God of Creation

KEY VERSE: “The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament showeth his handiwork.” —Psalm 19:1

SELECTED SCRIPTURE: Genesis 1:1; Psalm 19:1-4; Acts 17:24-28; Romans 1:20

THE Bible’s approach to the subject of creation starts with the reasonable assumption that a Creator, an intelligent first cause, already existed—“In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.” (Gen. 1:1) While many scientists lack faith in the existence of a personal Creator, attributing all the creative works to the operation of natural law, there are many others who admit their inability to explain the operation of natural law without an intelligent lawgiver.

A moment’s reflection upon the immensity and grandeur of the universe should suffice to convince us that beyond all this display of intelligence and power must be the design of a great Being who is not only the Creator but one who is worthy of our reverence and worship as God. Well did the prophet write that only the foolish say in their hearts, “There is no God.” (Ps. 14:1; 53:1) David wrote: “The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament showeth his handiwork. Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night showeth knowledge.” (Ps. 19:1,2) Surely no truer statement of fact than this has ever been written! An appreciation of the infinite power of the Creator and of our littleness should make us teachable. How marvelously is the power of God manifested in his creative works! Think for a moment of our own solar system, which is but an infinitely small part of the universe. We stand appalled at the great power of the Creator, and yet the Scriptures tell us that he is as loving and kind as he is wise and powerful.

The six days of creation outlined in the first chapter of Genesis are descriptive, not of the creation of the earth, but of its gradual preparation for vegetable and animal life. Genesis 1:2 explains that the earth as originally created was “without form and void;” that is, its ultimate contour, as God designed it, had not been developed, and it was empty of all forms of life. There were neither mountains nor valleys, trees nor shrubs, rivers nor oceans; but the earth was. It is important for the student of God’s Word to note that the six days of creation described in the first chapter of Genesis were not short periods of twenty-four-hour days, but were actually long epochs of time. In fact, the Bible in Genesis 2:4 refers to the entire creative period as one day. It is recommended that the reader who is interested in further information on this subject write to The Dawn, East Rutherford, NJ 07073, and ask for the booklet, “Creation.” It will be mailed to you free.

As we have previously stated, the long period of creation was for the purpose of preparing the earth for the higher forms of animal life, of which man was the crowning creation. It was toward the close of the sixth creative day that man was brought into existence. In describing the creation of man, the Scriptures use a very different expression from that employed to explain the previous creative processes. It is not, “Let the earth bring forth,” as in the case of the lower animals, but, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.” Also, in Genesis 2:7, we read, “And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul [being].”

Man was created in the image, that is, the mental and moral likeness, of God, and he was fitted to rule over the beasts of the field. He was endowed with the gift of speech and was able to reason. He was given the ability to discern between right and wrong, and a conscience to guide him. The entire Bible is concerned with this man (Adam) and his offspring. Genesis not only tells us how he was made but also tells the story of his disobedience to divine law and the subsequent penalty of death pronounced upon him. The remainder of the Bible outlines the divine method whereby fallen man is to be recovered and the whole earth filled with the progeny of Adam, all of whom will enjoy everlasting life and happiness, conditional upon having learned to obey the Creator’s laws willingly and joyfully. Those who are obedient will be rewarded with everlasting life.

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