5. Created in the Image of God: Genesis 1:26-31
6. The Garden of Eden: Genesis 2
8. Offspring of Adam and Eve: Genesis 4-5
Genesis Chapter 1 Creation of the Universe
The Second Day: Creation of atmosphere
6 Then God said, "Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters."
7 Thus 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.
8 And God called the
firmament Heaven. So the evening and the morning were the second day.
God Said: On the first day God created not only physical properties of light, both visible and invisible. The power behind the creation was the command of God’s word. God spoke light (energy) and matter into existence. On the second day, God reveals the order of events for the earth, each of these events were spoken into existence by the command of God.
Firmament: The earth, the physical world we call earth was in existence in the first day. On the second day, the atmosphere of the earth is brought into existence. The Hebrew word is [yqr Raqiya`, which means expanse, or “spread-out-thinness”. The equivalent of firmament is the heavenly expanse when you look into the sky, the space beyond the earth.
God calls this atmospheric firmament “Heaven”. According to scripture there are 3 areas called heavens. 1. The atmospheric heaven(Jeremiah 4:25), 2. The outer space heavens (Isaiah 1310) 3. The heavens where the throne of God is present (Hebrews 9:24). The term firmament is used for each of these three heavens.
Midst of the waters: On the second day, the earth was covered with water; God now causes an atmosphere to be created out of the water. The firmament is the division of the water; water was pulled up into the atmosphere to create a water canopy for the earth. So the firmament was in the midst of the waters, the water on the surface and the water beyond the atmosphere.
Divide the waters from the waters: There were two sets of waters, the water below the firmament and the water above the firmament. The purpose of this watery canopy would be source of water and protection of the surface of the earth. This was the case before the flood, the conditions of the earth change after the flood.
The “Watery canopy” would have been transparent, because on the fourth day, the sun, moon and starts are created to give light upon the earth. The canopy would more then likely been a vapor canopy above the sky (heaven, firmament). Henry Morris, in The Genesis Record, examines the benefits of just such a vapor “watery” canopy would have on the earth.
1. Since water vapor has the ability both to transmit incoming solar radiation and to retain and disperse much of the radiation reflected from the earth’s surface, it would serve as a global greenhouse, maintaining an essentially uniformity pleasant warm temperature all over the world.
2. With nearly uniform temperatures, great air-mass movements would be inhibited and windstorms would be unknown.
3. With no global air circulation, the hydrologic cycle of the present world could not b implemented and there could be no rain, except directly over the bodies of water from which it might have evaporated.
4. The combination of warm temperature and adequate moisture everywhere would be conductive later to extensive strands of lush vegetation all over the world, with no barren deserts or ice caps.
5. The vapor canopy would also be highly effective in filtering out ultraviolet radiations, cosmic rays, and other destructive energies from outer space. These are known to be the source of both somatic and genetic mutations, which decrease the viability of the individual and the species, respectively. Thus the canopy would contribute effectively to human and animal health and longevity.[1]
God called: God names the various aspects of his creation. This atmospheric expanse was named “heaven”. This is the first of the three heavens scripture refers to.
The second day: This would have been the second 24 hour period.
The
third day: Creation of land and plant life
9 Then God said, "Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear"; and it was so. 10 And God called the dry land Earth, and the gathering together of the waters He called Seas. And God saw that it was good. Genesis 1:9-10
God said: On the third day, the land appeared. What was the cause of the land? Again, God’s Word is the cause. God “Said” and it happened.
Waters under...heavens: All the waters were separated from dry land, dry land arose from the crust and land was pushed upward through the surface of the water. Clearly we link all the continents together like a puzzle and see they were connected into one land mass. The term for this ancient land mass is known as “Pangaea”. All the earth would have been connected as well as all the seas, under this warm canopy of vapor.
Gathered...one place: Recent discoveries confirm the Antarctic was once a warm tropical paradise, only after the flood did events change. A recent discovery from a new study illustrates this point. The study however, starts with the presuppositions that the earth is millions of years old.
Lewis, of North Dakota State, said that, based on a study of
pollen found in the lake deposit, there may have been southern beech trees
similar to those that grow in South America, in New Zealand, and on the
Australian island of Tasmania.....The lakes would have had thick mats of
green moss, he said, and swarms of blackflies and other insects would have
populated the region.....
"It may be a pretty small group of plants and animals that were able to
survive there. … It is right on the fringe," Lewis said. "It's entirely
possible that we are looking at the last few survivors."[2]
One interesting aspect of the study was the ability of 14-million year old plants to be re-hydrated when placed in water. In other words, all the cellular systems were still intact to allow water to flow through the specimen.
