|Chapter 6: CREATION
Seventh-day Adventists Believe...
God is Creator of all things, and has revealed in
Scripture the authentic account of His creative activity. In
six days the Lord made "the heaven and the earth" and all
living things upon the earth, and rested on the seventh day
of that first week. Thus He established the Sabbath as a
perpetual memorial of His completed creative work. The first
man and woman were made in the image of God as the crowning
work of Creation, given dominion over the world, and charged
with responsibility to care for it. When the world was
finished it was "very good," declaring the glory of God.
--Fundamental Beliefs, 6
The Bible account is simple. At the creative command of
God, the "`heaven and the earth, the sea, and all that is in
them'" (Ex. 20:11) appeared instantly. A mere six days saw
the change from "without form, and void" to a lush planet
teeming with fully mature creatures and plant forms. Our
planet was adorned with clear, pure, bright colors, shapes,
and fragrances, put together with superb taste and exactness
of detail and function.
Then God "rested," stopping to celebrate, to enjoy.
Forever the beauty and majesty of those six days would be
remembered because of His stopping. Let us steal a quick
look at the Bible's account of the Beginning.
"In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth."
The earth was shrouded with water and darkness. On the first
day, God separated the light from the darkness, calling the
light "day" and the darkness "night."
On day two, God "divided the waters," separating the
atmosphere from the water clinging to the earth, making
conditions suitable for life. On the third day God gathered
the waters together into one place, establishing land and
sea. Then God clothed the naked shores, hills, and valleys;
"the land produced vegetation: plants bearing seed according
to their kinds and trees bearing fruit with seed in it
according to their kinds" (Gen. 1:12, NIV).
On the fourth day God established the sun, moon, and
stars "for signs and seasons, and for days and years." The
sun was to govern the day, the moon the night
God fashioned the birds and marine life on the fifth day.
He created them "according to their kind" (Gen. 1:21), an
indication that the creatures He created would consistently
reproduce after their own kinds.
On the sixth day God made the higher forms of animal
life. He said, "`Let the earth bring forth the living
creature according to its kind: cattle and creeping thing
and beast of the earth, each according to its kind'"
Then, the crowning act of Creation, God made man "in His
own image; in the image of God He created him; male and
female He created them" (Gen. 1:27). God saw everything He
had created and "indeed it was very good" (Gen. 1:31).
The Creative Word of God
"By the word of the Lord," the psalmist wrote, "the
heavens were made, and all the host of them by the breath of
His mouth" (Ps. 33:6). How did this creative word operate?
The Creative Word and Pre-existing Matter
The words of Genesis, "God said," introduce the dynamic
divine command responsible for the majestic events of the
six days of Creation (Gen. 1:3,6,9,11,14,20,24). Each
command came charged with a creative energy that transformed
a planet "without form, and void" into a paradise. "He
spoke, and it was done; He commanded, and it stood fast"
(Ps. 33:9). Truly, "the worlds were framed by the word of
God" (Heb. 11:3).
This creative word was not dependent upon pre-existing
matter (ex nihilo): "By faith we understand that the
universe was formed at God's command, so that what is seen
was not made out of what was visible" (Heb. 11:3, NIV).
Though at times God did use pre-existing matter--Adam and
the beasts were formed of the earth, and Eve was made from
Adam's rib (Gen. 2:7,19,22)--ultimately, God created all
The Creation Story
Many questions have been asked about the Genesis account
of Creation. Do the two Creation narratives the first book
of the Bible contains contradict each other or are they
consistent? Are the days of Creation literal or do they
represent large time periods? Were the heavens--the sun,
moon, and even the stars--really made only 6,000 years ago?
The Creation Account
The Bible's two reports of Creation, one in Genesis 1:1
to 2:3, and the other in Genesis 2:4-25, harmonize.
The first narrative recounts, in chronological order, the
creation of all things.
The second narrative begins with the words, "These are
the generations of..." (KJV), an expression that in Genesis
introduces a family history (cf. Gen. 5:1; 6:9; 10:1). This
narrative describes man's place in Creation. It is not
strictly chronological, but reveals that everything served
to prepare the environment for man.(*1) It gives more
details of the creation of Adam and Eve and of the
environment God provided in the garden of Eden than does the
first. In addition, it informs us of the nature of humanity
and of divine government. Only if these two Creation
accounts are accepted as literal and historical do they
harmonize with the rest of Scripture.
