelled and God cast him from heaven, with his followers. As a result of Satan's war with God, a cataclysm followed and God destroyed the original creatures, leaving the earth in a state of darkness and death (the WASTE AND VOID of Verse 2). So the "creation days" of Verse 3 and following verses are actually a "re-creation" of the earth and its inhabitants in a period of six 24-hour days. Therefore Genesis 1, we are told, contains the story of an original creation, followed by a judgment and the resulting ruination, and then a recreation of the earth as it is now.

2.The theory is refuted completely by Dr. W. W. Fields in his book, UNFORMED AND UNFILLED.

3.Here, we will briefly note a few matters:

a.This would mean that dinosaurs and other creatures (perhaps including human creatures) were killed and fossilized, so that Adam and Eve would find themselves walking upon a graveyard of extinct animals.

b.Satan had already become "the god of this world" before Adam and Eve were given "dominion" over the world.

c.All of this seems far-fetched, and a strained effort to harmonize Bible chronology with the system of geological ages and the problems they supposedly present to Bible believers.

d.True believers are more comfortable in taking the clear implications of Scripture -- That the earth and everything on it, and the universe and everything in it, were created out of nothing just a few thousand years ago (6? 10?; We don't know how many thousands; But the earth is not "billions of years old, give or take a few million," as per unbelievers).

e.Without trying to get into the Hebrew words which the scholars discuss, we note a few verses which show the Gap Theory to be false:

1)Ex 20:11, FOR [IN] SIX DAYS THE LORD MADE HEAVEN AND EARTH, THE SEA, AND ALL THAT IN THEM [IS], AND RESTED THE SEVENTH DAY: -- If everything ("ALL") was made in six days, then nothing was created prior to those six days; This one verse demolishes the Gap Theory.

2)1Co 15:45, AND SO IT IS WRITTEN, THE FIRST MAN ADAM WAS MADE A LIVING SOUL; THE LAST ADAM [WAS MADE] A QUICKENING SPIRIT. -- Was Adam the first man, or not?

3)Gen 1:31, AND GOD SAW EVERY THING THAT HE HAD MADE, AND, BEHOLD, [IT WAS] VERY GOOD. -- If His original creation had become contaminated through Satan's rebellion, and thus subsequently destroyed, and the new creation rested on a graveyard of corruption, it is difficult to see how He could have surveyed the situation and then used the expression VERY GOOD to describe all that had been done.

4)1Co 15:21, FOR SINCE BY MAN [CAME] DEATH, BY MAN [CAME] ALSO THE RESURRECTION OF THE DEAD; And Rom 5:12, WHEREFORE, AS BY ONE MAN SIN ENTERED INTO THE WORLD, AND DEATH BY SIN; AND SO DEATH PASSED UPON ALL MEN, FOR THAT ALL HAVE SINNED: -- If the Gap Theory is true, then Paul was wrong when he taught that sin and death entered the earth and the human race through the sin of Adam.

E.So what does it mean that THE EARTH WAS WITHOUT FORM, AND VOID? Dr. John Whitcomb gives this reply which is worthy of consideration: "WITHOUT FORM AND VOID translates the Hebrew expression tohu wabohu, which literally means 'empty and formless.' In other words, the Earth was not chaotic, not under a curse of judgment. It was simply empty of living things and without the features it later possessed, such as oceans and continents, hills and valleys -- features that would be essential for man's well-being. In other words, it was not an appropriate home for man..."

F.AND THE SPIRIT OF GOD MOVED UPON THE FACE OF THE WATERS.

1.MOVED: Brooded, hovered; The idea of gathering together, and putting everything in order.

2.The Father is the Architect; The Son is the Builder; The Holy Spirit is the Animator.

1:3, AND GOD SAID, LET THERE BE LIGHT: AND THERE WAS LIGHT. A.Day One: The words "AND GOD SAID" are repeated ten times, and each time there is instantaneous movement in the creation.

1.This first reference to the Word of God is a reference to His awesome power in creation - cf 2Pe 3:5-7.

2.And His Word is just as effective in redemption (See Rom 1:16). In his Commentary, Albert Barnes said, "If this vast system of worlds has been called into existence by the mere WORD of God, there is nothing which we may not believe He has ample power to perform."

