A Kingly Creator
In Genesis chapter 1, we see that God is the King over chaos (v. 2), the King who forms (vv. 3-13), and the King who fills (vv. 14-25). The main point of the chapter is that Israel’s God is the King of the universe because he created the universe. Because Israel’s King is the Creator of everything, all the gods and kings of the nations must bow to him, and his people must trust and rest in him.
Forming and Filling
There’s an obvious order to the chapter. Moses arranged his material so that the first three days describe the forming of the earth and the last three its filling. There’s a symmetry to the days[1]:
Day 1 – Light and Dark Day 4 – Lights of Day and Night
Day 2 – Sea and Sky Day 5 – Creatures of Sea and Sky
Day 3 – Land and Vegetation Day 6 – Creatures of the Land
Day 7 – God Rested
These two sets of days correspond to what Moses said about the earth in verse 2, that it’s “without form and void.” The Lord addresses its formlessness in days one through three, and its emptiness in days four through six.
Day Two: Sea and Sky
In verses 6-8, on the second day of creation, God created the sea and sky. It says God created an expanse between the waters, separating the waters below from the waters above. We might call it the earth’s atmosphere today, or the blue that we see when we look at the sky.
The text says in verse 8 that God named the expanse “Heaven,” or “Sky.” God also named the light “Day” and the darkness “Night,” back in verse 5. This naming of the different elements of creation is a clear statement of God’s sovereign rule over creation. The pagan cultures around the Israelites thought that the heavens belonged to various gods, but Genesis makes it clear that God owns the heavens. You only name things that belong to you. God graphically declares his lordship over creation by naming what he created.
The creation of the sea is begun here, as God separated the waters below from the waters above, but is completed on day three.
Day Three: Land and Vegetation
In verses 9-13, God created land and vegetation. Notice that God speaks twice on day three (vv. 9, 11). His first word finalizes the ordering of the earth (vv. 9-10). He brings forth the dry land and marks out the boundaries of the oceans, or Seas.
In the first three days, God separated light from darkness, waters below from waters above, and the dry land from the seas, thus giving form to the earth. As one commentator says, “The world as we know it had been given shape. The chaos had disappeared.”[2] The fixed forms of the earth are in place. God has brought order out of chaos by his word.
By the end of day three, his work of filling begins with the creation of vegetation. The emphasis now shifts toward filling the earth that’s been formed. God’s second word on day three begins his work of filling the earth (vv. 11-13).
“Vegetation” could refer to grasses or ground-covering vegetation. “Plants yielding seed” could refer to all small plants like bushes and shrubs. The “fruit trees bearing fruit” could refer to all large woody plants, including fruit-bearing trees. God covers the land with grasses, flowers, shrubs, and trees. He made Bermuda grass, bluebonnets, boxwood bushes, and birch trees. He made St. Augustine grass, sand dollar cactus, sage, sweet gums, and sycamores.
Is it a coincidence that earth just happens to have all the food necessary to feed millions of species of animals? This certainly appears to be evidence of design, not coincidence. It’s also interesting that the Bible says that plants were made before animals, which is the opposite of the evolutionary paradigm. Also note that the plants, as well as the fish, birds, animals, and humans on days four and five, are created as full-grown plants, thus having an appearance of age.
Day Four: Lights of Day and Night
In verses 14-19, God created the lights of day and night. On day four, God creates the sun, moon, and stars. The phrase “let there be” in verse 14 indicates that this is a new creative act, just as it does in verses 3 and 6. This means that God created light before he created the sun. As I said last week, if God can create the things that generate light waves, then he can create light waves themselves. If God created everything out of nothing, then he’s the God of infinite possibility.
Notice that he avoids using the words “sun” and “moon.” He does this because the sun and moon were considered gods in Egypt, so he emphasizes yet again that there’s only one God. In ancient times, the celestial bodies were misinterpreted as having power to effect life on earth. Moses is making it clear, however, that all we see in the heavens “owes its existence…to the Unseen One.”[3]
The focus is on these “two great lights” (v. 16) and how they affect life on earth. The rest of the universe barely gets mentioned at the end of verse 16, “and the stars.” Our galaxy alone has 200 billion stars, and there are billions of galaxies. And the Bible says that God has a name for them all. Isaiah 40:26, “Lift up your eyes on high and see: who created these? He who brings out their host by number, calling them all by name.”
Surrounded by cultures saturated with astrology, the Israelites needed to remember that the stars answered to God because they were created by God. The sun, moon, and stars may “rule” over the day and night, but only in the sense of marking time and seasons, days and years. The stars don’t rule over our lives, God does. So stop wasting time checking your horoscope.