The Creation Days
The days of the Bible's Creation account signify literal
24-hour periods. Typical of how the Old Testament people of
God measured time the expression "the evening and the
morning" (Gen. 1:5,8,13,19,23,31) specifies individual days
with the day beginning at evening, or sunset (see Lev.
23:32; Deut. 16:6). There is no justification for saying
that this expression meant one literal day in Leviticus, for
instance, and thousands or millions of years in Genesis.
The Hebrew word translated day in Genesis 1 is yom. When
yom is accompanied by a definite number, it always means a
literal, 24-hour day (e.g. Gen. 7:11; Ex. 16:1)--another
indication that the Creation account speaks of literal,
The Ten Commandments offer another evidence that the
Genesis Creation account involves literal days. In the
fourth commandment God says, "`Remember the Sabbath day, to
keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work,
but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God. In
it you shall do no work;...for in six days the Lord made the
heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and
rested the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the
Sabbath day and hallowed it'" (Ex. 20:8-11).
Succinctly God retells the Creation story. Each day (yom)
was filled with creative activity, and then the Sabbath
climaxed the Creation week. The 24-hour Sabbath day,
therefore, commemorates a literal week of Creation. The
fourth commandment would be meaningless were each day
stretched into aeons.(*2)
Those who cite 2 Peter 3:8, "with the Lord one day is as
a thousand years," trying to prove that the days of Creation
were not literal twenty-four-hour days, overlook the fact
that the same verse ends with "a thousand years" are "as one
day." Those who read into the days of Creation thousands of
years or large indefinite periods of millions or even
billions of years are questioning the validity of God's
word--just as the serpent tempted Eve to do.
What Are the "Heavens"?
Some people are puzzled, and understandably so, by the
verses that say that God "created the heavens and the earth"
(Gen. 1:1; cf. 2:1; Ex. 20:11) and that He made the sun,
moon, and stars on the fourth day of Creation week 6,000
years ago (Gen. 1:14-19). Were all heavenly bodies brought
into existence at that time?
Creation week did not involve the heaven that God has
dwelt in from eternity. The "heavens" of Genesis 1 and 2
probably refer to our sun and its system of planets.
Indeed, the earth, instead of being Christ's first
creation, was most likely His last one. The Bible pictures
the sons of God, probably the Adams of all the unfallen
worlds, meeting with God in some distant corner of the
universe (Job 1:6-12). So far, space probes have discovered
no other inhabited planets. They apparently are situated in
the vastness of space--well beyond the reach of our
sin-polluted solar system quarantined against the infection
The God of Creation
Just what kind of God is our Creator? Is such an infinite
Personage interested in us--minute specks of life in a
distant corner of His universe? After creating the earth,
did He go on to bigger and better things?
A Caring God
The Bible's Creation account begins with God and moves to
human beings. It implies that in creating the heavens and
the earth God was preparing the perfect environment for the
human race. Mankind, male and female, was His glorious
The account reveals God as a careful planner with a
concern for His creation. He planted a special garden home
for them and gave them the responsibility of cultivating it.
He created human beings so that they could have a
relationship with Him. This was not to be a forced,
unnatural relationship; He created them with freedom of
choice and a capacity to love and serve Him.
Who Was the Creator God?
All the members of the Godhead were involved in Creation
(Gen. 1:2,26). The active agent, however, was the Son of
God, the pre-existing Christ. In the prologue to his
Creation account, Moses wrote: "In the beginning God created
the heavens and the earth." Recalling those words, John
specified Christ's role in Creation: "In the beginning was
the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was
God....All things were made through Him, and without Him
nothing was made that was made" (John 1:1-3). Subsequently
in the same passage, John makes abundantly clear of whom he
was writing: "The Word became flesh and dwelt among us"
(John 1:14). Jesus was the Creator, the One who spoke the
earth into existence (see also Eph. 3:9; Heb. 1:2).