B.LIGHT (not "lights") was summoned into being; Light began to be.

1.Note that the LIGHT was independent of the SUN, which was not created until the fourth day. Science now recognizes that light can, and did, exist independently of the sun and other heavenly bodies. They used to laugh at "light before the sun," but not now. No argument with the Bible here!

2.This possibly could be the answer to the "problem" of our now receiving light from stars which are millions of light years distant (which skeptics say would mean the universe has to be "millions and millions of years old"). Why not this -- LIGHT just covered the distance when God said LET THERE BE LIGHT, and has been streaming across all that distance ever since God spoke these words? No problem with the Bible here!

1:4, AND GOD SAW THE LIGHT, THAT [IT WAS] GOOD: AND GOD DIVIDED THE LIGHT FROM THE DARKNESS.

A.God examined (GOD SAW) the nature / properties / excellence of that which had been made, and pronounced it to be in keeping with His Being. Light is always connected with good (physically and spiritually) - 1Jn 1:5.

B.As to the physics and mechanics of the dividing of light from darkness, we know little or nothing - Deu 29:29.

C.This sets before us that God is eternal, and is the Source of our universe; That indeed He created both matter and energy from nothing.

1:5, AND GOD CALLED THE LIGHT DAY, AND THE DARKNESS HE CALLED NIGHT. AND THE EVENING AND THE MORNING WERE THE FIRST DAY.

A.The ordinary usage of the word DAY would indicate this DAY and those to follow were 24-hour days - cf Ex 20:11. However, the Bible does sometimes use the word DAY to mean a longer period than 24 hours (e.g., Gen 2:4; Psa 95:8; Jn 8:56; Heb 3:8; 2Co 6:2 -- cf Isa 49:8).

B.The view that the DAYS were long geologic periods seems to harmonize with the "billions of years" of the scientists; But there are problems -- such as how do we fit EVENING AND MORNING into that view? And what about revolutions around the sun after its creation on the fourth DAY?

C.Does the "24-hour DAY" view necessitate the belief that the geologic strata we see now were created? If so, the faith which accepts the creation account does not falter to accept that God has the power to do anything He wishes. A problem with this view is that if God created the fossilized strata, then either there was death before sin (even before life!), or else God made something which is deceiving in appearance.

D.Perhaps we do well to hold our curiosity in restraint until such time as God sees fit to satisfy it - Deu 29:29.

1:6, AND GOD SAID, LET THERE BE A FIRMAMENT IN THE MIDST OF THE WATERS, AND LET IT DIVIDE THE WATERS FROM THE WATERS.

A.FIRMAMENT: The atmosphere is now to be created; The original Hebrew word for FIRMAMENT means "expanse" or "sky."

B.The WATERS which were divided are identified in verse 7.

1:7, AND 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.

A.How God made the firmament is not revealed; Genesis is not a scientific treatise, but a revelation of spiritual truth.

B.The atmosphere DIVIDED the water vapors in the clouds (or canopy, as some think) from the water on the planet. When we come to study the flood, remember that God had here placed a quantity of water above the earth in some form.

1:8, AND GOD CALLED THE FIRMAMENT HEAVEN. AND THE EVENING AND THE MORNING WERE THE SECOND DAY.

A.The original word for HEAVEN literally means "heights."

B.This came to be spoken of by the Jews as the "first heaven" (where we live and where birds fly) - Gen 1:20; The Jews thought of the "second heaven" as being the stars and planets - Gen 22:17, And they thought of the "third heaven" as being the abode of God - 2Co 12:2-4; Mt 5:34.

1:9, AND GOD SAID, LET THE WATERS UNDER THE HEAVEN BE GATHERED TOGETHER UNTO ONE PLACE, AND LET THE DRY [LAND] APPEAR: AND IT WAS SO.

1:10, AND GOD CALLED THE DRY [LAND] EARTH; AND THE GATHERING TOGETHER OF THE WATERS CALLED HE SEAS: AND GOD SAW THAT [IT WAS] GOOD.

1:11, AND GOD SAID, LET THE EARTH BRING FORTH GRASS, THE HERB YIELDING SEED, [AND] THE FRUIT TREE YIELDING FRUIT AFTER HIS KIND, WHOSE SEED [IS] IN ITSELF, UPON THE EARTH: AND IT WAS SO.

