God Creates Lights and Life

September 9, 2018 Background Scripture: Genesis 1:14 – 25 Lesson Passage: Genesis 1:14 – 25 In the first three days of the biblical account of creation, God created an inhabitable environment that contained vegetation and water. Today, we call this environment earth. Beginning on the fourth day of the creation account, God created the sun as a source of light (and heat) for the earth to revolve around as it spins on its own axis. Likewise, God created the moon as a satellite to revolve around the earth. These two great orbs in the galaxy would control length of days, months, seasons, and years as they are experienced on the earth. God also created the stars throughout the expanse of the heavens. These could later be used for navigation for those that would live on earth. The hemisphere of the earth that faced the light of the sun would be considered daytime while the opposite hemisphere would be considered night. The rotation of the earth on its axis would be used to count days while the orbit of the moon around the earth would be used to mark months. The orbit of the earth around the sun would constitute a year. The positional relationship of these three, the earth, the moon, and the sun, defines the concept of time. Without the earth’s rotation on its own axis with respect to the sun, there is no such thing as a day. Without the earth’s orbit around the sun, there is no such thing as a year. Time does not exist outside of the positional relationship of these three great creations of God. Although astronauts may travel to the moon and back, their journey is still marked in time by the positional relationship of the earth, the moon, and the sun during their trip. Time is an inherent part of the creation of God. It exists for the benefit of mankind that will be created in God’s image and after His likeness. Thus, the fourth day of creation ended, and God declared that it was all good. On the fifth day of creation, God commanded his creation to participate in the creation process. God commanded the waters to bring forth the living creatures that swim in them and the birds that would fly in the sky above the ground. The waters of the earth were teeming with aquatic life both small and great. Birds that could walk on the earth, swim on the surface of the waters and fly in the air took wing. (Even evolutionists suggest that there is a connection between the water of the earth and some non-aquatic life that lives on the earth, i.e., a connection between fish and birds.) Then God commanded the earth to bring forth the animal life that would move upon the ground. Therefore, the earth brought forth all manner of living creatures that move and live upon the earth. All of these living creatures, whether aquatic or non-aquatic, were created to reproduce after its own kind. At this point in the creation account, everything that would exist in and on the earth was created except mankind and the garden that God would plant as his first place of employment. God again noted that what was created was good. Robert C. Hudson August 30, 2018

God Creates Heavens and Earth

September 2, 2018 Background Scripture: Genesis 1:1 – 13 Lesson Passage: Genesis 1:1 – 13 So many things are put into proper perspective when we first consider the biblical account of the creation of everything. Throughout recorded history, man has always yearned to know about the origin of everything—including humanity. The rational mind is led to the conclusion that the physical world is the result of an intelligent creator. It takes much more faith to believe that such an orderly nature could somehow appear out of nothing. Man has developed many philosophies purporting to explain his own existence as well as the universe. The more man searches, the more he continues to find. There appears to be no end to the wonder that is the universe. When advanced technology telescopes are launched into space and aimed at the dark spaces between distant stars, countless other galaxies, stars, planets, and asteroids suddenly appear. When one takes the most powerful microscope and aim it at what appears to be nothing, a whole world of micro-structures appears. When the psalmist without the aid of technology observed the night sky, he asked, “What is man, that thou art mindful of him?” Any unbiased observation of the natural world leads to humility in men. Furthermore, any dissertation that suggests an explanation of what is still unfolding in our observation is worth considering. In other words, if I were not a person of faith, I would still be interested in an explanation of the things that I observe in nature. To this longing for meaning and explanation, God responds, I did it! I made all of it. What we have seen and even what we have yet to see are all the product of God’s creative expression. God called forth those things that were not and they came forth. In the mind of God, He saw everything that He desired of a physical world and he called it into being. The first words of the bible are, In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. Note that God shows up without explanation of Himself. There is no segue into the creation story. God is self-existent. The ever-present God calls for those things that did not exist. There is no statement concerning God’s existence prior to His creation of the physical universe. What is clear from the first verse of the bible is that God was present when there was nothing physical in existence. There is much written and debated about how much time elapsed between the first verse of the bible and the second verse. Did God create an empty and shapeless earth and then populated it little by little? Or did God create a populated earth and a disaster occurred that caused His creation to become empty and shapeless? Regardless of how much time elapsed between the first two verses of the bible, the second verse reveals to us that the Spirit of God was brooding over the desolate and empty earth in preparation for life as we know it. That’s encouraging to consider that the Spirit of God can brood over a desolate and empty life and bring forth something wonderful from it. Only God could know what light is when there is nothing but darkness. So, He called light from the darkness and commanded them to separate the one from the other. To this day, light and darkness stand as testaments to the sustaining power of the word of God. Light and darkness cannot coexist in the same space. Where one is, the other cannot be. They maintain the separation God commanded at the beginning. Then God separated the water from the land and caused vegetation to appear. Thus, ended the third day of the creation story. Robert C. Hudson August 23, 2018