1. Creation and Definition of Light, & 2. Definition of Man-scale Time - 24 hr Days, Seasons (via Sun, Moon, Stars)
"And there was evening and there was morning, the first day." Gen 1:5
We think the day starts with dawn, but if you read Genesis 1:1-5, you will realize that God did a lot of creating ( earth, water ) in TOTAL DARKNESS. He did not need Light.
As part of creating a man-habitable planet, Light ( electromagnetic energy and the visible spectrum ) was defined and brought into existence, and with it, the rhythm and pulse of 24 hour time ( Night and Day ). The sun and moon came later! The Jewish night-day system simply reflects an accurate understanding of what comes first. We start in DARKNESS, and then God gives us the LIGHT we need. "For it is God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. ( 2 Cor 4:6 )"
This leads to 7 Cogent arguments for a 7 Day Creation
1. A God who can create a universe can easily create a world in 7 days....
2. Plant life needs the Sun to survive. If there was a long time between day 3 ( plants created ) and 4 ( Sun ) - the plants would have died. Not necessarily - but probably.
3. The apparent age of the earth could be a function of effects of the curse ( Adams time ) and the Deluge ( Noah ). I don't mean the earth is 5500 years old, but not necessarily millions of years. All dating methods assume a constant rate of change and do NOT factor any catastrophic conditions that would invalidate that assumption.
4. Weekends! God sanctified a 7th day, not a year, or millennium! Think about that every time you TGIF...
5. The strongest objection is the fact that starlight takes millions of years to reach earth so the universe must be that old at least... Not necessarily- the Bible says He stretched out the Heavens ( they are still expanding ) so it is possible that those light sources were much closer originally ( for the more technical readers - space time distortions around the original "white" hole that created the universe )
6. Night and Day, Sun and Moon created at man-scale, for mans benefit for timekeeping and seasons. Not 1000 year days, but 24 hour ones, and yearly seasons.
7. Every time period in the Bible is man-scale ( Noah's 40 days and nights, ages of the patriarchs from Adam, to 3 1/2 years in Revelation ) Why would chapter 1 be any different?
3. Genetics - everything bears its seed in itself, and reproduces "after its kind"
Only living things reproduce, (inanimate matter cannot create copies of itself) -- this is a powerful argument that the universe itself was created by a Living first cause, that contained the attributes of life, and was able to impart it to inanimate/non-living matter. Whether the matter became living because it now possesses this inherent property, or whether Life was intelligently and separately designed, is MOOT, from this perspective, as the source of LIFE, by definition, has to exist outside this Universe that was created.
In the reproductive process, we see the marvel of genetics, where everything, reproduces "after its kind". This mechanism is too intricate to have evolved by itself, and again, points back to a rational, and intelligent design of life, the universe, and everything!
4. Language - Adam names the animals, the Tower of Babel
The evolution of AI today, has shown us the importance of Language, with Large Language Models (LLMs) like ChatGPT/Gemini/LLama now being common-place, and we are learning to take for granted that a computer can converse with us in our language, as a native speaker/writer.
The beginnings of language however start with replacing a "thing", with the "word for a thing". Naming the objects we see in the world around us, is THE fundamental building block for all language, and we see its beginning in Genesis as well, with Adam being taught his ABC's.
Further on in Genesis, in the story of the Tower of Babel, we see different kinds of language being introduced, moving mankind from a common language to the plurality of sounds that describe the same world we see around us.
5. The Origin of Work, and 6. the first Job Descriptions – Gardner, Farmer
Why do we have to work? To put food in our tummies. Yes, shelter, clothing and then entertainment as well, but fundamentally, if you are not LIVING, the rest are kind of irrelevant! This does not seem like a good design. Why did God make it so that man had to eat?
Remember, this PREDATES the Fall – God created trees to grow and produce food as it says in our first text – so Man Version 1.0 WAS designed to eat! Imagine if we DIDN’T have to eat… no need to work, farming, no toilets(!), no waste recycling, no transportation, no shipping, no commuting, no office blocks or factories – why would God design such a system?