The newfound remains still contain organic tissue. ...."You get this freeze-dried leaf and you put in water and it still unfurls, opening up as it rehydrates," Marchant said. "At that point it looks as fresh as a museum specimen." ..The ability to artificially rehydrate the organisms suggests that they were never been naturally rehydrated. In other words, in 14 million years the site never warmed enough to thaw the specimens. ...."It is one of the most dramatic and long-lasting changes that one can imagine," Marchant said. "I don't know of any other place on Earth where such an enduring change has been documented." [3]
Dry land appear: The exact mechanics of the dry land appearing, God could have just created the land, or God could have caused the land to push up from underneath the water to form the land mass which is the.
Earth:
This new land mass, formed out of the shore-less ocean was
called “Earth” or eretz in Hebrew. The same term applied to the
creation of matter, in
Seas: The waters become known as “Seas”. This term in Hebrew is ~y Yam, and applies to the oceans and the Mediterranean, Sea of Galilee.
11 Then God said, "Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb that yields seed, and the fruit tree that yields fruit according to its kind, whose seed is in itself, on the earth"; and it was so.
12 And the earth brought forth grass, the herb that yields seed according to its kind, and the tree that yields fruit, whose seed is in itself according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.
13 So the evening and the
morning were the third day.
Earth bring: Out of the material of the earth, the chemical compounds God caused vegetation to appear. The complexity and uniqueness of plant life is often discounted because of its abundance. The amazing structures required for life to be formed has not been fully appreciated until the discovery of the electron microscope. Now we can peer into the essential building blocks of vegetation and understand how miraculous life really is.
All life is composed of a combination of chemicals and arranged in a complex order, allowing it to be replicated and passed from generation to generation. One unique aspect among plants is the ability to capture energy from the sun, in the form of electrons and bind these electrons with hydrogen and carbon to form hydro-carbons the building block of all known carbon based life.
This process of energy conversion is known as photosynthesis, without which life on the earth would stop, since plant life is vital for all life. Inside the plant is a structure known as a “Chloroplast”, which facilitates this whole process.
Grass: On the third day, thee varieties of vegetation are created. Grass would include all ground covering vegetation.
Herb: A second level of vegetation would be bushes, shrubs and plants yielding seeds for eating and cultivating.
Fruit tree: The third level of plant life created were trees, the largest and oldest form of life in existence today. Trees have reached heights of 500-feet and ages of thousands of years.
Apparent age
When
God created the plants, he did not create the seeds first, then wait for the
seeds to become plants. He created fully mature grass, herbs and trees out
of the ground. The trees and plants were made fully functioning, able to
produce seeds and plants. When God made the universe, it was made fully
created. Therefore the “Apparent age” is different from the “True age”.
Adam was made a full grown man, when God made the stars and sun, he also
made the light between the stars and sun. The star was not created, and God
need to wait 10 million years for the light to reach the earth. The point
of creation, is God is the cause, the creator creates with a purpose, not
dependent on the creation.
According
to its kind: The amazing aspect of all life is the encoding of life in the
genetic material. The ability of life to replicate itself is one of the
greatest arguments against evolution. If for example life could form
randomly, from chemicals, into organized matter known as “life”, without the
ability to replicate, it would die and no record would even exist of its
life.
Each type of “Life” has its own unique DNA structure. Out of this DNA Structure also known as “kinds”, we have variety. For example, there is hundreds of varieties of corn, but there is one “kind” or corn. The same can be said for trees, and the rest of plant life.
The DNA is the blueprint of the life, built within this blueprint is the ability to generate variety of within the “kind”.
Note, God created life dependent on the sun, before he created the sun. God is the source of life, not the sun.
Third day: Therefore on third day, God called physical land out of the water into existence and then God created plant vegetation out the earth and water, with an apparent age in a 24-hour period.
The fourth day:
Creation of Sun, moon and stars
14 Then God said, "Let there be lights in the firmament of the heavens to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs and seasons, and for days and years;
15 "and let them be for lights in the firmament of the heavens to give light on the earth"; and it was so.
16 Then 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.
17 God set them in the firmament of the heavens to give light on the earth,
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.
19 So the evening and the
morning were the fourth day.
Let there be lights: On first day, God created the properties of light and electromagnetic radiation, with visible light being a part of the spectrum. On the fourth day, God creates the sources of visible light in the universe or heavens. In the Hebrew with word for light is rwa 'owr, this contrasts to the “light bearer” which is rwam Ma'owr. The Sun, moon and stars were created to give light to the earth, which was created before the light bearers.
The lights in the heavens, refers to all aspects of luminary bodies both seen and unseen in the cosmos.
