Created as Fully Functional
Devotions for Growing Christians
Created as Fully Functional
Here’s a fun thought to ponder: Did Adam have a belly button?
This question might seem silly or superficial, but it does focus our thoughts on a significant question about God's creative approach. What did creation look like immediately after it was completed? Did the earth look “brand new?” Or did it have the appearance of age? Did living things have to grow in size and complexity, or were they created with maturity? Did they have to develop and "learn," or were they fully functional right from the start?
For example, think about the trees God made in creation week. If Adam were to cut one down, would the trunk have age rings? Or would the cross-sections show no rings, because it didn’t have years of development?
In the animal kingdom, were all the animals created as babies, or were they created as mature and capable adults? Or, for ecological and population balance, were some of the animals created as adults, but others created in a variety of growth stages?
What about the stars? Were they created in the main sequence of their life cycle, or were some created as red giants, and some as supernovas, and some as white dwarfs? And did the light from these stars begin traveling through space when they were formed, or were pre-existing light beams also part of creation? (Remember, it takes hundreds, thousands, even millions of years for the light from some stars to reach earth.)
What about humans? Was Adam muscular right from the start, or was he weak and had to build up his strength? How long did it take Adam and Eve to learn to communicate with language? Did they speak in rudimentary "cave-man" type grunts, or could they communicate as knowledgeable adults, with a developed language right from the beginning?
For most Christians, the answers to these kinds of questions aren’t essential to their faith. In fact, many people never really consider thoughts such as this. But it’s valuable to think through these concepts. Remember 1 Peter 3:15 tells us that “if someone asks about your hope as a believer, always be ready to explain it.”
A Mature Creation in Six Days
The answers to these and other similar questions are largely determined by how Christians view the six days of Creation week. In Exodus 20:11 God told Moses, “For in six days the Lord made the heavens, the earth, the sea, and everything in them; but on the seventh day he rested.” A straightforward interpretation of this verse indicates that the days of Creation were normal 24-hour days. When Creation is viewed this way, then the best answer to all the questions above is that God created the universe with “built-in” maturity and full functionality. That is, at the completion of Creation week, “the heavens, the earth, the sea, and everything in them” had the appearance of age. Just as Jesus instantaneously changed water into fine wine with the “appearance of being aged,” God created a mature universe.
So Adam and Eve didn’t have to wait a few months for crops to ripen before they could eat. The trees and plants were already flowering and bearing fruit (See Genesis 1:11-13).
Similarly, Adam and Eve didn’t have to wait for years before they could see stars in the night sky. The implication of Genesis 1:14-19 is that all the stars created on Day 4 gave "light on the earth" right from the beginning. They were created fully functional -- light beams and "red shifts" included.
In a fully functional universe, the classic, “What came first, the chicken or the egg?” conundrum finally has an answer! Chickens of all ages were created, and some eggs as well. The animal kingdom was created ecologically and populationally balanced. This same idea applies to all the millions of unseen complexities which function together to complete our working universe.
Of course, in a fully functional universe, humans were created and placed on the earth as mature and developed adults. Scripture indicates that not only did Adam and Eve have adult bodies, but all the programming of their brains for thinking and communicating as adults was present at their creation.
Different Interpretations
Conceptualizing the origins of the universe is difficult, no matter how we view it. But even though the Bible spells things out in very plain language, not all Christians believe the universe was created in six 24-hour days.
Some Christians interprete the days of the Creation week as being symbolic for geologic ages. “Progressive Creation,” for example, is the belief that God created new forms of life gradually over a period of hundreds of millions of years. Another example, “Theistic evolution,” is the belief that God controlled the creation of everything over millions of years through natural occurrences and “Darwinian style” evolution.
It’s difficult to harmonize these various theories with the overwhelming clarity of the biblical passages that support that God brought the world into being in six literal days. Some examples would be Psalm 33:6-9, Psalm 148:1-6, Hebrews 11:3, Mark 10:6, and God Himself speaking in Exodus 20:11.
Even the simple statement about the lifespan of Adam in Genesis 5:5 is difficult to interpret if the days of Genesis are anything other than 24-hour periods of time. “Adam lived 930 years, and then he died.” So was Adam 1 1/2 geologic ages old (part of Day 6 and all of Day 7) plus 930 years when he died? And as a side note, the concept of age and time didn’t start after the Fall, as some have argued. Genesis 1:14 indicates the pre-Fall normal passage of time.
The Natural Definition of the Word
Exodus 20:11 may be the most powerful verse in this whole debate: “For in six days the Lord made the heavens, the earth, the sea, and everything in them…” It’s the explicit statement of Creation spoken by God. The context of this verse certainly indicates that God brought the whole universe into being in six literal 24-hour days. And it’s clear that Moses, the inspired author of Exodus, intended his readers to understand the text in this way. People don’t use the word “day” as a synonym for “geologic age.” Surely Moses would have explained this more clearly if he intended to communicate a concept other than a 24-hour days – especially if he wanted to communicate that it was actually millions of years. Interestingly, even non-Christian literary scholars point out that the first two chapters of Genesis are not written as figurative, poem, or parable.
Other Objections
There will always be people who debate the length of Creation week. Here are several of the most common arguments.
The Seventh Day
Creation took place over six days and God rested on the seventh. Some people argue that God is still resting from His work of creation – and that’s proof that at least the seventh day is a “geologic age.” But this is nothing more than a semantical argument. Just because God is still at rest doesn’t mean that the seventh day of the creation week was more than 24 hours.
Abnormally High Level of Activity on Day Six
Was there enough time for God to create all the land animals and insects, form Adam from the dust of the ground, plant the Garden of Eden, wait for Adam to name all the animals, and then perform the surgery on Adam to create Eve? Does this seem like more than could be possible in one good day's work? Not for an omnipotent God! When you think about it, there are really no limitations for an all-powerful God.
Time needed to name all the animals
How much time would it take for Adam to name all the animals? Could we name all the animals in the world in less than a day? This may sound like a reasonable dilemma at first, but let’s look at the text more closely.
Genesis 2:19 says that God brought the animals and birds right to Adam. He didn’t have to spend any time organizing or hunting through the woods.
Genesis 2:20 indicates that Adam didn’t have to name every kind of fish, insect and reptile that exists today. Many present-day species developed subsequent to the Garden of Eden, through genetic variation (not through evolution!).
Finally, it must be remembered that Adam, in his unfallen state, would have had tremendous mental capabilities. Consider the amazing brain power of current-day prodigies and geniuses that emerge from the human gene pool, even after many generations of genetic damage. And don’t forget, the Lord was helping him as well.
2 Peter 3:8
In discussions about Creation week, 2 Peter 3:8 is often quoted as “proof” that the days of Genesis were actually geologic ages: "A day is like a thousand years to the Lord, and a thousand years is like a day.” But this verse was never intended to be used as a formula any time the word "day" occurs in the Bible. When taken in its proper context, 2 Peter 3:8 teaches that God's schedule of activities is not bound by time.
Incidentally, Theistic Evolution and other similar theories require more time than 6000 years anyway. So even if 2 Peter 3:8 is used improperly as an equation, "one thousand years as a day" would have to be expanded to "millions of years as a day"!
It may be hard for our natural minds to think through many of these concepts. However, the only natural and straightforward conclusion that we can draw from God's Word is this:
In six literal 24-hour days, God created a universe that was fully functional.
- Dave Reid
(Updated 2022, Ron Reid)