CREATION TALK

Do you believe the earth was created in Six Days? I don't mean to upset you, but I do not. What is even more shocking, perhaps, is that I do not believe the Bible teaches a Six Day Creation either. I wish to talk about God's creation, and what the Bible has to say. To get a handle on the full Biblical creation account we have to first look, not to Genesis, but to the Book of Job. God had been challenged by Satan concerning Job's faithfulness. God accepted Satan's challenge with the only stipulation being that, Satan must spare Job's life. And so we read about Job's trials and so called "friends", and his basic question: "Why is God letting this happen to me!?". God displays His sovereignty and control to Job by presenting him with a series of questions. One of these questions deals with the creation of the earth: "Where were you when I laid the earth's foundation? Tell Me, if you understand. Who marked off its dimensions? Surely you know! Who stretched a measuring line across it? On what were its footings set, or who laid its cornerstone - while all the morning stars sang together and ALL THE ANGELS SHOUTED FOR JOY? Job 38: 4-7". Notice that I highlighted "all the angles" in this passage. This becomes central as we look at the Genesis creation account.

And so now we come to Genesis. "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Genesis 1:1". STOP! This is the first creation. Yes, the first. This is the creation from nothing, 'ex nihilo'. This is the creation mentioned in Job when 'ALL THE ANGELS SHOUTED FOR JOY'. There is harmony in heaven. This is before Satan's rebellion, when he wanted to take the place of God; (see Isaiah 14: 13-15). Please do not confuse this with the passage in Revelation which mentions Satan as the accuser. Satan even now has access to God accusing us as we speak. When the Church is Raptured his accusing will be over and he will loss any access to accuse us before God (see Revelation 12: 7-10). So what is happening in Genesis verse two? "Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep (sea), and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. Genesis 1:2". An observation to begin; for those who would question the concept of Trinity, we see two thirds of the Trinity mentioned in the first two verses of the Bible: God (the Father) and God the Spirit. But to continue, the first word of verse two, "Now", implies a time change, and what do we see? We see that the earth, and evidently the heavens have been trashed. How did that happen? We will get to that but first there are some questions and observations. There is an interesting footnote in the NIV Bible concerning the phrase: "Now the earth was (ft. nt.'possibly became') formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep (sea)..." It would appear that something catastrophic, on a universal scale, happened to the creation. In addition, we are not told how much time elapsed between verse one and verse two. Could we be talking up to millions or billions of years? I don't know and I dare say you don't either. Notice too that verse two does not say that there was no earth. There is an earth and sea but they have been made "formless". The basic building blocks are still there. I submit that beginning with Genesis 1:2 we have the "recreation" of the earth and the galaxy using existing material. I believe this is why we could have an "Old Earth" with a "New History". I know the analogy breaks down but it reminds me of the PBS show "This Old House". As the crew puts the old house back together, there is a new family, with a new history to take possession. Now to cause and effect. Why is the earth"formless and empty"? Going back to Job 38: 4-7, we read that at the creation, mentioned by God, "ALL THE ANGLES SHOUTED FOR JOY". This I believe is Genesis 1:1 "In the begining...". As I wrote earlier, something had to happen to trash that creation. I believe that that something, was the Satanic rebellion. If you will forgive me, it really was the real "Star Wars". The LORD then "recreated" His world and placed Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. This of course set the stage for another round of Satan trying to control God's creation. My hope was to clarify and not upset or confuse. We are closing in on the final chapter of this amazing story. Blessings, be well, Bob.