Timeline of Creation from Genesis 1
~13700 mya
Big Bang and the creaion of the earth
When God began creating the heavens and the earth… (TLB)
In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. (ESV)
This chronicles the creation of the entire universe (heavens and earth) within one statement. This describes a Creator who is independent of the creation and harmonizes well with what is known about the Big Bang.
~4600 mya
Early formation of the earth
Genesis 1:2 (Early Earth Formation)
the earth was a shapeless, chaotic mass, with the Spirit of God brooding over the dark vapors. (TLB)
The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. (ESV)
This describes the beginning of the earth's formation, where the molten rocks and lava slowly cooled and then water began to cover the surface.
~4000 mya
Earth's cloud cover becomes translucent
Then God said, "Let there be light". And light appeared. And God was pleased with it and divided the light from the darkness. He called the light "daytime", and the darkness "nighttime". Together they formed the first day. (TLB)
The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. And God said, "Let there be light", and there was light. And God saw that the light was good. And God separated the light from the darkness. God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day. (ESV)
This chronicles the beginning of the earth and the original opaque cloud cover ("the dark vapors" [TLB] or "darkness over the face of the deep" [ESV]). Then there was a thinning of earth's opaque cloud cover to a translucent cloud cover, leading to the presence of light on the surface of the earth ("Let there be light") and the conditions for anaerobic life. This also provides the critical point of view for describing all the days of creation - that the Spirit of God was "brooding" or "hovering" over the waters of the primordial earth. So, the point of view for the rest of Genesis 1 is what is happening directly above and on the surface of the earth. Not understanding the appropriate point of view has caused great misunderstanding and rejection of the accuracy of the Genesis account. With the understanding of the point of view as stated in these verses from Genesis, the descriptions in Genesis 1 align very well with what scientists have found and continue to discover about the history of earth and life on our planet.
~3000 ~ 2200 mya
Atmosphere is created
And God said, “Let the vapors separate to form the sky above and the oceans below.” So God made the sky, dividing the vapor above from the water below. This all happened on the second day. (TLB)
And God said, “Let there be an expanse in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters.” And God made the expanse and separated the waters that were under the expanse from the waters that were above the expanse. And it was so. And God called the expanse Heaven. And there was evening and there was morning, the second day. (ESV)
This chronicles the creation of the earth’s atmosphere (that is, the sky), between the thick opaque water vapors of the clouds above the sky and the water of the seas beneath the sky.
~2200 ~ 750 mya
Dry land appears
Then God said, “Let the water beneath the sky be gathered into oceans so that the dry land will emerge.” And so it was. Then God named the dry land “earth”, and the water “seas”. And God was pleased. And he said, “Let the earth burst forth with every sort of grass and seed-bearing plant, and fruit trees with seeds inside the fruit, so that these seeds will produce the kinds of plants and fruits they came from.” And so it was, and God was pleased. This all occurred on the third day. (TLB)
And God said, “Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear.” And it was so. God called the dry land Earth, and the waters that were gathered together he called Seas. And God saw that it was good. And God said, “Let the earth sprout vegetation, plants yielding seed, and fruit trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind, on the earth.” And it was so. The earth brought forth vegetation, plants yielding seed according to their own kinds, and trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. And there was evening and there was morning, the third day. (ESV)
This chronicles the rise of the earliest land masses rising above the oceans. Scientists currently believe that the earliest supercontinent (called Columbia or Nuna) was assembled in the period 2000-1800 mya. Genesis 1:11-12 also chronicles the beginning of plant life on the earth.
~580 ~ 570 mya
Atmosphere becomes transparent
Then God said, “Let bright lights appear in the sky to give light to the earth and to identify the day and the night; they shall bring about the seasons on the earth, and mark the days and years.” And so it was. For God had made two huge lights, the sun and moon, to shine down upon the earth — the larger one, the sun, to preside over the day and the smaller one, the moon, to preside through the night; he had also made the stars. And God set them in the sky to light the earth, and to preside over the day and night, and to divide the light from the darkness. And God was pleased. This all happened on the fourth day. (TLB)
And God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night. And let them be for signs and for seasons, and for days and years, and let them be lights in the expanse of the heavens to give light upon the earth.” And it was so. And God made the two great lights — the greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the night — and the stars. And God set them in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth, to rule over the day and over the night, and to separate the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good. And there was evening and there was morning, the fourth day. (ESV)
This chronicles a further change of the sky from a translucent cloud cover, where the light from the sun, moon, and stars are weak and diffuse, to a transparent atmosphere, where the light from the sun, moon, and stars can be seen clearly and bring about the seasons and mark the days and years.
~575 ~ 66 mya
Fishes and birds appear
Then God said, “Let the waters teem with fish and other life, and let the skies be filled with birds of every kind.” So God created great sea animals, and every sort of fish and every kind of bird. And God looked at them with pleasure, and blessed them all. “Multiply and stock the oceans,” he told them, and to the birds he said, “Let your numbers increase. Fill the earth!” That ended the fifth day. (TLB)
And God said, “Let the waters swarm with swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the expanse of the heavens.” So God created the great sea creatures and every living creature that moves, with which the waters swarm, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. And God blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth.” And there was evening and there was morning, the fifth day. (ESV)
This chronicles the rise of the sea creatures as well as the flying creatures and birds and the plethora of life forms that began to proliferate with the Cambrian explosion.
~66 mya
Higher mammals and mankind are created
