"And the earth was waste and void," literally "desolation and
emptiness." And, on account of the thick vapors in the hot atmosphere,
"darkness was upon the face of the deep," and doubtless had been for
ages.
"And the Spirit of God was brooding upon the face of the waters," and
_perhaps_ was calling into being the lowest forms of marine life.
The First Day's Work. Light Appears.
"And God said, 'Let the light appear'," through the thick vapors. And
the light appeared, so that the day could now be distinguished from
the night. "And there was evening, and there was morning, one day."
This day did not need to be an age or even 24 hours for God's
work. How long did it take light to appear? Many years, and even ages,
may have followed between each day's work as the "days" were not
necessarily consecutive, and it is not so stated.
Second Day's Work. A Clearing Expanse.
"And God said, 'Let there be a clearing expanse (called heaven)
dividing the waters which were on the earth from the waters in the
thick clouds above, firmly suspended in the air'." This may have
continued a long time, though begun in 24 hours.
Third Day's Work. Land, sea and vegetation appear.
"And God said, 'Let the waters under the expanse be gathered together
into one place (seas and oceans), and let the dry land appear'." The
contraction of the cooling earth caused the elevation of the land, and
the draining of the waters into the seas. The geologist Lyell says,
"All land has been under water." Hitchcock says, "The surface of the
globe has been a shoreless ocean." "And the earth brought forth grass,
herb yielding seed after its kind, and tree bearing fruit, wherein is
the seed thereof, after its kind." Though the sun was not yet visible
on account of dense clouds and vapors, the warm, humid atmosphere was
suitable for the grass, herbs, and fruit trees,--three great classes
which represented the vegetable kingdom. Ages may have again
intervened.
The Fourth Day's Work. Sun, moon and stars made visible.
"And God said, 'Let lights be seen in the open expanse of heaven, to
divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs and for
seasons, and for days and years'." "And God made the two great lights
to _appear_," since neither had been seen through the thick
clouds, "the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to
rule the night. He made the stars also to _appear_." Though
created first, the stars would appear last. Ages more may have
intervened.
The Fifth Day's Work. Animal life in sea and air.
"And God said, 'Let the waters swarm with swarms of living creatures,
and let birds fly above the earth upon the face of the expanse of the
heaven'." "And God created great sea monsters, and every living
creature that moveth which the waters brought forth abundantly, after
their kinds, and every winged fowl after its kind." Geology and Moses
alike testify that swarms of animals filled the seas. The ages rolled
on while they "filled the waters of the seas and fowl multiplied on
the earth."
The Sixth Day's Work. The creation of land-animals and man.
"And God said, 'Let the earth bring forth the living creature after
its kind, cattle and creeping things, and beast of the earth after its
kind'." The fifth day animals began to _swarm_ the seas; the
sixth day, to cover the land. "And God said, 'Let us make man in our
image, after our likeness'," in "knowledge after the image of him that
created him," (Col. 3:10) and "in righteousness and true holiness,"
(Eph. 4:24). Yet a professor in a great university was so dense as to
insist that the Scriptures taught that the likeness was not in
"knowledge, righteousness and true holiness," but in the bodily
form. "So God created man in his own image, in the image of God
created he him." The last of all creation as both revelation and
science testify. The image is mental and moral and spiritual. No such
image in any other species.
The body chosen was higher and better than the form of any animal. It
resembles the bodies of mammals of the highest type. Why should it
not? The vast number of animal species, of almost every conceivable
size and shape, could not furnish a form so well adapted to the use of
man as that which the Creator gave him. Would it have been better if
man had been created in the form of a fish, a lizard, a serpent, a
dog, or a horse, or a bird? How could the body have been created
without bearing resemblance to some form of the million species of
animals? A resemblance can be traced through the whole creation, the
material as well as the animal, but it does not follow that one
species is descended from another, but that there was one general
plan, and one God. The existence of man, who can not be otherwise
accounted for, proves the existence of the Creator.