This is the fourth sermon in a series of homilies on the Divine Liturgy.

By Fr. Alex Miller

 

We have begun this series by looking in depth and who God is and who we are because of him.

 

As an introduction to this subject we are specifically looking at the first six days of creation.

 

To review we have stated that on the first day  God created out of nothing the heavens and the earth, light and the invisible angelic world.

 

On the second day he separated the waters above the sky from the waters below the sky.

 

Today we look at the third day of creation.

 

On the third day of creation God separated the water from the dry land and caused the land to bring forth all forms of vegetation.

 

The fathers of the church write about this extensively and state that this explosion of vegetation occurred instantaneously not over a long period of time as it is supposed by the theory of evolution.

 

Also they state that every plant and green vegetation that grew up had within itself its own seed according to its kind.

 

This again is contrary to the theory of evolution which claims that complex things develop from more simple things and this development takes place over millions of years.

 

Again we see the beauty the logic and rationality of God in the way that he is putting creation together beginning with water, then separating the land, then producing vegetation growing on the land which would become a beautiful garden and habitation for all the animals and ultimately for mankind.

 

On the fourth day of creation God created the sun and the moon and the stars and set them in the heavens and set them in motion in a predictable and consistent pattern of movement. The sun immediately initiated the process of photosynthesis to allow for the growth and nurture of all of the plants and vegetation growing on the earth.

 

On the fifth day the Lord caused the sky to be filled with all kinds of birds and the oceans to be filled with all kinds of fish and swimming things each of them created according to their kind.

 

With everything set in place for the sustenance of human of life: water,  land, sky, and sun, birds filling the sky and fish filling the sea, on the sixth day God created all the land animals each of them according to their kind, male and female he created them.

 

This again is totally incompatible with the fairytale of evolution. All species were created in a single moment of divine inspiration and each species was created mature and carrying within itself the means to reproduce according to its kind.

 

All of this was done in a rational logical intelligent order to prepare the world for one last crowning moment of creation: “let us make man in our image.”

 

Next week we will conclude our discussion of creation with a detailed look at the crowning event of this narrative: the creation of Adam and Eve.