The book of Genesis presents a vastly different view of the earth and our purpose then the secular world puts forward.
divide the day...night: The purpose of the light-bearers is to provide light during the day and night on the earth.
signs ...for days and years: Why are there about 30-days in a month? Answer: Because that is how long it takes the moon to circle the earth. The word month, comes from the word moon. Our time is based on the moon and the sun. This is exactly how God meant it in his creation. It takes 365.242 days for the Earth to circle the sun, and it takes about 360-days for the moon to go around the earth 12-times. These two types of systems are known as lunar and solar calendars, God created the sun and moon for signs of the day and years.
To give light on the earth: In our day, its hard for us to imagine that we are important enough in the universe, for God to create the Sun, moon and stars for the benefit of light on the earth. This goes back to what is called the Copernican principle. The idea we are of no special value in the universe, just the end result of a long series of accidents. The Genesis account rejects these secular presumptions.
Two great light: The Sun and moon are the two lights referred to here, although our Sun when contrasted to the rest of the stars of the universe could be classified as medium sized star. The contrast to the earth is awesome. Our sun is large enough to hold over 900,000 planet earth if the could be collected as balls and placed inside the sphere of the sun[4]. Our moon is a reflector of the light from the sun, to give light to the earth during the night.
To give light on...earth: When we understand the smallness of the earth, compared to the universe, we can get a faint understanding to the awesomeness of God, and His love for us. We can look at the sun, moon and stars and say, for me? Do we really matter, that you would create this awesome universe and then have a relationship with us? The answer is yes, God loves us this much, we are that special to Him. We are not just collection of random accidents.
The Fifth Day: Creation of water creatures and birds
20 Then God said, "Let the waters abound with an abundance of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the face of the firmament of the heavens."
21 So God created great sea creatures and every living thing that moves, with which the waters abounded, according to their kind, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.
22 And God blessed them, saying, "Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth."
23 So the evening and the
morning were the fifth day.
God said: The origin of life is God’s Word. God commanded life into existence.
Waters abound: The word here in Hebrew, #rX Sharats or to teem, swarm or multiply. A vast variety of sea life was commanded into existence. To this day new species and varieties are lives are still being discovered. Each animal is amazing in its own right with its own unique structures and characteristics.
Living creatures: Literally, this can be read let the waters swarm with swarming life. God commanded a vast variety of life to come into existence and fill the oceans.
Let birds fly: The next life formed on the fifth day, after sea life, was life in the air, the birds. The earth would be filled with life. The bird is an engineering wonder which uses the physics of wind and wing design to lift it above the earth.
Like the plants and sea life, each has unique design characteristics, which allow them to live in their prescribed environment.
According to their kind: The word is a specific Hebrew word, !ym Miyn used 31 times in the Old Testament. Its is a separation of the gene pool of a specific creature. Man for example is called “Man-Kind”. There are varieties of people, but only one kind of humanity. Just as there are other genetic varieties within a certain kind.
created great sea creatures: The translation varies with this word in the Hebrew. The word is sometimes translated great whales and even dragon. The Hebrew word !ynnt Tanniyn is translated great whale in the King James Version, elsewhere the word is translated dragon. This creation applies to all the great creatures of the sea, both the extinct and the living. This would include the animals whose fossils and remains have been discovered and continue to be discovered. In Psalm 74:13-14, the Sea Serpents and Leviathan are both mentioned as great sea animals who lived in the days of Moses.
13 You divided the sea by Your strength; You broke the heads of the sea serpents in the waters.
14 You broke the heads of Leviathan in pieces, And gave him as food to the people inhabiting the wilderness. Psalm 74:13-14
Recently a Japanese fishing vessel pulled up this decaying carcass, which resembles the remains of a plesiosaurus.
Every living thing: The Hebrew word used here is Xpn Nephesh, which translates soul. Animals according to scripture are souls, as opposed to plants which do not have desire. Animals can have desires, wants, needs and emotions, these are aspects of a soul. Strong’s defines this word as:
1. soul, self, life, creature, person, appetite, mind, living being, desire, emotion, passion a. that which breathes, the breathing substance or being, soul, the inner being of man
The Sixth Day: Creation of land animals and Humanity
24 Then God said, "Let the earth bring forth the living creature according to its kind: cattle and creeping thing and beast of the earth, each according to its kind"; and it was so.
25 And God made the beast of
the earth according to its kind, cattle according to its kind, and
everything that creeps on the earth according to its kind. And God saw that
it was good.
Earth bring forth: God calls life into existence from, from the sea or the land. God WORD is the active force.
Living Creature: As in the creation of sea life, the word used here is Xpn Nephesh meaning soul, which applies to life outside the plant world, life having, desire, emotion... This covers a broad spectrum of life.
Cattle: Cattle here would include all domesticated animals, and other beasts.
creeping thing: This would include all insects and animals that creep along the ground.
Beast of the earth: This is a broad spectrum of life, including the dinosaurs, elephants, lions and any aspect of life on the ground.
