Posted on 11/27/2010 1:51:23 AM PST by HarleyD
Chapter IV
Of Creation
I. It pleased God the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost,[1] for the manifestation of the glory of His eternal power, wisdom, and goodness,[2] in the beginning, to create, or make of nothing, the world, and all things therein whether visible or invisible, in the space of six days; and all very good.[3]
II. After God had made all other creatures, He created man, male and female,[4] with reasonable and immortal souls,[5] endued with knowledge, righteousness, and true holiness, after His own image;[6] having the law of God written in their hearts,[7] and power to fulfil it;[8] and yet under a possibility of transgressing, being left to the liberty of their own will, which was subject unto change.[9] Beside this law written in their hearts, they received a command, not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil;[10] which while they kept, they were happy in their communion with God, and had dominion over the creatures.[11]
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Footnotes:
1 HEB 1:2 Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds. JOH 1:2 The same was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. GEN 1:2 And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. JOB 26:13 By his spirit he hath garnished the heavens; his hand hath formed the crooked serpent. 33:4 The Spirit of God hath made me, and the breath of the Almighty hath given me life.
2 ROM 1:20 For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse. JER 10:12 He hath made the earth by his power, he hath established the world by his wisdom, and hath stretched out the heavens by his discretion. PSA 104:24 O Lord, how manifold are thy works! in wisdom hast thou made them all: the earth is full of thy riches. 33:5 He loveth righteousness and judgment: the earth is full of the goodness of the Lord. 6 By the word of the Lord were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth.
3 All of Genesis 1; HEB 11:3 Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear. COL 1:16 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. ACT 17:24 God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands.
4 GEN 1:27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.
5 GEN 2:7 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. ECC 12:7 Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it. LUK 23:43 And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, To day shalt thou be with me in paradise. MAT 10:28 And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.
6 GEN 1:26 And God said, Let us make man in our 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 all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. COL 3:10 And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him. EPH 4:24 And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.
7 ROM 2:14 For when the Gentiles, which have not the law, do by nature the things contained in the law, these, having not the law, are a law unto themselves: 15 Which shew the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts the mean while accusing or else excusing one another.
8 ECC 7:29 Lo, this only have I found, that God hath made man upright; but they have sought out many inventions.
9 GEN 3:6 And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat. ECC 7:29 Lo, this only have I found, that God hath made man upright; but they have sought out many inventions.
10 GEN 2:17 But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die. 3:8 And they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God amongst the trees of the garden. 9 And the Lord God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou? 10 And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself. 11 And he said, Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat? 23 Therefore the Lord God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken.
11 GEN 1:26 And God said, Let us make man in our 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 all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. 28 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.
Proof text: Exodus 20:8,9,10,11
Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work...For in SIX DAYS the LORD made the heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh DAY: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.
It would be good for all Christians to hallow and keep holy the LORD's six 24 hour day creation in Genesis 1 and Exodus 20:8,9,10,11.
Theistic evolutionists must deny the false notion that God Almighty created the heavens and earth and man and woman in millions billions of years. That thinking is not scriptual and not Biblical!
The spirit of anti-Christ starts lying just where God's revelation begins. The evolutionist's and atheist's (not always the same, but usually) begins with "there was no beginning and there is no God". This leads to the natural religion of paganism, we are all one with the natural world and there is no distinction between the Creator and the creation.
What about the question about how time is measured. Is time measured by the rotation of the universe, by the rotation of a planet around a sun, or by the rate the universe expands from it's starting point?
If you believe that God created the world through fiat then your items cannot be relied on to reflect the true measurement of when the world began. If you believe in fiat, you believe that God created an already-matured Earth.
I think the way I phrased my statement is adequate so I’ll let it stand.
I believe how “days” are interpreted in Genesis is almost as confusing as eschatology. Rather than “a thousand years” or “a 24 hour period”, God method of creating the universe was simply to speak and *POOF*, it happened-the universe came into being. One would have to say for God to do this wouldn’t even take 24 hours. He is not locked in time and certainly know for not being verbose. Of course, I’m not exactly sure I can explain how this happens or the exact amount of time it takes, except to say that it happened and God called it a day.
It is safe to say that in your verse Moses compared these “days” against our days. There was a consistent, even measurement of time that God considered day and night when He created the universe.
Great question wmfights!
Is there a human being who knows what time is for God? Or given God's eternity, how we finite humans are justified in saying that God created the universe in "X" (whatever) time period? That's like saying God is subject to human time as humans experience time. Somehow I feel pretty sure that God doesn't "experience time" that way....
It has been observed in more than one great tradition that one day is as a 1,000 years to God.
And even that is to hazard a guess....
Thanks so very much for the ping, wmfights!
Thank you for seeing the point I was shooting at. It's presumptuous for us to demand that God do things according to our time table. Is it possible to believe God created all things in "six days" but not understand what those six days are and still be fundamentalist?
And God reveals this to us up front in the book of Genesis. Emphasis mine:
And all the days that Adam lived were nine hundred and thirty years: and he died. – Genesis 5:5
But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day [is] with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. - 2 Peter 3:8
Specifically, 2 Peter 3:8 in context is referring to "Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts, and saying, Where is the promise of his coming?
2 Peter 3:3-9 is talking about the Lord's patience in respect to repentance. And the Lord's patience in respect to time awaiting before His judgment at the Day of the Lord is distinctly different than scoffers impatience regarding the judgment day of the Lord. Peter is talking about the timeframe and patience of the Lord in reference to this "day of the Lord": not Gen 1 creation timeframes.
