1 Gen 1; Heb 11:3; Prov 16:4

How did our present universe come into existence? Dr RC Sproul in his book Not a Chance (Baker, 1994) reduced all the options ever forwarded by cosmologists and philosophers into 4. The first is the cosmos is an illusion; it does not exist. However this is a meaningless assertion, for if the cosmos does not exists, we will not be asking how it came into assertion! Secondly, some say that the cosmos is self-existent and eternal. Those who hold to this theory suggest that the present universe came about through a big bang 17 billion years ago. But this theory cannot account for the existence of the condense piece of material and energy that is said to have exploded. Where did the energy come from? What triggered the explosion? This theory goes against logic and the scientific demand that nothing can come out of nothing (ex nihilo nihil fit). The third theory is that the cosmos is self-created. But this again does not answer the question, for something must exist before it creates something else. The fourth option is the only one logical and valid, namely that the cosmos is created by a infinite and external God.

The Bible does not even allow any room to doubt this truth. It begins with the words: "In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth" (Gen 1:1). These words affirm that God has always existed but indicates there was a ‘time’ when the heaven and the earth did not exist. Indeed, nothing existed but God, and time was not yet, for time begun when God begun to create. So we affirm of the writer of Hebrews: "Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear" (Heb 11:3).

And God created by the "word of His power," i.e. a simple nod that displays the greatness of his power. He created the world in 6 days. These are not 6 indefinite periods, but 6 literal days, for the references to the terms "evening and morning" (e.g. v. 5, 8, etc) as well as the ordinal first, second, third etc used to describe each day, makes it impossible exegetically to take these days other than as literal days. God could certainly have created all things in a split second, but for our sakes He created all things in 6 days and rested on the seventh (when He need not rest).

In the first day, the heaven and the earth, including all the angelic hosts (cf. Job 38:6-7) were created. Then light was created in order to make material things visible.

In the second day, the atmosphere surrounding the earth and such things as clouds were created.

In the third day, dry land was exposed from the sea, and the flora kingdom was created.

In the fourth day, God made the cosmic bodies such as stars, the sun and the moon. From that day on, light shone upon the earth through these sources.

In the fifth day, birds and fishes and all other creatures that live in water and in the sea were created.

Finally, on the sixth day, God made land animals, and then to cap his creation, he made man after his own image.

God’s creation was "all very good." There were no defects. Everything was perfectly crafted for the purpose for which they were brought into existence. Sin had not yet entered into the world.