Scriptural Background
What scriptural background can we possibly give here? Before Genesis nothing but God in eternity past existed. Genesis 1 is the beginning of the universe, time, space, history, and all of life as we know it. In addition, Genesis is foundational to the rest of Scripture. It sets the tone for God’s eternal plan of redemption.
From the very first verse, Scripture assumes God’s existence without trying to prove it in any way. We must avoid using arguments that attempt to prove God by demanding evidence in the natural world. Man’s need to prove God implies his intention to elevate his own autonomous reason above God’s Word.
Though obviously presented with very little “background,” the information given to us in the early chapters of Genesis is foundational to many important doctrines, including the Trinity (Genesis 1:26), death (2:17), marriage (2:24), sin (3:6), the gospel (3:15), and clothing (3:21). The book of Genesis is to be taken as literal history provided by God to give us a glimpse of his majesty, wonder, creativity, and eternal purpose.
Historical/Apologetics Background
“In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.” This first verse in the Bible answers many questions for us, such as “Where did everything come from?” “Is there a God?” “When did time begin?” These are questions Christians often have trouble answering—not because they lack faith, but because they don’t realize that answers to questions like these can be found in Scripture.
When did time begin? Time itself began when God began to create the universe—“In the beginning.” He created time for man, but he himself is not bound by time. He is eternal—the Alpha and the Omega—the beginning and the end (Revelation 1:8). God confirms this concept when he tells us that to him a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years is like a day (2 Peter 3:8).
There are many opposing views of the Genesis account of creation that manipulate God’s Word to include millions of years (the old-earth view). Many will try to persuade us that the creation account must be “proven” before being believed. Realistically, however, no account of origins can be proven—it must be accepted by faith. Christians must stand firm on biblical authority—God told us in his Word what happened and how he created: “By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible” (Hebrews 11:3).
Over the past 200 years, because of “scientific” developments, many Christians have attempted to merge millions of years into the Bible’s account of creation. Some of the biblically compromised views that evangelical Christians hold to are listed below:
- The day-age view: a compromise belief that the days of Genesis 1 are actually vast ages of different lengths; based on secular dating methods.
- The gap theory: a compromise belief that a vast period of time exists between Genesis 1:1 and 1:2 into which the geologic eras can be fit.
- The framework hypothesis: a compromise belief that Genesis 1 is written in a non-literal, non-chronological way; based on secular dating methods.
- Theistic evolution: a compromise belief that suggests God used evolutionary processes to create the universe and life on earth over billions of years.
- Progressive creation: a compromise belief suggesting that God has created organisms in a progressive manner over billions of years to accommodate secular dating methods.
These are all ideas that attempt to fit evolution and/or millions of years into the Bible rather than believing the Genesis account of the six days of creation.
Does the creation account matter? Is the order important? Why should we care what God created on each day? Well, if God specifically and systematically presents the order of his creation over a six-day period in his Word, we can safely say yes, it does matter.
It matters because we must be aware that evolution is prominent in our culture today—even indoctrinating our youngest children. We must beware. This idea is in direct opposition to what God’s Word tells us about his amazing work of creation.
Creationists believe God’s Word as recorded. Evolutionists believe in millions of years of slow change, from non-life to simple cells, to more complex plants and animals, and eventually to the organisms that exist today, including man. Those who embrace this position must reject God’s Word because evolution does not harmonize with God’s account of creation. Here are a few examples of the more obvious differences:
| Evolutionary Ideas—Not True |
Creation in Genesis—True |
Reference |
| Sun before earth |
Earth (Day 1) before sun (Day 4) |
Genesis 1:1 |
| Sun before light on earth |
Light (Day 1) before sun (Day 4) |
Genesis 1:3 |
| Earth at same time as planets |
Earth (Day 1) before other planets (Day 4) |
Genesis 1:1, 1:14–15 |
| Sea creatures before land plants |
Land plants (Day 3) before sea creatures (Day 5) |
Genesis 1:12–13, 1:20–23 |
| Reptiles before birds |
Birds (Day 5) before reptiles (Day 6) |
Genesis 1:20, 1:23–24, 1:31 |
| Creation took billions of years |
God created in six normal 24-hour days. |
Genesis 2:1–2 |
It is very sad to consider that many Christians feel that the age of the earth is an unimportant side issue and that discussing it detracts from the gospel message. Christians must understand that all of Scripture is foundational to our faith. If we can set aside a literal six-day creation because it is considered “unscientific” or unpopular, then what will be our basis for determining the truth of the rest of Scripture? Can we teach a virgin birth or a literal resurrection? When we read the genealogy of Christ, which goes back to Adam, can it be taken literally? Believing the historical account of Genesis 1–11 is foundational to believing the rest of the Bible and essential for understanding the gospel message.
God Created the Heaven and the Earth
Genesis 1
? What type of literature is Genesis 1? Does it sound like an account, a poem, a letter, or some other type of writing?
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? What period of time does this passage describe?
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? Who is doing the creating?
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? Verse one tells us that God created what?
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? How did the various parts of the creation come into existence?
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? Are any phrases or words repeated?
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? What is the main point of the passage?
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? What does the passage tell us about God?
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Discover the Truth
In Genesis 1:1, we need to make sure we understand two phrases. The first phrase, “heaven and earth,” is a merism—a figure of speech that uses two extremes to refer to everything in between. When I tell you that someone was covered from head to toe, you know I am talking about the person’s entire body. We need to recognize (observe) figures of speech in a text we are studying to rightly interpret the meaning so that we can rightly apply them to our lives.
? What other merisms do we use in our speech?
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Jeremiah 23:24
? How does Jeremiah 23:24 describe God’s presence?
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Jeremiah 33:25–26
Psalm 69:34
? How does Psalm 69:34 use the phrase?
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Nehemiah 9:6
? According to this passage, what did God create?
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? This leads to the next important point. In Genesis 1, what is “in the beginning” referring to?
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? If God created the entire universe, what existed before the universe?
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? As you read Genesis 1—what we have said is a historical narrative—how many days did God use to create the universe?
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? Does this agree with the big bang model of the formation of the universe?
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The Order Matters Activity
We are going to do an activity to see if we can reconcile the evolutionary models of the origin of the universe with the biblical record.
On this worksheet, you will find three columns. In the first column are statements from the evolutionary view of the universe and the life we have on this Earth. In the second column, you are going to provide a short statement of the biblical view of the relationship in the first column. Then, in the last column put the biblical reference that confirms your statement. All of the answers will be found in Genesis 1, so open your Bibles there.
Connect to the Truth
? Are there any points in which the order of the different views agrees?
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? What would we have to do to get the evolutionary view to fit into the biblical explanation?
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? How do we know which view is true?
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Application
? Many people claim that the Bible doesn’t tell us how God created; it just tells us that he did create. Is this an accurate statement based on the text of Genesis 1?
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? As we approach this topic in conversations with fellow believers, what should be our attitude?
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? Should our approach to supporting the biblical view of the creation week look different when discussing it with those who are not Christians?
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? If we suggest that the account of creation in Genesis is a myth or an allegory, what other doctrines would become mythical or allegorical—what doctrines find their basis in the first few chapters of Genesis?
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? How can understanding that God created the entire universe in six days by simply speaking it into existence help you to trust him?
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