2 Peter 3:3 ...in the last days... i.e. the day of the Lord....
... 2 Peter 3:8 ...a thousand years as one day...
...
2 Peter 3:10 But the day of the Lord...
First I must clarify that I am not Calvinist – I am just a Bakery Shop Kid. So it neither surprises nor troubles me when my brothers and sisters in Christ have different understandings of prophecy, i.e. I do not insist that anyone agree with me.
For the record though, I perceive the thousand days mentioned in 2 Peter 3:8 as prophecy in agreement with some Jewish mystics and early Christians concerning the time appointed to Adamic man, the Sabbath and the “Eighth Day.”
Iscool, I’m pinging you also because you are entrenched in a discussion of end times prophecy on another thread and felt you might find the following to be interesting in light of your comments there.
And all the days that Adam lived were nine hundred and thirty years: and he died. – Genesis 5:5
The Epistle of Barnabas dates back to the first few centuries after Christ’s resurrection. It is quoted by Clement of Alexandria and also mentioned by Origen. It was part of the Codex Sinaiticus but is not part of the Catholic canon today. Nevertheless, it reveals the discernment of these early Christians.
But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This [is] the first resurrection. Blessed and holy [is] he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years. – Revelation 20:4-6
But I say unto you, That in this place is [one] greater than the temple. But if ye had known what [this] meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice, ye would not have condemned the guiltless. For the Son of man is Lord even of the sabbath day. – Matt 12:5-8
And he hath on [his] vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS. - Revelation 19:15-16
And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God [is] with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, [and be] their God.
And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.
And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful.
And he said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end.
I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely. He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son. – Revelation 21:1-7
For the record, I would like to mention that man has a very egocentric sense of what time “is” likely due to the limitations of our senses and mind (which I believe is also part of God’s design for us.)
As an example, for a photon travelling at the speed of light no time elapses. That is called a “null path.”
As another example, while a week might elapse for a man close to the event horizon of a black hole, forty years might elapse for a man on earth.
Moreover, the equivalent of a week to man’s senses at the inception space/time coordinates of the universe is roughly equal to 15 billion years at our present, egocentric, space/time coordinates. For more on this, please refer to Jewish Physicist Gerald Shroeder’s article on the Age of the Universe.
Geometric physics allows us to understand a great deal about the space/time continuum, nevertheless, in day-to-day conversation precious few – a very precious few – retain that awareness, that time and velocity are hand-in glove.
Ever wonder why the universe is so large? Consider that each and every one of us is rocketing through space right now at more than 550,000 miles per hour – completely unawares, like the fly in the following example:
But your car in speeding down the road at 65 mph. So for the guy watching you from the roadside table, that fly is going 70 mph.
But the road you have taken is on the equator and the circumference of the earth at the equator is 24,901.55 miles and the earth rotates once every 24 hours. So that fly is now going 1,100 mph + 70 mph = 1,170 mph.
Moreover, the orbital length of earth traveling around the sun is 149,600,000 miles, traveled in 365.25 days. That is 67,000 miles per hour. So add that in, and the fly is going 68,170 mph.
The sun orbits the Milky Way galaxy at a speed of 486,000 miles per hour. Add that in, and the fly is now going 554,170 miles per hour.
All of this and we haven’t gotten to the accelerating expansion of the universe, i.e. space/time itself.
A galaxy 1 million light years away would seem to be moving away from us at a rate of 60,000 miles per hour. For every 3.26 million light years further out that we look, the galaxies seem to be moving away from us at an additional 162,000 miles per hour In sum, the universe is currently at least 156 billion light years wide.
And that is from the fly’s perspective. If we go in the other direction as "observer" – the quantum – the cumulative velocities are even more mind-boggling.
Thank you for the extensive background information on this. I’d sort of arrived on my own at wondering and speculating upon the matter while debating on “crevo” threads, with so many relying upon varying interpretations of “yom” to try and slide evolution into Genesis. The thousand year reign, nearly six thousand years since Creation. A week, with the Millennial Kingdom being cognate with the Sabbath.
Irenaeus of Lyons (120-202 A.D.)
“For in as many days as this world was made, in so many thousand years shall it be concluded. And for this reason the Scripture says: ‘Thus the heaven and the earth were finished, and all their adornment. And God brought to a conclusion upon the sixth day the works that He had made; and God rested upon the seventh day from all His works.’ This is an account of the things formerly created, as also it is a prophecy of what is to come. For the day of the Lord is as a thousand years; and in six days created things were completed: it is evident, therefore, that they will come to an end at the sixth thousand year... “
Irenaeus of Lyons (120-202 A.D.)
“For in as many days as this world was made, in so many thousand years shall it be concluded. And for this reason the Scripture says: ‘Thus the heaven and the earth were finished, and all their adornment. And God brought to a conclusion upon the sixth day the works that He had made; and God rested upon the seventh day from all His works.’ This is an account of the things formerly created, as also it is a prophecy of what is to come. For the day of the Lord is as a thousand years; and in six days created things were completed: it is evident, therefore, that they will come to an end at the sixth thousand year... “
Ping ... this post should answer your questions
I'm glad you jumped in, I'll get back to you or your detailed post.
I'm tickled pink that we are on the same page.
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