Thus the heavens and the earth were completed in all their vast array.

By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work.  And God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done.

I love the Creation story because of its simplicity.  Such an incredible amount of things being done (a “vast array” in fact), and yet it is presented in such a basic way. 

Think about the complex anatomy of one creature – cells, bones, muscle tissue, skin, fur or feathers, veins, ateries and so on.  All of these parts of the creature put together in harmony so that each creature is designed to suit its environment and so the creature can do what it is meant to do.   Wings to fly, fins to swim, creatures with multiple stomachs to digest food – the diversity is astounding.

And yet it is simply recorded that God created them.  Amazing.

So after God created all of this, He rested.  No doubt.  God blessed this day, making it holy.  Holy means set apart, and God set apart this day from all the others as a day of rest.  Through the act of Creation, God sanctifies work.  But after six days of work, God also takes a break to place a real importance on the value of rest and to sanctify this as well.

Often in our busy culture we forget to rest or we feel guilty if we do.  It’s important to remember that not only is it okay to rest, it has been ordained by God as something that should be done.

 Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.” So God created man in his own image,
       in the image of God he created him;
       male and female he created them. God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground.”

Then God said, “I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food.   And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds of the air and all the creatures that move on the ground—everything that has the breath of life in it—I give every green plant for food.” And it was so.

God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning—the sixth day.

The final day of creation arrives.  The Earth in all it’s splendor is complete.  There is sky, land and sea, creatures of all types and now God sets forth to create people.  God starts with a plan – to make man like him, “in the image of God”. 

I have often wondered what exactly this means.  Does it mean that Adam and God shared similar facial features?  I don’t necessarily think so.  I think that it may mean the general shape of people.  In Revelation and elsewhere in the Bible, God is seen in general human shape – head with 2 eyes, nose and mouth; arms, legs, etc.

I think we are also made in the image of God in our range of moods and the way we interact – happy, sad, angry and so on.  The way that we speak to one another; the way that we are protective of those we love; how we get angry about evil and find beauty in things that we create – I believe aspects of humanity such as these are also part of how we are created in the image of God.

God creates people with a task in mind for them – to increase in number and to rule over all of the creatures on the planet.  The description of the different groups of creatures reflects their description in the previous passages when they were created by their different groups.  Although the passage above reads “…over all the earth…” if you look at the footnote on BibleGospel.com you will see that the Syriac was “…over all the wild animals…” which reflects more completely the different types of creatures created.

Some people look at this passage and think that it gives mankind the right to abuse nature (the creatures).  I think that it means that we are to be stewards – those who look after things – and to look after them.  I don’t mean this in a vegan, Greenpeace, spare-them-at-all-costs type of attitude.  I believe that they are there to serve us (such as work-horses, oxen etc.), clothe us (leather, wool, etc) and feed us (that is up to your taste!).  I love animals and if I had to, ah - create my own meat source - then I would have a hard time eating anything other than fish likely.

We need to be responsible though for what we use.  Greed has caused over-fishing, over hunting and the extinction of creatures.  I don’t believe this is what God intended.  For those who are opposed to using creatures for food, clothing, etc. I must admit that I have a hard time with that idea as well.  Natural products such as these don’t have the same issues for breaking down as synthetics do.  But that’s another discussion for another time.

According to this passage, we were originally vegetarians (and the vegans cheer!) – but it didn’t last a long time (and the vegans boo.).  But it is interesting to note that at the beginning – before sin entered the world – all creatures were vegetarians!  Check it out.

To the people…

“I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food.” 

 And to the rest of the creatures:

 ”…I give every green plant for food.”

Killing was not in the original plan.  To any proponents of the vegetarian lifestyle, let me say with a word of caution that people also had the Tree of Life to eat from that may have given them any, and possibly all, of the nutrition they would need.

And so we now have Creation in it’s completeness.  And God looks over all He has created and is pleased with what he sees.

And God said, “Let the land produce living creatures according to their kinds: livestock, creatures that move along the ground, and wild animals, each according to its kind.” And it was so.   God made the wild animals according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, and all the creatures that move along the ground according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good.

The last day of creation starts with the creation of land creatures.  Some evolutionists have a problem with the lack of dinosaurs being mentioned at this point.  Although that is true, it also doesn’t mention elephants, giraffes or any other creatures that we know live on the Earth today.  I don’t believe that just because they weren’t mentioned that  they didn’t exist – they were just some more of God’s wondrous creations.

 I like the phrasing here: “let the land produce…” It’s as if the very earth itself is giving rise to these creatures.  And so we now hear about the creation of livestock – an interesting term considering that originally all creatures appear to be herbivores. 