Day Five: Creatures of Sea and Sky
In verses 20-23, God created the creatures of sea and sky. On day five, the Lord created everything that lives in the seas and everything that lives in the air. Day five corresponds to day two, where God separated the waters above from the waters below. He separated them, now he fills them. Earth now has the conditions for life, so now come the living creatures.
God made the waters “swarm,” or teem, with sea creatures (v. 20). This was surely true of the birds and land animals as well. The word “swarm” indicates abundance. There were vast numbers of every kind of sea creature, moving through the waters on the earth. I love how John Frame puts this. He says that God created a world that is “unnecessarily diverse and abundant.”[4]
Level two at the Perot Museum in downtown Dallas says that “evolution is the engine of diversity” of life on planet earth. But the Bible says otherwise. The Bible says that God, like a master artist, created a diverse and beautiful array of life forms on the earth.
God, the Master Artist, created whale sharks, sperm whales, bottlenose dolphins, hammerhead sharks, jelly fish, swordfish, catfish, and starfish. He created shrimp, crabs, lobsters, eels, turtles, octopuses, squid, large-mouth bass, crappie, salmon, piranhas, and rainbow trout. He created the mosasaur, ichthyosaur, and plesiosaur. He created eagles, cardinals, blue jays, ducks, geese, toucans, macaws, mockingbirds, hummingbirds, and every other kind of bird.
Next time you see a bird or a fish, say to yourself, “God made that.” From great to small, everything that moves in the ocean and in the air is the result of God’s will. Think of it, God created things beyond our realm, things “removed completely from human understanding and human use.”[5] We wouldn’t even know of them if not for modern technologies. This means that God made some things just for his pleasure, because he wanted to.
Verse 22 has the first blessing in the Bible. What was the blessing that God gave the sea creatures and birds? Verse 22 tells us. The way God blessed them was by enabling them to procreate. He wanted the creatures he made to continue to exist. The same can be applied to the animals and to man and woman (v. 28). God gave the living creatures he created the gift of ongoing life through self-propagation. As one commentator says, “The Creator makes creators.”[6]
Day Six: Creatures of the Land
In verses 24-25, God created the creatures of the land. On day six, God makes animals and humans. Verses 24-25 say that God made the animals “according to their kinds.” It said this about the plants in verses 11-12 and about the sea creatures and birds in verse 21. There’s debate over what a “kind” is. It could refer to different species or families of creatures. At the least, it tells us that living things don’t have a common ancestry or descent. Living creatures aren’t interrelated.
Creating “according to kind” means that God established parameters for creation. Interestingly, the term isn’t used for humans, indicating that we’re a unique order of creation. God created a diversity of species of plants, fish, birds, reptiles, and animals. But, as one commentator says, “The great Architect of the universe does not permit the colors of his canvas to run together.”[7]
Verse 24 says that God created three categories of animals: livestock, creeping things, and beasts of the earth. These generic categories encompass every “kind” of animal. “Livestock” refers to domesticated animals like cows, horses, goats, sheep, donkeys, dogs, and cats. “Creeping things” refers to animals that move along the ground like snakes, lizards, crocodiles, and alligators, and smaller animals like lemurs, squirrels, raccoons, foxes, otters, beavers, skunks, rabbits, penguins, and even opossums. Insects like bees, ant, ladybugs, earthworms, butterflies, leaf bugs, stick bugs, beetles, and rollie pollies. “Beasts of the earth” refers to game animals like elephants, hippos, lions, tigers, panthers, giraffes, zebras, gorillas, hyenas, wolves, coyotes, mountain lions, moose, elk, bison, and bears.
I also think it refers to dinosaurs. Yes, it’s possible for dinosaurs to exist with humans and other animals. As we’ll learn next week, all animals and people were vegetarians at first. As one scientist points out, dinosaurs, like bears today, used their large sharp teeth to eat plants.[8] God created the stegosaurs, tyrannosaurs, ankylosaurs, brachiosaurs, spinosaurus, triceratops, and velociraptors. And they lived in perfect harmony with everything else God made.
Creation Should Create Worship
Studying these days of creation was a lot of fun for me, and I hope it was for you too! But what are we to do with this information? The beauty, diversity, and grandeur of creation should create worship, joy, and comfort.
When the biblical writers look at creation, they always end up praising God. Psalm 33:6, 8, “By the word of the Lord the heavens were made, and by the breath of his mouth all their host…Let all the earth fear the Lord; let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him.” Revelation 4:11, “Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created.”
One of the things that fuels our worship of God is his creation. We don’t worship his creation – that’s called idolatry. We worship the God who reveals his glory in his creation. If we have eyes to see, we’ll see traces of God’s glory everywhere.
