Day 1 -The First Day Ever!
From the reading Genesis 1: 1-5
Genesis is known as the book of beginnings. It is an amazing account of how our world began and the wonder of it continues to bless and amaze those who read it.
Before the earth became anything, it was just a dark, formless mass of water! Imagine that if you can!
It was always God’s, before it became earth, before there was dirt or a plant or any living thing.
God was hovering above this mass of water when He decided to make it into something else, something amazing!
How did God make things? Well, we will never really understand the how! He is God! He was there from the beginning. And not just the beginning of the earth! God was there before anything else ever! To try and understand that would be impossible. It simply is! There had to be something in the beginning, right? Well, this is God, and he is so amazing we will never be able to comprehend it with our human brain.
Think of a creature below human brain capacity: maybe a pet? I think of my dog, but it could be any pet or any other creature you can think of. We understand that their capacity is limited due to the way they were made. I wouldn’t expect my dog to understand everything I am saying, yet he will respond to certain words and actions that he is familiar with. Yet my dog doesn’t have to understand everything about me to love me and devote himself to me. He remains (and did) loyal, trusting and devoted to me all the days of his life because he trusts me to look after him and look after him. He doesn’t have to understand everything about me to devote himself to me and to believe in me.
As insufficient as this analogy is, this is my way of explaining how we can have a relationship with God without the need to try and understand things we simply do not have the capacity to understand.
We can trust him and devote ourselves to him and just know that He will take care of our every need. We can be in wonder of His creation and miracles without having to know the how.And so it was that God started making the earth. The first thing God did was make light. When he did, there became a division between the light and the dark. Before God created light, there was only the dark. God liked the light that he made and said it was good! He gave light the name day, and he gave dark the name night because they were two different things. Note here that God did not call the dark bad! The dark was there before the light and the light separated the two. He gave the dark a name (night) just as he did the light (day). If God didn’t want the dark, I imagine He would have made the light swallow it up completely. However, he did not because the dark is equivalent to the light.
God also added two more names to light (day) and dark (night). He added morning to the day and evening to the night.
This marked the beginning of the first day. On this first day the earth was still a formless mass of water that God was hovering over. The only thing different was night and day!!
In the beginning God separated the water in such a way that it would never come together again! One body of water became the heavens, and the other body of water became the earth.
The water that became our sky is what we know as rain, mist and dew! The water that became our earth is what we know as oceans, rivers, creeks, underground, bores and springs, snow and ice!
So much water! And so much variety in water too! Salt water, fresh water, rainwater, bore water, spring water, artesian water, frozen water. Wow Wow Wow!
Day 2! Water Separates!
From the reading Genesis 1: 6-8
Then we come to the second day. On this day God made what is called a firmament. After looking up this word to understand it better, I found that other words for firmament are sky or heaven.
This firmament separated the great mass of water, creating an area above the firmament and an area below it. Remember there is no solid ground yet, the earth is all still a mass of water.
As it says in Genesis 1:1 In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. And this is how He did that; by making the firmament. When you look at that word firmament you can see that it was firm and ment. To me this speaks of Gods intent when He made it, what it was meant (ment) for, and that it was made to stay (firm).
I’m meditating on this, wondering why that is all God did on day two and then the enormity of it dawns on me.
So much water! Can you imagine so much water just floating around, a formless void? There is light on it now, but it is still only water. Water is heavy! Imagine separating the water in any of our oceans! We just couldn’t! And yet we read later in the Bible where God did just that when He separated the waters of the Red Sea! (But now Im getting ahead of myself.)
Day 3 – Land, Grass, Herbs & Trees!
From the reading Genesis 1:9-13
So now we have Day Three and we can see how the earth is taking form as God gathers all the water that is under the firmament into one place so that dry land can appear.
So, let’s pause here for a minute. “Let the dry land appear”. (Gen1:9)
Does that mean that the dry land was there all along amongst the waters? It would seem so because the bible states that God separated the waters for dry land to appear, not that He created dry land directly.
