"It was very good" (The Creation Story) - By Leroy Ramaphoko

| By Leroy Ramaphoko

“IT WAS VERY

GOOD” (THE

CREATION STORY)

“It was very good” (The Creation Story)

www.bibletruthspot.blogspot.com

Contents

Introduction ...................... 3

1 First day .......................... 4

2 Second day ...................... 6

3 Third day ......................... 9

4 Fourth day ..................... 10

5 Fifth day ........................ 13

6 Sixth day ....................... 14

7 Seventh day .................. 21



Introduction One of the biblical themes that plays from Genesis

to Revelation is the theme of Creation. Right from

the beginning of Scripture our attention is drawn

to God as the Creator: “In the beginning God

created the heaven and the earth.” – Genesis 1:1.

“For by Him were all things created, that are in

heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible,

whether they be thrones, or dominions, or

principalities, or powers: all things were created

by Him, and for Him.” – Colossians 1:16. He spoke

things into existence: “By the word of the LORD

were the heavens made; and all the host of them

by the breath of His mouth...For He spake, and it

was done; He commanded, and it stood fast.” –

Psalm 33:6,9. Read Hebrews 11:3. Each day of

creation had its purpose. We will now turn our

attention into seeing what God established on

each day and also see what lessons we can draw

from each day.



1 First day “And God said, Let there be light: there was light.

And God saw the light, that it was good: and God

divided the light from the darkness. And God

called the light Day, and the darkness He called

the Night. And the evening and the morning were

the first day.” – Genesis 1:3-5.

a) “Let there be light” As we keep reading in this chapter, we find that

the sun, moon, and stars were created on the

fourth day, so the question that arises is that,

Where did this light come from? The Bible says,

“God is light” – 1 John 1:5, and this means He is

the source of light. In the city God has prepared

for His people called the New Jerusalem [See

Hebrews 11:16; Revelation 21], “the city had no

need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in

it: for the glory of God did lighten it, and the

Lamb is the light thereof.” – Revelation 21:23.

When God spoke the light into existence, the



spoken word manifested into the glory of God

which illuminated the world.

b) Darkness not made by God “And the earth was without form, and void; and

darkness was upon the surface of the deep...” –

Genesis 1:2. Since “God is light, and in Him is no

darkness at all.” – 1 John 1:5, we deduce the fact

that He didn’t make darkness. In essence,

darkness suggests the absence of God, because

God is light.

c) Light and darkness can’t

dwell together The reason why God separated the light from

darkness was because “God saw the light, that it

was good,” and decided to divide “the light from

the darkness.”

Ever since sin entered the world, God has been

engaged in the business of separating light from

darkness: “But ye are a chosen generation, a royal

priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that

ye should shew forth the praises of Him who hath



called you out of darkness into His marvellous

light.” – 1 Peter 2:9. Read Ephesians 5:8. God

doesn’t see it fit for light and darkness to dwell

together. Read 2 Corinthians 6:14. His children

are also associated with light [1 Thessalonians

5:5; John 12:36]. Light and darkness cannot

harmonize [John 3:16-20].

d) Evening and morning “...And the evening and the morning were a first

day.” – Genesis 1:5. We see from Scripture that

the day begins from evening; that it is, a full day is

from sunset to sunset. This is worth noting

because most of us grew up in a society where we

were taught otherwise. The children of Israel

were also to observe the Day of Atonement “from

evening to evening.” – Leviticus 23:32, NKJV.

2 Second day “And God said, Let there be a firmament in the

midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters

from the waters. And 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. And the evening and the

morning were the second day.” – Genesis 1:6-8.

a) More than one heaven? When we read Genesis 2:1, it suggests that there

is more than one heaven since it speaks of “the

heavens.” HOW MANY HEAVENS ARE THERE?

The atmosphere which the Lord established He

called it “Heaven.” This is not the heaven, spoken

of in Isaiah 66:1 where God’s throne is found. This

heaven is the atmosphere where the birds fly.

Read Genesis 1:20. This is the FIRST HEAVEN that

we see here.

