Many people, Christians and non-Christians alike, do not know where they stand on the issue of creation within a six day time period. Where do we as believers stand on the issue of creation? And to take that question one step further, where do we stand in the amount of time that it took God to create everything? Do we believe that it took millions of years to create all that we see or did it only take days? The difference in the two thoughts are millions of years apart. Where do we stand and is it even important?

To some they may say that it really doesn’t matter the amount of time that it took God to create everything but I beg to differ. The importance of the amount of time that it took God to create is vital to our stand as Christians. I believe that God created all in 6 literal days. Before I get into why it is important for us to believe that this thought process, lets first look at why many may believe in the millions of years of creation theory.

The first reason many don’t believe in six literal days of creation is because it is what has been taught. From the beginning of my education and most of you, can relate to the education system helping us to believe in anything but creationism let alone a six day creation. In July of 1925 we can find a trial that took place in reference to a teacher teaching evolution. In the early 1920’s there were many bills being brought to legislatures to stop the teaching of the evolution of man. This was the world that pushed for no evolution. However, as evolution and many other theories crept into the school systems it has started to change the way we think.

When I first came to an understanding of the Lord one of the biggest things that I had to deal with was creationism. For all of my time in school I was force fed every theory under the sun as to how the world began and how it came to be. The one thing that I was never taught in school was creation. The teachers have been taught these theories and they have carried over to the people in which they teach. Think about the confusion for the children of Christian homes. For an entire week there are teachers telling you about the big bang theory (just to name one of the theories) compared to the amount of time that the children hear about a literal six day creation at home and church.

The second reason that many don’t believe in a very real and literal six days of creation is because of scientists that claim that they have the answers. We have scientists that use a series of tests to say that they have the answers. They have their carbon test, among others, to date things and we back down. We submit our stand in creation because of “inferiority” to these scientists. This leads us into the third reason as to why many of us don’t believe in a literal six days of creation.

Third, we don’t believe because we have not taken time to research what the scripture says. What does the scripture say about creation? If we don’t know what the Bible has to say about creation then how can we make a stand against it. In a 1925 case against Scopes, which was pushed by the ACLU (American Civil Liberties Union), we find that the people desired and pushed for a non-evolution education. They stood their ground. What about us? Have we decided to stand our ground against the teachings of any theory? Or are we willing for our kids to be educated and indoctrinated with untruths? If not then we have to make our stand and study the word of God to see where we should stand.

We need to understand that God’s word is who He is. Our understanding of who God is didn’t just come to us. We have learned and continue to learn who He is because of His word, the Bible. 2nd Timothy 3:16, “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:” This verse helps to understand that the Bible was given by God which means that it is pure and true and perfect just as God Himself is. Also, in this verse we can see that the Bible (the scriptures) are to be used for our doctrine. The word doctrine correlates to the word teaching. God’s word is to be used for our teaching and understanding.

Now, we cant get to the point of making a stand one way or the other without first getting to a point in which we follow 2nd Timothy 2:15. The scripture reads as follows,

2nd Timothy 2:15, “Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.”

We as believers have to study which means that we are looking more in detail to the word of God. I once heard a preacher say that the difference between studying and reading is a piece of paper and pencil. Not only are we to study His word but we also have to rightly divide the word of truth. In the Greek, the word used for divide means to sever or split apart. This is what must be done to know what it is that we must believe about creation.

All of that being said, once again, where do you stand in creation and does it matter? There is no better place for us to turn then to the Bible itself.

Genesis 1:1-5, “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. 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. And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.”

In these verses we can find that the heaven, earth, and light was created. Now, notice verse five specifically. “ And God called the light Day, and the darkess he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.” In this “day” there was light (sun) which represented the daytime and then there was dark which represents the night. Here we can see that it is a very real “day.” I don’t know about you but when the sun rises and then the sun sets it concludes one full day. This is repeated throughout the creation stages that God completed. God even said, “…And the evening and the morning were the first day.” We can see this being said in verses 5, 8, 13, 19, 23, and 31. Six days were mentioned and God spelled it out for us. How awesome is God to know that all these years later we would have questions about how many days it took Him to create the earth? And He gave us the answer, six.

