The Firmament, Dinosaurs And The Creation of Man & Angels (Genesis Chapter One - Part 3)

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On day two, God separates the waters. Now you've got to pay attention here. This is the most interesting part of the study, and it leaves me a little confused, honestly.

I've never quite known what to make of this. Look at Genesis 1, 6 through 8.

It says, Then God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters.

Let it divide the waters from the waters. Thus God made the firmament and divided the waters, which were under the firmament, from the waters which were above the firmament, and it was so.

And God called the firmament heaven. So the evening and the morning were the second day.

Now, what is the firmament? This is not a term that we usually use today.

And what are these waters above? Like we can understand the waters down here, the waters below.

But what do you mean waters above? So this is a little perplexing.

So the Hebrew word for firmament, and if you read some of the older commentaries, it speaks of something like a solid dome above, like a solid dome above holding back the waters.

Honestly, I'm not quite sure what to make of that. Of course, we know today there is water vapor above, and we know there is the atmosphere above.

There are many who believe that the flood, or before the flood, the atmosphere of the earth was very different.

As a matter of fact, it had to have been very different. It may have been something like a canopy, so that the light did not come through the same way it does today.

That could explain why they live so much longer. There wasn't that radiation from the sun. If that's true, the whole earth, it would have been like a greenhouse.

The whole earth, if you were up in Alaska, it would have been like a tropical climate all over the world.

So whatever it was like, and whatever it's talking about here, and again, I find it very interesting, but God divided the waters on day two, and he put in between the firmament, or the first heaven.

Then on day three, God caused dry land to appear, and the earth's surface started to take form with continents, and the seas, and the ocean.

He also caused the land to bring forth vegetation. So plants, grass, trees that brought forth fruit, that was all created on day three.

On day four, as I said, what's created on day four? The lights in the heavens, the sun, the moon, the stars, they were to now divide day from night.

Look at verse 14, the Lord says, Let them be for signs and seasons, and for days and years, and let them be for lights in the firmament of the heavens to give light on the earth, and it was so.

Then God made two great lights, the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night.

He made the stars also, and God set them in the firmament of the heavens to give light on the earth.

And to rule over the day, and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good.

Everything God creates is good. Everything. The only reason things are not so good today, well that's chapter three.

You know, we're going to talk about, I ask people, what would you like to hear a sermon about? Or what's a topic that really interests you?

And somebody said, why do people suffer? Not just why do the righteous suffer, but why do people suffer the way they do?

Well, stay tuned for chapter three, we're going to talk about that. But everything God creates is good.

God makes no mistakes, amen? People make mistakes. God doesn't.

Alright, now it's on day five that God creates the first living creatures.

So this is the birds of the air, and the fish of the sea. And then on day six, he creates land animals, or land creatures.

This is the cattle, the creeping thing. And if we were to read verse by verse through all of this, we would see that God creates everything, what?

According to its kind. And he keeps repeating that phrase, according to its kind, according to its kind.

It's like, we get it, it's according to its kind. But why does God keep repeating that?

By stressing this point, this is my personal belief. We all know that God knows everything ahead of time.

God knew this theory of evolution would be, it's really the predominant view on the face of the earth right now.

So I view this according to its kind, that monkeys don't actually evolve into men. It's almost like a direct refutation of evolution thousands of years in advance.

And I don't know about you, but I think that's pretty cool. Now before we move on to the crown jewel of God's creation, there's one question that often comes up.

And one piece of information that appears to be left out. So what's the information that's left out?

When did God create the angels? This is a common thing, right? What about the angels?

When did God create them? You know, the fact is the scripture doesn't tell us when God created the angels.

There's actually a lot of things we don't know about the angelic realm. I would say that while they are creatures,

I mean God did create them. I'm not so sure they are part of this physical creation.

What I do know is that by now on day six, the angels already exist.

How do I know that? Because in the book of Job, Job chapter 38 talks about when

God created the earth, when he laid the foundation of the earth. It says the morning stars sang together and all the sons of God, a reference to the angels, the

B 'nai Elohim shouted for joy. So the angels pretty sure predate

Genesis 1 .1. That's that's my best conclusion. Amen. All right.

I'm seeing a few heads shaking, so that's good. That's good. We're on the same page. Now what about this next one?

