Creation And Formation

Existence in its basic understanding is in two categories: spiritual existence and physical existence. These two plains of existence must be understood in grammatical terms. The word 'create' is associated with spiritual existence, whereas, the word 'form' is associated with physical existence. A misunderstanding of these two words has been the bedrock of confusion in most religious sects. The famous creation story has widely been misconstrued; more than 90% of humanity thinks of the creation story as a physical appearance rather than a spiritual occurrence. The creation story was an account of spiritual occurrences. Let us consider the book of Genesis chapter 1, in this chapter, God is said to have created everything and so one would expect that by chapter 2, everything should be physically existing however, this is not so. By the time we get to chapter 2, the bible still says there was nothing on the face of the earth- God now had to form the things which he had created.

Gen 1:11-13

And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth: and it was so.

And the earth brought forth grass, and herb yielding seed after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself, after his kind: and God saw that it was good.

And the evening and the morning were the third day.

Gen 2:4-6

This is the account of the heavens and the earth when they were created, when the Lord God made the earth and the heavens. Now no shrub had yet appeared on the earth and no plant had yet sprung up, for the Lord God had not sent rain on the earth and there was no one to work the ground, but streams came up from the earth and watered the whole surface of the ground.

The scriptures above seem to contradict because it was clearly stated in chapter 1 that God created the trees and shrubs and plants but when we get to chapter 2, the same bible says there was no shrub or plant and that they had to grow first. Wait a minute! They had to grow? They seemed to have appeared on the earth fully grown when God spoke them into being in chapter one, how is it that chapter two says they had to grow first? It is simple; chapter one spoke of their appearance into the spirit realm- their spiritual existence, where things just appear and do not need to grow. However, when they had to show up physically, they had to obey the laws of nature. Trees do not just appear on a field physically, they grow.

Also in chapter one, God is said to have created every living animal but when we get to chapter two, there was no animal, he now had to form them.

Gen 1:21,24

And God created great whales, and every living creature that moveth, which the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind, and every winged fowl after his kind: and God saw that it was good.

And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after his kind: and it was so.

Gen 2:18-19

And the Lord God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him.

And out of the ground the Lord God formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air; and brought them unto Adam to see what he would call them: and whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that was the name thereof.

You may also have noticed that in chapter 2, when God began to give physical expressions to what he had created in the spirit realm, it was not in the same order of appearance. Chapter 2 tells us that there was a man needed to till the ground before the plants could grow and the animals were formed after the man was formed.

Let us also look at the creation and formation of man.

Gen 1:26-27

And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.

So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.

In these verses, both the male and the female were created (that means both male and female men were brought into spiritual existence) but when we get to the formation, we are told that there was no man and even when God formed the man, he only formed the male first.

Gen 2:5-7

And every plant of the field before it was in the earth, and every herb of the field before it grew: for the Lord God had not caused it to rain upon the earth, and there was not a man to till the ground.  But there went up a mist from the earth, and watered the whole face of the ground. And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.

Creation and formation should not be confused because just a misunderstanding of these two terminologies have led many into various misconceptions of scripture. God made everything but in the making, God first had to bring the thing into spiritual existence (creation), then into physical existence (formation). Thus, creation plus formation equals making. God said “Let us make man...” but in making the man, he first created them then he formed them.

With this article, I seek to enrich your understanding of scripture so that anywhere you see the words "create", "make", or "form", you will have a better picture of what was being described.

Peace be unto you.