The earth was created by Jesus Christ under Heavenly Father’s direction so that we could have a place to live, learn, and use our agency to make good choices (see Abraham 3:24–26).
The Prophet Joseph Smith taught that to “create … does not mean to create out of nothing; it means to organize, the same as a man would organize materials and build a ship.”1 The Hebrew word for “create” means to shape, fashion, organize, and form (see Genesis 1:1; Abraham 3:24).
President Russell M. Nelson explained that “the physical Creation itself was staged through ordered periods of time,” not calendar days. “Whether termed a day, a time, or an age, each phase [of the Creation] was a period between two identifiable events—a division of eternity.”2
First Day: Light and Darkness
“God said, Let there be light,” and He “divided the light from the darkness,” creating day and night (see Genesis 1:3–5).
Second Day: Waters and Heavens
God separated the waters and the heavens. “God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters. … And God called the firmament Heaven.” (See Genesis 1:6–8.)
Third Day: Oceans and Earth
“God called the dry land Earth; and … the waters called he Seas” (Genesis 1:10). The earth was then ready for plant life (see Genesis 1:11–12).
Fourth Day: Sun and Seasons
God made the sun, the moon, and the stars “to divide the day from the night” and “be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years” (see Genesis 1:14–16).
Fifth Day: Living Creatures
God created “every living creature” (Genesis 1:21). These creatures were commanded to multiply and fill the earth and the sea (see Genesis 1:22).
Sixth Day: Adam and Eve
God’s creation of life continued with “beasts of the earth,” “cattle,” and “creeping things” (Abraham 4:24–25). Then He created Adam and Eve “in the image of his own body” (Moses 6:9) and commanded them to “be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, … and have dominion … over every living thing” (Genesis 1:28).
Seventh Day: Day of Rest
After finishing His work, God rested on the seventh day. “And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made” (Genesis 2:3).
God later commanded that we also “remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy” (Exodus 20:8).
We can make the Sabbath day holy by taking time to attend church, partake of the sacrament, and remember the Savior. The Lord taught, “For verily this is a day appointed unto you to rest from your labors, and to pay thy devotions unto the Most High” (Doctrine and Covenants 59:10).
On the Sabbath day, “our thoughts, actions, and demeanor are signs we give to God and an indicator of our love for Him.”3
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You can find more articles like this in the January 2022 Liahona.
Notes
1. Joseph Smith, discourse given on Apr. 7, 1844, in History, 1838–1856, volume E-1 [1 July 1843–30 April 1844], page 1973, josephsmithpapers.org.
2. Russell M. Nelson, “The Creation,” Liahona, July 2000, 103.
3. David A. Bednar, “Exceeding Great and Precious Promises,” Liahona, Nov. 2017, 92; see also Russell M. Nelson, “The Sabbath Is a Delight,” Liahona, May 2015, 130.