(Please read all the way to the bottom.  There is an expanded Creation Timeline linked there, but this is an important first part.)

Events shown on this timeline:

• Day 1
• Day 2
• Day 3
• Day 4
• Day 5
• Day 6
• Day 7
• First Sin on Earth (& first death ever)
• Adam & Eve Driven from Eden
• All Sacrifices Pointed to Jesus
• First Murder

Creation of the Earth 

As you study this timeline, ask yourself:

• What is it that can be learned about God's love from the story of creation. 
• Why did God chose to create certain things on certain days and why in this order? 
• Why did He create so much beauty? 
• Did He need to make all of this just to support life, or did He do it just to make us happy?

The Bible's account of the seven days of Creation have been looked at by some as being a figurative period of time and not seven 24-hour literal days, but the Bible makes it very clear that each "day" was a 24-hour period of time which included both an "evening" and a "morning".  If the "evening and morning" periods were actually longer than 24-hours (such as thousands or millions of years as some people teach) then during the light portion the earth would get extremely hot and during the dark portion it would be extremely cold, so life could not have existed.

Of course the same problem would exist if just the first 3 "days" were actually 3 years long as some teach.  Life could not have existed, even if that life consisted only of plant life (Plants were created on Day 3) because plants need light to survive.  So if the night that followed their creation were anything other than just a few hours the plants would have all died that first night.
 

Read the Creation account in Genesis: 

Let's use our God-given reasoning powers. Here are a few personal thoughts from the editor of BTL about Creation. 

(Please understand that these thoughts are just that, personal thoughts.  The editor is trying to dig deeply into God's Holy Word and understand all that it tells us.  God has the power to create anything He wants at any time, and the comments below are not trying to claim otherwise.  God could easily have created the entire universe on Day 4, but is that really what the Bible is saying?  What is being said below should help to get each of us reasoning even more.)

The very first words in the Bible are "In the beginning".  Which "beginning" is it talking about?  The "beginning" of all created things or the "beginning" of this earth? Was the Earth the first of God's creation, or the last?  When did God create the angels, before or after man?  The angels were created before humans of course, so where were they before the earth was created, were did they live? 

When Genesis 1:16 says that God created the "stars also", it could be saying, "Oh, by the way, He created the stars also" or it could be saying that "He created the planets".  When the sun began to be seen the planets and the moon would then be seen as well.  The original language, though, seems to be saying "Oh, by the way, He created the stars also".  In Job 38:7 God is talking about creation of the earth and said, "When the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy?"  Who are these "sons of God" who shout for joy and where did these "morning stars" come from?  The rest of the Bible seems to support the understanding that the earth is not the first of God's creation, but rather the last.

 

Day 1:  Genesis 1:3-5 NLT

³ Then God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. ⁴ And God saw that the light was good. Then he separated the light from the darkness. ⁵ God called the light “day” and the darkness “night.” And evening passed and morning came, marking the first day.

We proved that the Bible is totally correct and accurate (here), so in your studies try to figure out why God created light before He created the Sun on day 4.  What kind of light was it if it was not sun light? 

To help get you thinking, one belief is that the entire world was created earlier, "In the beginning".  The Bible says that the earth was covered with water and it was dark.  It sounds like it may have already been here, created sometime in the past by God.

One hypothesis is that the surface may have even been frozen solid because there was no Sun yet.  The light that God created may have been used to "melt" the surface to a point needed to support life and to do the other things He was planning to do.  As noted, this is only one hypothesis and is by no means straight from the Bible.  Please keep in mind that none of this has any bearing on our salvation.  We are not saved by what we believe happened way back then, but rather we are saved by our faith and trust in Jesus.

 

Day 2:  Genesis 1:6-8 NLT

⁶ Then God said, “Let there be a space between the waters, to separate the waters of the heavens from the waters of the earth.” ⁷ And that is what happened. God made this space to separate the waters of the earth from the waters of the heavens. ⁸ God called the space “sky.”

God placed some water above the sky and He left some on the surface of the earth.  A layer of water above the earth would protect life from harmful rays from the Sun.  Science has shown that plants will live much longer when protected from these rays.

Here again is evidence that the earth may have already here and had been created at some point in time prior to Creation Week because the water was not the first thing God created on day one, light was.  Here on day 2 God is separating the water from the dry land.  Water and rock/land had to have been here already.  (Keep in mind that John 1:3 tells us that it was Jesus who made everything, and Genesis 1:16 tells us that He made the stars, which means He also made the earth.  So the earth was not just an uncreated form that God used. Jesus created the earth, but when?)

