First, we see that the Holy Spirit is involved in the creation of the world we see today. Second, God’s speaking is very different from our speaking and is very powerful. Third, from the word “light” we can see the existence of the previous world, and we have explained this in detail. Finally, we discussed why the word “day” is the same as today. This can be clearly seen from “what God tells us through the Bible is consistent”, because the Bible clearly states that Adam and Eve were expelled from the Garden of Eden on the sixth day, and the same word is used for “day” here. It also mentions why the scripture says that there is evening and morning in one day, but not reversed.
1. The Holy Spirit is involved in the creation of today’s world
“The earth (H776) was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God (Holy Spirit) was moving over the surface of the waters (H4325).”(Genesis 1:2)
We see the condition of the earth at that time, which indicates that the earth already existed. The word in parentheses refers to its number in the Strong’s Concordance. We also know that water already existed at the same time and was no longer at the beginning as in the first verse of the Book of Genesis, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.”(Genesis 1:1) What was said at that time was creation out of nothing. This verse refers to the creation of the current world based on the existing foundation. The Holy Spirit moving over the surface of the water shows that He is related to the creation of the present world. As for what He was doing at that time, we certainly don’t know, since the Bible does not say.
2. God said
“Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light. God saw that the light was good; and God separated the light from the darkness. God called the light day, and the darkness He called night. And there was evening and there was morning, one day (H3117).”(Genesis 1:3-5)
Before we share these scriptures, we must emphasize again that when Christians truly believe that the Old and New Testaments are inspired by God, they will naturally believe that “what God tells us through the Bible is consistent” and “will not discount the words of the Bible.” Under these principles, we have explained in “1140 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth – Genesis(1)1,” how the Bible is logically consistent with principles. If non-Christians assume that the Bible is inspired by God, they can see the same conclusion. Please go to the website ” https://a-christian-voice.com/ ” and click “Understanding of Spiritual Life” to find this article.
Here, we will look at these scriptures under these two principles and explain when we use these two principles. In order to avoid being too lengthy, we will basically not explain them anymore.
First, we saw the two words “God said.” God’s words are powerful. “For He spoke, and it was done; He commanded, and it stood fast.”(Psalm 33:9) And “…the worlds were prepared by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things which are visible.”(Hebrews 11:3) So His word is powerful. “Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light.”(Genesis 1:3) At this point we have seen both principles. The Books of Genesis, Psalms, and Hebrews are all consistent, and we have not discounted the words of the Bible, so we can clearly see this consistency.
3. The existence of the previous world
“Light” in the original text is H216. This word only appears six times in the first chapter of the Book of Genesis, and the last time is in this verse, “and to govern the day and the night, and to separate the light (H216) from the darkness; …”(Genesis 1:18) These are the verses for the fourth day. Now let us list all the verses for the fourth day and then explain the relevant part.
“Then God said, “Let there be lights (H3974) in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night, and let them be for signs and for seasons and for days and years; and let them be for lights (H3974) in the expanse of the heavens to give light (H215) on the earth”; and it was so. God made (H6213) the two great lights (H3974), the greater light (H3974) to govern the day, and the lesser light (H3974) to govern the night; He made the stars also. God placed them in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth, and to govern the day and the night, and to separate the light (H216) from the darkness; and God saw that it was good. There was evening and there was morning, a fourth day (H3117).”(Genesis 1:14-19)
This seems to be obviously inconsistent. How could there be light on the first day and the sun, moon and stars were made on the fourth day? Where does that light come from? First of all, the same word cannot have different meanings here, as we notice that different words are used for the light of the sun and the moon. If you look at the word “make” in Genesis 1:16, it is not “create” (H1254), but a different word “make” is used, H6213 (made). So what does this character creation mean? It becomes very clear if we look at these scriptures. “Then the LORD God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone; I will make (H6213) him a helper suitable for him.””(Genesis 2:18) “The LORD God fashioned into a woman the rib (H6763) which He had taken from the man (Adam), and brought her (Eve) to the man.”(Genesis 2:22) Adam already existed at that time, and Eve was made from the existing Adam. Therefore, the only logical explanation is that “light (H216)” already exists, that is, the sun, moon and stars have been created (H1254), and are left over from the previously created world. Now it only needs to be “made”.
Actually, we do not need to be so complicated. Let’s look at this verse, “This is the account of the heavens and the earth when they were created (H1254), in the day that the LORD God made (H6213) earth and heaven.”(Genesis 2:4) This verse uses two different words. In the beginning it was indeed creation out of nothing (H1254), and then in this world, God made (H6213) the heavens and the earth, because the heavens and the earth had been created in the previous world. This is also consistent with what is said in Genesis 1:2, that at the end of the first world, “The earth (H776) was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep,” which was the scene between the two worlds.