A Display of God's Love
How deep God's love! When Christ with loving care, knelt
over Adam, shaping this first man's hand, He must have known
that men's hands would someday abuse and ultimately nail Him
to the cross. In a sense Creation and the cross merge, since
Christ the Creator was slain from the foundation of the
world (Rev. 13:8). His divine foreknowledge(*3) did not stop
Him. Under the ominous cloud of Calvary, Christ breathed
into Adam's nostrils the breath of life, knowing that this
creative act would deprive Him of His breath of life.
Incomprehensible love is the basis of Creation.
The Purpose of Creation
Love motivates all that God does, for He is love (1 John
4:8). He created us not only so we could love Him, but so
that He could love us, too. His love led Him to share, in
Creation, one of the greatest gifts that He can
confer--existence. Has the Bible, then, indicated for what
purpose the universe and its inhabitants exist?
To Reveal God's Glory
Through His created works, God discloses His glory: "The
heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the
work of His hands. Day after day they pour forth speech;
night after night they display knowledge. There is no speech
or language where their voice is not heard. Their voice goes
out into all the earth, their words to the end of the world"
(Ps. 19:1-4, NIV).
Why such a display of God's glory? Nature functions as a
witness for God. He intends His created works to direct
individuals to their Creator. "For since the creation of the
world," Paul says, "God's invisible qualities--His eternal
power and divine nature--have been clearly seen, being
understood from what has been made, so that men are without
excuse" (Rom. 1:20, NIV).
As we are drawn to God through nature, we learn more
about the qualities of God, qualities that can be
incorporated into our own lives. And, by reflecting God's
character, we bring glory to Him, thus fulfilling the
purpose for which we are created.
To Populate the World
The Creator did not intend the earth to be a lonely,
empty planet; it was to be inhabited (Isa. 45:8). When the
first man felt the need of a companion, then God created the
woman (Gen. 2:20; 1 Cor. 11:9). Thus He established the
marriage institution (Gen. 2:22-25). And the Creator not
only gave the couple dominion over this newly created
world--but, with the words "`Be fruitful and multiply'"
(Gen. 1:28), He gave them the privilege of participating in
The Significance of Creation
People are tempted to ignore the doctrine of Creation.
"Who cares," they say, "how God created the earth? What we
need to know is how to get to heaven." Yet the doctrine of a
divine Creation forms "the indispensable foundation for
Christian and Biblical theology."(*4) A number of
fundamental Biblical concepts are rooted in the divine
Creation.(*5) Indeed, a knowledge of how God created "the
heavens and the earth" can ultimately help one find his way
to the new heaven and earth John the revelator speaks of.
What, then, are some of the implications of the doctrine of
The Antidote to Idolatry
God's creatorship distinguishes Him from all other gods
(1 Chron. 16:24-27; Ps. 96:5,6; Isa. 40:18-26; 42:5-9; 44).
We should worship the God who made us, and not the gods that
we have made. By virtue of His creatorship He deserves our
total allegiance. Any relationship that interferes with this
allegiance is idolatry and subject to divine judgment. Thus,
faithfulness to the Creator is a life-or-death matter.
The Foundation of True Worship
Our worship of God is based on the fact that He is our
Creator and we are His creatures (Ps. 95:6). The importance
of this theme is indicated by its inclusion in the call
extended to earth's inhabitants just before Christ's return,
to worship the One "who made heaven and earth, the sea and
springs of water" (Rev. 14:7).
The Sabbath--a Memorial of Creation
God established the seventh-day Sabbath so that we would
have a weekly reminder that we are creatures of His making.
The Sabbath was a gift of grace, speaking not of what we
did, but of what God has done. He especially blessed this
day and sanctified it so that we would never forget that,
besides work, life should include communion with the
Creator, rest, and celebration of God's marvelous creative
works (Gen. 2:2,3). To emphasize its importance, the Creator
placed the injunction to remember this sacred memorial of
His creative power in the center of the moral law as an
everlasting sign and symbol of Creation (Ex. 20:8-11;
31:13-17; Eze. 20:20; see chapter 19 of this book).
Marriage--a Divine Institution
During the Creation week, God established marriage as a
divine institution. He intended this sacred union between
two individuals to be indissoluble: The man was to "be
joined to his wife," and they were to "become one flesh"
(Gen. 2:24; see also Mark 10:9; see chapter 22 of this
The Basis for True Self-worth
The Creation account states that we were made in God's
image. This understanding provides a true concept of the
worth of the individual. It leaves no room for a low
estimate of ourselves. Indeed, we have been given a unique
place in creation, with the special privilege of constant
communication with the Creator and the opportunity of
becoming more like Him.
