A while back, I taught a short series on creation for my Sunday school class. It was supposed to last for the summer and I had planned on covering several topics like the role of creation in evangelism, various ways some Christians reinterpret Genesis in order to fit it with popular scientific theories, and how to answer some of the more common objections people raise against creation. One lesson I had planned was to cover the days of the creation week, giving a short description on what happened each day. However, there were so many questions asked and such interest shown that the single lesson I had planned ended up being stretched over 5 lessons.
It was during that time that I realized that, even though the language of Genesis 1 is straightforward and easy to read, many Christians don't stop to consider the full impact of what is happening on each day – not so much from a spiritual perspective but rather from a physical one. To that end, I thought it would be worthwhile to have a short series of posts, each covering one day of the creation week. This isn't meant to be a treaty on the subject. Instead, I hope to simply open a few eyes to the realization that what is being described were real events that literally shaped the world. Even so, the posts will be a little longer than usual. I apologize in advance and only say that I will do my best to make them worth the while to read.
We are up to day 6 in this series but this day is divided into two events: the creation of terrestrial animals and the creation of man. In the last post, I discussed the creation of land animals. In this post, we’ll look at the creation of man.
Genesis 1:26-31, And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth. And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat. And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to every thing that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is life, I have given every green herb for meat: and it was so. And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.
Day 6 of creation climaxed with the creation of man. Genesis 1 gives us an overview of the creation of Adam but Genesis 2 gives additional details. In this post I will be referring to both chapters. I already know this is going to be a long post so I apologize in advance.
v. 26, And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness:
The use of plural pronouns in this verse has been the point of much debate. Some have proposed this is an example of the plural of majesty. Per Wiki, some monarchs believed their authority was divinely given so “us” meant “God and I.” In another sense, the plural could be a monarch speaking with the voice of his subjects such as when Queen Victoria famously said, “We are not amused.” But neither would apply here.
Certainly God was not consulting with the animals so they would not be included in the “us.” The Bible never says exactly when the angels were created but we might assume it was during the creation week. In that case, “us” might include the angels.
Of course, given what we know from the rest of Scripture, the “us” very likely means the three Persons of the Trinity. The angels had no part in the creation but we know that John 1:3 acknowledges Jesus as the Creator. So God's conversation here may be the Father in dialogue with the Son and the Spirit.
It's interesting to note the change in the pace of the action. In every other instance, God spoke and the created thing appeared. In this case, God pauses and deliberates before He acts. Of course, God wasn’t doing this because He had to think about it. All of the universe God had created thus far was in preparation for this moment. Having reached His intended goal, perhaps God simply paused to reflect on the occasion.
v. 27-28, So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.
There are a few significant points we can discern from this passage. What stands out most to me is that we are different from animals. We alone are created in the image of God.
One of the first tasks given to Adam at his creation was to name the animals of the garden. Perhaps Adam naming the animals is like letting a child name the family pet. God gave Adam dominion over all the earth. To demonstrate to Adam that he had authority over the animals, God allowed Adam to name the animals in the Garden. The right to name something is a definitive test that you have authority over that thing. To have dominion over the animals distinguishes us from them.
Furthermore, among those beasts, Adam would find none like himself. When God created Eve, Adam saw immediately that she was like him and remarked, “This is now bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh” (Genesis 2:23). According to evolution, we are simply another evolved animal – one possessing higher intelligence. The Bible is very clear that we’re not simply another beast.
In today’s political climate, we also cannot overlook the fact that God created humans with two genders - male and female. As has already been discussed, God was very deliberate about His creation. In Matthew 19:4-5, when asked about marriage/divorce, Jesus replied this way: And he answered and said unto them, Have ye not read, that he which made them at the beginning made them male and female, And said, For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and they twain shall be one flesh?
Note that Jesus said God made the two sexes, “for this cause….” So it wasn’t by accident; it wasn’t “just because.” God had always intended men and women to marry and His first command of them was to “Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth.”
Finally, we see that God gave us dominion over all the earth - that is, God created the world to be of service to us. Secular philosophies often hold to a different understanding of our role in nature. Movies like the Lion King, for example, promote ideas like the “Circle of life,” where the lion, the zebra, and the grass are all connected. We should be good stewards of what He has given us but the biblical description of the relationship between us and nature seems in stark contrast to the attitudes of radical environmentalists. They would have us believe there is something noble in unspoiled nature and it's our duty to serve the earth.
v. 29, And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat.
From this verse, we see that God created us originally to be vegetarians. Some theistic evolutionists have suggested that “having dominion” over the animals includes the authority to kill animals for food. Such an interpretation ignores the context of the passage. We see that God specifically directs Adam and Eve to only eat plants.
v. 30, And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to every thing that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is life, I have given every green herb for meat: and it was so.
Just as God had told Adam to only eat plants, we see that God also made animals to only eat plants. Remember that death was not part of the original creation but came later as the judgment for sin. Passages like Romans 5:12-21 tell us that sin only entered into the world by Adam’s sin. Critics, however, will argue this passage only applies to human death and that animals had been killing each other for millions of years before humans evolved.
I will direct your attention specifically to where the Bible says, “and it was so”! Theistic evolutionists often mock young earth creationists for believing that animals like the T-rex were created to be vegetarians. I say it is them who are wrong for ignoring this verse in particular. God said the animals were to only eat plants and it was so!
GENESIS CHAPTER 2 – A second creation account?
I want to spend a little time talking about the events discussed in Genesis 2 since they relate to the creation of man on day six.
Many critics have argued that Genesis 1 and 2 have contradictory creation accounts. I'm surprised this criticism has endured because even a cursory reading seems to dispel that notion. I suspect it has been successful through the use of quote mining where a critic will compare select verses from chapters 1 and 2 and the reader never bothers to read the context.
The chronology of the seven days of the creation week ends at Genesis 2:4. Beginning in verse 5 through the rest of chapter 2, the Bible expounds on the creation of Adam on day 6. Roughly, the events are as follows:
God creates Adam from the dust of the earth (v. 7)
God creates the Garden of Eden, which includes the Tree of Life and the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil (v. 8-9)
God puts Adam in the Garden (v. 8, 15)
God creates animals in the Garden and brings them to Adam to be named (v. 19-20)
God creates Eve (v. 22)
I intend at some time to write a thorough post in the future dispelling the contradiction claims between Genesis 1 and 2. For now, I will say that chapters 1 and 2 only seem contradictory if we view chapter 2 as a second account of the creation. If we look at the same passage with the understanding that Chapter 2 is merely an elaboration of day 6 of the creation, the contradictions disappear.
v. 31, And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.
At the end of the 6th day, God surveyed His entire creation. At the end of each creative act before now, God proclaimed the thing He had created as good. Now, He says everything He had made was very good. It was a world without sin. It was a world without death. The perfect creation He intended before time began had now been accomplished... in six days!
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