Nothing. There was nothing there. Just empty nothingness. So
God decided to do something about it. He made outer space and the earth, but
the earth was very different than it is today. It was empty and watery and very
dark. Darkness is OK sometimes, but this was too dark. So God said, “LET THERE
BE LIGHT!” Ah, that was better! God separated the light and the darkness, and
He loved it! He called the light day and the darkness night. A lot of important
stuff happened that first day.
The next day, God continued His big project. He decided to
separate the water. Some of the water stayed below, and some of it went up. He
called the space between the waters sky.
The third day, things got really interesting. God decided to
gather the water below together, and pretty soon, stuff came out of the water.
It dried up, and He called it land. He called the water sea. Now that was cool!
Then God said, “OK, now let’s grow some plants!” So grass and trees grew. New
bushes sprouted up. Pine trees climbed into the sky and grew cones. Flowers
bloomed. Apple trees came up. Palm trees spread out their long and feathery
branches and grew fruits like coconuts and dates. Every kind of plant and tree
you can think of grew out of the ground. Many of them had fruits. This was
super cool!
Next day, God said, “OK, time to separate the lights in the
sky.” So He separated the day from the night. He made the stars. One star in
particular, the sun, would shine on the earth during the day, and its light
would shine on a smaller ball in the sky, the moon, to provide light during the
night. God was really excited about this new development.
So the fifth day dawned. Now that the land, the sea, the
light and the plants were ready, it was time for God to create more life. Fish
swam in the sea. Birds flew through the air and perched in the trees. Eagles
soared above it all, while sea anemone and coral grew underwater, and the
clownfish swam in and out of them. Jellyfish floated in the water. Octopi
walked across the ocean floor on all eight legs. Pterodactyls flew overhead.
Doves and blackbirds excitedly got to know their new lives and habitats.
Then came the sixth day. God wasn’t done making animals. He
had made animals to fill the sea and the sky the day before, but now it was
time to make animals on land. Dogs and cats chased each other while elephants
trumpeted, bears and lions roared, insects scurried around, horses neighed and
cows mooed. T-rexes chased their prey, and giraffes and brontosauruses reached
high into the trees to find the most delicious leaves. Snakes slithered, and
worms burrowed in the ground. This was awesome!
But there was still something missing. God said, “OK, time
to make people! They’ll look like Me!” So God made a man and a woman. He told
them to take care of the land and the animals, the sea and the sky. They were
allowed to eat the fruit and leaves from the plants and the meat from the
animals.
God looked at this whole big work of art He had made those
first six days, and it was great!
So the sun set, and when it rose the next day, God rested.
The past week had been a lot of work, and He needed to take a break.
