The Creation

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“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth” (Genesis 1:1). We don’t know how many ages ago God first created the universe with all its stars, planets and moons. When He first made the world, it was beautiful and perfect. Scientists believe the earth may be billions of years old. But we believe mankind was created about 6,000 years ago.

God is the Creator of everything. Creator means someone who creates or makes something. 

At some point in time, the earth became a dark, ugly place (Genesis 1:2). The entire earth was covered with water. There was no light shining on the earth. The air might have been thick with gases, smoke and water vapor. We don’t know how long the earth was like this.

But God had a plan. He was going to make mankind. We would look like Him and become His family. God was going to renew the earth so it would be a beautiful and comfortable place for mankind to live. He wanted to make sure we would have healthy air to breathe, pure water to drink, good food to nourish our bodies and heat to keep us warm.

God worked for five days to make sure the earth was ready for His most awesome creation, human beings.

First five days of creation

At that time, the earth was dark and covered with water. God said, “Let there be light.” God divided the light from the dark. He called the light “Day” and the darkness “Night.” This was the first day (Genesis 1:3-5).

Then God separated the oceans from the water-filled clouds above. Beautiful clouds were formed in the sky. God made the air pure and just right for man to breathe. Our atmosphere was made on this day so there would be healthy air on the earth. This was the second day (Genesis 1:6-8).

God then gathered the waters together, and dry land appeared. He called the dry land “Earth” and the waters “Seas.” God also created all kinds of trees, grasses and flowers to grow from the dry land. The earth was again becoming a beautiful place. This was the third day (Genesis 1:9-13).

Then God said, “Let there be lights in the heavens to divide the day from the night.” The sun, moon and stars became visible. The sun was to shine during the day, and the moon and stars to shine at night. This was the fourth day (Genesis 1:14-19).

Then God said, “Let the seas be full of living creatures. Let the birds fly above the earth.” All the creatures in the seas were created at this time. This includes great whales, sharks, dolphins and many kinds of small fish. And all the birds that fly in the sky were created, such as geese, hawks, bluebirds, canaries and parrots. These were all made on the fifth day (Genesis 1:20-23).

The sixth day of creation

On the sixth day God created all the land animals (Genesis 1:24-31). This included bears, giraffes, snakes, turtles, squirrels, horses, cats, dogs, cows and more. He made all living creatures that walk or crawl on the land.

Adam and Eve were also created on the sixth day. God made Adam first, from the dust of the ground. He breathed the breath of life into this first man. Then Adam became a living, breathing being (Genesis 2:7).

Then God put Adam into a deep sleep and took out one of his ribs. God made the woman, Eve, from Adam’s rib (Genesis 2:21-22).

Then God blessed them. God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth” (Genesis 1:28). God gave mankind the rule over all the creatures He made. Adam and Eve were to have children and spread out around the earth.

God had renewed the earth and made it ready for mankind. All plants, animals and mankind were made to multiply so that in time the whole earth would be filled with plants, animals and people.

“God saw everything that He had made, and indeed it was very good” (Genesis 1:31).

The seventh day of creation

“And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day. … Then God blessed the seventh day” (Genesis 2:2-3). God made this day special. It is called the Sabbath (Exodus 20:8-11).

Adam names the animals

Out of the ground God created every land animal, every sea animal and every bird. He brought them to Adam. Whatever Adam called each animal, that was its name (Genesis 2:19). Adam gave the tiny hummingbird a name. He gave the huge elephant a name. He named all the living creatures that God had created.

God makes Eve

God made Eve to be a helper for Adam. God used one of Adam’s ribs to make her. Adam called her a woman, because she was taken out of the man (Genesis 2:18-23). She was named Eve, because she was “mother of all living” (Genesis 3:20).

The creation we see around us is awe-inspiring. Even more awesome are the people God made from the dust of the earth. Even though we started as dust, the Bible tells us God wants us to become His children (2 Corinthians 6:18). He wants us to live forever in His majestic Kingdom.

Questions

Here are some questions to answer or to talk about as a family:

1. What does the word beginning mean?
2. What does the word Creator mean?
3. How many days did it take God to re-create the earth?
4. On what day did God create mankind?
5. Name some things God created.
6. Name five animals and five plants God made.
7. What did God do on the seventh day?
8. What were the names of the first two people God made?

This story is found in Genesis 1 and 2. Read more about Adam and Eve in our Bible story “Adam and Eve and the Two Trees.”