Genesis 1 - Vision of the Beginning

As I mentioned in my post "The Incredible Expanding Universe", Genesis chapter 1 records the revelation of the creation of the universe (the Heavens and the Earth).  It had to be a revelation because there was no eye-witness to record the events.

To add to the parallels between the first and last books of the Bible, the vision in Genesis 1 is from the perspective of Earth.  The vision in Revelation is from the perspective of Heaven.  We easily accept that Revelation is a vision because it is written in first person by the Apostle John and presented as a vision.  We easily accept that John recorded the events he saw but did not fully understand.

What many Christians do not understand or easily accept is that the creation account was also a vision and recorded as God gave its revelation to the author.  If I could subtitle this chapter I would call it "The Revelation to Moses".  However, the style and purpose of Genesis was not prophetic, but legal in nature.  It was establishing the foundation upon which God would build the Law of Moses, or the Torah.  Thus, there is no first-person awe-struck emotion in the account - it is very plain and purposeful.

The thing that I find most inspiring about the creation account is that, from the perspective of an observer on Earth, the account is clearly and completely in harmony with the order of the fossil records and geological records available to us today.  The chance of anyone recording a vision of this nature without a revelation from the Creator is virtually zero.

Before Beginning
Before I expound on the amazing truth of Genesis 1, let me explain why I am fascinated and passionate about this subject.  I was an atheist for most of my childhood, probably because I was taught to be skeptical by the public education system and by the information I got from television and print media.

So strict seven-day "Young Earth" creation theology was a stumbling block to me.  It was also a stumbling block to my father and many others very close to me.  Most educated people who go through life accepting what they are taught believe the Theory of Evolution, which directly contradicts the creation account and the divinity of the Creator.  When I finally accepted the Bible as inspired by the Word of God, I felt compelled to reconcile the obvious contradictions in the "traditional" understanding of Genesis chapter 1 with abundant physical evidence of an older Earth.

The Theory of Evolution as put forth by Charles Darwin is based on a Naturalist philosophy.  This philosophy says that there is no "supernatural" force and everything in nature has an explanation based on physical laws of nature.  This philosophy gave birth to some really evil implementations, such as Marxism and the madness of Adolph Hitler's Nazi party.  I want to remove this stumbling block for you who wish to believe the Bible, because the creation account should reinforce rather than contradict your faith in God.

The purpose of this post is to present the creation account in a way that a scientifically-minded person can accept, and in the process refute the view that there is no Creator or supernatural force behind this majestic work of creation.

In the Beginning
The beginning of the universe is a mystery to everyone, including those who think they understand it, because only God could bring into being in an instant of time, from things not visible, both the infinity of space and time.  Scientists refer to this as "the Singularity" or the "Big Bang", with no logical explanation of how or why.  By every mathematical and astronomical method of dating, this event occurred at least 11 billion years ago.  Virtually all scientists today believe it happened about 13.7 billion years ago, based on estimates of how long it took the light from the most distant stars to arrive at Earth.  Many scientists, including Christian astronomer Hugh Ross, think they have a concept of the initial nanoseconds of this event, but I would caution about delving too far into the vain speculation of men.  I have no idea if the mathematical and scientific basis of this theory is accurate, but even if the estimated age of the universe were off by several orders of magnitude, it is apparent that the universe is much older than the historical understanding of Genesis would indicate.

Genesis 1:1 simply states that "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth."  There is no further explanation in Genesis, but the Epistle to the Hebrews expounds on this:

"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." (Hebrews 11:3)

This part must be accepted by faith, because there is no way for a human mind to comprehend what it means to exist outside the context of space and time.  I accept this by faith, however long ago that may be.  By purposely giving no explanation, the Bible is uniquely accurate in describing this as a singular and miraculous event.

The Earth Became Formless
Genesis 1:2 describes a dark, formless earth covered by deep waters.  This is consistent with our understanding of the earliest days of Earth, where the hot and heavily carbon-laden atmosphere would completely obscure the light of the Sun.  The Earth could have remained in this condition like Venus and other gas-shrouded planets, but for the next act of creation:

"And 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".

Now instead of a dark heavy fog, there is light fog (day) and dark fog (night). The next verse is where it gets really interesting. "There was evening and there was morning, one day." Note that the literal interpretation is missing one key element - the Sun. That is not apparent until the fourth day. This is one reason I believe the creation account is based on a vision and not a literal scientific description of the process. The Sun is not mentioned at this point in the vision. Literally, there would be no basis for the first three solar days without the Sun. However this would be totally consistent with a vision of the acts of creation from the surface of the earth.