The Basis for True Fellowship
God's creatorship establishes His fatherhood (Mal. 2:10)
and reveals the brotherhood of all humanity. He is our
Father; we are His children. Regardless of sex, race,
education, or position, all have been created in God's
image. Understood and applied, this concept would eliminate
racism, bigotry, and any other form of discrimination.
Since God created us, we belong to Him. This fact implies
that we have the sacred responsibility to be faithful
stewards of our physical, mental, and spiritual faculties.
Acting in complete independence of the Creator is the
epitome of ungratefulness. (See chapter 20 of this book).
Responsibility for the Environment
At Creation God placed the first man and woman in a
garden (Gen. 2:8). They were to cultivate the earth and to
"have dominion" over all animal life (Gen. 1:28). This
indicates that we have the divinely bestowed responsibility
of preserving the quality of our environment.
Dignity of Manual Labor
The Creator asked Adam "to tend and keep" the garden of
Eden (Gen. 2:15). His assigning mankind this useful
occupation in a perfect world reveals the dignity of manual
The Worth of the Physical Universe
At each stage of Creation God said that what He had made
was "good" (Gen. 1:10,12,17,21,25), and when He had finished
creating, He pronounced the whole "very good" (Gen. 1:31).
Thus created matter is not intrinsically evil, but good.
The Remedy for Pessimism,
Loneliness, and Meaninglessness
The Creation narrative reveals that, rather than coming
into existence because of chance evolution, everything was
created with a purpose. The human race was designed for an
everlasting relationship with the Creator Himself. When we
understand that we were created for a reason, life becomes
meaningful and rich, and the painful emptiness and
dissatisfaction that so many express vanishes, replaced by
the love of God.
The Holiness of God's Law
God's law existed before the Fall. In their unfallen
state human beings were subject to it. It was to warn
against self-destruction, to reveal the limits of freedom
(Gen. 2:17), and to safeguard the happiness and peace of the
subjects of God's kingdom (Gen. 3:22-24; see chapter 18 of
The Sacredness of Life
The Creator of life continues to be involved in the
formation of human life, thereby making life sacred. David
praises God because of His involvement in his birth: "You
have formed my inward parts; You have covered me in my
mother's womb. I will praise You, for I am fearfully and
wonderfully made;...my frame was not hidden from You, when I
was made in secret, and skillfully wrought in the lowest
parts of the earth. Your eyes saw my substance, being yet
unformed. And in Your book they all were written" (Ps.
139:13-16). In Isaiah the Lord identifies Himself as the One
"who formed you from the womb" (Isa. 44:24). Because life is
a gift of God, we must respect it; in fact, we have a moral
duty to preserve it.
God's Creative Work Continues
Has God Finished His Creation? The Creation narrative
ends with the statement "Thus the heavens and the earth, and
all the host of them, were finished" (Gen. 2:1). The New
Testament affirms that God's Creation was completed at the
"foundation of the world" (Heb. 4:3). Does this mean that
Christ's creative energy is no longer in operation? Not at
all. The creative word still operates in various ways.
1. Christ and His creative word.
Four thousand years after Creation, a centurion said to
Christ, "`Only speak a word, and my servant will be healed'"
(Matt. 8:8). Just as He had done at Creation, Jesus
spoke--and the servant was healed. Throughout Jesus' earthly
ministry the same creative energy that brought life to
Adam's lifeless body raised the dead and brought new life to
the afflicted who requested His help.
2. The creative word today.
Neither this world nor the universe operate on any
inherent power of their own. The God who created them
preserves and sustains them. He "covers the heavens with
clouds," "prepares rain for the earth," and "makes grass to
grow on the mountains. He gives to the beast its food, and
to the young ravens that cry" (Ps. 147:8,9; cf. Job
26:7-14). He upholds all things by His word, and "in Him all
things consist" (Col. 1:17; cf. Heb. 1:3).
We are dependent upon God for the function of every cell
of our bodies. Every breath, every heartbeat, every blink of
the eye speaks of the care of a loving Creator. "In Him we
live and move and have our being" (Acts 17:28).
God's creative power is involved not only in Creation,
but in redemption and restoration. God re-creates hearts
(Isa. 44:21-28; Ps. 51:10). "We are His workmanship," Paul
said, "created in Christ Jesus for good works" (Eph. 2:10).
"If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation"
(2 Cor. 5:17). God, who hurled the many galaxies across the
cosmos, uses that same power to re-create the most degraded
sinner into His own image.
This redeeming, restoring power is not limited to
changing human lives. The same power that originally created
the heavens and the earth will, after the final judgment,
re-create them--make of them a new and magnificent creation,
a new heavens and a new earth (Isa. 65:17-19, Revelation
Creation and Salvation
So, in Jesus Christ, Creation and salvation meet. He
created a majestic universe and a perfect world. Both the
contrasts and the parallels between Creation and salvation
The Duration of Creation
At Creation Christ commanded, and it was instantly
accomplished. Rather than vast periods of metamorphosis, His
powerful word was responsible for Creation. In six days He
created all. Yet why did it take even six days? Could not He
have spoken just once and brought everything into existence
in a moment?
Perhaps He took delight in the unfolding of our planet in
those six days. Or perhaps this "extended" time has more to
do with the value He placed on each created thing or with
His desire to reveal the seven-day week as a model for the
cycle of activity and rest He intended for man.
But Christ does not just speak salvation into existence.
The process of saving people stretches over millenniums. It
involves the old and new covenants, Christ's 33 1/2 years on
earth and His nearly 2,000 years of subsequent heavenly
intercession. Here is a vast span of time--according to
Scripture chronology, about 6,000 years since Creation--and
people still have not been returned to the garden of Eden.
The contrast between the time required for Creation and
for re-creation demonstrates that God's activities are
always in the best interest of the human race. The shortness
of Creation reflects His eagerness to bring about fully
developed individuals who could enjoy His creation. Delaying
the completion of Creation by making it dependent on a
process of gradual development over long periods of time
would have been contrary to the character of a loving God.
The amount of time allowed for re-creation reveals God's
loving desire to save as many people as possible
(2 Peter 3:9).
Christ's Creative Work
In Eden, Christ spoke the creative Word. In Bethlehem,
the "Word became flesh and dwelt among us" (John 1:14)--the
Creator became part of creation. What utter condescension!
Though no one witnessed Christ's creation of the world, many
did witness the power that gave sight to the blind (John
9:6,7), speech to the dumb (Matt. 9:32,33), healing to
lepers (Matt. 8:2,3), and life to the dead (John 11:14-45).
Christ came as the second Adam, the new beginning for the
race (Romans 5). He gave man the tree of life in Eden; man
hung Him on a tree at Calvary. In Paradise, man stood tall
in the image of God; at Calvary, Man hung limp in the image
of a criminal. On both Creation Friday and crucifixion
Friday, "It is finished" spoke of a completed creative work
(Gen. 2:2, John 19:30)--one Christ accomplished as God, the
other as Man; one in swift power, the other in human
suffering; one for a time, the other for eternity; one
subject to the Fall, the other in victory over Satan.
It was the perfect, divine hands of Christ that first
gave man life; and it is the hands of Christ, pierced and
blood-stained, that will give man eternal life. For man is
not only created; he may be re-created. Both creations are
equally the work of Christ--neither has come from within
through natural development.
Created in the image of God, we have been called to
glorify God. As the crowning act of His Creation, God
invites each of us to enter into communion with Him, daily
seeking the regenerating power of Christ so that, to God's
glory, we will be able to reflect His image more fully.
1. L. Berkhof, Systematic Theology, 4th rev. ed. (Grand
Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans, 1941), p. 182.
2. Even considering that each day of Creation was a mere
1,000 years in length would cause problems. With such a
schema, by the evening of the sixth "day"--his very first
"day" of life--Adam would have been much older than the
total life span the Bible allots him (Gen. 5:5). See
Jemison, Christian Beliefs, pp. 116,117.
3. See chapter 4 of this book.
4. "Creation," SDA Encyclopedia, p. 357.
5. Ibid.; Arthur J. Ferch, "What Creation Means to Me,"
Adventist Review, Oct. 9, 1986, pp. 11-13.