1:12, AND THE EARTH BROUGHT FORTH GRASS, [AND] HERB YIELDING SEED AFTER HIS KIND, AND THE TREE YIELDING FRUIT, WHOSE SEED [WAS] IN ITSELF, AFTER HIS KIND: AND GOD SAW THAT [IT WAS] GOOD.

1:13, AND THE EVENING AND THE MORNING WERE THE THIRD DAY.

A.This gradual development and separation (Verses 6-9) might indicate that the original WITHOUT FORM AND VOID was a state in which the gases, liquids, and solids were all homogenized; then from this original mass God's energizing Spirit separated out the atmosphere, the seas, and the land. All of that is interesting and exciting speculation!

B.However it was done, only God could do it - Psa 95:5.

C.WATERS ... ONE PLACE: We do not know the configuration then; The flood was yet to come; But even now we are told that the seas are all connected.

D.WHOSE SEED IS IN ITSELF: This basic principle of life cannot be shown ever to have changed -- The principle always has been true, both physically and spiritually - Gal 6:7.

1.GRASS: Here the seed is not prominent (as in a lawn).

2.HERB: Here the seed is prominent (as in wheat).

3.TREE: Here the seed is in the fruit (apple, peach, etc.)

E.The more scientists study plant life, the more complexities they discover; What a wonderful vision God had! In His infinite wisdom He was able to create all plant life and to perfectly suit every kind of plant life to the rest of earth's systems.

F.GOD SAW THAT IT WAS GOOD: There were no problems or deficiencies; All creation was in a state of perfection -- Why did He make all the various flowers, trees, and plants?

1.Not for Himself, for He is independent of all things, and has need of nothing to make Himself complete.

2.But for us:

(1) To meet our physical needs -- So we have food to eat, oxygen to breathe, wood for building, many other things essential to our lives;

(2) To delight us with His love for us -- An endless variety of colors, sizes, shapes, flavors, fragrances. Everything could have been made gray and tasteless, but He chose a way which daily reminds us of His love in providing orderly beauty for us to enjoy.

3.It doesn't take much intelligence or common sense to recognize that design reflects the Designer.

4.At that time there were no thorns, weeds, poisonous plants, diseases, or decay -- Everything was perfect.

1:14, AND 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:

1:15, AND LET THEM BE FOR LIGHTS IN THE FIRMAMENT OF THE HEAVEN TO GIVE LIGHT UPON THE EARTH: AND IT WAS SO.

1:16, AND 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.

1:17, AND GOD SET THEM IN THE FIRMAMENT OF THE HEAVEN TO GIVE LIGHT UPON THE EARTH,

1:18, 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.

1:19, AND THE EVENING AND THE MORNING WERE THE FOURTH DAY.

A.LIGHTS: These seem now to have become the sources of light; Some were generators, while some were reflectors.

1.Note that GOD MADE TWO GREAT LIGHTS - cf v1. 2.Also note that since the earth was already in existence, the earth could not have come from the sun.

B.FOR SIGNS (v14): Constellations? Evidence? - Psa 19:1.

1.FOR SEASONS: Four seasons? (caused by the moon and by the 23 degree tilt of the earth on its axis).

2.AND FOR DAYS, AND YEARS: Involving the 24-hour rotation of the earth on its axis, and the 365-day rotation around the sun; All this making the stars seem to move.

C.We know very little about our own planet, even with our great technology and its mind-boggling advances. And we know far less about our galaxy (the Milky Way), and we know still less about the endless reaches of the universe. How far does it go? Is there a solid wall at the end? If so, what is on the other side of the wall? We cannot envision infinity.

D.Almighty Jehovah did all this by Himself - Isa 44:24.

E.It is important to understand that although God is everywhere present, He is distinct from the universe. New Age and other pantheistic religions teach that God is everything and everything is God, but the Bible teaches that the universe and everything in it is God's creation, not part of His Being.

1:20, AND 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.

1:21, AND GOD CREATED GREAT WHALES, AND EVERY LIVING CREATURE THAT MOVETH, WHICH THE WATERS BROUGHT FORTH ABUNDANTLY, AFTER THEIR KIND, AND EVERY WINGED FOWL AFTER HIS KIND: AND GOD SAW THAT [IT WAS] GOOD.

