Theological Thursday --- Let There Be... (Part 1)

The creation story in Gensis 1 is an amazing example of God's order in this Universe. Consider the "6-day creation" and how days 4-6 correspond perfectly with days 1-3.

Day/Creation

(1) Light ---------------> (4) Sun, Moon, Stars

(2) Water and Sky ---> (5) Fish and Birds

(3) Land ---------------> (6) Animals and Man

Some theologians believe that the sole purpose of Genesis 1 is to show both God's power and His order over chaos (it is to be taken completely figuratively). Prior to God giving Moses the Creation account, the belief back in that day was the Egyptian Creation Myth called Enuma Elish. It has several "gods" fighting and ultimately 1 being sliced into two pieces that divided and created the heavens and the earth. It's very chaotic and God's truth (as contained in the Biblical Creation Account) shows order, power, and control.

Other theologians believe in a literal 6-day creation (the 7th day was for rest). It took exactly six, 24-hour days for the Earth to come into existence. Fossils, carbon dating, etc can be attributed for by either God creating the Earth slightly aged (which they say would make sense as the Garden of Eden wouldn't have started out with nothing but seeds), or the impact of Noah's flood which would have caused extreme damage and ageing to the Earth.

Some theologians also believe that each day of creation does not represent 24 hours (as the sun and stars weren't even created until day 4 they will argue), but rather each day represents thousands of years. As Moses says in his only Psalm, "For a thousand years in your sight is like a day" (90:4).

I'll let people way smarter than I am determine which one of these are true, and although I have a belief on which one it is, that is not the point of today's post. All this was to lead into the one thing we can know about how God created the world (what method He used). As God, He could have waved a magic wand, spit, breathed, or even just thought the world into existence. But let's look at how he decided to do it...

And God said (וַיֹּאמֶר --- my Hebrew coming in handy!), "Let there be"...

Out of all the ways God could have created the world, He chose to create it by speaking! Why is that important? Well, come back next week and we'll take a closer look...