Belief in the Creation account as literally described in Genesis 1–2 is not a doctrine that should be held loosely. A figurative stance on interpreting this passage causes great theological ramifications because such an interpretation is at odds with the testimony of the rest of Scripture and the uses of Creation as a foundation for the doctrinal positions of the biblical authors.
God created the world, the universe and all that exists in his own power and by his word out of nothing, and that Earth and everything in it was created in a literal six-day period.
Creatio ex nihilo is the Latin term describing God’s creation of everything without the use of preexisting materials. Hebrews 11:3 explains this point directly: “By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible.” The context and flow of the Genesis 1 Creation account also show sufficient indication of creatio ex nihilo.
The time period in which God did his creative work was six literal days. This is supported by a literal method of studying and interpreting Scripture, which reads the account of Genesis 1 in its most natural sense. The normal use of the Hebrew word for “day” and the specifications of evening and morning on each of the six described days lend great weight to the literal day stance (Feinberg, “No One Like Him,” 597–603).
Other passages outside of the Genesis account also lend their weight to a literal day view, such as the discussion of Creation in regards to the reason for the Sabbath (Exodus 20:11, 31:17). On each of the days of Creation, God made the plants, the animals and Adam and Eve — the first humans — as functional and self-sufficiently mature. In the same way, he also created the non-living facets of the world and the universe.
Creation, all that God created, is best understood as relatively young, being crafted by God with the appearance of a much greater age or maturity — which, for reasons only known to God, seems to point to an age of 4.5 billion years.
More specific dating is possible through the genealogical record left in Scripture. If the genealogies of Genesis are understood to be without any gap in sequence, humanity was probably created in 4004 B.C. It is more than likely that there are gaps in the genealogy, however, since the authors of Scripture often used the terms “son” and “father” to refer to genealogical relationships more distant than one generation. In this case, some aptly argue the creation of humanity should be dated between 10000 and 20000 B.C. (Feinberg, “No One Like Him,” 602; Grudem, “Systematic Theology,” 289–92, 305–307).
Though the created order was originally proclaimed to be “good” by God during the days of Creation (Genesis 1:10, 12, 18, 21, 25, 31), it ceased to be “good” because of the sin of Adam. The earth was cursed (Genesis 3:17–19), serpents were cursed (Genesis 3:14–15) and man and woman were given limitations and pains that were not previously known in the good of creation (Genesis 3:16, 19). Humans were also given a sinful nature as part of this curse (Genesis 3:7; Romans 5:12; 1 Corinthians 15:21).
The initial good of creation is gone, but just as God has provided a means of salvation for mankind in his Son, so too creation will be set free (Romans 8:21). The salvation of humanity and the restoration of the created order are bound up in the same hope, the redemption of Christ (Romans 8:19–24).
Ethan Van Bruggen is the assistant pastor of Munising Baptist Church.
