Genesis
Lesson 3Genesis 1:3-6
We continue our study of Genesis and the beginnings of all of creation. We will study Day One and the first time God speaks, and then Day Two. Then, creation of light, day and night…three days before creation of the sun, moon and stars. In fact, God will create vegetation and fruit-bearing trees a day before the creation of the sun, moon and stars, along with the separation of the waters; these all follow God’s first words.
So let’s take a look at the creation of light, the firmament and the separation of the waters as we try to grasp a better understanding of what must have been happening at the very beginning of time.
Read Genesis 1:3-6 and then consider the following:
- As we consider the rest of the first day of creation, let’s also consider some of the other things created on Day One that are NOT directly mentioned in Genesis. Read Job 38:4-7 and Psalm 104:2-5. They tell us that God created everything. Who else was present, and what were they doing?
- It is fitting that the first time God speaks, He creates light: God bringing light into a dark world. From a scientific point of view, when we read "He separated the light from the darkness" and that He "called the light day and the darkness he called night", what could that mean? We’ve seen earlier that God first created all of the elements required for creating the earth and everything in it. Then, while void (or empty) and without form, His spirit moved across the face of the deep and energized the elements. Heat was created, and then light; and there was "day" and "night", without a sun, moon or stars. What can this mean? What, from a scientific perspective, happened that would cause night and day, and day and night?
- Of all of God’s creative works during the first six days, what was created at night?
- Read Genesis 1:6-8, Jeremiah 4:25, Isaiah 13:10, Hebrews 9:24. How many "heavens" are there, and how are they defined?
- The best definition of the "firmament" cited in these verses is embodied in the concept of the "atmosphere". Henry Morris defines it as "thin stretched-out space". He goes on to describe the separation process as causing a water vapor to form above the "firmament"; and the waters that would become sea, ocean, and so on, falling under the firmament. What will happen to the water above the firmament later in the book of Genesis? (see Genesis 7:11)
- So we now see a rotating earth setting perfectly on its axis with light and dark and water above and below the firmament. When will be the first day that it will actually rain on the earth? (see Genesis 2:5 and Genesis 7:4)
- What can we infer from creation at this point with respect to rain, snow, seasons, storms, etc., based on knowing that the waters above the firmament were protecting the earth and that the earth was on a perpendicular axis?
We can see from the findings in this lesson that the earth was perfectly created to house the rest of God’s creation. With the light and dark cycles called days and nights and the water system, hydrology, etc., in place; God will begin to introduce plants and other vegetation, as He continues to build the perfect home for man.
Thanks for studying with us.
Yours in Christ,
Wes
[2010]