Genesis and the Process of Creation

Genesis and the Process of Creation

Genesis is a Greek word that means “beginning,” and the very first verse of Genesis implies that
the universe itself has a beginning. It reads “In the beginning God created the heavens and the
Earth.” All matter that can be seen, observed, or even inferred to exist in this universe was
brought into existence at one moment by a Creator who exists outside the limits and laws of the
universe itself. Hebrews 11:3 reiterates this point, “By faith we understand that the worlds were
prepared by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things which are visible.”
The cause of the existence of the universe lies outside of the universe itself. As discussed
previously, the Big Bang theory also points to a beginning to all of space-time and matter, as
well as the scientific laws governing them. Both scripture and science reveal to us that there
must be a cause that lies outside of the universe itself.
But the Bible does not tell us that God instantly formed our universe and the earth exactly as we
see it today. In fact, the earth was at first very disordered as we read in the next verse, “And the
earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep; and the Spirit of
God was moving over the surface of the waters.” There are differing interpretations concerning
what the deep is, also the waters. One scholar prefers to correspond the deep to the space-time of
the universe [2], while another places the frame of reference already at the surface of the earth
[3]. What is certain of scripture is that during this period prior to God’s preparation of the world,
the conditions necessary to support life do not yet exist. Then God begins a process of
transforming the formless void into a habitation fit for life. This process takes place over six
“days” of creation. The reader is referred to the last chapter of A Christian Physicist Examines
the Age of the Earth [11] for a discussion of the meaning of these “days”. It is not clear from the
Scriptures what the time frame of creation is, as acknowledged by many scholars [28,29,30,31].
We can only conclude that a process takes place in which the chaos is transformed into a wellordered
habitation fit for life.
The Big Bang theory also has something to say about this process. As discussed in the preceding
chapters, a planet suitable for life such as the earth does not become possible in our universe
until quite a few precise developments take place. These include the universal expansion at just
the right rate, the cosmic “ripples” leading eventually to galaxy formation, the production of
heavy elements in large stars, the supernovae spreading them throughout the galaxy, and the
formation of a solar system with a just right planet, among many other such contributing factors.
What we realize now is that a planet like the earth could not have existed at a much earlier time
in the history of the universe. The universe went through quite a lengthy period of preparation
prior to the formation of planet Earth. It appears that in many ways the early universe can seen
as formless and void of the ordered conditions necessary to support life, in complete agreement
with the claim of scripture.
This does not necessarily imply that the universe became more ordered in time, which would be
a clear violation of the 2nd law of thermodynamics. Rather one non-isolated system, planet
Earth, went through a miraculous sequence of events, preparing it for life. The Big Bang theory
does not give specific predictions about what takes place on planet Earth, but it is important for
us to realize the amazing and perhaps unique sequence of events on earth, revealed to us by
modern science. The earth received just the right amount of radiation from its star, our Sun, to
warm temperatures to the range of liquid water. It was joined with a Moon of sufficient size to
stabilize the spin-axis of the earth against chaotic motion. It developed a thin, transparent
atmosphere, which nonetheless serves as a shield against harmful ultraviolet radiation and
provides sufficient greenhouse warming. The oxygen level of the atmosphere was boosted to a
level capable of supporting land life following a vast period dominated by photosynthetic marine
algae. These and many other specific characteristics of planet Earth appear to be fine-tuned to
make our existence possible [32]. Modern science is confirming the creation account of the
Bible, a careful process of preparation resulting in a created order described several times by
God Himself with the words “and behold, it was good.”