Foundations of Faith
CREATION (III)
The Third, Fifth, and Sixth Days— Dry Land and Three Kinds of Life. On the third day God caused dry land to appear by fashioning the earth into hills and valleys. Then He caused the earth to bring forth plant life. This life-form consists only of “body.” Plants do not have souls. They can respond to physical and chemical stimuli such as light and water, but cannot think.
On the fifth day we find the second occurrence of the word “create”:“And God created great whales and every living creature [or literally, soul] … and every winged fowl” (Gen. 1:21). All of the elements of plants are in common with the elements of the dust of the earth; therefore we don’t read of God “creating” the plants, that is, forming them out of nothing (see Aug01). But the soul was something totally new, and therefore was “created.” Both animals and man have souls, by which they think, learn, remember, and express emotion.
On the sixth day we find the third occurrence of the word “create”:“God created man in His own image, in the image of God created He him; male and female created He them” (Gen. 1:27). Here again is something new. The animals, while they have souls, were not created in God’s image; only man was. While the word is not used in Genesis 1, that which distinguishes man from animals is possession of a spirit. The attributes of the spirit include reasoning power, creativity, conscience, responsibility, moral qualities, and ability to know, believe in, and communicate with the invisible God. Biologists have defined basically two kingdoms of life—the plant kingdom and the animal kingdom. But God clearly shows us in Genesis 1 that there are three kingdoms of life— plant, animal, and man. (See Assignment 13)
The Fourth Day-Sun, Moon, and Stars. On the first day God called light into existence, without specifying the source of that light. What may have occurred in the fourth day was the adjustment of the heavenly bodies to the optimum arrangement for habitation of the earth by man. Let us consider some features that God has given to this universe of galaxies, stars, sun, moon, and earth that make it possible for life to exist and for man to live comfortably.
First, what relationship between the earth and the sun determines the length of a day? It is the time it takes for the earth to make one rotation on its axis-24 hours. Have you ever thought about the value and importance of the rotation of the earth? It is God’s way of providing the light and heat of the sun for a part of each 24-hour day for every part of the earth. Also, if part of the earth were continually facing the sun it would become unbearably hot, just as the part continually away from the sun would become unbearably cold.
Second, what determines the length of a year? It is the time required for the earth to make one complete revolution around the sun-about 365 1/4 days. God set the earth in motion around the sun at precisely the correct speed to balance the centrifugal force of the revolving earth against the gravitational force of the sun. If its speeds were slightly greater, the earth would fly off into outer space; if slightly less, it would be pulled into the sun. Is it not evidence of God’s creative power and genius that not just earth but eight other planets as well maintain regular, predictable orbits around the sun? Could this have happened by chance? Surely “the heavens declare the glory of God” (Psa. 19:1)!
Third, what determines the change of seasons from spring to summer to autumn to winter? It is the 23 degree tilt of the earth’s axis with respect to the sun, along with the revolution of the earth about the sun, that determines the seasons. If the Earth’s axis (that is, the imaginary line running through the earth from the North Pole to the South Pole) were perpendicular to the sun while the earth revolved around the sun, then the entire earth would always experience the first day of spring or the first day of autumn. While that may sound pretty good to some of you, note that on the first day of spring in northern Minnesota a few years ago it was -15 degrees F. (-26 degrees C.)! So once again, we can be thankful to our all-wise God who has designed the movements of the earth to provide a very large part of the earth with comfortable weather as well as a climate suitable for growing crops for a substantial part of the year.
Let us make another observation in connection with the seasons. The earth’s orbit around the sun is not circular but slightly elliptical. This means the earth’s distance from the sun varies through the year. Now at what part of the year do you think the earth is closest to the sun? I would have guessed summertime too, but that is not the correct answer. The earth is closest to the sun (91.4 million miles) in early January and farthest from the sun (94.6 million miles) in early July each year. What does this mean for man? Again I believe that God designed the orbit of the earth around the sun to maximize the survivability and comfort of man and the growing season for crops for the earth as a whole. With a circular orbit, it would get even hotter in the summer and colder in the winter than it does now.
Now some clever reader may observe that this arrangement is all well and good for us who live north of the equator. But how about those poor folks who live in the southern hemisphere? For them, the earth is closest to the sun in their summer season and farthest from the sun in their winter season. Once again the perfect wisdom of God shines out. If we look at a map of the world we see that there are vast land masses in the northern hemisphere north of the 30th parallel (all of Europe and most of North America and Asia), while in the southern hemisphere there is very little land south of the 30th parallel. So the lands that need it the most-because farthest from the moderating ocean breezes-benefit most from the earth’s elliptical orbit about the sun.
“And God saw that it was good. And the evening and the morning were the fourth day” (Gen. 1:18, 19). As we learn more about the marvelous universe that God has created for man, how we can echo, with worship and praise, those words, “It was-and still is-good.”
Running the Race
Assignment 13: (a) Write out a verse in Romans 8 about God communicating with the human spirit. (b) Write out a verse in 1 Thessalonians 5 that distinguishes between soul and spirit.