Several days ago, we were discussing why God took six days to create the universe instead of creating it instantly. And one reason we brought up was because God’s work of “sculpting” the cosmos demonstrated something of his infinite creativity, power, and glory.But there is another reason...
The pattern of six days of work and one day of rest provides mankind with a spiritual and practical pattern for weekly living. We are designed to work for six days, and rest on one. We are designed to be productive for six days, and to be meditative on one. We are designed to “sweat” for God for six days, and to “swoon” on him on one. That is the nature of our being which from the very beginning of time has been imprinted even on the very order of creation. That’s how important it is!
In his book Creation and Change, Dr. Kelly writes,
Further confirmation of Genesis ‘days’ as plain, solar days is provided by the reason annexed to the fourth commandment (‘Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy’) in Exodus 20:11: ‘For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.’ The crucial point here is that God’s creative work, followed by rest, forms the pattern of wholesome life for His image bearer, mankind. Apparently, mankind is so important to the infinite God that He arranged His creative activity specifically to set the structure for human life. That must be a major reason why God created over six days rather than in a split-second (or a hundred billion years).
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