An Article of Faith

“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth” (Genesis 1:1 NLT).
According to the Book of Genesis, God created the universe and all that is in it in six days: “Then God looked over all He had made, and He saw that it was very good! And evening passed and morning came, marking the sixth day.
“So the creation of the heavens and the earth and everything in them was completed. On the seventh day God had finished His work of creation, so He rested from all His work. And God blessed the seventh day and declared it holy, because it was the day when He rested from all His work of creation” (Genesis 1:31; 2:1-3 NLT).
While there were other “creation stories” among the pagan nations of the ancient world, the biblical account is unique in that God existed before creation and called the physical world into being from nothing:
“By faith we understand that the entire universe was formed at God’s command, that what we now see did not come from anything that can be seen” (Hebrews 11:3 NLT).
These pagan nations, particularly the Babylonians, believed the material universe was eternal and that it brought their gods into being. But Genesis describes a God who is clearly superior to the physical world.
“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth” (Genesis 1:1 NLT). He provided light (Gen. 1:3-5), and separated land from water (1:6-10). The creation of plant and animal life followed, including creatures of the sea, air, and land (1:11-25).
Man and woman were created on the sixth day:
“Then God said, ‘Let Us make human beings in Our image, to be like Ourselves. They will reign over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, the livestock, all the wild animals on the earth, and the small animals that scurry along the ground.’ So God created human beings in His own image. In the image of God He created them; male and female He created them. Then God blessed them and said, ‘Be fruitful and multiply. Fill the earth and govern it. Reign over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, and all the animals that scurry along the ground’ ” (Genesis 1:26-28 NLT).
Scholars disagree about the length of the creation “days.” Some believe these were actual 24-hour days, while others believe they were periods of undetermined length. The “gap” theory, advanced to reconcile the biblical account of creation with geology, holds that creation in Genesis 1:1 was followed by catastrophe (1:2), then succeeded by God’s re-creation or reshaping of the physical world (1:3-31). But this theory reduces God to a weak being with little control over His own creation.
Exodus 20:11 reveals that the six days of creation in Genesis 1 are literal 24-hour days: “For in six days the LORD made the heavens, the earth, the sea, and everything in them; but on the seventh day He rested. That is why the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and set it apart as holy” (NLT).

Jessie J. Charpentier Sr. is pastor of Jenkins Memorial Baptist Church in St. Martinville.