 

Day 3:  Genesis 1:9-13  NLT

Then God said, “Let the waters beneath the sky flow together into one place, so dry ground may appear.” And that is what happened. ¹⁰ God called the dry ground “land” and the waters “seas.” And God saw that it was good. ¹¹ Then God said, “Let the land sprout with vegetation—every sort of seed-bearing plant, and trees that grow seed-bearing fruit. These seeds will then produce the kinds of plants and trees from which they came.” And that is what happened. ¹² The land produced vegetation—all sorts of seed-bearing plants, and trees with seed-bearing fruit. Their seeds produced plants and trees of the same kind. And God saw that it was good. ¹³ And evening passed and morning came, marking the third day.

Could God have used the light that He had created on Day 1 to dry the land?  It's also interesting to note that this would have been the day that God created both the "Tree of Life" and the other tree called the "Tree of  the Knowledge of Good and Evil".

 

Day 4:  Genesis 1:14-19  NLT

¹⁴ Then God said, “Let lights appear in the sky to separate the day from the night. Let them be signs to mark the seasons, days, and years. ¹⁵ Let these lights in the sky shine down on the earth.” And that is what happened. ¹⁶ God made two great lights—the larger one to govern the day, and the smaller one to govern the night. He also made the stars. ¹⁷ God set these lights in the sky to light the earth, ¹⁸ to govern the day and night, and to separate the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good. ¹⁹ And evening passed and morning came, marking the fourth day.

Was the Sun created at some point in the past and God just made it start producing light on this day?  As it began to give off light, the Moon would begin to shine, so would the other planets in our solar system.  Is that what is meant by "He created the stars also"? 

We know that the angels of God were created before we were because Lucifer, who became the Devil (Revelation 12:9) and tempted Eve in the Garden of Eden, was a fallen angel.  The Bible says that Lucifer was created "perfect" (Ezekiel 28:13-19).  Before Lucifer sinned and eventually became Satan he must have lived someplace.  The Bible also says that the "morning stars sang together" (Job 38:4-7) for joy when the Earth was created.  Some of the "stars" were already created with living beings evidently, so it becomes obvious that the whole universe was not created on Day 4 as some have been taught. 

The King James Version of the Bible seems to say that the whole universe was created on day four of this creation week, but the original language can be understood differently.  Either way, do you trust God with your life?
 

Day 5:  Genesis 1:20-23  NLT

²⁰ Then God said, “Let the waters swarm with fish and other life. Let the skies be filled with birds of every kind.” ²¹ So God created great sea creatures and every living thing that scurries and swarms in the water, and every sort of bird—each producing offspring of the same kind. And God saw that it was good. ²² Then God blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful and multiply. Let the fish fill the seas, and let the birds multiply on the earth. ²³ And evening passed and morning came, marking the fifth day.

It is totally amazing to realize that by Day 6 there was a greater variety of fish and birds on this earth than there are now! Even today there are over 10,000 species of birds, and over 29,000 species of fish. 
 

Day 6:  Genesis 1:24-31  NLT

²⁴ Then God said, “Let the earth produce every sort of animal, each producing offspring of the same kind—livestock, small animals that scurry along the ground, and wild animals.” And that is what happened. ²⁵ God made all sorts of wild animals, livestock, and small animals, each able to produce offspring of the same kind. And God saw that it was good.

²⁶ Then God said, “Let us make human beings in our image, to be like us. They will reign over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, the livestock, all the wild animals on the earth, and the small animals that scurry along the ground.”

²⁷ So God created human beings in his own image.
    In the image of God he created them;
    male and female he created them.

²⁸ Then God blessed them and said, “Be fruitful and multiply. Fill the earth and govern it. Reign over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, and all the animals that scurry along the ground.”

²⁹ Then God said, “Look! I have given you every seed-bearing plant throughout the earth and all the fruit trees for your food. ³⁰ And I have given every green plant as food for all the wild animals, the birds in the sky, and the small animals that scurry along the ground—everything that has life.” And that is what happened.

³¹ Then God looked over all he had made, and he saw that it was very good!

And evening passed and morning came, marking the sixth day.

It is interesting to note that for all of creation, before humans, God only spoke and it was done.  When He created humans though, God used a different way of creating.  Genesis 2:7 says, "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."  God used His own hands to create humans.  Why?

 

Day 7:  Genesis 2:1-3 NLT

2 So the creation of the heavens and the earth and everything in them was completed. ² On the seventh day God had finished his work of creation, so he rested from all his work. ³ And God blessed the seventh day and declared it holy, because it was the day when he rested from all his work of creation.

⁴ This is the account of the creation of the heavens and the earth.