I believe that the story of Creation was handed down – either from the begining of time, or directly to Moses during the time that he spent in the Tent of Meeting with God.  In any story it’s important to use terms and imagery that the intended listeners can relate to.  This doesn’t mean to change the truth – not at all.  But it does mean to use terminology that makes sense to the primary audience. 

Think of music for example.  We could talk about listening to an LP, 8-track or some other archaic device, and it’s recent enough in history for most young people to know what’s being talked about.  But to write to some young kids a story about someone listening to a phonograph and not having any pictures, and they might not have a clue of what you’re talking about.  Maybe that’s not a great example, but hopefully you get the point.   

Getting back to the point, that’s why I point out the differences in grouping the creatures that were created that day into different categories: “livestock” -domesticated creatures now grown as a food (etc.) source; “wild animals” – not domesticated, and; “other creatures that move along the ground” – the rest.

God created them all and saw that it was good.  The rabbit is still running, just like Bill Cosby said.

And God said, “Let the water teem with living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the expanse of the sky.” So God created the great creatures of the sea and every living and moving thing with which the water teems, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. God blessed them and said, “Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the water in the seas, and let the birds increase on the earth.” And there was evening, and there was morning—the fifth day.

The fifth day God created every creature in the water and flying creatures in the air.

Think for a moment about some of these creatures.  The water had some pretty scary creatures – and still does today – giant squid, Man-O-War jelly fish, immense sharks and other denziens that live so deep we rarely get a glance of them.  There were creatures that existed once that have not been seen since – either now rare or extinct – creatures such as the Leviathan and all sorts of other monsters of the deep.

The water also boasts some of the most beautiful creatures in existence.  Think of some of the tropical fish and all their brilliant colours.  They are only matched in their beauty by some tropical birds. 

 It would’ve been amazing to be there for the “before and after” of this day.  On day 4 there were no birds singing.  

Then the fifth day comes and now there is music in the air.  The sounds of birds chirping and singing, and the sight of them flying through the air with their beautiful plumage reflecting the light of the day.

It’s interesting to me to think of the fact that these two types of creatures, with such beautiful colour palettes, were created on the same day.  And getting around to the famous question, read the Scripture.  God created creatures not eggs, so it was the chicken that came first.

And God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let them serve as signs to mark seasons and days and years, and let them be lights in the expanse of the sky to give light on the earth.” And it was so.   God made two great lights—the greater light to govern the day and the lesser light to govern the night. He also made the stars.   God set them in the expanse of the sky to give light on the earth,  to govern the day and the night, and to separate light from darkness. And God saw that it was good.   And there was evening, and there was morning—the fourth day.

It used to be that people believed that the sun revolved around the Earth – this solidified the idea that man was the most important thing in all of creation, or at least that the Earth was.  Then (blank) discovered that, contrary to what we had first thought, the Earth really travels around the sun.   This news rocked much of the world and even shook the faith of many.  How could we remain important in God’s eyes – the focus of His work, if we were not the center?

 How prideful and arrogant we are to try to say that we must be the center of the universe for us to be important to God.  Who are we to try to state how God should set things up? 

 God has now created: the heavens and the earth – a place for the center of His attention and the place for the objects of his affection; light – that which was necessary for food to grow; land – a place for food to grow and creatures to dwell…

And now God creates the rest of the universe – the stars, the sun and the moon.  I love how this passage describes God’s careful planning and reason for putting the stars in their place – “let them serve as signs to mark seasons and days and years.”

God puts the sun in it’s place and the moon as well.  They give light on the Earth to watch over man and provide him a way to see.  Granted the moon reflects the light of the sun, but we need to always remember that this needed to be a somewhat simplistic explanation.  And it does “give light” to the Earth not directly, but rather indirectly.  Some nights, when the moon is full, the light it gives to the Earth is so bright it’s like an overcast day.

 We have learned a lot about the universe in which we live, but much of it is still conjecture.  There are things that we have accepted as truth in the past, only later to find out that “truth” was wrong.  We can theorize about distant suns and stars, but until we visit them we cannot definitively speak about them. 

When scientists send a satellite into space or a robot to a near planet, they have a rough idea of what to expect, but still can’t anticipate everything.  As they learn from firsthand experience, it allows them to more accurately give data and prepare for the next venture.

Only God knows truly what is out in the universe.  There may be wonders beyond our imagining to one day see – fantastic creatures and new landscapes.  Or they may just be more of God’s amazing artistry.