According to its kind: The genetics of each animal is limited to its kind. For example, the wolf is considered the kind from which all dogs have developed. Dogs and wolves are from the same kind. A Dog and a wolf can have offspring, demonstrating they are of the same kind.
Previous research had established the wolf as the ancestor of today's dog, but when and where humans first domesticated the animals remained unclear. Peter Savolainen of the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm and his colleagues examined samples of mitochondrial DNA (which is passed solely through the mother) from 654 dogs representing all major dog populations worldwide. More than 95 percent of the dogs belonged to just three major groups, the team found. What is more, the distribution among these groups was similar across all regions, which suggests "a common origin from a single gene pool for all dog populations,"[5]
Tigers and Lions are of the same kind, they can also have offspring known as Ligers or Tigons. This demonstrates the biblical principal of kinds. Through successive generations gene pools become isolated, leading to the varieties within the kind.
Creation of Humanity
26 Then God said, "Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth."
27 So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.
28 Then God blessed them, and God said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth."
29 And God said, "See, I have given you every herb that yields seed which is on the face of all the earth, and every tree whose fruit yields seed; to you it shall be for food.
30 "Also, to every beast of the earth, to every bird of the air, and to everything that creeps on the earth, in which there is life, I have given every green herb for food"; and it was so.
31 Then God saw everything
that He had made, and indeed it was very good. So
the evening and the morning were the sixth day.
God said, "Let Us make man in Our image: All the other life in the world was unique in their own special way. All life in the physical world is Carbon-based, composed of carbon-molecules, with the blue-prints of the life encoded in DNA. God used the same building materials, with variety to construct all life. In the same way a builder might use wood, stone, paint, steel and glass to construct homes and office buildings, God used carbon-molecules and DNA to construct life as we know it.
The one difference of this creation was the creation of man. When God decided to create man, he used Himself as a model. Man was made in the image of God; man is modeled after the person of God. God used carbon based elements, such as bones, flesh, hair, eyes and so forth to create man’s appearance, but man Himself was modeled after the image of God Himself.
Us: The word used for God is the plural form. This is indicative of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit involved in every aspect of creation.
Man: The Hebrew word for man is ~da 'adam, the name of the first man.
Our Image...likeness: What does it mean to be in the image of God? The word image ~lc Tselem means to resemble, the other word likeness means to be similar or like. In essence, we are models of almighty God. The creator of the universe made models of Himself, both in nature and likeness.
God appears throughout scripture in human form, when the
angels were created they were also created in human form (Genesis 18:2,22,
Jesus when he came into the world came as a ben (son) of Adam.
Them have dominion: Mankind was created to have rule and dominion over the creation of God. When Adam and Eve sinned, this dominion was turned over to Satan.
Over all the earth: This dominion included all the earth, the land, sea and air.
God created man in His own image: We were ruling over the earth, as models of God, over His creation. Man would not be limited to the Garden of Eden, but the whole earth, and probably the whole universe would have been available to man, if they did not fall in the Garden.
fill the earth and subdue it: God commanded Adam and Eve to take charge and subdue the earth. In verse 28 God has 5 commands for Adam and Eve before the Earth fell.
· Be fruitful
· Multiply;
· Fill the earth and
· Subdue it;
· Dominion over the fish....birds and every living thing ..on the earth."
I have given you every herb:
Man’s diet before the fall was a vegetarian diet, after the fall death
enveloped all of creation.
to every beast of the earth...., I have given every green
herb for food:
As a result of the fall not only did man change, but so did the animal
world. When they were first created animals were vegetarians like man,
after the fall animals as well as men became carnivorous. This would
include lions, bears and dinosaurs. In
5 Righteousness shall be the belt of His loins, And faithfulness the belt of His waist.
6 "The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, The leopard shall lie down with the young goat, The calf and the young lion and the fatling together; And a little child shall lead them.
7 The cow and the bear shall graze; Their young ones shall lie down together; And the lion shall eat straw like the ox.
8 The nursing child shall play by the cobra's hole, And the weaned child shall put his hand in the viper's den.
9 They shall not hurt nor
destroy in all My holy mountain, For the earth shall be full of the
knowledge of the Lord As the waters cover the sea.
Indeed it was very good: God’s creation was perfect. Sometimes it’s hard to comprehend that we now live in a fallen world. The world that now is, is not the world as it was first created. Our understanding of the world from a secular view has an atheistic presupposition built into our view. Only through scripture can we have the “True” understanding of the world we live.
[1] The Genesis Record, Henry Morris pg. 60, Baker Books, 1976
[2] http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2008/08/080805-warm-antarctica.html
[3] ibid
[4] http://www.suntrek.org/sun-as-a-star/sun-and-earth/comparing-size-sun-and-earth.shtml
[5] http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=dna-study-traces-fidos-fa