It was very good

Genesis 1 from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

The Creation

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. ² The earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the waters. ³ Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light. ⁴ God saw that the light was good; and God separated the light from the darkness. ⁵ God called the light day, and the darkness He called night. And there was evening and there was morning, one day.

⁶ Then God said, “Let there be an expanse in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters.” ⁷ God made the expanse, and separated the waters which were below the expanse from the waters which were above the expanse; and it was so. ⁸ God called the expanse heaven. And there was evening and there was morning, a second day.

⁹ Then God said, “Let the waters below the heavens be gathered into one place, and let the dry land appear”; and it was so. ¹⁰ God called the dry land earth, and the gathering of the waters He called seas; and God saw that it was good. ¹¹ Then God said, “Let the earth sprout vegetation, plants yielding seed, and fruit trees on the earth bearing fruit after their kind with seed in them”; and it was so. ¹² The earth brought forth vegetation, plants yielding seed after their kind, and trees bearing fruit with seed in them, after their kind; and God saw that it was good. ¹³ There was evening and there was morning, a third day.

¹⁴ Then God said, “Let there be lights 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; ¹⁵ and let them be for lights in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth”; and it was so. ¹⁶ God made the two great lights, the greater light to govern the day, and the lesser light to govern the night; He made the stars also. ¹⁷ God placed them in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth, ¹⁸ and to govern the day and the night, and to separate the light from the darkness; and God saw that it was good. ¹⁹ There was evening and there was morning, a fourth day.

²⁰ Then God said, “Let the waters teem with swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth in the open expanse of the heavens.” ²¹ God created the great sea monsters and every living creature that moves, with which the waters swarmed after their kind, and every winged bird after its kind; and God saw that it was good. ²² God blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth.” ²³ There was evening and there was morning, a fifth day.

²⁴ Then God said, “Let the earth bring forth living creatures after their kind: cattle and creeping things and beasts of the earth after their kind”; and it was so. ²⁵ God made the beasts of the earth after their kind, and the cattle after their kind, and everything that creeps on the ground after its kind; and God saw that it was good.

²⁶ Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” ²⁷ God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. ²⁸ God blessed them; and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” ²⁹ Then God said, “Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the surface of all the earth, and every tree which has fruit yielding seed; it shall be food for you; ³⁰ and to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the sky and to every thing that moves on the earth which has life, I have given every green plant for food”; and it was so. ³¹ God saw all that He had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.

Hebrews 1:1-3;6 says:   Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. For by it the men of old gained approval. By faith we understand that the worlds were prepared by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things which are visible... And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him.    Romans 1:18-22 says:   For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse. For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools.     These two portions of scripture tell us why it is vital to our faith that it be established in the foundation of creation. Scripture admits that understanding creation requires faith. After all there was no one present to witness it. There was no one there to record it on film. All that we have to verify that God created the “worlds” is the circumstantial evidence of creation itself. Believing in creation though, is not believing in a fantasy with no basis in fact. It is, understanding, knowing based on the evidence. God’s invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made.  Believing in creation does not negate or nullify what science knows to be true, rather it supports and is supported by what science knows. What does not line up between science and faith in creation is the “speculations” made by science, the theories they develop to explain what there is no evidence of. From the vastness and the splendor of the earth, the seas and the universe; to the intricacies of molecular structure and DNA, the evidence for creation is obvious. While there may have been no witnesses, I would be willing to bet that even an inexperienced prosecutor could build a case to convict God of creation. It is true that it takes faith to believe in creation, but to disbelieve with all the evidence is what Paul says in Romans:  they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools.  It is foolishness. All of the theories men profess regarding creation apart from a creator require more faith and have less evidence than believing, by faith in God.

In one way the scriptural account of creation and man’s theories agree about the beginning. Genesis 1:1-2 says:  In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep.    Both the Bible and science agree that there was a beginning and that before what we see and know there was a formlessness. The Genesis account continues saying:   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… “Let the waters below the heavens be gathered into one place, and let the dry land appear”; and it was so. God called the dry land earth, and the gathering of the waters He called seas; and God saw that it was good. Then God said, “Let the earth sprout vegetation, plants yielding seed, and fruit trees on the earth bearing fruit after their kind with seed in them”; and it was so. The earth brought forth vegetation, plants yielding seed after their kind, and trees bearing fruit with seed in them, after their kind; and God saw that it was good… Then God said, “Let there be lights 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 in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth”; and it was so. God made the two great lights, the greater light to govern the day, and the lesser light 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 from the darkness; and God saw that it was good… Then God said, “Let the waters teem with swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth in the open expanse of the heavens.” God created the great sea monsters and every living creature that moves, with which the waters swarmed after their kind, and every winged bird after its kind; and God saw that it was good... Then God said, “Let the earth bring forth living creatures after their kind: cattle and creeping things and beasts of the earth after their kind”; and it was so. God made the beasts of the earth after their kind, and the cattle after their kind, and everything that creeps on the ground after its kind; and God saw that it was good.    Everything that God created was good.

Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. God blessed them; and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”  God saw all that He had made, and behold, it was very good.    Unlike everything else that was created, the creation of man and woman, male and female was not just good, it was very good. God created them, He created us, in His own image and likeness, so that: that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them. Because of our faith, because of this evidence and knowledge, that we are made in the image and likeness of God:   without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him.  

Heavenly Father, Lord Jesus Christ; precious Holy Spirit the three in one God who created the heavens and the earth; thank You for all that is good. Thank You for creating and restoring us to Your image and likeness, which is very good.   Amen.