The Fog Is Lifted
In the second act of creation, God separates the waters above from the waters below. In the vision there is a clear space between the clouds above and the waters covering the Earth.  Space is not visible yet since the atmosphere is still covered by dense clouds. Once again the order of creation is consistent with science.

The third act of creation gets even more interesting to me. God causes dry land to appear, probably causing some massive tectonic shifting of plates on the surface of the earth. You can see the way the mountain ranges are bunched together when you fly over them or look at pictures from satellites. During this day, or vision of the day, God creates plant life. The author does not mention microbial life, which could be seen in fossils from this period of time. That is totally understandable since he would not see this in the vision without a microscope, and describing that to the nation of Israel would be pointless at that time in history. But it is fascinating that geological evidence indicates oxygen-producing plant life came significantly before oxygen-consuming animal life. That is further astonishing evidence of the inspiration of this account.

Also fascinating is that this abundance of vegetation is used by God to absorb the massive amounts of carbon from the atmosphere and create the oxygen and food which is essential for animal life.  This part of the vision corresponds to what scientists call the Pre-Cambrian time.  During that time the concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere was apparently thousands of times higher than it is today.

Creatures Above and Below
In the fourth act of creation God reveals deep space; the Sun, the Moon, and the stars appear.  The plant life which was abundant and flourishing in the carbon-rich atmosphere has now absorbed enough CO2 and created enough oxygen to support animate life.

In the fifth act God creates creatures of the sea and the birds of the sky.  This day God creates what scientists have called the "Cambrian Explosion", an event which baffled even Charles Darwin.  How did this vast variety of creatures come into existence instantly from a geological perspective?  (God knows.)  Note that the account describes the creation of fish and then birds before mammals, another key point that makes this account statistically impossible without divine revelation.

The Final Acts of Creation
The final act of creation is the creation of land animals, culminating in the creation of man in God's image, male and female.  Notice that even here, the order of creation is consistent with the fossil record.

Finally, on the seventh day God rests.  This is one of the basic legal teachings of the first chapter of Genesis, that God rests after six days of work, that man is created in God's image, and therefore man should have a day of rest.  As Jesus said, "The Sabbath was created for man".  So really the last thing created in the creation account was the Sabbath.

The Key Points
As the first book of the Law of Moses, the creation account establishes many important legal principles.

1. The universe is a special creation of God. (Gen 1:1)  It has a beginning, and therefore a purpose.
2. Light is good, and separate from darkness (which is by inference not good.) (Gen 1:4)
3. God's Word is all-powerful.
4. Creatures are blessed to hear and obey God's Word. (Gen 1:22)
5. Mankind is a special, divine creation made in God's image (Gen 1:26).  Thus human life is sacred.
6. Mankind has authority over every living creature on earth. ( Gen 1:26, 28)
7. God's creation was good and pleasing to Him. (Gen 1:31)
8. God's creation of the universe is complete. (Gen 2:1)
9. God works, and God rests.  (Gen 2:1-2)
10. The seventh day is a Sabbath day of rest which is sanctified (holy) and set apart as a day of rest and worship. (Gen 2:3)
11. By inference, mankind is to be Godly, because he is made in God's image and likeness and is made to work and rest in the pattern established by God. (Gen 2:3)

None of these principals are changed by the literal meaning of a "day" in Genesis 1. God could have created everything in seven consecutive solar days, but evidence suggests that these days were separated by great lengths of time if indeed they are solar days in our sense of time. I do not believe in evolution or that God created heaven and earth through some background evolutionary processes. I do believe that the acts of creation were indeed miraculous acts of God's sovereign power.

The important thing to remember when reconciling the creation account with scientific evidence, is that God's Word is more trustworthy than science.  If scientists discover something new tomorrow and/or refute something they believed yesterday, that doesn't change the truth of God's Word. The Bible encourages us to pray both with our mind and our spirit. We are not trying to defeat science but use it to more fully understand the Truth.

Finally, as Paul said there are "mysteries kept hidden for ages and generations, which have been revealed to the saints." (Colossians 1:26)  Perhaps now in these last days, in the midst of this massive increase in knowledge, the mystery of creation is also being revealed.  That possibility may say more about the present and future than it says about the past.  My next post on the subject of visions will deal with the Revelation to John the Apostle.