As we keep reading in Genesis 1, we come across

the SECOND HEAVEN in Genesis 1:14-17. This is

where the sun, moon, and stars are found. We

know that the birds don’t fly at the same latitude

as the sun, moon and stars are placed. Sun, moon,

and stars are set “in the firmament of heaven.” –

Genesis 1:14.



Jesus Christ has ascended into heaven. “And

when He [Jesus] had spoken these things, while

they [the disciples] beheld, He was taken up; and

a cloud received Him out of their sight. And while

they behold stedfastly toward heaven as He went

up, behold, two men stood by them in white

apparel; which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why

stand ye gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus,

which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so

come in like manner as ye have seen Him go into

heaven.” – Acts 1:9-11. Paul tells us, “I knew a

man in Christ above fourteen years,...such an one

caught up to the THIRD HEAVEN...I knew such a

man,...how that He was caught up into

paradise...” – 2 Corinthians 12:2-4. Here we see

that heaven which Jesus was caught up to is called

“Third heaven” and is also called “Paradise.” In

Paradise, there is the tree of life [Revelation 2:7],

and this tree received its water from “river of

water of life” which proceeds “out of the throne

of God and of the Lamb.” – Revelation 22:1. “In

the midst of the street of it, on either side of the



river, was there the tree of life...” – Revelation

22:2. In short, Jesus was taken to the third heaven

which is called Paradise, and this Paradise is

where the tree of life and the throne of God are

found. This is the heaven spoken of in Isaiah 66:1.

You probably heard of “the seventh heaven”; but

that’s not found anywhere in Scripture. Scripture

only speaks of three heavens. At least the fact

that paradise is called “third heaven,” suggests

that there is the first and second heaven; while it

does not necessarily suggest that there is the

fourth heaven onwards.

3 Third day “And God said, Let the waters under the heaven

be gathered together unto one place, and let the

dry land appear: and it was so. And God called the

dry land Earth; and the gathering together of the

waters called He Seas: and God saw it was good.

And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the

herb yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in

itself, upon the earth: and it was so. And the earth



brought forth grass, and herb yielding seed after

his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed

was in itself, after his kind: and God saw that is

was good. And evening and morning were the

third day.” – Genesis 1:9-13.

a) Land and Sea

By God allowing the waters on the surface to be

gathered in one place, the dry land appeared, and

this is the same land where we build our houses,

drive our vehicles, etc. The gathered waters

formed the seas.

b) Vegetation

The vegetation God made was to be the food for

all the animals, birds, and fish [Genesis 1:30] and

for the humans “herb bearing seed, which is upon

the face of all the earth, and every tree, in which

is the fruit of a tree yielding seed” was given to be

“meat” (food) for them [Genesis 1:29].

4 Fourth day “And God said, Let there be lights in the

firmament of the heaven, to divide the day from



the night; and let them be for signs, and for

seasons, and for days, and years: and let them be

for lights in the firmament of the heaven to give

light upon the earth: and it was so. And 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 heaven to give light upon the earth, and to

rule over the day and over the night, and to divide

the light from the darkness: and God saw that is

was good. And the evening and the morning were

the fourth day.” – Genesis 1:14-19.

a) The purpose of sun, moon, and

stars

The sun, moon, and stars provide the light to the

world; but moreover, they help keep track of

time. As the earth rotates once it helps us

calculate the day, when it completes it rotation

around the sun, that becomes a year. These lights

are very much essential and necessary; we are to

remember that they are sustained by the One

who made them. Read Colossians 1:17. This is the



same God that sustains all of His creatures

including humans. Read Psalm 145:15,16;

Matthew 6:25-33.

b) You are the light of the world

The moon does not have its own light but it

simply reflects the light it receives from sun.

Jesus said, “Ye are the light of the world...” –

Matthew 5:14. And He said again, “I am the light

of the world...” – John 8:12. Does this mean we

are on the same level as Jesus? NO! Not at all!

Jesus is light “that lighten every man that cometh

into the world.” – John 1:9. Just as the “greater

light” [the sun] enlightens the “lesser light” [the

moon], so are we to allow Jesus who is “the Sun

of righteousness” – Malachi 4:2 to illuminate us.

