Creation

^{Editor’s Note: This article was reprinted with permission from Warren Vanhetloo’s newsletter “Cogitation.”}

Read Part 1 and Part 2.
God’s work of creating all things other than Himself was accomplished over a six-day period. He could have brought into existence all things in their final form in a few seconds, but He didn’t. He could have taken great lengths of time to fashion or “evolve” various life forms. He didn’t. What’s important for us to know is that we don’t need to guess and theorize about what might have happened; God related what and how He brought about the heavens and the earth in clear, simple summary expressions.

The structure of the creation account in Genesis 1 suggests that God gave the information early to those faithful to Him. Then it was passed on orally from one generation to another through the centuries until finally it was incorporated into the special scrolls written either by Moses or at the time of Moses in the first five books of the Bible. The account is certainly a proper introduction to the history recorded in the book of Genesis.

^{Editor’s Note: This article was reprinted with permission from Warren Vanhetloo’s newsletter “Cogitation.”}

Read Part 1.
Compared to some scientific explanations, God’s revelation about the beginning of the world in which we live is simple enough for all to understand. We cannot fully comprehend everything He says, but what He tells us makes good sense, and since He was the One reporting what He Himself did, His account has unique validity.

“In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth” (Gen 1:1).

1. There was a beginning of the universe we inhabit. Matter was not eternal. Space was not eternal, Everything other than God was brought into existence by divine activity. Only God was and is eternally self-existent.

2. God was always active and “in beginning” chose to act in a new and different fashion. The eternal God (three Persons) existed prior to the existence of anything in our universe. The godhead remained unchanged following creation of “stuff” other than the eternal Three.

3. It was not necessary for God to create in order to be complete or to have something over which to rule. In no sense did He “need” to create. His creation of real things and genuine persons other than Himself was an act of free choice and true grace.

^{Editor’s Note: This article was reprinted with permission from Warren Vanhetloo’s newsletter “Cogitation.”}
Creation was instantaneous and complete. There was no gradual development or evolution. The one creation, however, included stages of bringing “stuff” into existence, arranging and modifying it, adding to it, and setting patterns of continuing function. The entirety of this creative accomplishment took six days, not because any part of the task was time consuming, but mainly to set the example before man to work six days and to rest on the seventh. From Dr. Charles McLain: Ancient rabbis questioned the length of seven days. “How could it have taken so long?” Modern scientists question the shortness of seven days. “How could it have only taken seven days?”

“And God said, Let there be light, and there was light” (Gen 1:3).

1. This is the first of many commands recorded in the creation process. God spoke and it was done, thus the term fiat creation (by divine command). No command had been recorded for the bringing into existence the mass of heaven and earth; the verb “created” (bara’ ) was enough. Now there is clearly an order given and an obedience, an immediate, unhesitating accomplishment.

by Andy Efting

Geisler, Norman. Creation and the Courts: Eighty Years of Conflict in the Classroom and the Courtroom. Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 2007. Paperback, 400 pages. $22.00

(Review copy courtesy of Crossway Books)

Purchase: Crossway; CBD; Amazon

Special Features: Bibliographic references and index

ISBNs: 9781581348361 / 1581348363

LCCN: KF4208.5.S34G45 2007

DCN: 344.73’0796

Subjects: Creationism; Evolution; Religion in public schools