1:22, AND GOD BLESSED THEM, SAYING, BE FRUITFUL, AND MULTIPLY, AND FILL THE WATERS IN THE SEAS, AND LET FOWL MULTIPLY IN THE EARTH.

1:23, AND THE EVENING AND THE MORNING WERE THE FIFTH DAY.

**AFTER THEIR KIND ... AFTER HIS KIND: Scientific examination of fossils confirms this -- Transmutation of species is not scientific (of course there are mutations and variations in a species). If the guesses of the pseudo-scientists were true, there would be millions of intermediate and transitional fossils -- But they cannot produce them, because they do not exist.

1:24, AND 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.

1:25, AND GOD MADE THE BEAST OF THE EARTH AFTER HIS KIND, AND CATTLE AFTER THEIR KIND, AND EVERY THING THAT CREEPETH UPON THE EARTH AFTER HIS KIND: AND GOD SAW THAT [IT WAS] GOOD.

**Apparently the creation of animals included creation of dinosaurs; We have their fossils, but so far have not learned for sure why they became extinct.

1:26, AND GOD SAID, LET US MAKE MAN IN OUR IMAGE, AFTER OUR LIKENESS: AND LET THEM HAVE DOMINION OVER THE FISH OF THE SEA, AND OVER THE FOWL OF THE AIR, AND OVER THE CATTLE, AND OVER ALL THE EARTH, AND OVER EVERY CREEPING THING THAT CREEPETH UPON THE EARTH.

1:27, SO GOD CREATED MAN IN HIS [OWN] IMAGE, IN THE IMAGE OF GOD CREATED HE HIM; MALE AND FEMALE CREATED HE THEM.

A.OUR IMAGE ... OUR LIKENESS ... HIS OWN IMAGE ... IMAGE OF GOD:

1.In the combining of the plural and singular words we see the Godhead come into view.

2.Whatever God's image is, it is not physical - Jn 4:24; Lk 24:39 (He cannot be measured or weighed).

B.MALE AND FEMALE in the image of God: This is something which was not and is not true of the animals; This is the pinnacle of creation -- Human Beings who are morally responsible to God.

1.Human beings are capable of being educated: We have the ability to speak, write, read, consider, reason, analyze (some animals can be trained, but they cannot be educated to this level).

2.We have a spiritual nature: Appreciation of the aesthetic; We have a moral sense, and have a conscience.

a.The ape does nothing to disgrace the Name of his Creator; The professor who teaches evolution does (EVOLUTION is a religion which puts faith in time and chance).

b.We can teach with confidence -- Not confidence in time and chance, but confidence in the Living God and His unchanging Word.

c.Everyone needs to hear the story of A. C. Grider and his discussion with a woman professor on evolution.

SONG OF THE EVOLUTIONIST

Jack Tourin

3. I like the ancient monkey's prophecy regarding EVOLUTION, as expressed in this ditty by W. Curtis Porter:

C. Mr. Dean, in his OUTLINE OF BIBLE HISTORY, says: "On his lower side man is in the image of the earth to which he returns, of the plant life which roots in its soil, and of the beast that roams over its surface. But he faces upward as they do not. He is in God's image in: (i.) power of intelligent comprehension. Before man there were order and beauty; but no being on earth to appreciate or-der or beauty, or to connect cause and effect. Only God could create; only man, in God's image, can perceive the plan and beauty in God's creation. (ii.) In sensibility, intelligent, appropriate feel-ing. (iii.) In power of intelligent choice. (iv.) In moral nature, the sense of right and wrong. (v.) In dominion. This phrase, 'let him have dominion,' is his 'colonist's charter.' It gives him his title to the earth and all its products. It also clothes material creation with its moral meaning: its end is man, whose supreme end is God."

D.Our special place in the universe is to be lovers and servers of our Father in heaven - Ecc 12:13.

E.Of all the creatures, we are the only ones with whom God communicates; Therefore, none of the human creatures can be truly happy and content who do not hear Him, and in response fulfill their reason for existing.

F.To the thoughtful, a serious question arises: "So why did God make us so we could sin?"

1.It seems that to be in the image of God we have to have the power to choose -- So He allows us to exercise that power.

