Sabbath, January 14, 2006

INTRODUCTION

“For in six days the Lord made 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.” Exodus 20:11.

THE FIRST DAY

1. What was commanded into existence on the first day of creation?
Genesis 1:3-5 And God said, Let there be light: and there was light. And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness. And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.

“Without light there could be no life; and as the Creator began the work of bringing order from chaos and of introducing various forms of plant and animal life upon the earth, it was essential that there be light. Light is a visible form of energy, which by its action on plants transforms inorganic elements and compounds into food for both man and beast and controls many other natural processes necessary to life.” –Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary, vol.1, pp. 209, 210.

2. Who is the source of all light?
1 John 1:5 This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.
Revelation 22:5 And there shall be no night there; and they need no candle, neither light of the sun; for the Lord God giveth them light: and they shall reign for ever and ever

“Light has ever been a symbol of the divine presence. As physical light is essential to physical life, so divine light is necessary if rational beings are to have moral and spiritual light.” –Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary, vol. 1, p. 210.

“When ‘the earth was without form, and void, and darkness was upon the face of the deep,’ ‘the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. And God said, let there be light; and there was light.’ Gen. 1:2, 3. So in the night of spiritual darkness, God’s word goes forth, ‘let there be light.’ To His people He says, ‘Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee.’ Isa. 60:1.” –Christ’s Object Lessons, p. 415.

THE SECOND DAY

3. What was made on the second day of creation?
Genesis 1:6-8 And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters. And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament: and it was so. And God called the firmament Heaven. And the evening and the morning were the second day.

“The work of the second creation day consisted of the formation of the firmament. The great mass of primeval ‘waters’ was divided into two separate bodies. The ‘waters which were above the firmament’ are generally considered by commentators to be water vapor. The climatic conditions of the originally perfect earth were different from those existing today.

“The product of the creative power of God on the second day of the creation week received a name, even as the light of the first day had received one. In the Hebrew as well as in modern translations the word ‘heaven’ is the name given both to the abode of God and to the firmament. In this verse ‘heaven’ refers to the atmospheric heavens that appear to the human eye as a canopy, or dome, vaulting our earth, and generally called sky.

“No life is possible without air. Plants need it as well as living creatures.” –Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary, vol.1, p. 211.

THE THIRD DAY

4. What order was made upon the surface of the earth on the third day of creation? What else was created to support the future life of man and animals?
Genesis 1:9-13 And God said, Let the waters under the Heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear: and it was so. And God called the dry land Earth; and the gathering together of the waters called he Seas: and God saw that it was good. And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth: and it was so. And the earth brought forth grass, and herb yielding seed after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself, after his kind: and God saw that it was good. And the evening and the morning were the third day.

“Let the earth bring forth. After the separation of dry land from the water, another divine order was given on that third day: vegetation was summoned into existence.

“The herb yielding seed. ‘Herb,’ ‘eseb,’ is the more mature herbage, in which the seed is the most striking characteristic, providing one of the two kinds of food designated by God to be consumed by human beings. “The fruit tree. Three characteristics of fruit-bearing trees are here noted: (1) the bearing of fruit, (2) the enclosing of seed within the fruit, and (3) the bearing of this fruit ‘upon’ or above the earth. These trees were to provide man with another source of food (v. 29).” –Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary, vol.1, p. 212.

THE FOURTH DAY

5. What was created on the fourth day of creation?
Genesis 1:14- 19 And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years: And let them be for lights in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth: and it was so. And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: he made the stars also. And God set them in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth, And to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness: and God saw that it was good. And the evening and the morning were the fourth day.

“For days, and years. The days and years are fixed by the movement of the earth in relation to the sun, which in conjunction with that of the moon has provided men of all ages with the basis for calendars-lunar, solar, or a combination of both.

“For lights. Not to introduce light for the first time to this world, for God decreed light on the first day, but to serve as permanent arrangement for the distribution of light for this world.

“He made the stars also. The words, ‘He made,’ have been supplied. As to the origin of the stars two principal views have been set forth: (1) The stars were brought into existence during creation week, along with the sun and moon. (2) The ‘stars’ though created earlier, are here mentioned, in passing, by Moses, inasmuch as he is discussing the luminaries of the heavens. The first view necessitates the conclusion the prior to creation week the vast universe was an empty void. This conclusion seems unwarranted.

“However, on this as on many other cryptic declarations of Scripture regarding God’s mysterious acts, we should be slow to dogmatize. We should not forget that the primary truth Moses sought to present in regard to the origin of the sun, moon, and stars is that all are result of God’s creative power. Here is a further refutation of the ancient but ever-recurring heresy of the eternity of matter.” –Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary, vol.1, p. 213.

“It is through the gift of Christ that we receive every blessing. Through that gift there comes to us day by day the unfailing flow of Jehovah’s goodness. Every flower, with its delicate tints and its fragrance, is given for our enjoyment through that one Gift. The sun and the moon were made by Him. There is not a star which beautifies the heavens that He did not make. Every drop of rain that falls, every ray of light shed upon our unthankful world, testifies to the love of God in Christ. Everything is supplied to us through the one unspeakable Gift, God’s only-begotten Son. He was nailed to the cross that all these bounties might flow to God’s workmanship.” –The Ministry of Healing, pp. 424, 425.

THE FIFTH DAY

6. What life was called into existence on the fifth day of creation?
Genesis 1:20-23 And God said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life, and fowl that may fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven. And God created great whales, and every living creature that moveth, which the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind, and every winged fowl after his kind: and God saw that it was good. And God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let fowl multiply in the earth. And the evening and the morning were the fifth day.

THE SIXTH DAY

7. Before man was formed, what other living creatures were made on the sixth day of creation?
Genesis 1:24, 25 And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after his kind: and it was so. And God made the beast of the earth after his kind, and cattle after their kind, and every thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind: and God saw that it was good.