Some say it does not matter anymore which day we keep as long as we keep one day holy.  If that is true, why did it matter that Eve ate from the forbidden tree?  She could have just chosen another tree to stay away from.  The fact is, it does matter which day we keep because God blessed a specific day.  When God says something specific no one else has the right to try and change it.

(NOTE:  The Bible does not say how long it was after Creation Week before man sinned.)

The First Lie to Humans, First Sin and First Death

Genesis 2 NLT

The Man and Woman in Eden

⁴  When the Lord God made the earth and the heavens, ⁵ neither wild plants nor grains were growing on the earth. For the Lord God had not yet sent rain to water the earth, and there were no people to cultivate the soil. ⁶ Instead, springs came up from the ground and watered all the land. ⁷ Then the Lord God formed the man from the dust of the ground. He breathed the breath of life into the man’s nostrils, and the man became a living person.

⁸ Then the Lord God planted a garden in Eden in the east, and there he placed the man he had made. ⁹ The Lord God made all sorts of trees grow up from the ground—trees that were beautiful and that produced delicious fruit. In the middle of the garden he placed the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

¹⁰ A river flowed from the land of Eden, watering the garden and then dividing into four branches. ¹¹ The first branch, called the Pishon, flowed around the entire land of Havilah, where gold is found. ¹² The gold of that land is exceptionally pure; aromatic resin and onyx stone are also found there. ¹³ The second branch, called the Gihon, flowed around the entire land of Cush. ¹⁴ The third branch, called the Tigris, flowed east of the land of Asshur. The fourth branch is called the Euphrates.

¹⁵ The Lord God placed the man in the Garden of Eden to tend and watch over it. ¹⁶ But the Lord God warned him, “You may freely eat the fruit of every tree in the garden— ¹⁷ except the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. If you eat its fruit, you are sure to die.”

¹⁸ Then the Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper who is just right for him.” ¹⁹ So the Lord God formed from the ground all the wild animals and all the birds of the sky. He brought them to the man to see what he would call them, and the man chose a name for each one. ²⁰ He gave names to all the livestock, all the birds of the sky, and all the wild animals. But still there was no helper just right for him.

²¹ So the Lord God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep. While the man slept, the Lord God took out one of the man’s ribs and closed up the opening. ²² Then the Lord God made a woman from the rib, and he brought her to the man.

²³ “At last!” the man exclaimed.

“This one is bone from my bone,
    and flesh from my flesh!
She will be called ‘woman,’
    because she was taken from ‘man.’”

²⁴ This explains why a man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife, and the two are united into one.

²⁵ Now the man and his wife were both naked, but they felt no shame.

God had told Adam and Eve that of all of the plants in the Garden of Eden they were not to eat from only one tree and that if they even touched that tree they would die. This tree was a test to see if people would trust God, or not.  The serpent (Satan, the Devil) lied to Eve and fooled her into believing that she would not die. Eve proved that she did not trust God when she ate what she was told she was not to eat.  

Question:  Why didn't both Adam and Eve die the same day they ate of that tree?  Wasn't it because a "substitute" for them died instead?  Adam and Eve were clothed with skins that God made for them, but where did the skins come from?   Some animal must have died to make that happen.  It appears that this is the beginning of the sacrificial offerings, because shortly after this, Cain killed Abel after they offered sacrifices to God.  Who was Abel's animal representing?  All God-ordained sacrifices pointed toward the ultimate sacrifice of Jesus!   (See Genesis 3:1-21)

 

Garden Home was Blocked

Genesis 3 NLT

The Man and Woman Sin

1 The serpent was the shrewdest of all the wild animals the Lord God had made. One day he asked the woman, “Did God really say you must not eat the fruit from any of the trees in the garden?”

² “Of course we may eat fruit from the trees in the garden,” the woman replied. ³ “It’s only the fruit from the tree in the middle of the garden that we are not allowed to eat. God said, ‘You must not eat it or even touch it; if you do, you will die.’”

⁴ “You won’t die!” the serpent replied to the woman. ⁵ “God knows that your eyes will be opened as soon as you eat it, and you will be like God, knowing both good and evil.”

⁶ The woman was convinced. She saw that the tree was beautiful and its fruit looked delicious, and she wanted the wisdom it would give her. So she took some of the fruit and ate it. Then she gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it, too. ⁷ At that moment their eyes were opened, and they suddenly felt shame at their nakedness. So they sewed fig leaves together to cover themselves.

⁸ When the cool evening breezes were blowing, the man and his wife heard the Lord God walking about in the garden. So they hid from the Lord God among the trees. ⁹ Then the Lord God called to the man, “Where are you?”