Food is a subtle reminder of our total linkage and dependence on, God. We are totally dependent on nature to provide us with food. Small wonder that bread/manna in the Word is such a metaphor for the life giving energy of God Himself! What does this have to do with work? Everything, and here is the key message.
WORK was designed to be pleasurable and satisfying, and NOTHING about that has changed. EATING TO LIVE was the activity that was cursed and made difficult for us!
Let’s take a look at that very first job shall we? We see the LORD creating the earth and everything in it, but after He creates Man, He does something different. He PLANTS A GARDEN.
The difference between the garden and everything else around it is summarized for us in text 1 – “every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil”. ONLY THE BEAUTIFUL & GOOD TREES made it to the garden, INCLUDING the tree of life, AND the tree of knowledge of good and evil. They are both GOOD fruits (“the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise -Ge 3:6”). There was nothing wrong with the fruit, it was Man’s reaching out to take it in DEFIANCE of Gods one and only order that was wrong!
So what was man’s job? “To dress it, and keep it.” Think about it. In a world where weeds and thorns don’t exist, my job is to cultivate and tend the beauty of God’s creation, with authority over how it should be “dressed”. Could Adam have got something any cushier? Think about how much work the Boss’s Pet does around the office in our human workplace – apart from pleasing the boss, they don’t really do much, don’t they! Adam may have had to work, but can you think of a better assignment? We get to make the garden pretty(ier). What a metaphor for what God see’s as Man’s role in His Creation! THAT is our JOB!!!
Adam sinned in obeying the voice of his wife more than the voice of God. The form his disobedience took, was eating of fruit from the one tree he was forbidden. The curse therefore is RIGHTEOUSLY directed and forces man to now eat from trees by the sweat of his brow.
THAT is why the EARTH is cursed for MAN’S SAKE.
Farming is no longer going to be easy. We talked earlier about the ripple effects of having to eat (and work for our food), and you saw what a big impact that was. Think about the impact that this curse has had on us as humans. Farming is tough, but to make it easier, we invented Fertilizers, Pesticides, Weed-killers, Genetically modified seeds.
Working now, in a cursed environment, keeps us busy, so that we don't have THAT much free time to sin. Combined with Death, which limits our existence on this plane, we are prevented from creating infinite amounts of evil!
7. The first Weekend and the Sabbath rest
"By the seventh day God completed His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done." - Gen 2:2
"For six days work may be done, but on the seventh day there is a sabbath of complete rest, a holy convocation. You shall not do any work; it is a sabbath to the Lord in all your dwellings" - Lev 23:3
"Therefore, since it remains for some to enter it, and those who formerly had good news preached to them failed to enter because of disobedience, He again fixes a certain day, "Today," saying through David after so long a time just as has been said before, "Today if you hear His voice, Do not harden your hearts." For if Joshua had given them rest, He would not have spoken of another day after that.So there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God.For the one who has entered His rest has himself also rested from his works, as God did from His. Therefore let us be diligent to enter that rest, so that no one will fall, through following the same example of disobedience." - ( Heb 4: 6-11 )
Rest as a concept - and the hallowing of the seventh day of rest, like the sacrament of marriage, has its origins in Genesis. It doesn't mean getting tired or even pausing to gather energy to work again - rather, if you see the common thread in the quoted texts, it signifies a cessation or end of work.
God finished His work of Creation in 6 days and blessed and sanctified the 7th day as the day on which He was done with His works of creating. Christ accomplished His work of Redemption and sat down at the right hand of God till His enemies be made His footstool (Ps 110:1). The Spirit is at work in the world restraining evil till the time He ceases ( 2 Thess 2:7 ), to usher in the final chapter of human history and reveal the last human emperor.
Rest as a concept is so important to Him that He underlined it in His Law ( by making working on the Sabbath a capital crime ) to His people as a picture, a foreshadow of things to come, through the sacrament of the Sabbath day (Col 2:16-17). It pointed forward to the rest Christ was to bring to the people of God. The book of Hebrews in the text above, unpacks it for us. The Israelites were done with works of wandering when Joshua led them into Canaan, but that was not the only rest God had in mind for them, because the Spirit through David spoke of another day of rest, and through the prophets, spoke of rest from their troubles in the Day of the Lord.
