I say that when He created the heavens and the earth he created them perfectly in one moment.
Yet Genesis 1 says He took 6 days to do it, and that He ceased making on the seventh day.
This is question begging.
You need to show that He did, whereas we simply accept what the Bible says, which is that He created in 6 days, and rested on the seventh.
When He created man did He not created him perfectly?
He did. And?
Why would He create the earth differently than the way that He created man?
What makes you think He did?
He took matter that He created, formed it into a ball, and turned some of that matter into water. Then made the crust of the earth, and on the dry land and the seas and He made plants, animals, and in the sky birds and flying creatures, insects. He then took some of the dust of the earth, and sculpted an image, then breathed life itself into that image, and made Man.
Or do you think that when He created man the man was formless and then the LORD had to give him a form?
The Bible tells us how God made man.
He took the dust from the earth and made an image, then breathed life into it.
Genesis 2:7.
The word used is "yatsar," to form.
So to answer your question, yes, man had no form prior to God creating him. God took dust from the earth, formed into the shape of an image God created, then breathed life into it.
Just like He had been doing for the past 6 days.
If your answer is "no" then explain why you believe that the LORD would make the earth formless and then give it a form?
The very first verse in Genesis says God CREATED (bara) the heavens and the earth.
It says nothing about forming them.
The second verse in the Bible says that the heavens and the earth that God had just created (bara) was without form and void.
God hadn't formed it into anything yet.
That's literally what it means to be "without form".
God created matter and the universe, but the matter had no form because God hadn't formed it into anything yet.
Jerry, have you ever seen a potter at work? Ever made pottery before?
I have.
You take a lump of wet clay, slam it down in the center of the wheel (so that it sticks well), and then you start turning the wheel. Then you get your hands dirty. You start by smoothing out the clay, trying to get it round, and centering it even further on the wheel.
It takes a lot of effort for a person to mold clay on a wheel, but here's the thing:
If someone is working at a potter's wheel, they aren't doing it because they're forced to, because they have no other option.
Rather, they're doing it because they enjoy the way the clay feels in their hands, they enjoy molding it into a beautiful vase or jar or bowl.
Where do you think that love for molding came from, Jerry?
Could it have been from God Himself? Creation was a new experience for God, as He had never done it before. Maybe He found out that molding things was something He enjoyed doing, and so took the next six days to mold the universe to be inhabited by creatures that He made, and then, to top it all off, He made a creature above all the others, Man, to have dominion over what God had made.
You don't think the LORD could get it right the first try?
Of course He could. But that's moving the goalposts.
God, if He had wanted to, could have snapped His fingers and created a universe fully formed.
But He didn't do it all at once.
He took the time to do it in six days, because He could do that also, and He enjoyed molding His creation into something He liked.
Does the LORD bear the ultimate responsibility for what Paul wrote about the present creation?:
"We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time" (Ro.8:22).
No, He doesn't. That belongs to man.
Which is why you have no grounds to stand on by claiming that there was a gap between Genesis 1:1 and 1:2, because the only being that existed at that point was God. Therefore, if Creation had become formless and void, instead of God creating it, and it no having form to begin with and then God forming it to be inhabited, it would mean that, no matter how much time had passed, the twinkling of an eye, or billions upon billions of years, either A) God would have had to have been at fault, because He did something wrong in creating the universe so that it ended up formless and void, or B) God couldn't create something that could last that long even though there were no other beings besides Himself, meaning that what God created wasn't perfect to begin with. Either way, neither of those two options reflect Isaiah 45:18.
That's YOUR position, Jerry. Not ours.
In
The Bible Knowledge Commentary we read the following about Romans 8:22:
"God judged the totality of His creation along with people for their son."
:blabla:
