IT WAS VERY GOOD (THE CREATION STORY)

| By Leroy Ramaphoko

Contents Introduction ...................... 3 1 First day .......................... 4 2 Second day ...................... 6 3 Third day ......................... 9 4 Fourth day..................... 10 5 Fifth day ........................ 13 6 Sixth day ....................... 14 7 Seventh day .................. 21

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Introduction
One of the biblical themes that plays from Genesis to Revelation is the theme of Creation. Right from the beginning of Scripture our attention is drawn to God as the Creator: In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. Genesis 1:1. For by Him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by Him, and for Him. Colossians 1:16. He spoke things into existence: By the word of the LORD were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath of His mouth...For He spake, and it was done; He commanded, and it stood fast. Psalm 33:6,9. Read Hebrews 11:3. Each day of creation had its purpose. We will now turn our attention into seeing what God established on each day and also see what lessons we can draw from each day.

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1 First day
And God said, Let there be light: there was light. And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness. And God called the light Day, and the darkness He called the Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day. Genesis 1:3-5.

a) Let there be light

As we keep reading in this chapter, we find that the sun, moon, and stars were created on the fourth day, so the question that arises is that, Where did this light come from? The Bible says, God is light 1 John 1:5, and this means He is the source of light. In the city God has prepared for His people called the New Jerusalem [See Hebrews 11:16; Revelation 21], the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it: for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof. Revelation 21:23. When God spoke the light into existence, the

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spoken word manifested into the glory of God which illuminated the world.

b) Darkness not made by God

And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the surface of the deep... Genesis 1:2. Since God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all. 1 John 1:5, we deduce the fact that He didnt make darkness. In essence, darkness suggests the absence of God, because God is light.

c) Light and darkness cant dwell together

The reason why God separated the light from darkness was because God saw the light, that it was good, and decided to divide the light from the darkness. Ever since sin entered the world, God has been engaged in the business of separating light from darkness: But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of Him who hath
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called you out of darkness into His marvellous light. 1 Peter 2:9. Read Ephesians 5:8. God doesnt see it fit for light and darkness to dwell together. Read 2 Corinthians 6:14. His children are also associated with light [1 Thessalonians 5:5; John 12:36]. Light and darkness cannot harmonize [John 3:16-20].

d) Evening and morning

...And the evening and the morning were a first day. Genesis 1:5. We see from Scripture that the day begins from evening; that it is, a full day is from sunset to sunset. This is worth noting because most of us grew up in a society where we were taught otherwise. The children of Israel were also to observe the Day of Atonement from evening to evening. Leviticus 23:32, NKJV.

2 Second day
And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters. And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the
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firmament from the waters which were above the firmament: and it was so. And God called the firmament Heaven. And the evening and the morning were the second day. Genesis 1:6-8.

a) More than one heaven?

When we read Genesis 2:1, it suggests that there is more than one heaven since it speaks of the heavens. HOW MANY HEAVENS ARE THERE? The atmosphere which the Lord established He called it Heaven. This is not the heaven, spoken of in Isaiah 66:1 where Gods throne is found. This heaven is the atmosphere where the birds fly. Read Genesis 1:20. This is the FIRST HEAVEN that we see here. As we keep reading in Genesis 1, we come across the SECOND HEAVEN in Genesis 1:14-17. This is where the sun, moon, and stars are found. We know that the birds dont fly at the same latitude as the sun, moon and stars are placed. Sun, moon, and stars are set in the firmament of heaven. Genesis 1:14.
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Jesus Christ has ascended into heaven. And when He [Jesus] had spoken these things, while they [the disciples] beheld, He was taken up; and a cloud received Him out of their sight. And while they behold stedfastly toward heaven as He went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel; which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen Him go into heaven. Acts 1:9-11. Paul tells us, I knew a man in Christ above fourteen years,...such an one caught up to the THIRD HEAVEN...I knew such a man,...how that He was caught up into paradise... 2 Corinthians 12:2-4. Here we see that heaven which Jesus was caught up to is called Third heaven and is also called Paradise. In Paradise, there is the tree of life [Revelation 2:7], and this tree received its water from river of water of life which proceeds out of the throne of God and of the Lamb. Revelation 22:1. In the midst of the street of it, on either side of the
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river, was there the tree of life... Revelation 22:2. In short, Jesus was taken to the third heaven which is called Paradise, and this Paradise is where the tree of life and the throne of God are found. This is the heaven spoken of in Isaiah 66:1. You probably heard of the seventh heaven; but thats not found anywhere in Scripture. Scripture only speaks of three heavens. At least the fact that paradise is called third heaven, suggests that there is the first and second heaven; while it does not necessarily suggest that there is the fourth heaven onwards.

3 Third day
And God said, Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear: and it was so. And God called the dry land Earth; and the gathering together of the waters called He Seas: and God saw it was good. And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth: and it was so. And the earth
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brought forth grass, and herb yielding seed after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself, after his kind: and God saw that is was good. And evening and morning were the third day. Genesis 1:9-13.

a) Land and Sea By God allowing the waters on the surface to be gathered in one place, the dry land appeared, and this is the same land where we build our houses, drive our vehicles, etc. The gathered waters formed the seas. b) Vegetation The vegetation God made was to be the food for all the animals, birds, and fish [Genesis 1:30] and for the humans herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed was given to be meat (food) for them [Genesis 1:29].

4 Fourth day
And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven, to divide the day from
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the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years: and let them be for lights in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth: and it was so. And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: He made the stars also. And God set them in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth, and to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness: and God saw that is was good. And the evening and the morning were the fourth day. Genesis 1:14-19.

a) The purpose of sun, moon, and stars The sun, moon, and stars provide the light to the world; but moreover, they help keep track of time. As the earth rotates once it helps us calculate the day, when it completes it rotation around the sun, that becomes a year. These lights are very much essential and necessary; we are to remember that they are sustained by the One who made them. Read Colossians 1:17. This is the
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same God that sustains all of His creatures including humans. Read Psalm 145:15,16; Matthew 6:25-33.

b) You are the light of the world The moon does not have its own light but it simply reflects the light it receives from sun. Jesus said, Ye are the light of the world... Matthew 5:14. And He said again, I am the light of the world... John 8:12. Does this mean we are on the same level as Jesus? NO! Not at all! Jesus is light that lighten every man that cometh into the world. John 1:9. Just as the greater light [the sun] enlightens the lesser light [the moon], so are we to allow Jesus who is the Sun of righteousness Malachi 4:2 to illuminate us. Our role is simply the role of the lesser light; that is, we are to reflect the light we receive from our Lord. The truth, messages, etc. which we receive from Gods word, etc. we are to share with others without diluting them because once we dilute, then the light of Christ now gets mixed with the darkness, which is not good. Teach all things
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whatsoever I have commanded you..., said Jesus in Matthew 28:20. We are admonished to teach all things, not some of the things or most of the things; all things, He said.

5 Fifth day
And God said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life, and fowl that may fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven. And God created great whales, and every living creature that moveth, which the waters brought forth abundantly, after his kind, and every winged fowl after his kind: and God saw that it was good. And God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let fowl multiply in the earth. And the evening and the morning were the fifth day. Genesis 1:20-23.

a) Freedom to reproduce After God made these living creatures, He gave them ability and freedom to procreate. They were allowed to grow in number as they multiplied.
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6 Sixth day
And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after his kind: and it was so. And God made the beast of the earth after his kind, and cattle after their kind, and every thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind: and God saw that it was good. And God said, Let us make man in our own image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. So God created man in His own image, in the image of God created He him; male and female created He them. And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth. And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and
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every tree, in which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat. And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to every thing that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is life, I have given every green herd for meat: and it was so. And God saw every thing that He had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day. Genesis 1:24-31.

a) Created by God, not spoken into existence The creation of a mankind is a unique one. Everything except the human being was created through the spoken word of God. And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul. Genesis 2:7. God in this case was so intimate; He probably got His hands dirty as He touched the dust of the ground. Thus we see that God places a high value on a human being than any other thing He
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created. Read Genesis 9:5,6; Matthew 6:26; Matthew 12:12.

b) Mankind, created in the image of God One person once asked, If a man was created in the image of tea cup, what would he be? He will simply be a tea cup. If the human being was created in the image of the Creator, what would he be? He would be the Creator. But is this the correct interpretation? Because man was created in the image of God, does that make him equal with God, of even worthy to be called God?
An image is simply a reflection. When you look into a mirror, you see a reflection of yourself. That thing in the mirror is not a human being, but simply a reflection. There are attributes it shares with you: it looks like you, when you move it moves, etc. But then there are attributes you have which it does not have: it does not have feelings; thats why if a person hits you, you would feel the pain, but when the reflection or mirror gets
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destroyed, it does not feel anything. The point is simply the fact that the image is simply the reflection. There are attributes which God has which humans dont have: God is omnipresent, omniscience, etc. while humans are not. So we see that a human being is not equal to God, neither is he God. But there are attributes a human being shares with God. Man was created to reflect the image of God; in other words, he was created to reflect the character of God. Because man was created in the image of God, he was given dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth. God hast crowned him with glory and honour. Psalm 8:5. Read Psalm 8:6-8.

