In the last lesson we learned that God created the heavens and the earth and all life upon it, including man, in six days.

Was it really six 24-hour days? What does your Bible say? Evening and morning were the first day, evening and morning were the 2nd day, evening and morning were the 3rd day etc., finally finishing with evening and morning were the 6th day.

Of what does a day consist – 24 hours comprised of daytime and nighttime. The Hebrew word used for “day” is yom – Strongs #3117.

“Meaning of yôm
When Moses, under the inspiration of God, compiled the account of creation in Genesis 1, he used the Hebrew word yôm for 'day'. He combined yôm with numbers ('first day', 'second day', 'third day', etc.) and with the words 'evening and morning', and the first time he employed it he carefully defined the meaning of yôm (used in this way) as being one night/day cycle (Genesis 1:5). Thereafter, throughout the Bible, yôm used in this way always refers to a normal 24–hour day. There is thus a prima facie case that, when God used the word yôm in this way, He intended to convey that the days of creation were 24 hours long.” Russell Grigg from “How Long Were the Days of Genesis 1?” http://www.answersingenesis.org/creation/v19/i1/days.asp

This Word yôm “when used with a modifying number (as it is 358 times elsewhere in the Old Testament), it always means an ordinary day. Why would Genesis 1 be the exception?” Kenneth Ham from Do The Days Really Matter? http://www.icr.org/article/689/

Why would God use the Hebrew word for “day” elsewhere in the Old Testament to mean a 24-hour day and not use it the same way in Genesis 1? We believe that the Bible is the inspired and infallible Word of the Living God. If you say that Genesis 1 is wrong but the rest of the Bible is right, how can you believe anything you read after it? You either believe all of it or none of it. The Bible is either true and all of what you read in it is true and inspired by God, or it is false and a lie. Do you really believe in the authority of the Word of God – God said? You can’t pick and choose what parts of the Bible to believe or not to believe.

Did God think about what He was going to create as He was creating or before He even started? When God created, He thought about how things should work together. We see this in the order of creation. God first started with a place for man to live and a location for that place to reside, light and darkness to mark the days, water, air to breathe, then plants for food that could reproduce themselves, sunlight and moonlight and the vast universe full of stars, then creatures who could reproduce themselves who lived in the water and flew in the sky, then land animals who could reproduce themselves, and when everything was ready, God created man.
We can see some of the thought that went into God’s creation in chapter 38 of the Book of Job and chapter 40 of Isaiah.

Job:38:4-38
4 “Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? Tell me, if you know so much. 5 Who determined its dimensions and stretched out the surveying line? 6 What supports its foundations, and Who laid its cornerstone 7 as the morning stars sang together and all the angels shouted for joy? 8 “Who kept the sea inside its boundaries as it burst from the womb, 9 and as I clothed it with clouds and wrapped it in thick darkness? 10 For I locked it behind barred gates, limiting its shores. 11 I said, ‘This far and no farther will you come. Here your proud waves must stop!’ 12 “Have you ever commanded the morning to appear and caused the dawn to rise in the east? 13 Have you made daylight spread to the ends of the earth, to bring an end to the night’s wickedness? 14 As the light approaches, the earth takes shape like clay pressed beneath a seal; it is robed in brilliant colors. 15 The light disturbs the wicked and stops the arm that is raised in violence. 16 “Have you explored the springs from which the seas come? Have you explored their depths? 17 Do you know where the gates of death are located? Have you seen the gates of utter gloom? 18 Do you realize the extent of the earth? Tell me about it if you know! 19 “Where does light come from, and where does darkness go? 20 Can you take each to its home? Do you know how to get there?
21 But of course you know all this! For you were born before it was all created, and you are so very experienced!
22 “Have you visited the storehouses of the snow or seen the storehouses of hail? 23 (I have reserved them as weapons for the time of trouble, for the day of battle and war.) 24 Where is the path to the source of light? Where is the home of the east wind? 25 “Who created a channel for the torrents of rain? Who laid out the path for the lightning? 26 Who makes the rain fall on barren land, in a desert where no one lives? 27 Who sends rain to satisfy the parched ground and makes the tender grass spring up? 28 “Does the rain have a father? Who gives birth to the dew?
29 Who is the mother of the ice? Who gives birth to the frost from the heavens? 30 For the water turns to ice as hard as rock, and the surface of the water freezes. 31 “Can you direct the movement of the stars—binding the cluster of the Pleiades or loosening the cords of Orion?
32 Can you direct the sequence of the seasons or guide the Bear with her cubs cross the heavens? 33 Do you know the laws of the universe? Can you use them to regulate the earth? 34 “Can you shout to the clouds and make it rain? 35 Can you make lightning appear and cause it to strike as you direct? 36 Who gives intuition to the heart and instinct to the mind? 37 Who is wise enough to count all the clouds? Who can tilt the water jars of heaven 38 when the parched ground is dry and the soil has hardened into clods?”

God asks Job if Job was present at creation, and if so, would Job be able to do these things too? God presents creation as a thoughtful building process – laying the foundations, stretching out the surveying line etc.

Isa 40:12
12 “Who else has held the oceans in his hand? Who has measured off the heavens with his fingers? Who else knows the weight of the earth or has weighed the mountains and hills on a scale?”
Creation is described as a building process – first things first, measured and weighed -- a carefully thought-out and considered project. God left nothing to chance in His creation. Everything was where it should be, when it should be, and He designed it sot that it would continue the same way.

The theory of evolution tells us that there was no design to what exists. Atoms formed molecules that formed cells that joined together over millions of years and formed planets, stars, rock, water, plants, bugs, animals, air etc. Evolution tells us that fish became amphibians; amphibians became reptiles; reptiles became birds and mammals, then mammals evolved into human beings. If that is so, why are there still fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals? Why are there no new species popping into existence all around us – species different from those already existing? There are none. Even tinkering with the individual DNA of a species, we can’t get one species to become another – it just becomes a blend of the originals – like the spider-goats that produce bio-steel that we have discussed in previous classes.

How long do you think life would exist without water, air and food? What did God create first? (a place to live and light) What did He create the second day?(water and atmosphere) How about the third day? (land, seas, plants for food) And the fourth?(sun, moon, stars) All this was created before He created living creatures on the fifth and sixth days. Everything was in its proper order. Compromising with God’s Word by trying to combine creation with evolution just doesn’t work. Evolution shows no design. Creation shows nothing but design.

So who is this Creator God?

John 1: 1-4
1 “In the beginning the Word already existed. The Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He existed in the beginning with God. 3 God created everything through Him, and nothing was created except through Him. 4 The Word gave life to everything that was created, and His life brought light to everyone.”

Who is John speaking of? (Jesus) What is John saying about Jesus? Jesus is the Word of God, present with God from the beginning, and this Word – Jesus, created everything.

Jesus existed before the beginning of creation. How can that be since He was born as a human being only a little over 2,000 years ago of Mary?

John 1:14
14 “So the Word became human (flesh) and made His home among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness. And we have seen His glory, the glory of the Father’s one and only Son.”
The Word became a human and lived and died as a human, as our Savior. But this human was special – He is also God the Creator who existed before the beginning of creation.

John 1:18
18 “No one has ever seen God. But the unique One, who is Himself God, is near to the Father’s heart. He has revealed God to us.”

John is telling us that Jesus is the Creator! Jesus is not only our Savior, but also is the Creator! He loved us so much He became one of us so He could die for our sins and reconcile us back into a relationship with God the Father. What we know about the Father we learned from Jesus. Jesus reveals God and shows us what He is like.