Genesis 1

The earth, the universe, and life itself. How did it all begin? Why is there something; rather than nothing? Where did man come from? If God created everything, and God is good and all-powerful, why is the world in such a mess? Why are there natural disasters, horrible weather, diseases that cause suffering and death? If God created everything as it is, is this the best that he could do? How can we believe in God as creator when we watch the evening news and see what is going on? The Book of Genesis has some answers to these and many other questions.

Why do we call the first book “Genesis”? The word “genesis” comes from the same root word that we get “genealogy” and “genetics,” they all refer to beginnings. Genesis goes all the way back to the ultimate beginning; the beginning of the universe.

Read along in your study Bible and we will walk through Genesis together.

Gen 1:1, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” From the very start we have questions, don’t we? Now if the very first verse of the Bible was spoken to you by God Himself, you might raise your and ask The Almighty, “Say God, when did you create everything and how did you do it? While you are at it, would you explain the nebular hypothesis, supernovas and the quantum theory of gravity?” God might reply, “Hey, this isn’t a science class. I’m here to tell what you need to know about the world, how it got so messed up by you people and how I am going to fix things.” If you served in the military and had a security clearance you might recall that even with a clearance you didn’t have access to classified information. You had to have not only the proper clearance level, but you also had to have a “need to know.” I guess God suggests to us that we don’t “have a need to know.” That’s where faith comes in.

So, we have to look to science for answers about the details on when and how He created everything. Some experts think that 13.7 million years ago there was a Big Bang and what started out as a very small, dense mass expanded outward, creating the universe. But not all scientists are comfortable with this idea. It seems that every generation or so there are new theories. I saw a recent quote that said that the universe was created by “a “mysterious form of energy in the universe’s beginning that has long disappeared.” Translation, “I haven’t a clue.” Do quotes like these instill confidence in their ideas?

If you are a church goer, you may have noticed that the first eleven chapters of Genesis are oftentimes ignored from the pulpit. The same can be said about the Book of Revelation. Though many pastors will speak of the inspiration of the Scriptures and how they hold it in such high esteem, some apparently don’t hold it in high enough esteem to preach from all of it. Though some today may not hold these chapters in high regard, they were highly regarded by the writers of the New Testament. About 165 passages from Genesis are quoted or referred to in the New Testament and about 100 of them are from Genesis 1-11. What does this tell you about the value of these chapters? The early chapters of Genesis, which are an embarrassment for some, provide some answers to some of the big questions that we think about, but oftentimes don’t ask in church.

Besides teaching us something about origins, creation of the universe and man, we learn in these early chapters of Genesis about the beginning of man, sin, language development and the flood. These chapters help explain why there is so much suffering in the world. In chapter 12 we are introduced to Abram whose descendants become the twelve tribes of Israel which unite into a nation that ultimately produces the Messiah. There is a lot going on in this book that points directly to God’s plan of salvation and the coming of Jesus, twice.

Gen.1:1 says that God created everything out of nothing. Now I have to tell you about a theory, called the Gap Theory. Between verses 1 and 2 there may be a gap in time. This “Gap Theory” has found favor among some scholars; others say that the wording doesn’t allow for any type of time gap. What would make a gap in time appealing to some? Well, when scientists say that the world is billions of years old, this theory helps Genesis to fit in with the current thinking concerning the age of the earth. It might be during this "gap of time" that the angel Lucifer rebelled against God, along with a third of the angels. Lucifer then became known as Satan and the fallen angels, demons. After this rebellion God had to rehabilitate the earth to prepare it for man, which is described in the next verses.

God created everything in six days. Here we have another controversy. Are you kidding me? We’re only in the first few paragraphs and we already have questions and debates among scholars. Genesis says that creation took place in only six days. I believe it, don’t you? Are these literal 24-hour days or might the word day refer to a longer period of time? I used to believe that the days were literal 24-hour days; not longer periods of time. Some (young earth creationists) think that literal, 24-hour days are seen in the expression, “and there was evening and there was morning” after describing each day of creation (Gen. 1:5, 8, 13, 19, 23, 31). Doesn’t this expression suggest 24-hour days? Also, the Hebrew word for day is "yom," which almost always means a 24-hour period of time. The only time it means something else is when it is used to refer to a time period, such as when your parents say, “Well in my day we had to walk twenty miles to school.” And did you notice the expression "evening and morning" with evening coming before morning? This is why the Jews begin observing the Sabbath at sunset; because the day does not begin at midnight as we view it, but at sunset.

What changed my mind from being a young earth creationist to an old earth creationist? Here is why. If you read material from one source, you will get only one view. If you read from more sources, you get a better perspective. Though Answers in Genesis believe that the days were 24 hours, other respected scholars, such as Norman Geisler and Gleason Archer claim that the while the Hebrew word for day is yom, it does mean more than 24 hours in Hos. 6:2, “He will revive us after two days; He will raise us up on the third day.” See also Zech. 14:7 for another example.