Our role is simply the role of the lesser light; that

is, we are to reflect the light we receive from our

Lord. The truth, messages, etc. which we receive

from God’s word, etc. we are to share with others

without diluting them because once we dilute,

then the light of Christ now gets mixed with the

darkness, which is not good. Teach “all things



whatsoever I have commanded you...”, said Jesus

in Matthew 28:20. We are admonished to teach

“all things,” not “some of the things” or “most of

the things”; “all things,” He said.

5 Fifth day “And God said, Let the waters bring forth

abundantly the moving creature that hath life,

and fowl that may fly above the earth in the open

firmament of heaven. And God created great

whales, and every living creature that moveth,

which the waters brought forth abundantly, after

his kind, and every winged fowl after his kind: and

God saw that it was good. And God blessed them,

saying, Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters

in the seas, and let fowl multiply in the earth. And

the evening and the morning were the fifth day.”

– Genesis 1:20-23.

a) Freedom to reproduce

After God made these living creatures, He gave

them ability and freedom to procreate. They were

allowed to grow in number as they multiplied.



6 Sixth day “And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living

creature after his kind, cattle, and creeping thing,

and beast of the earth after his kind: and it was

so. And God made the beast of the earth after his

kind, and cattle after their kind, and every thing

that creepeth upon the earth after his kind: and

God saw that it was good. And God said, Let us

make man in our own image, after our likeness:

and let them have dominion over the fish of the

sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the

cattle, and over every creeping thing that

creepeth upon the earth. So God created man in

His own image, in the image of God created He

him; male and female created He them. And God

blessed them, and God said unto them, Be

fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and

subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the

sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every

living thing that moveth upon the earth. And God

said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing

seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and



every tree, in which is the fruit of a tree yielding

seed; to you it shall be for meat. And to every

beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air,

and to every thing that creepeth upon the earth,

wherein there is life, I have given every green

herd for meat: and it was so. And God saw every

thing that He had made, and, behold, it was very

good. And the evening and the morning were the

sixth day.” – Genesis 1:24-31.

a) Created by God, not spoken into

existence

The creation of a mankind is a unique one.

Everything except the human being was created

through the spoken word of God. “And the LORD

God formed man of the dust of the ground, and

breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and

man became a living soul.” – Genesis 2:7. God in

this case was so intimate; He probably got His

hands dirty as He touched the “dust of the

ground.” Thus we see that God places a high value

on a human being than any other thing He



created. Read Genesis 9:5,6; Matthew 6:26;

Matthew 12:12.

b) Mankind, created in the image

of God

One person once asked, “If a man was created in

the image of tea cup, what would he be? He will

simply be a tea cup. If the human being was

created in the image of the Creator, what would

he be? He would be the Creator.” But is this the

correct interpretation? Because man was created

in the image of God, does that make him equal

with God, of even worthy to be called God?

An image is simply a reflection. When you look

into a mirror, you see a reflection of yourself. That

thing in the mirror is not a human being, but

simply a reflection. There are attributes it shares

with you: it looks like you, when you move it

moves, etc. But then there are attributes you have

which it does not have: it does not have feelings;

that’s why if a person hits you, you would feel the

pain, but when the reflection or mirror gets



destroyed, it does not feel anything. The point is

simply the fact that the image is simply the

reflection. There are attributes which God has

which humans don’t have: God is omnipresent,

omniscience, etc. while humans are not. So we

see that a human being is not equal to God,

neither is he God. But there are attributes a

human being shares with God. Man was created

to reflect the image of God; in other words, he

was created to reflect the character of God.

Because man was created in the image of God, he

was given “dominion over the fish of the sea, and

over the fowl of the air, and over the sea, and

over the fowl of the air, and over every living

thing that moveth upon the earth.” God “hast

crowned him with glory and honour.” – Psalm 8:5.

Read Psalm 8:6-8.

c) “Be fruitful and multiply”

Mankind was also given the right to have children.

To be “fruitful and multiply” has to do with people

being reproductive and increasing in number.

Read Exodus 1:7.