Here’s the problem, many Christians may look at this and still not be convinced that God created everything in six days. The reason, because one of the downsides of Christians, especially now, is the fact that they don’t believe the Bible literally and in its entirety. There is a huge danger in this way of thinking. How do you know when to take things in the Bible as literal or not? How do you make a determination as to what and when to take the Bible literally? The moment that you try and determine what to take literal you have then taken the reins into your own hands to determine what to believe. The problem with this is the fact that you will only believe what is believable. This is what I mean. if you can’t take literal the fact that God created everything in six days because its unbelievable then do you believe the fact that God sent His only begotten Son? Can you believe that God allowed His Son to be crucified? And finally, can you believe that God resurrected Jesus on the third day? Think about all of the great miracles that God has done. Separating the Red Sea for the escape of the Hebrews from the Egyptians, manna coming from Heaven to feed the Hebrews while they were in the desert, and Nehemiah building a wall with supplies that were given to him from an ungodly king. It would be crazy for us to forget the miracles that Christ has done. Lets look at just a few of those. Jesus turned water into wine, walked on water, and fed a multitude of people with five loaves and two fish (John 6:1-13). These are just a few examples of what Christ did but John 21:25 says, “And there are also many other things which Jesus did, the which, if they should be written every one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that should be written. Amen.” So, which miracles do we believe? The answer should be all of them. The very moment that we take away the ability of God is were we limit who He is. That’s not to say God will stop being Himself, but it does limit who we think He is.

What is your faith based on? Is your faith based on what you can comprehend or is based on the true and accurate teachings of the Bible. Again, if we only believe what our mind tells us is possible then I think we wouldn’t have much to believe in. In our carnal minds we tend to only believe what we see. That was the problem with Thomas, one of the twelve disciples. Thomas said in John 20:25, “The other disciples therefore said unto him, We have seen the LORD. But he said unto them, Except I shall see in his hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into his side, I will not believe.” Thomas made up his mind that he wouldn’t believe. Where are we in our walk with the Lord? Have we already made up our minds not to believe regardless of what the Bible says? That was the problem with Thomas. Remember, Thomas was around Christ while He spoke about being crucified and resurrected. This wasn't some new teaching that Christ did while Thomas wasn’t around. Thomas heard the same things that all of the other disciples heard. And, yet, he still chose to say that he would only believe if he could touch Christ.

In closing, when we look at the creation of the world, we have look at the fact that it was done in six days. And when we talk about six days it consists of days as you and I know them here and now. There is no reading between the lines or trying to look deeper into the issue. It is exactly as it says. Lets not add to or take away from what is said in Genesis 1:1-2:3 but rather believe what is written. And when we believe what God has done we will see God for the true power and might that He has. Do not try to handicap or handcuff God in what He is truly able to do. Even if our minds can’t comprehend God’s power will not be stopped.

Genesis 1:1-2:3,

“1In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.

2And 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.

3And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.

4And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness.

5And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.

6And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.

7And 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.

8And God called the firmament Heaven. And the evening and the morning were the second day.

9And God said, Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear: and it was so.

10And God called the dry land Earth; and the gathering together of the waters called he Seas: and God saw that it was good.

11And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth: and it was so.

12And 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 it was good.

13And the evening and the morning were the third day.

14And 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:

15And let them be for lights in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth: and it was so.

16And 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.

17And God set them in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth,

18And to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness: and God saw that it was good.

19And the evening and the morning were the fourth day.

20And 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.

21And 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.

22And God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let fowl multiply in the earth.

23And the evening and the morning were the fifth day.

24And 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.

25And 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.

26And 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.

27So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.

28And 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.

29And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat.

30And 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 herb for meat: and it was so.

31And 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 2

1Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them.

2And 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.

3And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made.”