We now move to spiritual day/age 2 and begin with an overview provided in Genesis 1.

Then God said, “Let there be an expanse [firmament] in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters.”  And God made the expanse, and separated the waters which were below the expanse from the waters which were above the expanse; and it was so.  And God called the expanse heaven.  And there was evening and there was morning, a second day.  Genesis 1:6-8  KJV

Placed in between the separated waters is an expanse or firmament called heaven, which includes the earth.

This is the account of the heavens and the earth when they were created, in the day that the LORD God made earth and heaven.  Genesis 2:4  NASB

That day in which God Almighty made earth and heaven is spiritual day/age 2, whose time frame is determined by the events recorded in Genesis 1.1 through Chapter 7 (the cataclysmic flood of Noah’s time)

Notice in Genesis 2:4 that one of the appearances of the word “heaven” is plural.  We turn to the writings of the apostle Paul regarding multiple heavens.

I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago–whether in the body I do not know, or out of the body I do not know, God knows–such a man was caught up to the third heaven.  And I know how such a man–whether in the body or apart from the body I do not know, God knows–was caught up into Paradise, and heard inexpressible words, which a man is not permitted to speak.  2Corinthians 12:2-4  NASB

The parallelism of this scripture–the repetition of words or phrases which agree in meaning and grammar–suggests the equivalence of Paradise and the third heaven.  A common interpretation of three heavens is that the first two heavens are the universe constrained by space-time.  The first heaven is the earth’s atmosphere where the birds fly and the clouds float.  The second heaven is the physical universe beyond the earth’s atmosphere which contains the moon, the planets, the sun, the stars, and all else.  The third heaven is the timeless, spiritual component of creation, which includes God Almighty’s residence.

Then the Levitical priests arose and blessed the people; and their voice was heard and their prayer came to His holy dwelling place, to heaven.  2Chronicles 30:27  NASB

So, God Almighty made the heavens and the earth in one day, which is day/age 2, and the description of the creation of the physical universe is simply God made the expanse (Gen 1:7).

(as it is written, “A FATHER OF MANY NATIONS HAVE I MADE YOU”) in the sight of Him whom he believed, even God, who gives life to the dead and calls into being that which does not exist.  Romans 4:17  NASB

For in Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities – all things have been created through Him and for Him.  And He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.  Colossians 1:16-17  NASB

Then, God Almighty created life on earth, including humanity.  How life on earth first appeared and then developed into the biodiversity that is now present has been an important topic throughout human history.  About 3,500 years ago, Moses wrote that God Almighty in times past spoke the universe into existence and then sequentially created life on earth which then reproduced after its kind.  First, God Almighty created vegetation.

And the earth brought forth vegetation, plants yielding seed after their kind, and trees bearing fruit, with seed in them, after their kind; and God saw that it was good.    Genesis 1:12  NASB

Then, God Almighty created life within the waters and the sky.

And God created the great sea monsters, and every living creature that moves, with which the waters swarmed after their kind, and every winged bird after its kind; and God saw that it was good.  Genesis 1:21  NASB

Next, God Almighty created the animals of the land.

And God made the beasts of the earth after their kind, and the cattle after their kind, and every thing that creeps on the ground after its kind; and God saw that it was good.  Genesis 1:25  NASB

Finally, God Almighty created the man and the woman.

Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness;  …”    And God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.  Genesis 1:26-27  NASB

The sequential creation/development of life on earth suggested in Genesis 1 has both inconsistencies and consistencies with our understanding of the physical realm.  There is the obvious inconsistency of vegetation growing in day 3 without a sun, which does not appear until day 4.  This inconsistency with our understanding of how life on earth operates is an indication that the statements of the events of the days of creation have another purpose, and that is as a prophetic description of the events in the seven day/ages of the spiritual development of humanity.

About 400 years ago during the enlightenment, modern science emerged as a system of human thought which attempts to describe the physical realm.  The way of science is conjecture of a theory, experimentation, analysis, and a next-generation conjecture of the theory.  Facts are established by the reasoning of convincing proofs and are the bases for belief in science.

Current thinking in science is that the universe appeared out of nowhere with a big bang, which is in line with a creative God calling into existence that which did not exist (Rom 4:17).  The theory of evolution of one species into another posits that all life evolved from simpler forms to more complex forms in a sequential development of life on earth and mirrors the outline in Genesis 1of sequentially populating the earth with life.  Therefore, science at a broad and general level is incorporating into its theories the outline of biblical creation.

