God’s conclusion of “creation” was to declare it to be “good” (Gen. 1:31). Actually, He emphasized: “it was very good.” That means it not only looked great; it also worked the way it was supposed to. The Hebrew word is frequently used in the OT and in a variety of contexts. The basic ideas are that a “good” thing was beneficial, lending itself to happiness and prosperity, being morally good. To say it was “good” is to say that creation bore a likeness to the Creator. Even in a fallen world you can see the “footprints” of the Creator everywhere.
What that also means is, of course, that when
God declared it good there was no sin.
And if there was no sin, there was also no death. Sin and death do not appear until Gen.
3. For as by one man sin entered the
world, and death by sin so that death passed upon all men for that all have
sinned (Rom. 5:12). This Biblical
fact has a tremendous impact on all attempts to bring together “evolution and
Creation.” By “evolution” I mean any
view that assumes any period of time (usually millions or billions of years)
that includes death. And if, by “evolution,”
you mean a time when death is bringing about an upward development of life on
earth, then we must emphatically say that evolution and the Bible’s account of
creation cannot be brought together in agreement. Death in the Bible is ALWAYS associated with
sin and decay. The “Gap Theory” places
death between Gen. 1:1 and 1:2; but God pronounced creation good in Gen. 1:31. The “Day/Age Theory” (the 7 days of “creation”
were geological ages) makes death common throughout the days, before God
pronounces it good on the 7th Day.
It doesn’t fit!
Here is one other thought on the “Gap Theory”. If you are not familiar, this idea proposed
that in Gen. 1:2, “without form and void” was a description of earth after the
millions or billions of years of cavemen and dinosaurs and so forth. What God did in the 6 days was a re-creation,
starting all over with Adam and Eve.
Those who held this idea (it’s not very common today) leaned on Isa.
45:18. To them it sounded like God did
not make the earth in vain but to be inhabited.
When 1:2 said it was “without form and void” it must have been that God
created the heavens and earth, inhabited by men who sinned, and who were
eventually destroyed. That is reading a
lot into that passage, which in the context is saying something about Israel’s
future hope. I also heard some refer to
2 Peter 3:6, “the world at that time,” as referring to the “gap.” But again, the context seems to be clearly
speaking of the time of the flood. Again,
the Gap Theory calls for the presence of sin and death before the Bible says
there was sin and death.
How blessed to think of the coming day spoken
of in Rev. 21-22. Death and it’s
accompanying sorrows will be gone (21:4).
Sin will be removed (21:27). There
will be no more curse (22:3). And the dwelling
of God will be with man, as He always intended (21:3).
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