Here is Video #9 – The Creation. Here we explore the purpose for the Creation. A transcript of the video is seen below, so that you may explore the subject and Bible references included.

God’s revealed purpose in creation

God has revealed that, when He commenced His creative work as revealed in Genesis 1, He had a specific purpose in mind. That purpose is referred to many times throughout the Bible.

It is summarised in the following places:

• God says that He created the earth to be inhabited (Isaiah 45:11)

• God is determined that the earth will be filled with His glory (Numbers 14:21)

• Jesus Christ says that the meek will inherit the earth (Matthew 5:5; see Psalm 37:11).

• All things have been created for God’s pleasure (Revelation 4:11).

From these statements we clearly see that God had a determined purpose in creation; namely, to populate the earth with people who will reflect His glorious character.

It is foolish to deny the existence of God

Sadly there are those who refuse to face up to the fact that God exists, or acknowledge that He created the heavens and earth and mankind upon the earth.

This class of person is spoken of in the Bible.

• “The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God” (Psalm 14:1)

• We read of those who “professing themselves to be wise, they became fools”, by denying the existence of God as revealed in His word (Romans 1:18–25)

The apostle Paul described the wonder of God’s great works of creation to the pagan Greeks in Athens (Acts 17:22–31). It is worth reading and noting how Paul reasoned through this subject.

22 Then Paul stood in the midst of the Areopagus and said, “Men of Athens, I perceive that in all things you are very religious; 23 for as I was passing through and considering the objects of your worship, I even found an altar with this inscription:

TO THE UNKNOWN GOD.

Therefore, the One whom you worship without knowing, Him I proclaim to you: 24 “God, who made the world and everything in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands. 25 Nor is He worshiped with men’s hands, as though He needed anything, since He gives to all life, breath, and all things. 26 And He has made from one blood[a] every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined their preappointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings, 27 so that they should seek the Lord, in the hope that they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us; 28 for in Him we live and move and have our being, as also some of your own poets have said, ‘For we are also His offspring.’ 29 Therefore, since we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Divine Nature is like gold or silver or stone, something shaped by art and man’s devising. 30 Truly, these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent, 31 because He has appointed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness by the Man whom He has ordained. He has given assurance of this to all by raising Him from the dead.”

It must be understood that there is no scientific fact that can be advanced to prove evolution. It still remains a theory about how life came into existence on the earth. It is no different really from the theories of the pagan Greeks who believed that Zeus, Atlas and other mythological gods were responsible for the earth and life upon it.

The beginning of God’s creation (Genesis 1:1–2)

We will now examine the record of Genesis 1, noting some of the important points associated with God’s creative acts that are recorded here.

Verse 1

“In the beginning” We are not told when the beginning was. It was some period prior to those specific acts of creation recorded in Genesis. What we are told is that God existed before this point of time (Psalm 90:1–2).

Verse 2

“The earth was without form and void” Another translation, Rotherham, has: “Now the earth had become waste and wild”. It gives the idea that planet earth had been created some time earlier but for some unrevealed reason had now become “without form and void”.

It is pointless to speculate how or why this happened, as the reason is not specifically revealed in the Bible. The Hebrew word for “without form” is tohu, and means “waste” (Deuteronomy 32:10), or “an empty place” (Job 26:7). “Void” in Hebrew is bohu and means “emptiness”. Both these words occur together in Isaiah 34:11 and Jeremiah 4:23.

“darkness was upon the face of the deep” Light did not penetrate to the earth’s surface. In Hebrew “deep” speaks of “an abyss” or “a surging mass of water”. The word occurs in Psalm 33:7 and Genesis 7:11.

“the Spirit of God” The Spirit is the power of God by which He performs His mighty works and sustains His creation (Psalm 104:30; Job 26:13; 33:4; Psalm 139:7–12).

The six days of creation (Genesis 1:3–31)

There are six days in which God performed specific acts of creation. Each activity commenced with the expression, “And God said…”. As we consider these events we are compelled to agree with the words of the Psalmist:“O LORD, how manifold are thy works! in wisdom hast thou made them all: the earth is full of thy riches” (Psalm 104:24).

Verse 3

“And God said” When God speaks, His will is then done (Psalm 33:6; 2 Peter 3:5; Isaiah 55:10–11). The angels in heaven always do His will (Psalm 103:20).

“let there be light” God is the source of light, both physical and moral light (1 Timothy 6:16; 1 John 1:5; 2 Corinthians 4:6; John 3:19). His word is our source of enlightenment (Psalm 119:105; 2 Peter 1:19; Isaiah 8:20).

Each day a 24 hour period

At the end of each day’s activity we read: “And the evening and the morning were the… day (v5, 8, 13, 19, 23, 31). This is the Jewish method of describing a day, from sunset through to the following sunset. Therefore the evening from approximately 6 pm, through the next morning and up to the next sunset is the period spoken of.

There is no reason to reject the view that the six days are literal days of 24 hours. This is established by the Sabbath Law which God gave to Israel. We read: “In six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day” (Exodus 20:11; 31:17).

Verses

Days

Events

3 – 5

1

Light and darkness

6 – 8

2

Establishment of the earth’s atmosphere

9 – 13

3

Separation of water and land—vegetation and plant life

14 – 19

4

Positioning of earth in relation to other heavenly bodies to establish signs, seasons, days and years

20 – 23

5

Creation of birds and sea creatures

24 – 31

6

Creation of animal life and man—God expresses His reason for creation of man

2:1 – 3

7

God ends His work and rests

5thday.JPG (11976 bytes)What does it mean when the birds, fish and beasts are called “living creatures”? (Genesis 1:20–25)

The two Hebrew words used simply mean “a living, natural, animal body”.

These words are:

• nephesh from a Hebrew root meaning “to breathe”. It means a breathing frame. It is translated “creature”, “soul”, “life”, “person” and is used both of animals and man. It is also used to describe a body that is no longer alive (eg Joshua 10:28; Ezekiel 18:20)

• chayim from the root meaning “to live”. Used together nephesh chayim is translated “living creature” or “living soul”. The phrase is used of the natural life of birds (Genesis 1:20), fish (1:21), animals (1:24,30; 2:19) and man (2:7).

“And behold it was very good” (Genesis 1:29–31)

In these last few verses of chapter 1 we observe that man, the animals and birds were given the herbs and fruit for their food. We know that since the entry of sin into the world this placid state has changed and now both man and many other creatures kill and eat meat. This change is specifically mentioned in Genesis 9:3. However, the Bible reveals that when the Kingdom of God is established this situation will be reversed. Then “the lion will eat straw like the ox” (Isaiah 11:7; 65:25).

The statement “Behold, it was very good” (1:31) indicates that the creation was in perfect harmony with the Creator. However, when sin entered the world, this “good” state was disrupted and now “the whole creation groans” (Romans 8:22-23). Harmony will only be restored when Jesus Christ returns.