Given the immense array of life on earth, it is obvious that only some members of a species evolve into the new species in the proposed, evolutionary process.  That is, our current biodiversity means that, while some members of a species evolve, the rest stagnate; otherwise, there would be only the most complex form of life upon the earth.  Therefore, the theory of evolution–which theoretically governs all life–when applied to humanity assures the development of a “super race” of humans while the rest of humanity stagnates.  Belief in such an idea about humanity is the classical definition of racism.

Life on earth reproducing “after its kind” (Gen 1:21,25) has been a known fact from the beginning of written history.  The phrase “after their/its kind” appears ten times in Genesis 1, and the Ten Commandments suggests that ten is symbolic of law or governing principle.  Therefore, in addition to the direct statements, we have subtle confirmation that reproduction after their kind is a governing principle of life on earth.  Within the 6,000 years of written history, all food for all humanity has been produced in accordance with the biblical principal of reproduction after its kind.  That is, a cattleman gets only cattle through reproduction within the herd, and a farmer sowing seed harvests precisely what was sown.

“…  Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes, nor figs from thistles, are they?”  Matthew 7:16  NASB

Because reproduction after its kind has been observable, repeatable, and predictable in all of recorded history, it has all the properties of a fact of science.  Therefore, theories of science must change the scale of time from thousands of years to millions of years in order to suggest a violation of the governing principal of reproduction after its kind.  However, a theory based on millions of years does not have any relevance to humanity during its thousands of years of existence.

Humanity’s effort to understand spiritual aspects of human existence is religion, defined as any cultural system of designated behaviors and practices, world views, texts, sanctified places, ethics, or organizations that relate humanity to the supernatural or transcendental.  (Wikipedia, Religion, 2017)  Of the world’s population, 84% are affiliated with a religion.  Currently, the major religions of the world are Christianity with 2.4 billion followers, Islam with 1.9 billion followers, Hinduism with 1.2 billion followers, Buddhism with 0.5 billion, and folk religion with 0.4 billion followers.

The proper interface of science and religion is essential for an understanding of the physical and spiritual environment we live in.  Belief in things of the supernatural or transcendental involves faith.

Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.  Hebrews 11:1  NASB

For instance, one needs faith to believe that biblical scriptures are indeed the word of God rather than just a work of humanity.

All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.  2Timothy 3:16-17  NASB

The result of faith applied to biblical scripture is a life of love in pursuit of holiness.

“God is spirit; and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.”  John 4:24  NASB

Faith is a necessary, operational tool for understanding and believing things of the spiritual realm.

Demanding physical proof when faith is required makes one a doubter, like the apostle Thomas.

But Thomas, one of the twelve, called Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came.  The other disciples therefore were saying to him, “We have seen the Lord!”  But he said to them, “Unless I shall see in His hands the imprint of the nails, and put my finger into the place of the nails, and put my hand in His side, I will not believe.”  John 20:24-25  NASB

Fortunately for Thomas, Jesus gave him the opportunity to touch His wounds.

Jesus said to him [Thomas], “Because you have seen Me, have you believed?  Blessed are they who did not see, and yet believed.”   John 20: 29  NASB

Very few of us get concrete verification of spiritual matters that are initially unbelievable.  Therefore, we are asked to believe things unseen or things hoped for without physical confirmation, i.e., faith is the basis for belief.  As we see with Thomas, many, particularly the scientific-minded, restrict their beliefs to only those matters which can be observed or measured.  Restriction of input to one’s belief system from only the physical realm will prevent growth of understanding of the human environment, for input from the spiritual realm through faith is then a missing piece (1Cor 2:14).

The inherent difference between belief based on reason and belief based on faith causes some people to perceive incompatibility between science and religion that forces them to make a choice between the two.  However, Jesus showed us how we should harmonize understanding of the physical and spiritual.

