It seems that nowadays, whenever atheists and Christians debate, it is solely about their views of creation. Atheists love to say that evolution is a fact beyond a shadow of a doubt, and that by being true, it somehow disproves the existence of God. Many of the most vocal Christians claim that the earth is only 6,000 years old and that science is flat out wrong.
This is another one of those topics where people pretend that there are only two options, with each side refusing to even listen to the other. This is also one of those topics that I have a complete different view than the majority.
It is my belief that the earth of today is not the 'original' earth, but a restored earth. That may sound strange to most people and seem like something out of a sci-fi movie, but bear with me. It is my hope that by reading this post, you will at least gain a basic understanding of what is known as "the Genesis Gap" or "Gap Theory."
By believing in the Genesis Gap, I am not calling into question the salvation of any Christian with a different view of creation. I believe that this is not an issue about salvation, but simply about gaining a better understanding as to how the earth was made and God's redemption plan for all of creation, through the Lord Jesus Christ.
Let's start with Genesis 1:1
"In the beginning God created the heaven and earth."
That is a very simple statement and one that all Christians can agree on. It doesn't get into specifics such as when or how, but simply states that God created the heaven and earth in the beginning.
For a picture as to what this may have been like, let's look at Job 38:4-11
"Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth? declare, if thou hast understanding. Who hath laid the measures thereof, if thou knowest? or who hath stretched the line upon it? Whereupon are the foundations thereof fastened? or who laid the corner stone thereof; When the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy? Or who shut up the sea with doors, when it brake forth, as if it had issued out of the womb? When I made the cloud the garment thereof, and thick darkness a swaddlingband for it, And brake up for it my decreed place, and set bars and doors, And said, Hitherto shalt thou come, but no further: and here shall thy proud waves be stayed?"
From this passage, we can conclude two things: one, the creation was glorious as evidenced by the 'morning stars' and 'sons of God' shouting for joy, and two, that the earth's waters came from within the earth itself. New scientific discoveries seem to be confirming this and challenging the belief that the waters came from meteorites in the far distant past.
So, by going back to Genesis 1:1 and taking into consideration what Job says about the creation, we can get a picture of a glorious earth and heaven in existence at this point. Let's continue on to Genisis 1:2 to see what it says:
"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."
Now we see a completely different picture of the earth, one that is in ruin. Also note, the presence of the earth, darkness, face of the deep, and waters. These things are already in existence before God said "Let there be light," which so many view as the first act of creation.
At this point, you may be thinking that maybe he created the earth without form and void much like a potter will ready his clay first before making a vase, but let's look at Isaiah 45:18
"For thus saith the LORD that created the heavens; God himself that formed the earth and made it; he hath established it, he created it not in vain, he formed it to be inhabited: I am the LORD; and there is none else."
The word 'vain' in this passage is translated from the same Hebrew word that 'without form' was translated from in Genesis 1:2. So by considering both of these passages, it seems that God did not start out with a formless and void earth, but for some reason it became that way.
To find out the why, let's look at 2 Peter 3:5-7
"For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water: Whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished: But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men."
Here, we find a description of a flood that not only affected the earth but the heavens as well. Noah's flood comes to mind here, since it was a flood that wiped out the world's population (except for Noah's family), but did that flood affect the heavens? Notice that heavens is plural, that is because when the Bible uses the word heaven, it can refer to three different 'heavens.' The first heaven is the earth's atmosphere, which was affected in Noah's flood. The second heaven is outer space which was not affected, and the third heaven is where God's throne is located.
Since the flood in Peter affected the 'heavens' it must mean that more than one heaven was affected. Also notice the description of the earth itself - "the earth standing OUT of the water and IN the water." This seems to be describing a flood on a cosmic scale, one that affected not only the earth, but the solar system as well. For if the earth is standing out of the water and in the water, it would be like a fishing bobber as it sits on the water. Neither of these describe Noah's flood.
Science shows that there is evidence of mega flooding on Mars, which would agree with this point of view. Scientists are not certain where this water came from but theorize that it came from deep within Mars itself.
The Mars map shows the location of the nearly 1,000-kilometer Marte Vallis channel system on Mars created during an ancient mega-flood. Marte Vallis is filled with lava obscuring the source and morphology of the channels
Now, let's take all of the above verses and put them together to form what we know about the earth at this point.
God created a glorious earth in the beginning and it had been destroyed by a cosmic flood. At this point, all life and heavenly bodies had been subject to the flood, thereby resulting in the death of all life, and the ruin of the planets, sun, and stars.
With this in mind, let's now look at the Genesis account of creation to see if this view is compatible.
Genesis 1:3-5: 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.
The first day of Creation, light is called forth, God calls it good, and names the light, Day, and the darkness, Night. Pretty simple passage that really needs no explanation
Genesis 1:6-8 And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.And 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. And God called the firmament Heaven. And the evening and the morning were the second day.
Having already confirmed that water was in existence before the first day, we now see the act of God dividing the waters. We can see that He placed water above the firmament and below the firmament, but what exactly is a firmament? For that answer, we must look at other verses that use this word.
In Genesis 1:20, we can read that birds fly in the firmament so it must be referring to the sky, or first heaven, but in Genesis 1:14, we read that He placed the sun and stars in the firmament, as well. That means that the firmament is not only first heaven, where the birds fly, but includes second heaven, also. This means that the waters above the firmament rest between second and third heaven, while the waters below refer to the oceans, lakes, and rivers here on earth.
Also note, that this day of creation WAS NOT referred to as 'good.' As you will see as you continue to read the account of creation, this is the only day not called good. Using the facts we have at the moment, we can see that God placed a sea of separation between His realm and the physical world below, but why would he do that?
First, let's see if this 'sea' above the firmament is mentioned elsewhere.
- Psalms 148:4 mentions waters above the heavens.
- Revelation 4:6 describes a 'sea of glass' before God's throne.
- Revelation 21:1 tells of the new heaven and earth and mentions that the sea is gone.
By reading these verses, we see that the 'sea' exists between second and third heaven and it will cease to exist upon the creation of the new heaven and earth. This sea is very similar to the veil in the temple of the Old Testament. It is what separates the Holy of Holies from the corruptible world beyond.
So why then, would God place a barrier between Himself and the world before Adam and Eve sinned, and why would he not call something He did good? For that answer, we must look into the cause of the cosmic flood as well as the origin of Lucifer and his fall. This will give you a better understanding of God's overall plan for not only mankind, but for all of creation, itself.
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I am going to end Part 1 of this study here and, hopefully, I will be able to post Part 2 soon. I will continue on with the days of creation and point out some interesting facts that you might have never noticed before. After that, we will get into the origin of Lucifer and his fall and how that played a role in the original earth's demise.
If you find this topic interesting, please visit The Bible, Genesis, and Geology for more in-depth information. I have gotten much of my information from there and it has been a valuable resource in my personal studies on this matter.
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