“In the beginning”. The beginning of what? Was there a time when there was nothing? Then what happened? Science tells us that a Big Bang happened to start the universe. If that was true, what would have caused this Big Bang? There had to have been some kind of matter to explode if the Big Bang theory was true. Where would that matter have come from? If there had been matter that exploded, then that was not the beginning. There had to be a time where nothing but God existed – a time where matter did not yet exist.

In the beginning….a time when only God existed – nothing else. A time where something was started – a beginning.

“God created”. What does that mean? Did God use something to start things out? The Big Bang theory tells us an explosion of matter started things out. The dictionary defines the word “create” to mean: to cause to come into being, as something unique that would not naturally evolve or that is not made by ordinary processes; to spring from one's own thought or imagination, as a work of art or an invention. Something that would not naturally evolve – not made by ordinary processes – to spring from one’s own thought or imagination. God thought it and then He did it.

How did God create? Our Bible tells us that “God said”. God spoke things that had never before existed, into existence. God thought it, planned it, designed it and spoke it into existence. “God said.”

Psalm 33:6-9
6 “The LORD merely spoke, and the heavens were created. He breathed the word,
and all the stars were born. 7 He assigned the sea its boundaries and locked the oceans in vast reservoirs. 8 Let the whole world fear the LORD, and let everyone stand in awe of Him. 9 For when He spoke, the world began! It appeared at His command.”

“In the beginning God created”. What did He create? “The heavens and the earth”
Of what do the heavens consist? Are the heavens where God lives, or is the writer of Genesis talking about the visible universe? Since God created the heavens, He created the visible universe – the sun, moon, planets, and galaxies, black holes, gas nebulas etc. Everything outside of the earth is the heavens – the stars, sun, moon, etc. God also created the earth.

Genesis 1:2-5
“and darkness covered the deep waters. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters. 3 Then God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. 4 And God saw that the light was good. Then He separated the light from the darkness. 5 God called the light "day" and the darkness "night."
And evening passed and morning came, marking the first day.”

“The earth was formless and empty.” This earth that God created had no mountains, no plants, no animals on it. God created light by the words that He spoke. And evening and morning – not morning and evening, evening and morning were the first day.

Genesis 1:6-8
6 “Then God said, “Let there be a space between the waters, to separate the waters of the heavens from the waters of the earth.” 7 And that is what happened. God made this space to separate the waters of the earth from the waters of the heavens. 8 God called the space “sky.” And evening passed and morning came, marking the second day.”

God created the atmosphere of earth. Of all the planets it seems that only the earth has a breathable atmosphere. Our atmosphere contains water in the form of vapor. There is moisture in the air. God knew that the creatures He would be creating would need air and water.

Genesis 1:9-10
9 “Then God said, “Let the waters beneath the sky flow together into one place, so dry ground may appear.” And that is what happened. 10 God called the dry ground “land” and the waters “seas.” And God saw that it was good.”

He placed some of the water in and on the earth with the rest of the water as water vapor in the air – some forming clouds that would return that water to the earth only to have some of it evaporate into water vapor and rise. Thus God provided a permanent cycle that would make sure that water was always available for His creation. Up to now, He had not created anything living. He was designing a world that would support life.

Genesis 1:11-13
11”Then God said, “Let the land sprout with vegetation—every sort of seed-bearing plant, and trees that grow seed-bearing fruit. These seeds will then produce the kinds of plants and trees from which they came.” And that is what happened. 12 The land produced vegetation—all sorts of seed-bearing plants, and trees with seed-bearing fruit. Their seeds produced plants and trees of the same kind. And God saw that it was good.
13 And evening passed and morning came, marking the third day.”

God knew that His creation would need food and breathable air, so He created plants. He made them so they could reproduce themselves so His creation would never be without them. God was really thinking things out before He did them. He designed plants. He knew they would need water, air, and light to grow and reproduce themselves.

Genesis 1:14-19
14 “Then God said, “Let lights appear in the sky to separate the day from the night. Let them mark off the seasons, days, and years. 15 Let these lights in the sky shine down on the earth.” And that is what happened. 16 God made two great lights—the larger one to govern the day, and the smaller one to govern the night. He also made the stars. 17 God set these lights in the sky to light the earth, 18 to govern the day and night, and to separate the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good. 19 And evening passed and morning came, marking the fourth day.”

God created the sun to light the day, and the moon to light the night. He peppered the universe with stars and galaxies to mark the seasons, days and years. He made a way for us to count the passage of time. The sun would warm the earth just enough so that it would not be too hot nor too cold for His creation to live and prosper wherever they desired to live on it. The earth was now ready to support living creatures.

Genesis 1:20-23
20 “Then God said, “Let the waters swarm with fish and other life. Let the skies be filled with birds of every kind.” 21 So God created great sea creatures and every living thing that scurries and swarms in the water, and every sort of bird—each producing offspring of the same kind. And God saw that it was good. 22 Then God blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful and multiply. Let the fish fill the seas, and let the birds multiply on the earth.”
23 And evening passed and morning came, marking the fifth day.”