“Is it lawful for us to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?”  But He detected their trickery and said to them, “Show Me a denarius.  Whose head and inscription does it have?”  And they said, “Caesar’s.”  And he said to them, “Then render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.”  Luke 20:21-25  NASB

Jewish leaders were hopeful to create an accusation of Jesus with their question of whether the laws of the Roman Empire were applicable to Jews, i.e., whether Jews could or should ignore the laws of Rome.  Jesus’ answer was that the laws of Rome applied to the matters of the state but not to Jewish worship; on the other hand, Jewish laws applied to worship and not to matters of the state.  For our discussion of the Bible and science we have these paraphrases of the question to Jesus:  Should the teaching of science replace the teaching of the Bible? or Should the teaching of the Bible replace the teachings of science?  Then a paraphrase of Jesus’ answer would be:  render to science the things that are science’s, and to God the things that are God’s.

Jesus’ answer shows that one can operate effectively in the presence of both the physical and the spiritual when one knows the difference between elements of the two and functions appropriately in each setting.  That is, theology and science are compatible when the things of God are recognized as things of God and not offered as something of science, and vise versa.  Again, one must reframe from insisting that the teachings of science be compared to or altered by religious teachings and reframe from insisting that the teachings of religion be compared to or altered by science teachings.

The tools of science are observation, measurement, and experimentation, and these lead to convincing proof that moves theory to fact.  Matters of science are a product of the reasoning of the human mind.  We should use the tools of science to understand science, but these are not the tools to use to understand the Bible.

But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God; for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised.  1Corinthians 2:14  NASB

Spiritual matters are to be spiritually appraised, and the tools for understanding the Bible are:

1. Revelation, wisdom, and knowledge from the Holy Spirit,

that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of Him.  Ephesians 1:17  NASB

It is not the human mind that searches and discovers knowledge of God Almighty, but it is the Spirit of God Almighty who brings to the human mind an understanding of the things of God Almighty. 

2. Spiritual senses,

For every one who partakes only of milk is not accustomed to the word of righteousness, for he is a babe.  But solid food is for the mature, who because of practice have their senses trained to discern good and evil.  Hebrews 5:13-14  NASB

3. Faith.

And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for the one who comes to God must believe that He exists, and that He proves to be One who rewards those who seek Him.  Hebrews 11:6  NASB

Faith, which involves reliance and trust and endures in the face of doubts, is often the only basis for belief in spiritual matters.  The noun faith together with the verb believe appear approximately 500 times in the various translations the New Testament.  Clearly, any serious discussion of New Testament concepts must include faith and belief.

Participants of religion violate Jesus’ directive (Luke 20:25) when they ask science to set aside its theories and to adopt orthodoxy in its place.  For instance, it is inappropriate to offer the creation of Genesis 1 as a substitute or replacement for the theories of science.  The idea that the creation of the heavens and the earth occurred as a series of events during six, 24-hour days is not viable in science and is immediately rejected.  Such an effort is rendering a thing of God to science, the very thing we were warned against.

Proponents of science create a problem when they fail to maintain the distinction between theory and fact.  One must keep in mind that the history of science is littered with discarded theories that were once considered the way it must be.  As an example, recall that Newtonian physics was a “settled science” for two hundred years.  Yet, Einstein’s theories developed in the early 1900’s extended that “settled science” to previously unknown truths.  Humanity can have its theories about whatever, and there is no problem so long as everyone understands and recognizes the difference between theory and fact.  Science asks one to believe in a theory of the development of life on earth over billions of years.  On the other hand, the Bible asks one to believe by faith in a creative God.  As Jesus directed, we will render to science the theory of evolution and to God Almighty His rendition of the creation of the universe and life within it.

It is closed-minded to deny events in the Bible simply because they are not confirmed by our limited ability to observe and measure.  The Bible, like any well-written book, takes all its parts to make a coherent whole.  If one denies events, miracles, or portions of the Bible, based on one’s understanding or science’s limited ability to observe, measure and confirm, then the integrity of the structure of the Bible is lost, the Bible loses meaning, and the Bible’s message becomes muddled and diminished.

“You shall not add to the word which I am commanding you, nor take away from it, that you may keep the commandments of the LORD your God which I command you.”  Deuteronomy 4:2  NASB

We should not seek validation from science for events of the Bible because revelation and knowledge from the Holy Spirit, exercise of the spiritual senses, and faith are the foundation for believing the Bible as written.

Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding.  Proverbs 3:5  NASB

The creation events for the man Adam, the woman Eve, and Jesus are beyond the human experience and are often rejected because they cannot be confirmed by reason or science.  It takes faith stimulated by spiritual senses to believe these events as written.