Author : Keith Sharp
Bible Survey : Lesson Two (Genesis 1-2)
Genesis chapters one and two contain the divine account of creation, the true story of how all the material universe began. Genesis 1:1 – 2:3 tell us the order of creation. Genesis 2:4-24 gives the details of the sixth day that pertain specifically to mankind. The first chapter tells of the creation of all things. The second chapter tells of the creation of man and his original home and the beginning of the family.
Unbelievers consider this account to be a myth,. But Christ and the apostles treated the creation account as sober history (e.g., Matthew 19:4-6; 1 Timothy 2:13-14; 2 Peter 3:5). The creation account of Genesis chapters one and two is the only account there is of how the universe began given by the One Who actually made the universe. It is the foundation on which the rest of the Bible is built. At this point either faith comes to rest or unbelief begins.
It is not the purpose of this lesson to give a defense of creation as opposed to evolution. There are many good books and web sites which do this.
But It is important that we understand that true science does not uphold evolution and does not contradict the Bible account of creation. The God who made the world is the same God who gave us the Bible. From the world we can know there is a God; from the Bible we know His will for us and His plan for our salvation.
How long did creation take? Of course evolutionists teach that the universe and the earth are billions of years old and that it took hundreds of millions of years for life to begin, evolve into the various kinds of plants and animals, and for mankind to arrive. Many people try to accept both the Bible and evolution. They try to find a way to make the six day creation of Genesis one fit the billions of years evolutionists demand.
Some say there is a time gap between Genesis 1:1 and Genesis 1:2 of billions of years in which one world evolved and was destroyed because of mankind’s wickedness. They claim this is where fossils came from.
Others claim the days of Genesis one are figurative days each covering hundreds of millions of years. Thus, they assert the six days refer to six eons.
A more recent assertion is that, although the six days are literal twenty-four hour days, each day is separated by millions of years. Thus, they suggest God did create everything in six literal days scattered over a vast time period.
The first thing that should strike us about each of these positions is that people do not take them because of evidence from the Scriptures but because they want to harmonize the Bible with the basic premise of atheistic evolutionists, that the universe is billions of years old. Evolutionists must have enormous amounts of time for the gradual changes they believe in to take place. Thus, people who assert there are millions or billions of years in Genesis one are allowing human philosophy to determine what they believe the Bible means. This is trust in man and his philosophy, not faith in God and His Word (1 Corinthians 1:18-29; Colossians 2:8-10). Furthermore, none of these theories about Genesis one can be reconciled with the Bible account. The writer of Genesis, Moses, paralleled the creation week with all other weeks (Exodus 20:11). If there is a vast time gap between Genesis 1:1 and 1:2, the first day of our week should be enormously long. If the creation week covers six eons, so do our weeks. If the seventh day of the creation week is a vast period of time, so was the Jewish Sabbath.
Here are some simple reasons the days of Genesis chapter one have to be six literal days in a literal seven day week. God created vegetation the third day, but He made the sun on the fourth day. How did plants grow on the earth without the sun for millions of years? The word “day” is never used in a figurative sense in the Old Testament in a numbered sequence (“first day,” “second day,” etc.). Each day of creation had an “evening” and a “morning.” The Jewish day begins at sundown. Jesus stated that man and woman have existed “from the beginning of creation” (Mark 10:6). But if the creation week was billions of years long, humans didn’t exist for billions of years after creation began.
After six days God ceased His work of creation (Genesis 2:1-3). If evolution is true, that creative work continues even now.
God pronounced His creation to be “very good” (Genesis 1:31). According to theistic evolution, the law of the jungle, the survival of the fittest, kill or be killed, eat or be eaten, is very good. No, this principle of nature is the result of sin, not the basis of the “very good” world God created.
It is crucial to our salvation to reject theistic evolution and to accept the Genesis account of creation as literal fact. We must not only believe in God; we must also believe His Word (John 12:48).
According to evolution, people are just apes who grew bigger brains and lost most of their body hair. One evolutionist wrote a book about mankind entitled “The Naked Ape.” According to Genesis, God made both the man and the woman “in His own image” (Genesis 1:27). The difference between evolution and creation is the difference between a naked ape and a child of God.
If we’re just animals who happen to walk on two legs and have bigger brains, why should we have any higher moral standards than any other animal? Why not obey the law of the jungle, kill or be killed? Why not mate whenever and with whomever we feel like? Since most people accept evolution as a proven fact, is it any wonder that their morals, or the lack thereof, are like jungle animals?
If evolution is true, the family relationship just evolved over time, and we can change it any way we want. But according to the Bible, God started marriage, and we must order our families in the way He commands (Matthew 19:4-6).
In Genesis chapters one and two, the inspired account of creation, the Lord God the Creator tells us how the universe, the earth, life, all the kinds of life, people, and the family began. God spoke all the material universe and all kinds of living things, including mankind, into existence. He made the first people a perfect home in which they had everything they could properly desire. He gave them a simple law to obey. He gave them the marriage relationship made up of one man and one woman united for life as the closest of all earthly ties and the perfect relationship for happiness on earth. Indeed, “All creation was good.”