And God said, “Let the water under the sky be gathered to one place, and let dry ground appear.” And it was so.   God called the dry ground “land,” and the gathered waters he called “seas.” And God saw that it was good.    Then God said, “Let the land produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants and trees on the land that bear fruit with seed in it, according to their various kinds.” And it was so.   The land produced vegetation: plants bearing seed according to their kinds and trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good.   And there was evening, and there was morning—the third day.

 Pangea.  It is the name given to a place where all the land on the Earth was gathered into one immense land mass.  With plate tectonics moving our land masses around it was theorized that at one time they were all just one large continent.  Perhaps this passage support this theory.  Or maybe it is more simple and there was just distinction made between these two parts.  Like night and day, land and sea seem listed as opposites here.

 Up until now the earth had been formless.  As I said before, it was a big wet rock out in space.  And now God turns his powers of creation to the surface of our planet, dividing up the land from the seas.  The upheaval on the planet must’ve been amazing to see – lands moving, plates shoving under each other and pushing up immense mountains, other places spewing forth lava as the very planet itself follows the will and design of God’s creation.

 The landscape is vast and wondrous all by itself, yet something is missing.  Then God creates plants – flora.  The ground begins sprouting fruit trees, grasses begin to grow and all types of vegetation that is needed to support the life that will soon be on this planet now start to shoot up out of the ground in an explosion of vibrant colour.

 As the sun sets on this beautiful world, God looks upon the beautiful artistry that He has created and is satisfied with what He has done.

And God said, “Let there be an expanse between the waters to separate water from water.”  So God made the expanse and separated the water under the expanse from the water above it.  And it was so.  God called the expanse “sky.”  And there was evening, and there was morning—the second day.

The second day God takes this wet rock – our planet – and divides the water into two groups: the water above and the water below.  Some say that there was a globe of water that encircled the earth creating a greenhouse like environment.  Perhaps this is true, but if we simplify the story then we have a source of water above and a source of water below. 

In between was sky.  Was this God’s creation of atmosphere, again simplified so that anyone could understand?  Why not?  We know that before the story of Noah and the Ark there had not been rain yet, but by the time Moses wrote these first 5 books of the Bible, people would be familiar with rain and recognize that there was “water above the sky”. 

In the first day God set the Earth in motion, perhaps on the second day He created an atmosphere to support the life He was to create there.

And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.  God saw that the light was good, and He separated the light from the darkness.  God called the light “day,” and the darkness he called “night.”  And there was evening, and there was morning—the first day.

Light.  It has always been associated with God.  The first thing that God makes for this planet, for this universe, is light.  Did God at this time create the laws and physics that make up light at this time in history?  Did He create prisms of light and rainbows, or simply bring it to this world to shine on it and help create our times of work and rest?

We don’t operate like that – not everyone.  Some have to work the night shift now and it is hard on them.  Some are “nighthawks” and prefer to be up then.  But the order of things was that night was for resting and the day for doing things.  Work or play, it was while the light shone that we were active and night was the time for sleep and restoration.

But God created light – and saw that it was good.  It served a purpose, it had a function.  He made it distinct and separate from darkness and created the existence of “day” and “night”.  Perhaps God began to spin the world on it’s axis at this time – for we know now that’s what causes day and night – but it was too difficult a concept to try to teach to people.  Perhaps God had some other way of making it day and night then, for the sun was yet to be created.

I have to laugh at people that say there is no way that the Creation story could be literal.  That’s a huge leap of faith!  If God can do something so incredible as to create even just our planet, even just a person, who’s to say what God can or cannot do in whatever kind of timeline He chooses.  I’m not trying to say “it must be literal”, I’m just saying it could be just as easily as not. 

And so God’s creation continues…

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.   Now the earth was  formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.

The beginning.  Such a mind blowing concept. 

The beginning of our universe, the beginning of time as we know it perhaps.  God exists outside of our concepts of space and time – these are concepts that He created.   To try to know God is to seek an unattainable goal in some respects.  Yet He wants us to know Him, and so at the beginning of the universe God creates it all.

I am not sure how this story was originally passed on.  Whether in the days that Moses spent with God, God told him all about it, or whether it was passed down from generation to generation through telling the story.  I will not debate here “days” as we know them, nor aspects of time. 

What is important to me here is that God created it all.  Every natural thing we know and all the laws that govern how it all works.  It was intentional and after God put all the laws, boundaries and plans in place, He came to focus on a small planet.

The place in the universe was central in the eye of God.  God began creating a place for mankind to live with all the wonders on it and around it.  Up to this point there was nothing really to Earth – it was just a wet rock in space. 

The imagery of the Spirit of God hovering over the planet to me is an image of someone who has planned something and is about to get started.  Like a painter holding out a brush before a blank canvas, or a sculpter with a fresh batch of clay, everything is prepared…