“For He spoke, and it was done; He commanded, and it stood fast.” Psalm 33:9
Christians who accept evolution and millions of years often assert that the Bible only tells us that God created but not how He created. But is that really true?
The Bible is explicit about how God created the universe. God created the entirety of the physical universe in six days (Genesis 1). It is absolutely clear that these are six literal, 24-hour days since they are all characterized by “evening and morning.” Moreover, God commanded the Israelites at Mount Sinai to work six (literal) days and rest on the seventh in commemoration of His six-day creation (Exodus 20:8–11). The near-universality of the seven-day week is evidence for the truth of Genesis as well, since there is no astronomical basis for it. The day, the month, and the year are all based on observable astronomical cycles, but this is not true for the week. That people the world over measure time in seven-day weeks is only adequately explained by the fact that God created the universe in six days and rested on the seventh.
Likewise, Genesis 1 tells us the order in which God created. God created the heavens and a watery earth on Day 1. On Day 2, He separated the waters He had created with an expanse. He formed the continents and added vegetation to them on Day 3. The Lord hung celestial lights on Day 4 by making the sun, moon, and stars. On Day 5, He introduced flying and swimming creatures to the air and waters, and on Day 6, He made land creatures, including man.
Furthermore, He did not use evolutionary processes to create the universe. God’s creation was set apart by four characteristics that are contrary to evolutionary theory. First, God’s creation was spoken. Repeatedly in Genesis 1, God simply speaks things into existence by the power of His word (verses 3, 6–7, 9, 11, 14–15, 20, and 24). This is hardly surprising, since God “calls those things which do not exist as though they did” (Romans 4:17). Second, God’s creation was immediate. In response to God’s commands, things promptly sprang into being. Creation did not lag millions of years behind His spoken commands!
Third, creation occurred as a direct result of those commands. Old-earth Christians sometimes baselessly assert that God’s creation is somehow more majestic if it occurred over eons of time, but a God who can immediately and directly bring things into existence simply by speaking is truly worthy of awe and reverence! “Let all the earth fear the LORD; let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of Him. For He spoke, and it was done; He commanded, and it stood fast” (Psalm 33:8–9).
Finally, God’s creation was complete. In evolutionary thinking, creation is still an ongoing, never-finished process. Yet God’s creative work was finished by the end of Day 6: “Thus the heavens and the earth, and all the host of them, were finished” (Genesis 2:1). Moreover, this complete creation was “very good” (Genesis 1:31).
Candidly, the claim that the Bible only reveals the fact of creation but not the how is an intellectual cop-out by Christians intimidated by evolutionary and old-earth claims. The scientific evidence for a recent, literal, six-day creation has never been stronger. There is simply no good theological or scientific reason to deny the Bible’s clear teaching on this issue.
Dr. Hebert is a research scientist at the Institute for Creation Research and earned his Ph.D. in physics from the University of Texas at Dallas.
