Thus began a gradual process for making the world a place where flowers and fruits could grow, where animal life could exist, and where man could live happily. With the coming of light, the first stage of creation ended.
During the second period of creation God caused the waters of the chaotic expanse of the universe to break asunder, thus forming the arch of sky which He called the heaven. Then as the world began to take form, its surface covered with vast waters, He caused the waters to come together in vast oceans, commanded the land to rise up in great continents and islands, and ordered the formation of great lakes and rivers throughout the land. He called the water Sea, and the dry land Earth, and the third creative period ended with the command that the earth produce vegetation, trees, and growths of every kind.
During the fourth period of Creation the Lord ordered the sun and moon and stars to come into being and to assume their proper relation to the earth, and the dark clouds and mist which covered the whole face of the earth were rolled away. The sun began to shine by day, and the moon and stars by night. The countless worlds which revolve through space were thus brought into existence, and assigned to their functions in relation to the earth, by the voice of Omnipotence.
God then commanded the waters of the sea to bring forth fishes, both small and great, and ordered that the air be filled with winged creatures; this was the work of the fifth period of creation. On the sixth day He commanded that the earth be filled with animals and creeping things, The whole land became inhabited with living creatures which roamed in the forests, grazed upon the plains, and moved about everywhere. Every form of animal life was germinated by the power of God.
Now that a state of chaos had given place to order, and the earth had been provided with vegetation and animal life, the world was ready for the creation of man. Then 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 He created him; male and female He created them." This creation was separate and distinct from all previous creations. It took place as the climax and completion of the creative work of God. The physical elements in the creation of man came from the earth, but the life that flowed into Adam's body was the "breath of God." Thus man became the offspring of God in respect to intelligence, moral nature, and immortality. He was endowed with creative genius, and the power of dominion. Invested with God-like attributes he was placed in this beautiful world and given authority over all its creatures and latent powers.
Man was commanded to "multiply and to replenish the earth." He was endued with the power to sing hymns, to offer prayers, and to commune with God. He was gifted with intelligence, the power of thought, and with a benevolent disposition; to these endowments were added the passion of love, the faculties of understanding and reasoning, and the power of choice which is called free-will. He was placed upon the earth as its tenant, and as a steward of the Creator. His chief end was to glorify God and to carry out the Divine will in His creation. He was in a state of innocence, and though occupying a position a little lower than the angels of Heaven, he was permitted to share with them the intimate and perpetual fellowship of God. Man was to declare the glory of God in language more eloquent than the voice of the Heavens, to utter his benevolence in ways more brilliant than the emanations of light, and to magnify His name in powers and deeds far superior to all previous manifestations of the creative energy. Having been endowed with creative genius by which he can induce combinations of material forces and produce new forms of material power, he is to use these for God's glory.
In whatever circumstances man may be placed today, he should always remember that the world and all that it contains, as well as all the hidden potentialities of the universe, were created by God for the welfare and happiness of all mankind. It was for man that:
"God spake, and on the new dressed earth
Soft smiled the glowing sun,
Then full of joy He sprang aloft,
His heanenly course to run."
All nature tells us that God is, that He is supremely great, and that His chief concern is the security and happiness of His greatest creation.
