Frame's Work on Creation

John Frame, Systematic Theology, chapter 10

God brought everything into existence that is.  "Continuous creation" isn't a very helpful concept.  It's enough to say everything depends on God for its existence every moment.  There is original creation of the world order out of nothing, and subsequent creation (like of a new person) out of already existing things.

Creation calls for worship.  Six days of labor leads to one day of rest and worship.  The Psalmist often moves from meditating on creation to praising God.  Paul's sermons often indicate the same (Rom 1:25; Acts 14:15; 17:24-25).

Creation shows God as Lord.  He owns it all.  He has only to speak and it is done (Ps 33:6, 9).  He names and evaluates it (light was good).  Against the Gnostic spiritualists, creation shows that God is present with His world.

Creation anticipates redemption.  God has the right to take back what is His.  Salvation is a new creation (2 Cor 5:17; 4:6), with cosmic proportions (Isa 65:17-18; Rom 8:20-22).

Creation was out of nothing, ex nihilo (Heb 11:3; Rom 4:17).  There is no visible starting point to the world for scientists to identify.  This is hard to imagine.  There was no matter, not even space nor time, from which God made the world.  Scripture does not explicitly teach this, but we can infer it: creation includes everything which had a beginning; God creates and is distinct from His creation; the world was not made from pre-existing stuff or from God Himself.

Creation was probably in six days, though we can't assert this with total certainty.  We should be willing to re-look at this in light of scientific claims, while not making naturalistic assumptions that rule out God's supernatural activity.  Literary structure in Genesis 1-2 does not mean the events described couldn't be historical and chronological.

Creation is young rather than old as modern science claims.  The first week appears to be a normal six day week as we know it now.  There may be some genealogical gaps, but not so many to allow millions of years.  God created the world with the appearance of age, which wasn't deceptive but a necessary part of creation ex nihilo.  As far as old fossils go, God may have created the earth with dead animals in it, or the flood may explain them all.

Evolutionary theory should be rejected.  God made man from dust, not another being (Gen 2:7).  He made animals according to their kinds.  We see variations within species, but "not a process that produces new species."  It is accepted by people because it's the only viable alternative to a Creator.