In the Beginning, God - Part 5

Day five sees the creation of marine life and the fowls of the air. “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 their 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).

The tremendous size of God’s creation can also be seen in the animal kingdom, more specifically, marine animals.

The largest creature to roam our present-day earth is the blue whale. As a matter of fact, the blue whale is the largest animal ever to grace the earth. Its length often reaches over 100 feet. It would take 17 humans with an average height of five feet six inches laying head to toe to equal the length of the blue whale. This amazing creation is as long as a basketball court. The creatures weigh in at 200 tons. This would be equal to 2,667 humans each weighing 150 pounds.

The tongue of this wondrous mammal weighs in about 3,900 pounds and is close in size to certain types of elephants. This beast carries a heart weighing about 1,300 pounds and is comparable in weight and size to a mini-cooper.

The winged fowls of the air are no less fantastic. The Dalmatian Pelican is the heaviest flying fowl in the world. The length of one of these incredible birds can be up to six feet with a wingspan of nine to 11 feet. The weight – a mere 33 pounds, but this beautiful creature glides through the air with the greatest of ease. The breeding grounds for these flying machines are southeast Europe through India and into China.

We are told in Colossians 1:16, 17, “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: And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.”

We learn several things from these verses. 1. Jesus was involved in the creative process. 2. Everything that was created, was created by Him and for Him 3. He created the invisible as well as the visible.

God’s creativity goes beyond the very large to the very small, the invisibly small. The same waters that are home to the gigantic blue whale are also home to the smallest oceanic creatures – marine viruses. The average length of one of these microscopic viruses is about 200 nanometers (nm). A nanometer is a tiny one billionth of a meter. The largest can grow up to 400 nanometers – still invisible to the human eye.

What about the smallest bird? The award goes to the bee hummingbird. The bee hummingbird sports an average length of 2.24 inches and weighs in at a hefty 0.056 ounces.

Day 6 brought the creation of land animals. We read in Genesis 1:24, “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.”

On this day, God put into place a variety of animals to roam the earth – all with the ability to reproduce after their kind. It would appear it was on Day Six that God created the serpent that later was used by the devil to trick Eve. Some believe that before the fall of Adam and Eve, the serpent walked upright. All we know is that on Day Six, creeping things were created. Even if the serpent was not originally created to crawl or creep, Day Six still fits the timing for these magnificent creatures to be created.

All this and God is still not done. He created the vast distances of the heavens. He created the invisible creatures of the world. He created beauty in nature, and so much more. But there was one thing missing. Humans!

We see in Genesis 1:26, 27, “And God said, Let us make man in our 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 all the earth, 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.”

Man was God’s crowning creation. We were created in His image – a resemblance to the God of the universe. We carry the likeness of God Himself.

How is this? One way is the fact that we have a soul and a spirit. The soul is the real person. Who you are when you are alone is who you really are. When you think nobody sees, what are you doing? Where are you going? What are you thinking?

Your soul is the real you. It is not your eyes that see, but rather your soul sees through the physical organs of your eyes. Your soul hears through the instrument of the ears. Your soul smells and tastes and feels through other organs and sensory nerves.

The soul consists of your mind, your emotions, and your will. God has a mind. God certainly has emotions. We see some of them displayed through His fierce anger toward sin. We see Him weeping at Lazarus’s tomb. We see His great love at Calvary as He lay down His life you and me.

Man likewise, has emotions. The problem with man’s emotions is that they are rarely brought under subjection. Most often we allow our emotions to run rampant. Still, our emotions are God-given.

Man possesses a mind capable of great thoughts, noble thoughts. Because of Adam’s sin, that same mind is capable of the most perverted wickedness. The mind affected by sin is terribly warped, and only the precious blood of Jesus can cure the depravity of the human mind. God’s mind is pure

We also have stubborn wills. Our will rise in rebellion against the will of God. We want our way at all cost. The unregenerate will is in direct opposition to God’s will and plans for our life.

Man’s purpose was to reign over the earth and God’s creation for we are told in Genesis 1:28, that he was to "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.”

The Hebrew word for dominion is râdâh which means to prevail against or have rule over, to reign. The privilege of ruling over God’s creation was given to mankind. During the beginning age of innocence, this was possible. Not since Genesis chapter 3 has man had the ability to do this correctly. I am not aware that the ordinance has ever been revoked. Man still is to reign, but he does it very poorly and imperfectly.

Genesis 1:31 sums up God’s entire creation. “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.” His creation was complete. His creation was perfect. He left nothing undone or wanting. The space and time He created was now filled with the mass and matter He created. His beautiful universe was finished, and He pronounced it as very good.