This is the Day that the Lord has Made

This is the Day that the Lord has Made

This is the day which the LORD hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it. - Psalm 118:24

In Genesis chapter 1 we read the account of the creation of the heavens and the earth. The First day: God creates light. The light is divided from the darkness, and "day" and "night" are named. The Second day: God creates a firmament to divide the waters above from the waters below. The firmament is named "skies." The Third day: God commands the waters below to be gathered together in one place, and dry land to appear. "Earth" and "sea" are named. God commands the earth to bring forth grass, plants, and fruit-bearing trees (the fourth command). The Fourth day: God creates lights in the firmament to separate light from darkness and to mark days, seasons and years. Two great lights are made and the stars. The Fifth day: God commands the sea to "teem with living creatures", and birds to fly across the heavens. He creates birds and sea creatures, and commands them to be fruitful and multiply. The Sixth day: God commands the land to bring forth living creatures; He makes wild beasts, livestock and reptiles. He then creates Man and Woman in His "image" and "likeness". They are told to "be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it." Humans and animals are given plants to eat. The Seventh day: God, having completed the heavens and the earth, rests from His work, and blesses and sanctifies the seventh day. The totality of creation is described by God as "very good." He said it was very good because He saw that everything He created was serving the purpose for which He created it. God spoke words into the void and out of nothing everything came into being. “So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it” (Isaiah 55:11).

Notice that in each day only the things that fit into God’s plan and purpose were created. Each day contained only those things which were necessary for that day, no more and no less. This process continued for six days and when each one was finished, He ended it and called that day “good.”

Why did God the Father call each day “good?” Each day had a plan. Each day had a purpose. And each thing that was created in each day was designed by God to fulfill what He called it to do and that was to supply every need to the crown of His creation – Man.

Another thing to note about the account of creation in the book of Genesis, is this – the things that were to be placed in the day were created before it was called a day. No wonder Jesus “…in the morning, rising up a great while before day, …went out, and departed into a solitary place, and there prayed” (Mark 1:35). I believe Jesus understood that what God the Father planned for that day would be revealed before the day started. (To be continued).