Have you ever been out in the woods, or on the lake, or on the beach, or in the mountains, and something inside you just wanted to explode because there was just too much beauty to take in, too much power and wisdom and majesty in what you were seeing and feeling? And creation is only a reflection of the glory of God. If what he made stirs our hearts like that, imagine what we’ll feel when we see his face.
Creation Should Create Joy
Because God said repeatedly that his creation is good, and at the end of the sixth day, “very good” (v. 31), we can infer that God wants us to enjoy what he’s made. God wants us to find happiness in his handiwork. Sin has of course marred and mangled creation, but there’s still so much to enjoy.
When Suzy and I were in Hawaii this summer, we went snorkeling at this special beach with a beautiful coral reef. It was by far one of the most exhilarating things I’ve ever done. Not only was I terrified of a shark coming up behind me at any moment, but we saw fish in every color of the rainbow. They were large and small, brilliant yellows and pinks and purples and blues. We even saw a monk seal! On another day we went paddle boarding and saw sea turtles. A couple times we watched the sunset on the North Shore of Oahu. Have you ever seen the sky turn purple? Our God is an artist, and he intends his artwork to be enjoyed.
You don’t have to go to Hawaii or be an Eagle Scout or become like John Muir to enjoy what God has made. But I do think that going outside more than we do would increase our joy. Feeling the sun on your skin, the breeze in your face, hearing the birds singing, seeing the diversity and shades of color in the grasses and bushes and flowers and trees, and breathing fresh air can all happen right where you live. Take walks and bike rides. Go camping. Use your vacation time to enjoy God’s world instead of vegging out on entertainment.
We must also steward what God has made. “Good” is a moral pronouncement. God made the world inherently “good.” And just like anything else that’s good, it should not only be delighted in and enjoyed, but also protected and preserved. So yes, Christians should care about the environment. We should do what we can, where we are, to take care of the good things God made. The way this works itself out in your life and in the things you advocate for publicly or politically is a matter of Christian freedom. But we all have a responsibility to care for creation.
Creation Should Create Comfort
Moses wants to comfort his people with the knowledge that their God is the God who controls the destiny of the world and their lives. Moses knows what’s ahead of them is unknown and unpredictable, so he wants to bring comfort to God’s children. He does so by reminding them that God created everything.
Jesus actually tells us to look at creation to remember God’s care for us. He says, “Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?….Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?” (Matt. 6:26, 28-30).
Jesus’ argument is simple: if God cares for animal and plant life, then he cares for you more. “Are you not of more value than they?” Because we bear the image of God, as we’ll see next week, God values us more than birds and flowers and oceans and galaxies.
The supreme King of the universe created everything and can be trusted to care for what he created, including you. He knows the thoughts that consume you in the quiet places. He sees the tears you cry when you’re alone. He understands the shame and embarrassment of being abused and abandoned and betrayed. He’s aware of the secret sins that plague you.
Creator, Redeemer, Comforter
And yet, as your Creator, he still loves you. He actually left heaven and came to earth to show you the depth of his love. His gracious character and care find their ultimate revelation in Christ Jesus. Jesus is the flesh and blood embodiment of God’s care for his creation, his care for you.
God’s power in creation teaches us that we can trust God no matter how dire the circumstance. God’s power in the gospel teaches us that we can trust God to rescue us from our direst of circumstances. As Dane Ortlund says, “(In Christ) our deserved condemnation and an eternity in hell have already been emptied of their threat and power.”
God sent his Son Jesus to pass through death and come out the other side so that all who trust him will be cared for and comforted eternally. And those who’re in Christ are given the Holy Spirit, who the Bible calls the “Comforter,” to keep them in God’s care until the end.
In the gospel, your Creator becomes your Redeemer and gives you the Comforter. Worship him. Trust him. Rest in him. Only he can form and fill your life, and the life of our church, with the beauty and power and peace we long for.
[1]Derek Kidner, Genesis: An Introduction and Commentary, Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries, vol. 1 (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1967), 46.
[2]R. Kent Hughes, Genesis: Beginning and Blessing, in Preaching the Word (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2004), 29.
[3]Kenneth A. Matthews, Genesis 1-11:26, The New American Commentary, vol. 1a (Nashville, TN: B&H Publishing, 1996), 154.
[4]John M. Frame, “Foreword,” in Christopher Watkin, Thinking Through Creation: Genesis 1 and 2 as Tools of Cultural Critique (Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R Publishing, 2017), x.
[5]Gerhard von Rad, Genesis: A Commentary (Philadelphia: The Westminster Press, 1961), 55.
[6]Victor P. Hamilton, The Book of Genesis: Chapters 1-17, The New International Commentary on the Old Testament (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1990), 132.
[7]Matthews, 157.
[8]Brian Thomas, Dinosaurs and the Bible (Eugene, OR: Harvest House Publishers, 2013), 12.