Another wow moment for me! And hey, I don’t know if this is correct or not, it is merely an observation as I read. The concept for dry land to have already been there goes against my understanding. I would be much more comfortable imagining God creating the dry land after He separated the waters.
As I’ve shared previously, our minds just cannot understand the things of God sometimes! With this in mind, I am encouraged to let my imagination go beyond my understanding and be awed by the God I love and serve, instead of grappling to understand or changing the words so that I am more comfortable with them. I would encourage you to do the same!
So, as we continue to read, God now defines the dry land as Earth and the waters are defined as Seas. This is more within the boundaries of our understanding, and how we see our world today.
Now that the dry land is established, God commanded it to ‘bring forth’ grass and herbs and trees that grow fruit. Not only that, but God commands also that these contain seeds so that they can reproduce in its own kind.
What you and I take for granted every day is the wonderful provision God made on the earth. Long before man was created, God made the earth thrive with food and beauty!
The grasses, herbs, trees and the oceans were now established! Can we begin to imagine the beauty of this? An environment of the freshest air ever, where there are no chemicals, pesticides or rubbish?
There wasn’t even a sun or moon yet, nor was there an animal or bird or even an insect!
Just a beautiful dry earth that sprouted and bloomed beauty all in one day! Oceans that just gathered together, never again to cross the boundaries that were ordered by their creator.
I hope as you are reading this and allowing the imagination that God gave us, you can appreciate the absolute wonder of our great and mighty God. I hope you are seeing more than I can write and receiving fresh new revelation of the wonder of creation! Who can compare with our God? There surely is no one like Him. Amen
I think of the times I’ve been in the Australian outback and looked with wonder at the millions of stars that light the clear crisp skies! Each one purposely placed by the hand of the Almighty! Did you ever lie on the grass and look for the saucepan in the sky? Have you looked for the four bright stars that we know as the Southern Cross? Have you seen falling stars? What about all those beautiful sunrises or sunsets that paint a brilliant golden tapestry across the sky.
God made all this possible on Day Four of his amazing creation!
Day 4 - Sun Moon & Stars!!
Reading from Genesis 1:14-19
Now that the heavens have been established, God fills them with lights that will determine our night and day, and serve as signs, seasons, days and years.
I love how the word says, “he sets them in place”. How did God do this? How does the sun and the moon just stay in the sky? We know that the sun is made of fire, and the moon is made of rock. Yet they stay! We know that there is no gravity after a certain point in the atmosphere, so yes that would be how they don’t fall out of the sky. However, through footage of the astronauts in space, we see that they have a hard time staying still! Instead, we see them floating and having to hold onto things so they don’t float away! Yet the sun and the moon just stay there, right where God put them!
We also know that the fierceness of the sun is such that no man or craft can get close to it. If they tried, they would burn up, such is the intensity of its heat. Yet obviously the powerful fire of the sun was nothing for God to create and put in its place.
How great and mighty is God! We will never fully fathom it!
That beautiful sun that rises each day to waken us, or that moon that looks so wonderful hovering over an ocean or field; these were placed there by our almighty God! And all these thousands of years later they are still right there where He put them!
Day 5 – Sea Creatures and Birds!
Reading from Genesis 1:20-23
So, God created all the sea creatures and winged birds on Day Five. While reading this, I am reminded of a few things that add to the wonder of this day. Like how many different species He created that day, the variety of shape, size and colour! If you’ve ever looked closely at any bird or sea creature, the intricate detail is mind boggling isn’t it! From the smallest to the largest, the variety, the uniqueness, the ability to reproduce their own kind. The way He made the sea creatures to be able to live underwater! The beauty!
I love the fresh wonder that is coming while reading Genesis! The things that are around us every day can soon be taken for granted. We are born into different environments and soon become desensitized to what we see every day. Later we may visit other parts of the world and for awhile be amazed at the new creatures of that environment, yet if we stay there long enough, we will become desensitized to these too.