Are we going to be on the same page here? The other question the kids might have wondered this.

Hey, kids, have you ever asked a question? What about the dinosaurs?

Right. What about the dinosaurs? That's a good question, kids. I'm glad you asked that.

Thank you. Okay, good. Good. First of all, the word dinosaur is a modern term.

It was first coined in 1842. So you're not going to find you wouldn't expect to find the word dinosaur in the

Bible. A lot of people think that when the Bible speaks of dragons, that that's probably a reference to those types of creatures.

We're not exactly sure. But this is a very common and it's a good question that comes up. When did

God create the dinosaurs? Well, as far as the land creatures, when did

God create the land creatures? Day six. So really, it's that simple.

He created them on day six. The ones he created in the sea have been on a different day.

So if you're interested in that subject, I would recommend that. How many of you know

Ken Ham and his ministry Answers in Genesis? I would direct you to Answers in Genesis .org.

He has a lot of great material on that. But were the dinosaurs in existence now at this point on day six?

Yes. They were land creatures and many creatures have gone extinct over the years.

But that's a whole other sermon for a different day. Now we come to the most important part of what

I call the crown jewel of God's creation. Where God created a being like himself.

Look at verse 26. Then God said, Let us make man in our image, according to our likeness, and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.

So God created man in his own image. In the image of God he created him.

Male and female, he created them. Then God blessed them.

And God said to them, Be fruitful and multiply. Fill the earth and subdue it.

And have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.

And God said, See, I have given you every green herb that yields seed, which is on the face of all the earth.

And every tree whose fruit yields seed to you shall be for food. Also to every beast of the earth, to every bird of the air, and to everything that creeps on the earth in which there is life,

I have given every green herb for food. And it was so. So it says that God created

Adam. That's the Hebrew word Adam. You could probably guess how else that is translated, right?

So here it's translated as man. It can refer to mankind as a group.

In the next chapter, it's translated Adam. So God created

Adam. He is the first man. God created Adam and mankind, which means you.

God created mankind, Adam, in his own image. And notice,

God speaks of himself. Here's another interesting thing. God speaks of himself in plural form.

Sometimes people do that, or they speak of themselves in the third person. Sometimes you think, well, that's kind of strange.

But no, God speaks of himself in plural. The word God, it's

Elohim. That's plural. God says, let us make man in our image.

So this is the first hint at the triune nature of God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

Let us make man. So what does it mean that man is made in the image of God?

Well, it means that man, or Adam, had intellect. Mankind has a will.

We are moral creatures. We're not like the animals. The animals are amoral.

Animals operate out of instinct. Man can think, and we can reason.

And most importantly, man can worship. We can have that knowledge of God and worship

God with all of our heart, soul, and mind.

You know, that's what Jesus identified as the first and great commandment. He said, you shall love the

Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. Only man can do that.

The animals cannot. Man is the only creature that is like God in this way.

And what's the second commandment? Love your neighbor as yourself. Why? Because they are made also in God's image.

So in conclusion, you know, this is why we are here. This is why God created mankind.

He created this world, this universe, and he created us for his own glory, that we may know him and make him known.

God wants you to reflect his glory. But of course, this is what we'll talk about when we get to Genesis chapter 3.

Even though the Lord created everything good, and even though the Lord gave the world to us to have dominion over it, mankind has lost that dominion because of his rebellion towards his creator.

But the rest of the scriptures, from that time forward, from Genesis 3 forward, is all about God stepping in to do something about it, to reconcile man back to himself.

And this is the job of the church. This is the mission of the church. This is your mission, our mission, to reconcile through the gospel of Jesus Christ, to reconcile man back to God.

Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we stand in awe, really, of your creation and how you did all of this simply by speaking the word.

And even as beautiful as the creation is, and as amazing as man is, and all the things that he has made, it really doesn't come close to our potential and to the beauty that this world is going to reflect in the new heavens and the new earth.

Lord, it's in our heart that we desire that day, and it's in our heart to desire this close fellowship with you.

If there's anyone here this morning who has never come to that personal knowledge, that personal relationship with their creator,

Lord, I pray that they would ask, simply humble themselves and say, Lord, I want to know you.

I want to know you better. I want to have a relationship with you. Save me through the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ for the forgiveness of my sin.