The phrase “evening and morning” does not mean a 24-hour day. Since when is a 24-hour day without light? It can very easily refer to a definite beginning and ending; the beginning and end of each act of creation, regardless of how long a period is being described. And on the seventh day, where it says that God rested, this Sabbath rest can mean more than a 24-hour period of rest. In Heb. 4:1-11 refers to a period of time longer than 24 hours. So, the language of Genesis does not dictate 24-hour days.

Young earth creationists believe that the earth is about 6,000 years old. Old earth creationists believe that sound science supports an older earth. Old earth creationists and scientists claim that there are over forty different methods of radiometric dating that confirm an ancient earth. Ice core samples provide an unbroken record of annual ice layers spanning the past 800,000 years. Coral reefs record long ages of growth.

Some young earth creationists argue that God created the earth with the appearance of age. Doesn’t this sound as if God is lying to us? Doesn’t this idea conflict with Rom. 1:19-20 where Paul wrote that what can be known about God is plain . . . perceived ever since the creation of the world?

Not only have I abandoned the idea that God created the earth in six days of 24- hour days, I don’t think that He created everything fully formed. In Gen.1:11 it says that God commanded the earth to sprout vegetation and trees; not that they sprouted and grew fully in 24 hours.

My current understanding it that God created life over long periods of time. Notice I said, “My current understanding”. I don’t have an ax to grind. I have changed my views on many subjects over the years. I have never claimed to be a spokesperson for God who has given me some unique communication to bring illumination to difficult passages in the Bible.

One more point made by young earth creationists is the idea that there was no death before sin entered the world. I agree, but that there was not death before sin, but the passage in Romans speaks not of the death of animals but of man. If you read Rom 5:12 it says that sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin. It says that death came to all men, because of sin. Do animals and plants sin? Only man can sin, not animals. There may have been a lot of animals dying before the sin of man.

We know that there is a lot of junk science out in the marketplace. Flawed research that makes claims such as “power lines cause leukemia in children” and “vaccines cause autism”. But isn’t there junk theology out there also? The main promoters of junk theology are cults. There are also cultic beliefs within mainstream churches. There are those who don’t believe that Jesus is God in the flesh, that the Bible is not divinely inspired, and that Jesus did not rise from the dead. I do agree with the folks at Answers in Genesis, in that we have to start with the Bible as we look at the world. But we have to properly interpret the Bible; otherwise, we are propagating junk theology.

Whether you lean towards the young earth creation perspective, or the old earth creation perspective, please don’t make this a test of orthodoxy or allow the issue to be divisive. I’m giving you both views and Linda’s Kids’ Bible Club will teach from the young earth perspective.

So here is the order of creation:

Day 1: light (we assume that this means the sun, but there are other sources of light, also)

Day 2: the sky (some claim ministering angels were created here, thus the “let us make man . . .” other say the “us” refers to the Trinity)

Day 3: the earth, oceans, and vegetation

Day 4: the sun, moon, and stars

Day 5: fish, insects, and birds

Day 6: animals and man

Now, the critics of the Bible will ask, "How can there be light on day one, but the sun was not created until day four?"

Well, who says that the light from day one was from the sun? Could the light on Day one be from some other source? Perhaps it is the Shechinah Glory. Is this a new term for you? If you recall, when Moses led the Israelites across the Red Sea and off to the Promised Land, he didn’t have a GPS system to guide him. In Ex 13:21 it says, “By day the Lord went ahead of them in a pillar of cloud to guide them on their way and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, so that they could travel by day or night.” This light was a manifestation of God; the glory of God. Not only did it guide Moses, but it also filled the Temple in Jerusalem. In Ezek. 10:4, one of the saddest passages in Scripture, we see the Shechinah glory leaving the Temple prior to the invasion by the Babylonians who destroyed the temple and the city. The Shechinah Glory may also have been the light that guided the Magi to Jesus (Matt. 2:2). You will see this light again in the new creation in Rev 21:22; 22:5. Perhaps God needed a work light before he created the sun. He may not have had night vision goggles to help Him see what He was doing.

Now at the end of each day, God stood back at what He had accomplished and said that it was all “good.” This is like the feeling we get in the Springtime when we clean out the garage, basement or do yard work after a long winter. We look at what we have accomplished and feel good about it. But when he created man, he was even more satisfied, he said, that his handiwork wasn’t just good, but “very good” (Gen.1:31).

Adam was given dominion over the earth, replacing Lucifer who rebelled and became known as Satan. He also put Adam and Eve on a vegetarian diet (Gen.1:26-29). That’s right, no barbeque or bacon in the Garden of Eden. Later on, after the flood, man was able to eat all kinds of meat.