An avid fisherman will soon lose his excitement if he continues to catch the one species of fish. Yet his wonder will soon return if he reels in a different species! The same applies to the birdwatcher enthusiast, hunting for that rare species through their powerful binoculars, yet barely glancing at the humble sparrow.
A quick google look up reveals that there are approximately 18,000 different species of birds and a staggering 242,000 different species of marine life! Scientists agree that they will probably never know the exact number of species and that there are many more to be discovered.
How incredible was Day 5 when our great and mighty God created all these different species! And just as he did on previous days, He set their boundaries. He directed the marine species to abound in abundance in the waters and He directed the winged birds to fly above the earth across the face of the firmament of the heavens.
I encourage you to try and imagine how the world looks at the end of Day 5! There is now a world with dry land that is growing grasses, herbs and trees. There are oceans teeming with the greatest and smallest of sea creatures! There is a sky that is now filled with winged birds of different sizes and colours and shapes! There is a sun to light and warm the earth, set in its place! There is a moon and millions of stars to rule by night! Try and imagine how beautiful the earth would have looked back then! God had one word for it, the same word He used after every day during creation. And God saw that it was GOOD!
After the creation of the first man and woman and declaring that they be fruitful and multiply, God looked at everything that He had made and said it was very good!
Can you ignite your imagination right now and think how it must have been on Day 6 of creation? What an earth it would have been back then! How beautiful and clean and perfect! How very good in every way?
Can you imagine how it was for Adam and Eve on the first day they were created? All of a sudden they were! They didn’t start as babies; they were created as adults! They would have known their Creator instinctively, known they were blessed, known how to survive; known how the rest of creation worked and that they had dominion over it. They would have known who they were and that each were created for the other and created to have fellowship with God.
The relationship they naturally had with God would have been amazing! No doubts, no blockages, no sin! They were the only ones who lived the way they were created to!
What a beautiful, intricate, amazing world God made in the beginning! He took a huge mass of water and made it into a living world! He designed it to all work together. He designed it to last forever. And he declared it all VERY GOOD!
Day 6 – Beasts, Cattle, Creepy Things and Man!
Reading from Genesis 1:24-31
Day 6 seems like a huge day to me compared to all the others! First God made living creatures in their own kind. I thought it was interesting that he specifically named cattle, yet the other animals are referred to as the beasts of the earth. I cannot think of a reason for this, so I did a google look up which helped. It seems that the word cattle is referring to domesticated animals that are useful to man and the beasts refer to wild, undomesticated animals. Wow, have a think about all the different animals in the world! So many, both domesticated and undomesticated! The word beasts suggest some incredibly wild and big animals were created back then. Maybe they are what we have since discovered as dinosaur’s and sea monsters! We know also that animals are native to different parts of the world! As it says, God made them in their own kind. Just as He did when creating the birds, marine life and even the plants and trees, the variety is staggering! Each one was created to survive in its own environment!
He also made all the creeping things on Day 6, so all the insects, beetles, spiders, reptiles and other small creatures, and again what a variety he made! Different sizes, shapes, colours and made to survive in different environments.
I can’t say it enough – How great is our God!!!!
Then, after all this, God made man! There are big differences mentioned in God’s word when it came to creating man!
One is that God made man in His own image. It is written as our image, referring to God: the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. He made the male and female on Day 6 so both Adam and Eve were created on that day. I find this interesting because my thoughts were that Eve was created on another day because Gods word said she was created after the man, as a helper for him. And this is also true, it’s just that this all happened on Day 6!
The other big differences are that when God created man, He also blessed them. While he said that the rest of creation was good, it doesn’t say God blessed it until He created man. He continues by adding that man will have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air; over every tree whose fruit yields seed, every green herb, every beast of the earth and everything that crept on the earth. The man and woman alone were given this dominion on the earth.