Here we only see that the previous world existed, but we do not say how many previous worlds there were. We know that the existence of dinosaurs can be learned from archaeology. According to current scientific estimates, creation took place long before the existence of dinosaurs, so there should have been at least two previous worlds, one was the world faced by Satan, and the other was the world faced by the dinosaurs. Of course, some people say that dinosaurs and humans were created at the same time, but dinosaurs are extinct. However, this possibility does not exist according to current science.
Some people say that light does not necessarily require the sun. Doesn’t the Book of Revelation say so? When the holy city, New Jerusalem, comes down from God out of heaven, “…there will no longer be any night; and they will not have need of the light of a lamp nor the light of the sun, because the Lord God will illumine them; …”(Revelation 22:5) It is true that there will be no need for sunlight at that time, but we are talking about the creation of the present world, when light came from the sun, so this statement is not what the Bible says.
4. The word “day” means the same day as in today
Let’s look at the word day (H3117), “God called the light day, and the darkness He called night. And there was evening and there was morning, one day (H3117).”(Genesis 1:5) There was evening and there was morning, which is obviously what we now call a day. However, just saying this may still cause some people to have doubts. For example, some people may say that this does not refer to the present day, but only represents a sequence. Things that happened on the first day come before things that happened on the second day, and so on. This is a subjective view and is not what the Bible says.
Others say that the Bible does say in the New Testament, “…beloved, that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years like one day.”(2 Peter 3:8) But we can see that this is talking about something completely different, because it goes on to say, “The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.”(2 Peter 3:9) This is also a subjective view and is not in accordance with the biblical usage of this word.
So what does the Bible say? In the Garden of Eden, “The LORD God commanded the man, saying, “From any tree of the garden you may eat freely; but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day (H3117) that you eat from it you will surely die.”(Genesis 2:16-17) The same word was used.
The word day (H3117) refers to today’s day, which can also be seen from “God tells us through the Bible that everything is consistent.” At the beginning of the Book of Job it says, “Then the LORD said to Satan, “Behold, all that he has is in your power, only do not put forth your hand on him.” So Satan departed from the presence of the LORD.”(Job 1:12) Then on some day later but on this same day, the Sabeans took the livestock and killed the servants with the sword, except for the messenger. Satan also performed supernatural works to the flocks and servants the same way, and the Chaldeans did the same to the camels and servants. A strong wind also caused the house to collapse and crushed all his children. (See Job 1:13-19) Satan will choose the best time to accomplish what he wants to do in one go.
On the sixth day (H3117), “God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.”(Genesis 1:27) So Adam and Eve were created on the sixth day. “Now the serpent was more crafty than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said to the woman, “Indeed, has God said, ‘You shall not eat from any tree of the garden’?””(Genesis 3:1) “…the serpent of old who is called the devil and Satan, …”(Revelation 12:9) Satan would not wait, he tempted Eve on the day she was created. After the temptation was successful, “Then the LORD God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of Us, knowing good and evil; and now, he might stretch out his hand, and take also from the tree of life, and eat, and live forever.”(Genesis 3:22) So God would not wait in this matter and drove them out that same day. All these things happened on the sixth day. “By the seventh day (H3117) God completed His work which He had done, …”(Genesis 2:2) The same word is used here.
Some people say that it is impossible to create the sun, moon and stars in one day because the time is too short! From the perspective of God’s almighty power, nothing is impossible. But the Bible actually says here that the first day was just to reveal the light that had already been created, and the amount of work was not very large compared to creation. So that some people say is also a human perspective, looking at things from a human viewpoint.
By the way, what is mentioned here regarding evening and morning is the natural time, not the time set by humans on the clock. Then someone might ask, why does a day start in the evening? After there was light, didn’t God work during the day? And because of the light there was night. Why doesn’t a day go from morning to evening? This is a matter of perspective. From God’s perspective, this is indeed the case. A day begins with work during the day and rest at night. On the seventh day, He rested from all His work in creating the world. From a human perspective, it would be completely different. Adam and Eve were driven out of the Garden of Eden during the day, and their day began in the evening, so from a human perspective, a day does have an evening and a morning. Therefore, when reading the Bible, you must know from which perspective you are looking at it so that you do not distort your interpretation of the Bible.
(Verses refer to those in NASB95 unless otherwise specified.)
(You can get all articles in “https://a-christian-voice.com/” under “On spiritual understanding about life.”)
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