2.We could ask why did He make fire capable of burning us? And water capable of drowning us? And gravity capable of smashing us?

3.Let us not be proud or presumptuous - Rom 9:20; 11:33-36; Isa 55:8-9.

G.Another question: "Why did God not intervene when He saw the first two people about to sin?" For one thing: Consistency would demand that He do so (intervene) perpetually, and that would destroy our freedom of choice.

1:28, AND GOD BLESSED THEM, AND GOD SAID UNTO THEM, BE FRUITFUL, AND MULTIPLY, AND REPLENISH THE EARTH, AND SUBDUE IT: AND HAVE DOMINION OVER THE FISH OF THE SEA, AND OVER THE FOWL OF THE AIR, AND OVER EVERY LIVING THING THAT MOVETH UPON THE EARTH.

1:29, AND GOD SAID, BEHOLD, I HAVE GIVEN YOU EVERY HERB BEARING SEED, WHICH [IS] UPON THE FACE OF ALL THE EARTH, AND EVERY TREE, IN THE WHICH [IS] THE FRUIT OF A TREE YIELDING SEED; TO YOU IT SHALL BE FOR MEAT.

1:30, AND TO EVERY BEAST OF THE EARTH, AND TO EVERY FOWL OF THE AIR, AND TO EVERY THING THAT CREEPETH UPON THE EARTH, WHEREIN [THERE IS] LIFE, [I HAVE GIVEN] EVERY GREEN HERB FOR MEAT: AND IT WAS SO.

A.REPLENISH: The same word in the original as FILL in Verse 22; The idea of doing something the second time is not in the word.

B.SUBDUE: Conquer, rule over (including to discover, to invent, to put to good use). Note that we are to subdue and use God's creation, not destroy and misuse it - cf 1Co 7:31.

C.EVERY TREE ... SHALL BE FOR MEAT: MEAT in the KJV is "food," so the first people were vegetarians; There was no eating of animal flesh -- Not yet. That was to come later.

1:31, AND GOD SAW EVERY THING THAT HE HAD MADE, AND, BEHOLD, [IT WAS] VERY GOOD. AND THE EVENING AND THE MORNING WERE THE SIXTH DAY.

A.Note the progressiveness of creation: 1st Day: Light . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4th Day: Lights 2nd Day: Firmament, air, water . . . . . . 5th Day: Birds, fish 3rd Day: Dry land, vegetation . . . . . . . 6th Day: Animals, man

B.VERY GOOD: Not "very crude" as per the theory of evolution.

1.The teaching which says the universe made itself is what is "crude" (that matter could make mind is not reasonable).

2.The universe did not make itself and it will not destroy itself - 2Pe 3:10 (the bomb is NOTHING compared to this).

C."Theistic Evolution" uses its "Long Age Theory" regarding the days of creation in trying to harmonize the Bible and evolution's "billions of years."

1.Atheistic Evolution denies the God of the Word (human pride rejects the idea of sin, responsibility, final accounting, the need for submission, relationship with God); Whereas Theistic Evolution denies the Word of God.

2.The creation days were 24-hour periods, not billions of years.

a.Every one of the DAYS had an EVENING AND MORNING, conforming to the Jewish day which began at sunset; Thus the reader naturally infers a 24-hour day.

b.Of course the word DAY can be used figuratively, denoting a longer period of time than 24 hours: "DAY of vengeance / adversity / temptation / salvation / one-room schoolhouse / etc."

1)It is so-used in Gen 2:4, referring to six days of creation.

2)But hereafter, when a numeral is used with the word DAY, it is always literal and can mean only a 24-hour day ("forty days ... third day ... seventh day ... fourteenth day of the month," etc.) -- So, if we apply the Rule of Uniformity to Gen 1, the honest student will see only 24-hour days.

c.Let the Holy Spirit show how He understood the length of the creation days - Ex 20:9-11. That should satisfy anyone who believes the Word.

OBSERVATIONS AFTER A STUDY OF GENESIS ONE: 1.God, the Creator, the One Who was there before the beginning, has given us His record of creation in His Word.

2.Heb 11:3 says, "Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the Word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear."

3.We can learn a great deal about God by observing the things He has made, but our true understanding of Him and how He created everything must be based on what He has told us in His Word.

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