God now filled the sky with birds who lived in the trees and with fish and sea creatures that lived in the seas and oceans, rivers and streams. God was filling His earth with life.

Genesis 1:24-25
24 “Then God said, “Let the earth produce every sort of animal, each producing offspring of the same kind—livestock, small animals that scurry along the ground, and wild animals.” And that is what happened. 25 God made all sorts of wild animals, livestock, and small animals, each able to produce offspring of the same kind. And God saw that it was good."

After God filled the sky with flying creatures, He created the land animals. He created them so that each kind could produce young of the same kind. He filled the earth with every conceivable kind of creature, but none of these He had created so far could communicate with Him.

Genesis 1:26-28
26 “Then God said, “Let us make human beings in our image, to be like us. They will reign over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, the livestock, all the wild animals on the earth, and the small animals that scurry along the ground.” 27 So God created human beings in His own image. In the image of God He created them; male and female He created them. 28 Then God blessed them and said, “Be fruitful and multiply.”

God then created His highest creation. He created mankind -- creatures that would be able to communicate with Him -- creatures made in His image and likeness.

Genesis 2: 7
7”Then the LORD God formed the man from the dust of the ground. He breathed the breath of life into the man’s nostrils, and the man became a living person.”

God took His own hands and formed a creature from the dust of the earth. He designed and fashioned man to be different from the other creatures He had created. This creature would be able to communicate with Him, he would be able to think and to reason. He could learn abstract ideas like science and mathematics, art and music. He could be creative. None of the other creatures had these capabilities. None of the other creatures would be able to do these things. The other creatures could live and multiply, but man was different. He was intelligent and needed something to do. He could get bored. So, God gave man a job.

Gen. 1:28-30 and Genesis 2: 8, 15
”Fill the earth and govern it. Reign over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, and all the animals that scurry along the ground.” 29 Then God said, "Look! I have given you every seed-bearing plant throughout the earth and all the fruit trees for your food.30 And I have given every green plant as food for all the wild animals, the birds in the sky, and the small animals that scurry along the ground—everything that has life.” And that is what happened.”

8 “Then the LORD God planted a garden in Eden in the east, and there He placed the man He had made.”
15 “The LORD God placed the man in the Garden of Eden to tend and watch over it.”

Adam was the only human at that point. God knew that Adam would need a companion, someone to talk to, someone like himself. God knew that just being around the animals would not fill that need.

Genesis 2:18-20
18 “Then the LORD God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper who is just right for him.” 19 So the LORD God formed from the ground all the wild animals and all the birds of the sky. He brought them to the man to see what he would call them, and the man chose a name for each one. 20 He gave names to all the livestock, all the birds of the sky, and all the wild animals. But still there was no helper just right for him.”

So God created woman.

Genesis 2:21-25
21 “So the LORD God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep. While the man slept, the LORD God took out one of the man’s ribs and closed up the opening. 22 Then the LORD God made a woman from the rib, and He brought her to the man.
23 “At last!” the man exclaimed. “This one is bone from my bone, and flesh from my flesh! She will be called ‘woman,’ because she was taken from ‘man.’” 24 This explains why a man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife, and the two are united into one. 25 Now the man and his wife were both naked, but they felt no shame.”

Genesis 1:31
31 “Then God looked over all He had made, and He saw that it was very good!
And evening passed and morning came, marking the sixth day.”

Up to this point, God had called His creation good, but after He created man, He called His creation of man and woman, VERY GOOD. He considered man and woman His greatest creation – even better than the creation of the universe, the earth, the seas, and every other creature He had created. Man was the highest, the best, the most perfect of His creations.

Genesis 2:1-4
1 “So the creation of the heavens and the earth and everything in them was completed. 2 On the seventh day God had finished His work of creation, so He rested from all his work. 3 And God blessed the seventh day and declared it holy, because it was the day when He rested from all his work of creation. 4 This is the account of the creation of the heavens and the earth.”

God created everything in 6 days and rested on the 7th day. He, as all powerful God, could have done it in 6 milliseconds or less. He did it in 6 days so you would be able to see that it wasn’t just a whim. You weren’t an afterthought. God created this all for you. He started out with a place to live – the earth and a place for that place to be in – the heavens. He then put air and water on that place so you wouldn’t die. He continued with plants for food, the sun, moon and stars so we could keep track of time and would have daytime to work or play in and nighttime to rest and sleep. He then populated the world with a huge diversity of creatures living in the air, water and on the earth. The when everything was ready, He created mankind – both male and female. What forethought, what planning. Nothing was out of order and nothing was missing.

You are special. God created this all for you. Never let anyone tell you that you are the descendants of an animal. That is not who you are. Jesus did not die for an animal – He died for you. He wants to spend eternity with you. This life is our training ground for eternal life with Him forever. God wants us to learn how to be like Him. You are very special indeed!