Genesis 1:2-4, “And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. And God said, Let there be light: and there was light. And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness.” There is a wonderful harmony between modern geophysics and the Bible. This could only be explained by the inspiration of the Bible.
As the Genesis account begins, the heavens and earth had both been formed – a process that started about 14 billion years ago with the heavens. The solar system including the sun, the planets, the earth and moon had been formed about 4.5 billion years ago. The atmosphere of the early earth was well over 1,000 times the pressure of our current atmosphere and it was composed primarily of carbon dioxide and water. The surface of the earth was too hot for liquid water and torrential rains came down for tens of millions of years until the entire surface was cooled enough to support a world-wide ocean with no continents. Then the ocean formed, and thick clouds surrounded the earth, “darkness was upon the face of the deep.” The waters were about 140 degrees Celsius (280 degrees Fahrenheit ), so this was not a good time for swimming.
The spirit of God moving upon the face of the waters began the God-given miracle of life (about 3.8 billion years ago). This life was microscopic and had the important work of regulating the cycles of moving elements necessary to life around and building an atmosphere we could someday breath. Note that the sun and the moon were already formed, but from the observer just above the surface of the ocean it was impossible to see their light (Day 1).
God continued to direct the process of atmosphere building. The pressure was steadily reduced as the carbon dioxide was incorporated into early minerals. The clouds for the first time did not hover above the surface of the ocean but a sky between the ocean and clouds appeared. The atmosphere now was dominated by oxygen (Day 2). Life flourished in the oceans and the fossil records appear. Continents crept above the surface of the oceans and soon were colonized by land plants and animals (Day 3). The atmospheric pressure continued to decrease. Genesis 1:14 (Day 4) seems to mark the first time the sun and certainly the moon could be clearly seen from earth’s surface. However, both the sun and the moon were in existence from the very beginning of life on earth.
Additional Resources:
Christian Questions Podcast
Episode #1090: “What Profound Secret Does Creation Reveal?” Contradictions Series (Part V)
Startling revelations from Genesis 2
Preview Video
CQ Rewind Show Notes
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