There are those who say the forbidden fruit in the

Garden of Eden, meant that Adam and Eve were

not allowed to get together and have children,

but this can’t be the case because they were given

right to be fruitful and multiply, and yet,

forbidden to partake of the tree of knowledge of

good and evil. This means, the forbidden fruit and

them sleeping together couldn’t have been the

same thing. Remember that Adam and Eve were a

married couple; throughout Genesis 2 and 3 they

are called husband and wife.

d) Very good

It is recorded six times that “it was good”

[Genesis 1:4,10,12,18,21,25]; the seventh time

we are told “IT WAS VERY GOOD.” – Genesis

1:31. This means, when God created the world it

was in a perfect state. The animals didn’t kill,

trees didn’t have thorns. All was just bliss. “God

made man perfectly holy and happy; the fair

earth, as it came from the Creator’s hand, bore no

blight of decay or shadow of the curse.” – Steps to

Christ, page 9, paragraph 1.



e) The God of order

As we observe closely the story of Creation, we

realize that there is a pattern that is revealed. On

the first day, God created the light, and He

separated light from darkness; on the fourth day

the sun and moon are established to rule over of

them [light and darkness]. We have Day 1 and

Day 4; now let’s add 1 DAY to each of these two

days:

Day 1 + 1 DAY = Day 2.


Here we find again some other days which

correspond: Day 2 and Day 5. On Day 2 God

created the Sky [firmament which He called

Heaven], and on Day 5, He filled the Sky. Now

let’s add 1 DAY to these two days:





On Day 3, the land was created, and on Day 6 it

was filled. Here is a summary of the pattern which

we have discovered:

Related days and their relations

Day 1 – Light and Darkness separated. Day 4 – Sun and Moon to govern Light and Darkness. Day 2 – Sky created. Day 5 – God fills the Sky. Day 3 – Land created. Day 6 – God fills the Land.

This pattern and some of the things we have

discovered help us see that THERE IS A DESIGN IN

NATURE; thus NOTHING WAS MADE BY CHANCE,

AND NOTHING WAS AN AFTERTHOUGHT. Notice

that God created the habitants before creating

the inhabitants. When animals and humans were

made, their homes were already prepared for

them, and their food as well. We see that God is

the “God of order.” Read Proverbs 3:19.



The seventh day is not paired with any other day

because it is a unique one. We will elaborate on

its uniqueness shortly.

7 Seventh day “Thus the heavens and the earth were finished,

and all the host of them. And on the seventh day

God ended His work which He had made; and He

rested on the seventh day from all His work which

He had made. And God blessed the seventh day,

and sanctified it: because that in it He had rested

from all His work which God created and made.” –

Genesis 2:1-3.

a) Was He tired?

“Hast thou not known? Hast thou not heard? That

the everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the

ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary?”

– Isaiah 40:28. We see from evidence given from

the book of God that the Creator does not

become “weary” [tired]. So why then did He rest?

“...and on the Seventh Day He rested, and was

refreshed.” – Exodus 31:17. The verb “rested”



used here in Hebrew is “shabath,” it simply

means to “cease” from labor or activity. God

didn’t rest because He was tired, but He simply

ceased from His work.

b) Sanctified day

Before sin was introduced into the world, before

any Jew was born, God sanctified the seventh

day. This shows that the establishment of the

seventh day as a sanctified day didn’t originate

with Moses, or on Mount Sinai. The word

“sanctify” means “to set aside for holy use.” On

this day, God didn’t do what He did on the other

days [work]. Thus, God treated this day

differently. God could have ended days on Day 6,

but He went on to make the seventh day on which

He rested “from all His work which He had made”

– Genesis 2:2. This day might have meant

something to Him to an extend that He didn’t just

rest on it, but also set is apart for holy use. It

appears from Scripture that this day might have

meant a lot to the Creator.



c) Reason for blessing and

sanctifying it

“And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified

it: because that in it He had rested from all His

work which God created and made.” – Genesis

2:3. This day was blessed and set aside because

God “had rested” in it. Which means it was

blessed after God had rested in it; not at the

beginning, or in the midday, but rather, at the

closing of this day.

The fact that God blessed this day doesn’t

necessarily mean the other days are cursed, but it

simply means that the blessing which God

bestowed on the seventh day, He didn’t bestow it

on any other day.



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"It was very good" (The Creation Story) - By Leroy Ramaphoko

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Transcript of "It was very good" (The Creation Story) - By Leroy Ramaphoko