Then God said, “Let us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” Gen 1:26 (NASU)
God created the earth alone; the land, sea, atmosphere, plants, animals, birds, fish, and all creatures, visible and invisible, all in a perfectly organized sequence.
The bible enables us to understand that the creation and population of the earth took God six whole days. That is thought provoking because The Almighty God could have finished it all within a twinkle of an eye. Yes, this is possible if God could call those things that were not into existence as if they were. Roman 4:17.
But, from Genesis 1:1-28 we see a God who cherishes His creation so much that He sees no reason for him to rush the process of creating them. He will simply create something and wait for several hours to assess and observe it, looking at it through His holy and all-seeing eyes.He will carefully observe each creation and gave it a pass mark before retiring for the day. This, He did diligently, for six days.
Why do you think God has to do that?
He was looking for perfection: Our God is a perfect God; there is no fault, blemish or imperfection in Him. Hence it is only necessary for Him to create an earth system where all things work together in perfect harmony, just the way He wanted them to be, and all for His divine purpose.
He was looking for conformity: God has a purpose for everything He created. He does not just make things, He has a divine plan for even the least of His creation, hence God has to analyze each creation and identify whether it is conforming to that purpose. This includes man.
He was looking for beauty: God wanted a beautiful earth – a real replica of heaven where He wanted man (who He created in His image and likeness) to dwell and take dominion. For this reason He wanted to make sure that everything was really beautiful.`
He was looking for glory: Each creation was apportioned a level of glory which was necessary for them to fulfill divine purpose. The master planner Himself ensured that this was so, before putting His final approval on it.
The Almighty God took time to create the earth as a perfect, beautiful and glorious abode for all His creations.
And finally…
God saw all that He had made, and behold, it was very good – Gen 1:31.
What is the lesson that God wants us to learn here? He wants us to appreciate the beautiful earth we inherited, and the only way we can do that is to take care of the earth. How do you think God will feel when He sees men abusing the earth with activities that lead to global warming, drought, famine and such like? It can make Him angrier because we are not fulfilling divine purpose.
To make the matter worse, many do not even believe that God exists, nor created the earth, not to talk of reverencing Him. This is sad.
How great will it be if we can all worship God for giving us a beautiful and well planned earth? This is the reason why we must all give recognition to the Creation Day. The day that had been accepted globally to celebrate the beginning of the existence of our earth, and remind people that God created the earth and all that is in it.
Let the people praise thee, O God; let all the people praise thee. Then shall the earth yield her increase; and God, even our own God, shall bless us. God shall bless us; and all the ends of the earth shall fear him. Ps 67:5-7 KJV