What happened on each of the days of Creation?

"Ever since the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky. Through everything God made, they can clearly see his invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature. So they have no excuse for not knowing God." —Romans 1:20 (NLT)

Genesis 1-2 tells the story of how God created everything in the universe in six days, finishing on the seventh day. But before we talk about the account of days, there's one thing that we need to address first: What does the Bible refer to by the word "day"?

This is something that Christians have debated for centuries, yet it's not an issue that should cause division (1 Corinthians 1:10-13). No one was around to watch Creation happen, so it's all conjecture. "Old earth" and "young earth" believers can agree to disagree and still be respectful and faithful friends.

How long did Creation take?

We at Got Questions Ministries favor a "young earth" view of creationism. Young earth creationists usually place the age of the earth at 6,000 years (10,000 years being an upper limit). The way the Hebrew language is worded, we see this accounting of creation as God bringing all things into existence from nothing, likely during the span of six literal 24-hour time periods—with no breaks or time spans in between those days.

The context of these passages describes each creative event in a way that implies a normal, commonly-understood literal day: "God called the light 'day' and the darkness 'night.' And evening passed and morning came, marking the first day" (Genesis 1:5). Also, the original language begins each sentence with "and," which indicates a sequential, consecutive order.

How did God create things?

"Then God said, 'Let there be light,' and there was light." —Genesis 1:3 (NLT)

One of the most amazing things the Genesis account shows us (other than creating the universe in six days!) is that the Word of God—His very voice—is completely authoritative and powerful. When we see God create the various parts of our known universe, He does so mostly with mere speech!

Creation Day 1 (Genesis 1:1-5)

God creates the heavens, which refers to all things outside of earth in the universe. And God creates the earth, which had no shape or light. We know there was water because the Holy Spirit was hovering above it. Then God speaks, and light is created—a thing He proclaims is good. He separates the light from the dark and names them "day" and "night." End of day one.

Creation Day 2 (Genesis 1:6-8)

God creates a separation between the water on the earth's surface and the water in the air, which we now understand as earth's atmosphere. Earth is now encapsulated in a bubble of protection from the cold of outer space. End of day 2.

Creation Day 3 (Genesis 1:9-13)

God brings the earth above the water's surface in places, and the first continents and islands are born. He names the large bodies of water "seas," and the ground is called "land." God pauses a moment to reflect on how this is good.

Then God commands the earth to bring forth plant life of all kinds, giving them the ability to reproduce through their seeds. He takes another moment to see how good His creation is turning out. End of day 3.

Creation Day 4 (Genesis 1:14-19)

God speaks the stars into existence for the purpose of both light and for earth's inhabitants to track the passage of time. For more light, God creates the sun and the moon, which will be the primary illumination for the day and night. He sees how good this is. End of day 4.

Creation Day 5 (Genesis 1:20-23)

God creates all the living things that survive in the water and all living things which fly through the air. The way the original text is worded allows that flying insects were created on this day, but if not, then they were created on day 6. God blesses all these things with the ability to perpetuate their species as well through different reproductive systems. End of day 5.

Creation Day 6 (Genesis 1:24-31)

God creates every living thing that walks or crawls on land, including every kind of creature that hasn't been included on previous days, plus humankind—both male and female. God blesses them all with the ability to procreate.

God Creates Humans

When God was creating the first humans, He was especially thoughtful about this particular creation. "Then God said, 'Let us make human beings in our image, to be like us. They will reign over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, the livestock, all the wild animals on the earth, and the small animals that scurry along the ground'" (Genesis 1:26). At this point, God commands all creatures, including humankind, to eat only of plant life. (He doesn't allow them to eat meat until Genesis 9:3-4.)

God Reveals His Triune Nature

This revelation of God referring to Himself as an "us" is one of the foundations for our understanding of the Trinity—God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. Humankind is made special above all other creatures because we bear the image of God. To drive home humanity's uniqueness, God grants them authority over the earth with a special command to care for it well.

Then God looks around at all He has made and decides that this is very good. End of day 6.

Creation Day 7 (Genesis 2:1-3)

God finished His creation on this day, and the Bible tells us that He rested. The word for "rest" in this passage is the Hebrew word shabath, which literally means to "cease or desist." It's not that God was exhausted from what He had done, but rather that He stopped His creative process. This was the first example for us to learn the importance of taking a day to stop working. Keeping this day of rest as a part of life would eventually become a distinguishing trait of God's chosen people and called the Sabbath (Exodus 20:8-11).

Our God is the ultimate creative being, and we are His creations. That's pretty amazing if you think about it—you were made by the same God who created the universe. And our own ability for creativity reflects God's image within us. As God's creation has a purpose, so do we and our creative works.

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