Creation Lesson #2 (Genesis 1:3-8)

In the previous lesson we learned that something happened between Genesis 1:1 and 1:2. Now what happened was that God destroyed the original earth from Genesis 1:1. Therefore what we are about to see in this lesson and the next several lessons is that God in a sense re-creates the earth as we know it in 6 literal days and will rest on the 7^th.

Day One : (Genesis 1:3-5)

“And God said let there be light and there was light.” This light is not the Sun for it was not created until the 4^th day. The light has is connected with God. As a result of the destruction in verse 2 there is darkness upon the face of the deep. So obviously God allows his light to come back on the scene.

Psalms 74:16 (There is a difference between the Sun and the Light)

Psalms 104:2 (God is said to cover himself with light as with a garment)

1 Timothy 6:16 (Jesus Christ is said to have immortality, dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto)

1 John 1:5 (God is light)

Paul gets a glimpse of this light on the road to Damascus and is blind for 3 days and still has trouble with his eyesight the rest of his life. (Acts 9:1-19 ; Galatians 4:15, 6:11)

Note that day and night are capitalized in verse 5. In scripture the word Day is used in at least 3 ways.

• A period of 1000 years (2 Peter 3:8)
• A dispensation (2 Cor. 6:2 ; 3:15)
• A time of judgment (2 Peter 3:7 ; Luke 19:42-47)

Many use #1 to say that the 7 days in Genesis could be 7000 years instead of days, but the reason that we know the 7 days are 7 literal days is because of the phrase “and the evening and the morning were the first day”. Note that the word day is lower case in verse 6.

This phrase about the evening and the morning is also very important because for Israel the day started at 6:00pm and went to 6:00pm not 12am to 12am as we use it today. (This becomes very important when discussing subjects like the death, burial and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ)

Day Two : (Genesis 1:6-8) 

On the 2^nd day of Creation God divides the waters from the waters and creates a firmament in the midst of the waters. The firmament is called heaven.

According to verse 6&7 God divides up two bodies of water and places a firmament in between the two bodies of water.

Firmament – a beaten expanse

Now when we go back to verse 2 we see that God submerged the earth from verse 1 in a body of water that is called the deep. Therefore what we have in Genesis 1:6-8 is God separating the deep from the earth by a firmament called heaven and as we see in Genesis 1:14-15 the firmament is part of what we call outer space where the sun and the moon are located. Therefore whether science will agree or not, there is a body of water above outer space.

Psalm 148:4 (There is water above the heavens)

Psalm 148:8 (Some try to say that on day 2 God removed the vapors from around the earth, but we can see that waters are not vapors)

Genesis 1:14-19 (The firmament contains the sun, moon, and stars)

Psalm 29:3,10 (God is upon the waters)

Psalm 104:2-3 (The beams of God’s chambers are in the water)

The face of the deep is frozen according to Job 38:30 and this would match what John says about there being a sea of glass before the throne Revelations 4:6.

Now what dwells in this body of water? One thing is Leviathan (or Satan) Job41:31-32. Notice that the 2^nd day is the only day of creation that the phrase “and God saw that it was good”

is not found. The reason is that this is where Satan and other principalities are found  Ephesians 6:12.

Now God called the firmament Heaven. This gives us 3 heavens as the Bible says in 2Corinthians 12:1-4.

1^st Heaven – Our atmosphere where the birds fly Genesis 1:20

2^nd Heaven – Outer space Genesis 1:14-19

3^rd Heaven – Where God dwells 2 Corinthians 12:1-4

Creation Lesson #2 (Genesis 1:3-8)

Handout

1)  Is the light in verse 3 the sun? Give a verse and reason to support your answer.

2)  What is the light connected with?

3)  Why is the phrase “and the evening and the morning” so important in the passages we are studying?

4)  What does the word firmament mean?

5)  Give a chain reference to show that there is water above outer space.

6)  What are the 3 heavens? Give a verse for each one.

7)  What is significant about the phrase “and God saw that it was good”, not being found on day number 2?