God first came forth from the essential fullness of His Being to display His eternal power, wisdom, and Godhead glory.
"Behold, God exalteth by his power: who teacheth like him?" (Job 36:22).
Ultimately He displayed His holiness, love, and grace, when redemption was accomplished on the cross of Christ.
"Bless the LORD, O my soul. O LORD my God, thou art very great; thou art clothed with honor and majesty" (Psa. 104:1).
Order of Creation Given in Psalm 104
1. "Who coverest thyself with light as with a garment" (Psa. 104:2).
Here, God for the first time was beginning to unveil Himself amidst the incalculable stretch of space. What a glory is His! With what splendor He covereth Himself!
"For whatsoever doth make manifest is light" (Eph. 5:13).
2. "Who stretchest out the heavens like a curtain" (Psa. 104:2).
"By the word of the LORD were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth" (Psa. 33:6).
The measure of God's power is the infinite glory of His person.
"O God, how wide Thy glory shines,
How high Thy wonders rise!
Known thro' the earth by thousand signs,
By thousands through the skies.
"Those mighty orbs proclaim Thy power,
Their motions speak Thy skill:
And on the wings of every hour,
We read Thy patience still."
(Little Flock Hymnbook #335)
3. "Who layeth the beams of his (upper) chambers in the waters" (Psa. 104:3).
These chambers are created dwellings. The angels have their dwellings in the heavens, some of which have been corrupted since creation but shall be renewed when the earth is renewed (Rev. 12:8; Rev. 21:1).
4. "Who maketh the clouds his chariot" (Psa. 104:3).
Are we not told of His coming in the clouds?
"Then we which are alive and remain, shall be caught up together with them in the clouds" (1 Thess. 4:17).
"Behold, he cometh with clouds" (Rev. 1:7).
5. "Who walketh upon the wings of the wind" (Psa. 104:3).
"And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting" (Acts 2:2).
"And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost" (Acts 2:4).
6. "Who maketh his angels spirits; his ministers a flaming fire" (Psa. 104:4).
The heavens were completed before the angels who were to inhabit them were created (Rev. 12:7,8). The angels are "ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation" (Heb. 1:14). They are also ministers of judgment (2 Thess. 1:7).
7. "Who laid the foundations of the earth, that it should not be removed forever" (Psa. 104:5).
This seems to be the last of the seven parts of the physical creation at this period. The earth was a special creation all of its own, prepared to be inhabited.
We are not told that any other heavenly body, star, or planet was created to be inhabited, and we know that there are no men dwelling on any other heavenly body, because Adam was the first man. The creation of earth was given a special place in the book of Job.
"Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth?" (Job 38:4)
"When the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy?" (Job 38:7)
It is impossible for us to picture the tremendous display of glory as the myriads of angels viewed the earth coming into being. The light, the heavens, the chambers on the waters, the clouds, the wind, were already there when the angels were created.
What a sight to behold the newly created angels (the sons of God) shouting for joy as they experienced the creation of the special planet upon which God's counsels rest.
Who naturally would think that among all of the myriads of great stars (suns), our infinitesimal planet, earth, should have the honorable place where God's eternal counsels in Christ would be brought to light and secured?
"Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear" (Heb. 11:3).
Sometime following the creation of the universe (Gen. 1), Satan, who was the highest in order and most glorious of angels, fell because of pride (Ezek. 28:11-19). This began "the mystery of God" in which He allows evil to continue unpunished for a season until it fully ripens (Rev. 10:7).
Earth Without Form Void
"And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep" (Gen. 1:2).
All was left a waste, covered with water and darkness. How long this condition existed we are not told, nor are we given details of this tremendous convulsion of the earth and sea, and perhaps succeeding ones.
"The secret things belong unto the LORD our God: but those things which are revealed belong unto us and to our children forever" (Deut. 29:29).
Marvelous underwater formations, the mountains, valleys, springs, lakes, rivers, meadows, hidden deposits of gems, minerals, etc., appeared at the great unveiling when God caused the waters to recede, and He set their bounds.
"Or who shut up the sea with doors, when it brake forth, as if it had issued out of the womb?" (Job 38:8)
"And said, Hitherto shalt thou come, but no further: and here shall thy proud waves be stayed?" (Job 38:11)
The Present Earth
"For thus saith the LORD that created the heavens; God himself that formed the earth and made it; he hath established it, he created it not in vain (a waste), he formed it to be inhabited: I am the LORD, and there is none else" (Isa. 45:18).
"The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament showeth his handiwork" (Psa. 19:1).
This present earth was formed in six literal days, which included the placings of the sun, moon, and stars.
"Thou hidest thy face, they are troubled: thou takest away their breath, they die, and return to their dust" (Psa. 104:29).
Whatever creatures and vegetation might have been created before that time succumbed in the cataclysm.
"Thou sendest forth thy spirit, they are created: and thou renewest the face of the earth" (Psa. 104:30).
The first man Adam was created on the sixth day in the image and likeness of God (Gen. 1:26-31).
Out of Adam's riven side God formed the woman to be Adam's helpmate, giving a preview of God's counsels concerning Christ and the Church (Gen.
2:21-24). This took place before Adam's fall in the garden of Eden, showing that God had a plan before sin entered into the present earth.
There is a purpose with the woman, both in the first and the new creation. Adam, with Eve, was given a dispensation of headship over all creation on earth or sea (Gen. 2:18). This typifies the last Adam (Christ) whose glory is above all dispensation.
In the counsels of God, Christ as Man is given headship with His wife over all created things in the universe. The first Adam's fall cost him his dispensation, but the last Adam's (Christ's) dispensation can never end.
"And Adam called his wife's name Eve; because she was the mother of all living" (Gen. 3:20).
God has never left Himself without witness from the beginning of creation, as we see in Adam's act of faith.
"There is a path which no fowl knoweth, and which the vulture's eye (keenest in nature) hath not seen: The lion's whelps (strongest in nature) have not trodden it, nor the fierce lion (sagacious) passed by it" (Job 28:7,8).
This path has always been available to man and will still be so until the Lord comes, the path of faith by the power of the Spirit of God. It was trodden by antediluvian saints, by Noah, and by Abraham, the father of faith.
The period without law (liberty of conscience) and that of the law of Moses prove the complete depravity of Adam's race.
"For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive" (1 Cor. 15:22).
The epoch between the fall of Adam and the incarnation of Christ shows God's ways, not His purposes, except hints in the form of types, pictures, etc. (Psa. 103:7).