c) Be fruitful and multiply Mankind was also given the right to have children. To be fruitful and multiply has to do with people being reproductive and increasing in number. Read Exodus 1:7.
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There are those who say the forbidden fruit in the Garden of Eden, meant that Adam and Eve were not allowed to get together and have children, but this cant be the case because they were given right to be fruitful and multiply, and yet, forbidden to partake of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. This means, the forbidden fruit and them sleeping together couldnt have been the same thing. Remember that Adam and Eve were a married couple; throughout Genesis 2 and 3 they are called husband and wife.

d) Very good It is recorded six times that it was good [Genesis 1:4,10,12,18,21,25]; the seventh time we are told IT WAS VERY GOOD. Genesis 1:31. This means, when God created the world it was in a perfect state. The animals didnt kill, trees didnt have thorns. All was just bliss. God made man perfectly holy and happy; the fair earth, as it came from the Creators hand, bore no blight of decay or shadow of the curse. Steps to Christ, page 9, paragraph 1.
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e) The God of order As we observe closely the story of Creation, we realize that there is a pattern that is revealed. On the first day, God created the light, and He separated light from darkness; on the fourth day the sun and moon are established to rule over of them [light and darkness]. We have Day 1 and Day 4; now lets add 1 DAY to each of these two days:
Day 1 + 1 DAY = Day 2. Day 4 + 1 DAY = Day 5. Here we find again some other days which correspond: Day 2 and Day 5. On Day 2 God created the Sky [firmament which He called Heaven], and on Day 5, He filled the Sky. Now lets add 1 DAY to these two days: Day 2 + 1 DAY = Day 3. Day 5 + 1 DAY = Day 6.

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On Day 3, the land was created, and on Day 6 it was filled. Here is a summary of the pattern which we have discovered: Related days and their relations Day 1 Light and Darkness separated. Day 4 Sun and Moon to govern Light and Darkness. Day 2 Sky created. Day 5 God fills the Sky. Day 3 Land created. Day 6 God fills the Land. This pattern and some of the things we have discovered help us see that THERE IS A DESIGN IN NATURE; thus NOTHING WAS MADE BY CHANCE, AND NOTHING WAS AN AFTERTHOUGHT. Notice that God created the habitants before creating the inhabitants. When animals and humans were made, their homes were already prepared for them, and their food as well. We see that God is the God of order. Read Proverbs 3:19.
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The seventh day is not paired with any other day because it is a unique one. We will elaborate on its uniqueness shortly.

7 Seventh day
Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had made; and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had made. And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it He had rested from all His work which God created and made. Genesis 2:1-3.

a) Was He tired? Hast thou not known? Hast thou not heard? That the everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? Isaiah 40:28. We see from evidence given from the book of God that the Creator does not become weary [tired]. So why then did He rest? ...and on the Seventh Day He rested, and was refreshed. Exodus 31:17. The verb rested
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used here in Hebrew is shabath, it simply means to cease from labor or activity. God didnt rest because He was tired, but He simply ceased from His work.

b) Sanctified day Before sin was introduced into the world, before any Jew was born, God sanctified the seventh day. This shows that the establishment of the seventh day as a sanctified day didnt originate with Moses, or on Mount Sinai. The word sanctify means to set aside for holy use. On this day, God didnt do what He did on the other days [work]. Thus, God treated this day differently. God could have ended days on Day 6, but He went on to make the seventh day on which He rested from all His work which He had made Genesis 2:2. This day might have meant something to Him to an extend that He didnt just rest on it, but also set is apart for holy use. It appears from Scripture that this day might have meant a lot to the Creator.
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c) Reason for blessing and sanctifying it And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it He had rested from all His work which God created and made. Genesis 2:3. This day was blessed and set aside because God had rested in it. Which means it was blessed after God had rested in it; not at the beginning, or in the midday, but rather, at the closing of this day.
The fact that God blessed this day doesnt necessarily mean the other days are cursed, but it simply means that the blessing which God bestowed on the seventh day, He didnt bestow it on any other day.

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