The opening chapter of the Bible begins with these words, "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth." (NIV) This summarizes the drama that was about to unfold. We learn from the text that the earth was formless, empty, and dark, and God's Spirit
moved over the waters preparing to perform God's creative Word. And
then God began to speak into existence his creation. A day by day
account follows.
7 Days of Creation
Day 1 - God created light and separated the light from the darkness, calling light "day" and darkness "night."
Day 2 - God created an expanse to separate the waters and called it "sky."
Day 3
- God created the dry ground and gathered the waters, calling the dry
ground "land," and the gathered waters "seas." On day three, God also
created vegetation (plants and trees).
Day 4 -
God created the sun, moon, and the stars to give light to the earth and
to govern and separate the day and the night. These would also serve as
signs to mark seasons, days, and years.
Day 5 - God created every
living creature of the seas and every winged bird, blessing them to
multiply and fill the waters and the sky with life.
Day 6 - God created the animals to fill the earth. On day six, God also created man and woman (Adam and Eve)
in his own image to commune with him. He blessed them and gave them
every creature and the whole earth to rule over, care for, and
cultivate.
Day 7 - God had finished his work of creation and so he rested on the seventh day, blessing it and making it holy.
Points of Interest From the Creation Story
Genesis
1, the opening scene of the biblical drama, introduces us to the two
main characters in the Bible: God and man. Author Gene Edwards, refers
to this drama as The Divine Romance. Here we meet God, the Almighty Creator
of all things, revealing the ultimate object of his love—man—as he
concludes the stunning work of creation. God has set the stage. The
drama has begun.
In summary, the simple truth of the creation
story is that God is the author of creation. In Genesis 1, we are
presented with the beginning of a divine drama that can only be examined
and understood from the standpoint of faith. How long did it take? How
did it happen, exactly? No one can answer these questions definitively.
In fact, these mysteries are not the focus of the creation story. The
purpose, rather, is for moral and spiritual revelation.
God was
very pleased with his creation. Six times throughout the process of
creating, God stopped, observed his handiwork and saw that it was good.
On final inspection of all that he had made, God regarded it as "very
good." This is a great time to remind ourselves that we are part of
God's creation. Even when you don't feel worthy of his pleasure,
remember that God made you and is pleased with you. You are of great worth to him.
In verse 26, God says, "Let us make man in our image, in our
likeness ..." This is the only instance in the creation account that
God uses the plural form to refer to himself. It's interesting to note
that this happens just as he begins to create man. Many scholars believe
this is the Bible's first reference to the Trinity.
On the seventh day, God rested. It's hard to come up with a reason why God would need
to rest, but apparently he considered it important. Rest is often an
unfamiliar concept in our busy, fast-paced world. It's socially
unacceptable to take an entire day to rest. God knows we need times of
refreshing. Our example, Jesus, spent time alone away from the crowds.
So, we should not feel guilty when we take time each week to rest and
renew our bodies, souls, and spirits.