The Pharisees in Jesus' day completely missed the point, reducing the Sabbath day (a day to hallow God by celebrating or looking forward to the day of ultimate rest by temporarily ceasing from our earthly labors for one day) to a set of traditions and rituals to be blindly followed by men. It is still carried out to ridiculous extents even today (not turning on switches!) , by observant Jews, who get the letter, but have completely missed the spirit of the Law, and the bigger picture. God is reminding us, and we are reminding Him (!) every week(!) - of His promise to give us OUR rest from the fight against sin, death and suffering. The Spirit through Paul repeats in Col 2:16-17, we are not to make Sabbath observance a religious trip and argue about which day it is (as some do) but are to observe -A-, -WEEKLY- , Sabbath day with the same respect and reverence by which we partake in Communion, which shows forth His death and resurrection till He comes!
Jesus says it best - "Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest." - Matt 11:28 That is the voice we must hear, and obey while we are still alive ( Today! ), so that we may obtain that rest. If we do not come because of disobedience or unbelief - there is no rest. "But the wicked are like the troubled sea, When it cannot rest, Whose waters cast up mire and dirt. There is no peace, saith my God, to the wicked." ( Is 57: 20-21 ) When Christ said "It is finished" on the cross, He accomplished His mission, and secured for us a spiritual rest. He gave us the peace that passes all understanding. We are to rest in His finished work and look forward to the day when all shall be fulfilled.
"Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for him: Fret not thyself because of him who prospers in his way, Because of the man who bringeth wicked devices to pass. Cease from anger, and forsake wrath: Fret not thyself in any wise to do evil. For evildoers shall be cut off: But those that wait upon the Lord, they shall inherit the earth." - Psalm 37
We suggest you read the whole of Psalm 37 - it tells you very clearly how we are to live in the light of our spiritual rest, which the Spirit gives us! One line in particular has its echoes in the admonition of the book of Hebrews to hear His voice...."Mark the perfect man, and behold the upright: For the end of that man is peace."
8. Vegetarianism (Plants are food for animals, fish and man)
"The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, The leopard shall lie down with the young goat,The calf and the young lion and the fatling together;And a little child shall lead them.The cow and the bear shall graze;Their young ones shall lie down together;And the lion shall eat straw like the ox. ( Isaiah 11:6-7)
This account of life in the coming kingdom sounds fantastic and completely unnatural... especially when you consider the diet of the animals mentioned. A lion eating straw? We know they love steak.... But as Jesus told the Pharisees about divorce - from the beginning it was not so.
And God said, "Look—I am giving to you every plant that bears seed which is on the face of the whole earth, and every kind of tree ⌊that bears fruit⌋. They shall be yours as food." And to every kind of animal of the earth and to every bird of heaven, and to everything that moves upon the earth in which there is life I am giving every green plant as food." Gen 1:29,30
Everybody was created vegetarian - and that's what we are going BACK to! What you see now is unnatural. This was not the original design!
The act of eating to live (the same for animals, fish, and humans) is a POWERFUL clue, that the FALL of man, was predestined by God. Adam and Eve had to EAT for energy, and partake of the Tree of Life to regenerate their bodies (for which there was NO prohibition)... when they were DEPRIVED of that regeneration, is when death started in, and "dying, they started to die". In the end, the Book of Revelation brings us full circle to eating from this wonderful Tree in the New Jerusalem ( Revelation 22: 1,2) !
9. Anesthesia, Advanced Cloning - Adam operated on while asleep
Anesthesia is taken for granted today, with all major operations performed while the patient is "asleep"... however, that wasn't always the case... and we are grateful for the advances in medicine that have given us this capability!
Similarly, cloning, and stem-cell research, have just begun to show us the power of manipulating the generative powers of DNA. The economy of God using mans DNA, and just modifying one Chromosome pair (XY for man, XX for women) to create modern humans is a wonderful and scientific tidbit in Genesis, that PREDATES all our knowledge.