¹⁰ He replied, “I heard you walking in the garden, so I hid. I was afraid because I was naked.”

¹¹ “Who told you that you were naked?” the Lord God asked. “Have you eaten from the tree whose fruit I commanded you not to eat?”

¹² The man replied, “It was the woman you gave me who gave me the fruit, and I ate it.”

¹³ Then the Lord God asked the woman, “What have you done?”

“The serpent deceived me,” she replied. “That’s why I ate it.”

¹⁴ Then the Lord God said to the serpent,

“Because you have done this, you are cursed
    more than all animals, domestic and wild.
You will crawl on your belly,
    groveling in the dust as long as you live.
¹⁵ And I will cause hostility between you and the woman,
    and between your offspring and her offspring.
He will strike your head,
    and you will strike his heel.”

¹⁶ Then he said to the woman,

“I will sharpen the pain of your pregnancy,
    and in pain you will give birth.
And you will desire to control your husband,
    but he will rule over you.”

¹⁷ And to the man he said,

“Since you listened to your wife and ate from the tree
    whose fruit I commanded you not to eat,
the ground is cursed because of you.
    All your life you will struggle to scratch a living from it.
¹⁸ It will grow thorns and thistles for you,
    though you will eat of its grains.
¹⁹ By the sweat of your brow
    will you have food to eat
until you return to the ground
    from which you were made.
For you were made from dust,
    and to dust you will return.”

Paradise Lost: God’s Judgment

²⁰ Then the man—Adam—named his wife Eve, because she would be the mother of all who live. ²¹ And the Lord God made clothing from animal skins for Adam and his wife.

²² Then the Lord God said, “Look, the human beings have become like us, knowing both good and evil. What if they reach out, take fruit from the tree of life, and eat it? Then they will live forever!” ²³ So the Lord God banished them from the Garden of Eden, and he sent Adam out to cultivate the ground from which he had been made. ²⁴ After sending them out, the Lord God stationed mighty cherubim to the east of the Garden of Eden. And he placed a flaming sword that flashed back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life.

The Bible says that to keep sinful humans from living forever God barred access to the Tree of Life.  Adam and Eve were not allowed into the Garden of Eden ever again.  (See Genesis 3:22-24) 

Please note here that the way was barred back into the garden by 2 angels.  This was before there had ever been a human death, so angels are not humans who have died. 

 

Sacrifice  (The first death, EVER!)

^{Genesis 3:21} And the Lord God made clothing from animal skins for Adam and his wife.

Evidently the sacrificial service began at this point because the Bible tells us that both Adam and Eve were given clothes made by God from the skins of animals.  These skins must have come from an animal(s) that had given its life, and the fact that Adam's two sons were sacrificing according to God's instructions just a bit later indicates that this would most likely be correct.  All of these sacrifices pointed to Jesus and His death in our place.

 

First Human Death   

Genesis 4:1-8 NLT

Now Adam had sexual relations with his wife, Eve, and she became pregnant. When she gave birth to Cain, she said, “With the Lord’s help, I have produced a man!” ² Later she gave birth to his brother and named him Abel.

When they grew up, Abel became a shepherd, while Cain cultivated the ground. ³ When it was time for the harvest, Cain presented some of his crops as a gift to the Lord. ⁴ Abel also brought a gift—the best portions of the firstborn lambs from his flock. The Lord accepted Abel and his gift, ⁵ but he did not accept Cain and his gift. This made Cain very angry, and he looked dejected.

⁶ “Why are you so angry?” the Lord asked Cain. “Why do you look so dejected? ⁷ You will be accepted if you do what is right. But if you refuse to do what is right, then watch out! Sin is crouching at the door, eager to control you. But you must subdue it and be its master.”

⁸ One day Cain suggested to his brother, “Let’s go out into the fields.” And while they were in the field, Cain attacked his brother, Abel, and killed him.

Adam and Eve first had two boys, Cain then Abel.  (See Genesis 4:1, 2)  Cain became angry when Abel's sacrifice was accepted by God, but his was not.  He became so angry that he later killed his brother, Abel. 

 

More Children

Genesis 5:3, 4

³ When Adam was 130 years old, he became the father of a son who was just like him—in his very image. He named his son Seth. ⁴ After the birth of Seth, Adam lived another 800 years, and he had other sons and daughters. 

Many people do not realize that the Bible says that Adam and Eve had other children besides Cain and Abel.  This answers the question of who did Cain marry.

For further study read:

• The Creation
• The Temptation and Fall
• The Plan of Redemption
• Cain and Abel Tested
• Seth and Enoch
• The Literal Week

What was happening before Day 1 of Creation Week here on earth?  (MORE)