CREATION OF THE WORLD-[EPOCH 1]
THE first epoch which claims our attention is that great work of God, the creation of the world, of which we have a sublime account in the first and second chapters of Genesis.
Doubtless the world had existed for ages before the second period mentioned in Gen. 1:22And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. (Genesis 1:2) and onwards, when God formed it as a habitation for man, and to this the remains of extinct animals and plants found by geologists in the various rocky strata and sedimentary deposits of the earth clearly testify. Moreover, it is probable that some great convulsions had occurred at different periods of time (probably with many centuries intervening between each) during these long past ages, by which the animals and plants of each successive period were (it is assumed) completely swept away, and others of a different sort were created in their stead; the earth being renewed or remodeled after each catastrophe to suit the altered condition of things.
To the demands of geologists, that it would require millions of years to produce the condition of things now witnessed in the rocks and deposits of the earth, we can confidently point to the interval of time that is evidently implied between the first and second verses of Gen. 1, as fully answering all such demands. For between the statement in the first verse, " In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth," and the next sentence in the second verse, " And the earth was without form, and void," &c., there may have intervened millions of years, for anything we know to the contrary, during which the extinct animals and plants, whose remains are now found in the deep rocky layers of the earth's crust, may have existed. Besides, it is not said that God created the earth without form, as such a statement would be a reflection on the wisdom and power of God; on the contrary, after each act of creation we read, " God saw that it was good."
The world if created ages before, as the words in the second verse seem to imply, was at this crisis or epoch found " without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep; " probably in consequence of one of those catastrophes just alluded to, and the Almighty Creator came forth to remodel it and prepare it as a habitation for man, by the work of creation described in the opening chapters of Genesis.
In this stupendous work of creation we see the decree of Omnipotence going forth in the potent words of creative power, " Let there be," and light, order, and symmetry instantly appear everywhere. All kinds of living creatures, and growing plants, spring forth at once into existence, all perfect in design and mechanism, through the infinite power and wisdom of God. How sublime, how magnificent, and yet how simply described!
And this grand work of creation was all accomplished in six literal days (" evenings and mornings "), otherwise there could be no meaning in the command, " Remember the Sabbath-day, to keep it holy.... For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day" (Ex. 20:8-118Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. 9Six days shalt thou labor, and do all thy work: 10But the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: 11For 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 20:8‑11)).
With what intense relief and satisfaction the Christian can turn from the absurd and senseless theory of evolution (by which the scientists of these last days attempt in their folly to account for the existence of the natural world around us), to this simple, grand, and comprehensible account of its creation, given to us directly from God Himself through His servant Moses, which bears upon every line the impress of divine authority, and which, moreover, furnishes us with a perfectly satisfactory explanation (as far as it is necessary for us to know) of the origin of all things, so that even a child can understand it.
Of course we do not pretend to inquire how all these things were made, for in doing so we should be committing the folly of those who, "professing themselves to be wise,... became fools " by prying into things they never could know. For where, we might ask, is the philosopher who could fully describe the growth even of a daisy? Enough for us to know that the infinite and omnipotent God "spake, and it was done; He commanded, and it stood fast" (Psa. 33:99For he spake, and it was done; he commanded, and it stood fast. (Psalm 33:9)).
Therefore we can confidently and intelligently say, “Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear" (Heb. 11:33Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear. (Hebrews 11:3)). But the astounding thing is, that persons of intelligence, and of the highest education too, should be so beguiled as to believe in the absurd and nonsensical theory of evolution in these so-called enlightened times. And what an awful proof it is that "the god of this world " is more than ever blinding the minds of them which believe not, " lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them " (2 Cor. 4:44In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them. (2 Corinthians 4:4)).
Surely this is one of the many signs that we are indeed in the last days.