The Six Days of Creation Genesis 1 3

The Six Days of Creation Genesis 1: 3 -31 © John Stevenson, 2015

Unformed Unfilled Day 1: Light Day 4: Light-bearers (sun, moon, stars) Day 2: Water & sky divided Day 5: Fish & birds to fill water & sky Day 3: Dry land & vegetation Day 6: Land animals & man Day 7: Sabbath Rest

Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light. (Genesis 1: 3).

And God saw that the light was good; and God separated the light from the darkness. 5 And God called the light day, and the darkness He called night. And there was evening and there was morning, one day. (Genesis 1: 4 -5).

Textual Formula in Genesis 1 • • God’s creative statement: And God said. . . The fiat: “Let there be. . . ” The creative act: And there was light. . . A declaration that the creation was good: God saw that it was good. • The time limits of that creative period: And there was evening and there was morning. . . • The numerical listing of that day: One day.

Then God said, “Let there be an expanse in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters. ” (Genesis 1: 6)

[; yqir' (Raqiya) And God made the expanse, and separated the waters which were below the expanse from the waters which were above the expanse; and it was so. 8 And God called the expanse heaven. And there was evening and there was morning, a second day. (Genesis 1: 7 -8).

[; yqir' (Raqiya) • Defined in verse 8 when “God called the Raqiya heaven” (note that the Hebrew is plural; “Heavens”). • Further explained in verse 20 where God says, “. . . let birds fly above the earth in the open expanse of the heavens” (It literally reads “. . . upon the face of the raqiyah of the heavens”)

[; yqir' (Raqiya) The heavens are telling of the glory of God; And their EXPANSE is declaring the work of His hands. (Psalm 19: 1). Praise the Lord! Praise God in His sanctuary; Praise Him in His mighty EXPANSE. (Psalm 15: 1).

Then God said, “Let the waters below the heavens be gathered into one place, and let the dry land appear”; and it was so. 10 And God called the dry land earth, and the gathering of the waters He called seas; and God saw that it was good. (Genesis 1: 9 -10).

Then God said, “Let the earth sprout vegetation, plants yielding seed, and fruit trees bearing fruit after their kind, with seed in them, on the earth”; and it was so. (Genesis 1: 11).

Then God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night, and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days and years; 15 and let them be for lights in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth”; and it was so. (Genesis 1: 14 -15).

And God made the two great lights, the greater light to govern the day, and the lesser light to govern the night; He made the stars also. (Genesis 1: 16).

And God placed them in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth, 18 and to govern the day and the night, and to separate the light from the darkness; and God saw that it was good. (Genesis 1: 17 -18).

Created Kingdoms Created Kings Day 1: Light & Darkness Day 4: Light-bearers to rule day & night Day 2: Division of waters into sky & sea Day 5: Birds to rule the sky and fish to rule the sea Day 3: Dry land & vegetation Day 6: Land animals & man as ruler Creator King Day 7: The King takes His Rest

Then God said, “Let the waters teem with swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth in the open expanse of the heavens. ” (Genesis 1: 21).

Then God said, “Let the earth bring forth living creatures after their kind: cattle and creeping things and beasts of the earth after their kind”; and it was so. (Genesis 1: 24).

God made the beasts of the earth after their kind, and the cattle after their kind, and everything that creeps on the ground after its kind; and God saw that it was good. (Genesis 1: 25).

Genesis 1: 26 -27 Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping that creeps on the earth. ” And God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. (Genesis 1: 26 -27).

Genesis 1: 28 God blessed them; and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living that moves on the earth. ” – In the Image of God – Federal Headship – Stewardship and a basis for Ecology

Genesis 1: 29 -30 Then God said, “Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the surface of all the earth, and every tree which has fruit yielding seed; it shall be food for you; 30 and to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the sky and to every thing that moves on the earth which has life, I have given every green plant for food”; and it was so.

Genesis 1 The Israelite Experience Light and darkness They had seen God are made by God on bring light and darkness Day 1 over Egypt A division of the waters on Day 2 They had passed through the Red Sea The sun and moon Egyptians worshiped and stars created on the sun and moon and Day 4 stars and had seen the sun darkened in Egypt.

Genesis 1 The Israelite Experience Man is created in the image of God Only the Pharaoh was thought to be in the image of God Man is told to rule over the earth Only the Pharaoh had the right of rulership Man is placed into a Israelites are tempted to beautiful garden return to the meats of Egypt, but Canaan is the new promised Eden.

Genesis 1 The Israelite Experience In light of Israel’s personal relationship with God, they need to know that He is not only the God of Israel, but He is God over all creation.

Lessons from Genesis 1 • There is only one God and that is the God who created us. • The God who created us is a very big God. • God is personally involved in His creation. • The purpose of the Genesis account is not merely to have us view the creation, but that we might see the Creator who created the creation.

Compare & Contrast these three views: Romantic View of the Natural World Resource View of the Natural World Biblical View of the Natural World

Genesis 1: 31 God saw all that He had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.

Genesis 1: 31 God saw all that He had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day. • Rising crescendo • This would change at fall • Creation was made to be very good • That culmination was part of a process

Genesis 1: 31 God saw all that He had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day. • New birth • Growth • Final culmination

Do not lie to one another, since you laid aside the old self with its evil practices, 10 and have put on the new self who is being renewed to a true knowledge according to the image of the One who created him-- 11 a renewal in which there is no distinction between Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave and freeman, but Christ is all, and in all. (Colossians 3: 9 -11).