10. Mans Mission Statement - Dominion and Stewardship over the earth
"God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.” - Genesis 1:28
11. The first Marriage, and the institution of marriage
The institution of Marriage is also first found in Genesis. Man and Woman were united as "One Flesh" under the sight of God, something remarked upon by Jesus Himself, when addressing the issue of Divorce. It is important to realize that it is not a SOCIAL contract, but a PHYSICAL contract between two persons. In the Resurrection, this Physical contract is abolished, as it is no longer necessary, but while we are here on this plane, Marriage as an institution is given to Man to raise godly, and loving children.... breaking this covenant brings with it much pain and suffering.
Conversely, realize that a physical union, whether or not performed socially, is all that it takes for a man and woman to be "married" to each other, hence, chastity, and physical relationships being limited to the married are enjoined in the Word.... disobeying here, brings pain and suffering as well!
12. Gender equality/ Gender inequality (Pre/Post curse)
In the book of Genesis, woman was created to be mans equal, to assist him in ALL his work. Further on, in the Old Testament, we see the Spirit of God descending on craftsmen to do things that are traditionally "women" occupations -- jewelry design, tailoring, cooking in the service of the Temple. There is therefore NO grounds for claiming any superiority of men over women other than the Pauline admonition (1 Timothy 2: 12-14) to not have women teach or rule over men, drawing authority from the Genesis account.
Post the Fall, however, we see something different. " Your desire shall be for your husband, And he shall rule over you.” Genesis 3:16
This curse has created the tension between men and women, and the rise of the male-dominated society. Again, in the Resurrection, this too, will be a thing of the past!!
13. Tailoring - Adam and God make clothes
One of the unique insights granted to us that the Fall was preordained, is that Adam and Eve were naked for a brief time, before they realized that being naked was NOT a GOOD thing!
They made clothes for themselves, but God kindly showed them how to make more comfortable ones, by killing animals for their sake (the first sacrifice for sin), to provide them cover for their nakedness. God is many things, but in Genesis we see Him stooping to become a tailor for mans sake!!
14. Nagging - (Eve convincing Adam to eat the fruit....)
It is fun to speculate what would have have happened if Adam had not listened to his wife, but we know that his eating the fruit was preordained....!
This may lead some to believe that women DO know better, and nagging is justified... but we will be silent on that topic!! :-)
15. The first Excuse and Passing the Buck - Adam (the Woman You gave me made me do it), Eve (the Devil made me do it)
The Word is ruthlessly clear at painting the picture of man and woman making excuses (it is very instructive to note that the Serpent said nothing... clear indication that he was operating under a divine mandate and a preordained plan).
16. The origin of Weeds and Thorns
The fall caused Humans to be removed from a Garden where EVERY tree was both beautiful to look at and good for food, and they did not have to work hard to eat... to a world where eating to live would now be accomplished only by fighting against the vagaries of farming and the onslaught of weeds and thorns.
It is interesting to note in this context, a parable of Jesus, where an enemy sows tares amongst the wheat. In this world, there are good and bad humans... as well as weeds and thorns in the field, and the origins for both, are to be found in Genesis!
Again, this situation is temporary, and both are ordained by God -- weeds and thorns to keep man out of sin by working to eat, and tares and wheat to grow together till the time of harvest!
17. Labor Pains
This is an interesting one -- why would being fruitful ( part of Man's mission statement ) be accompanied by pain?
It is a metaphor that points us to look at the role Pain and Suffering play in Moral development, and the process by which humans evolve to "be all that they can be".
"A woman when she is in travail hath sorrow, because her hour is come; but as soon as she is delivered of the child, she remembers no more the anguish, for the joy that a man is born into the world." - John 16:21, & "For we know that the whole creation groans and travails in pain together until now. And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the first-fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body." Romans 8:22,23
19. The Origin of Death - "Dying you will die" - which is what happens quite literally in our bodies... cells die all the time till we finally kick the bucket. Potential for immortality is hinted at...
Dying is a continuous process. Everyday, cells in our bodies die and are replaced... only the process becomes less and less efficient, the more we age. We have an "aging" time-bomb in our body, one that CAN be reversed by eating from the Tree of Life (whose leaves have medicinal properties as well), but till that time -- our time on earth, and the trouble we can make or get into, is very kindly limited by God who has ordained that our life-span, and the sum-total of Humanity's sin, be FINITE.
