I n this article I want to present my own opinions on creation and how I imagine that things unfolded. This is speculation, of course, and is subject to change but there is also much more concrete evidence on the subject of creation.
Do I believe the Gap theory
Wikipedia says the following about the Gap Theory
Gap creationism (also known as ruin-restoration creationism, restoration creationism, or "The Gap Theory") is a form of old Earth creationism that posits that the six-day creation, as described in the Book of Genesis, involved literal 24-hour days, but that there was a gap of time between two distinct creations in the first and the second verses of Genesis, explaining many scientific observations, including the age of the Earth. It differs from day-age creationism, which posits that the 'days' of creation were much longer periods (of thousands or millions of years), and from young Earth creationism, which although it agrees concerning the six literal 24-hour days of creation, does not posit any gap of time.Wikipedia Gap creationismWikipedia, the free encyclopedia WEB2013
People sometimes ask me if I believe in the gap theory and sometimes I say yes and sometimes no, depending on what I think they are actually asking. I believe that there was a gap but I do not necessarily hold all the tenets of the concept. Let me say what I do believe. God does not explain what happened before the age of man in any detail. In the Bible the beginning refers to the beginning of the age of man not any of the many other possible beginnings for someone who has lived eternally. The beginning is not the beginning of God or angels or the universe although we can pick up some insights into some of these as well.
A Renewal
Now I already hinted that I believe that Psalm 104:30 and Genesis 1 are talking about the same thing; a renewal of the Earth.
I also discuss the meaning of ‘created’ as used in the Bible. I hear people nowadays laughing at ‘tohu’ and ‘bohu’ and pointing symbolic fingers. It reminds me of when I was in school and children who had no shoes laughed and pointed fingers at children who wore cheap shoes. To me ‘tohu’ and ‘bohu’, meaning the understanding from the Hebrew text that Genesis 1:2 (And the earth was without form, and void) is to be interpreted as became waste and empty is a far superior explanation that that of the finger pointers.
At absolute zero there is no energy. There is no light at any wavelength. Everything crumbles into one mass of mush but some time before that things stabilise at a very cold, very inactive standstill. That would be the fate of a universe that was not sustained or maintained. In order to get things going again someone would have to supply energy which could easily be light or at least include light. Heat can be created by chemical reactions within a planet's core. Most things will survive without light for a few days but they will not survive extremely low temperatures. If you have a naturally decayed solar system or indeed universe then suns will die but I suspect that (perhaps because of entropy) there would be gravitational force to keep the solar systems and galaxies together. This is the condition that I believe is described in Genesis 1; a dead system that came about as a consequence of neglect and a satanic attitude. I used to believe that it was the whole universe but over time I recognised that the Bible never says that the whole universe was destroyed by Satan's actions. The Earth would become an ice planet because it has water, but if things got even colder then I have no idea what would happen to the Earth. At such low temperatures there would be no atmosphere because all of the gases would become liquid or solid. Adding energy (which would produce some level of light) would be the first step in rebuilding the atmosphere. In order to sustain it God would later create a sun.
Vacant Space
Some people argue that in the beginning of everything God created the Earth and lots of extra water and then he sent some of the water up to heaven and threw some planets and stars into the vacant space.
My first question then is what vacant space? Space does not occur naturally. Space is something it it NOT nothing. When the story begins in genesis there was already something there. The spirit of God moved over whatever it was.
Now this is not a science argument so I will not talk about red shift or dark matter and such. Space is an open area. It is something. If nothing exists then space does not exist. Space is what allows us to have here and there. If there is no space there is nowhere for anything to be. The first thing that would have to be created is space. In dealing with 'Science and the Universe' which I talk about in a separate article I will discuss the notion of an expanding universe. The argument for an expanding universe is based on the fact that light at the edge of the universe must go somewhere if is light because light moves. if it is at the edge then there is nowhere to go except to create a new edge but if there is no available space then what? It is logical to expect that there will always be space for the light to travel into hence the universe will expand. Notice the expanding universe does not require that space expands because space could be far bigger than the universe. For space to be there then someone would have to create it BEFORE creating the universe. As a matter of fact God is so great that in that space He could have created several universes. Genesis 1 begins with things already existing in space consequently it cannot be the beginning of all things.
Tohu and bohu
The description of the earth in genesis 1 using the Hebrew words tohu and bohu matches what is said in Jeremiah, using the same words, about the condition of land destroyed by God.
Jeremiah 4:19-31 (KJV)19My bowels, my bowels! I am pained at my very heart; my heart maketh a noise in me; I cannot hold my peace, because thou hast heard, O my soul, the sound of the trumpet, the alarm of war.20Destruction upon destruction is cried; for the whole land is spoiled: suddenly are my tents spoiled, and my curtains in a moment.21How long shall I see the standard, and hear the sound of the trumpet?22For my people is foolish, they have not known me; they are sottish children, and they have none understanding: they are wise to do evil, but to do good they have no knowledge.23I beheld the earth, and, lo, it was without form, and void; and the heavens, and they had no light.24I beheld the mountains, and, lo, they trembled, and all the hills moved lightly.25I beheld, and, lo, there was no man, and all the birds of the heavens were fled.26I beheld, and, lo, the fruitful place was a wilderness, and all the cities thereof were broken down at the presence of the LORD, and by his fierce anger.27For thus hath the LORD said, The whole land shall be desolate; yet will I not make a full end.28For this shall the earth mourn, and the heavens above be black: because I have spoken it, I have purposed it, and will not repent, neither will I turn back from it.29The whole city shall flee for the noise of the horsemen and bowmen; they shall go into thickets, and climb up upon the rocks: every city shall be forsaken, and not a man dwell therein.30And when thou art spoiled, what wilt thou do? Though thou clothest thyself with crimson, though thou deckest thee with ornaments of gold, though thou rentest thy face with painting, in vain shalt thou make thyself fair; thy lovers will despise thee, they will seek thy life.31For I have heard a voice as of a woman in travail, and the anguish as of her that bringeth forth her first child, the voice of the daughter of Zion, that bewaileth herself, that spreadeth her hands, saying, Woe is me now! for my soul is wearied because of murderers.
To me this describes what happened to the earth before. When this verse was written there was no human army that could cause this type of devastation. This describes God's direct wrath upon somewhere and to me it did not occur in human history but in the age before.
Sin and the Beginning
I would rather believe in tohu and bohu than in everything
beginning in the six days of Genesis because Genesis itself tells
us that things existed before. I believe that at the renewing of
the earth God separated the solidified gases and recreated an
atmosphere. The whole Earth was covered with solidified gas and
liquid to the height of Noah's flood and therefore the whole
surface was dark. I am not sure what
without form and void
means but it is not good and it is not something that we have at
present because it was. I tend to believe that it was without any
of the forms that He was about to create i.e. like flora and fauna
because the without form appears to be synonymous with void or
empty and then life came and we have what the writer talks about in
Romans.
Sin entered this age - or the renewed world - because of Adam but it was around long before in another age. Satan lied before Adam and Eve disobeyed. He said that they would not die, but Satan is a product of another age.
If Satan was a product of this age (world) the sin would have entered the world because of Satan not a man.
In summary I believe that this is man's age and the beginning in genesis is talking about the beginning of man but not the beginning of the universe or the angels. I believe that the universe was around for a very long time and has been re-energised once after Satan caused part of it to become a dead waste through his sin.