"In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth."  So begins the Biblical account we have in the book of Genesis.  The statement is simple, straightforward, and shows no glimmer of doubt.  What does this simply and mean?

1. God has always existed, and is actively engaging in a specific work.
2. He is both knowledgeable and able to do so.
3. He has a specific reasoning for doing His creative work.
4. He who is infinite created the finite, in a remarkable and loving way, as a
    portion of His divine plan.
5. It is for mankind to discover what God has planned. (wants from us)
6. It is for us (mankind/humankind) to honor God and who He is
7. It is for each of us (mankind/humankind) to be obedient to Him.

Let's go forward together, and examine the texts exegetically, so we can learn exactly what took place in that antiquity of time, and thereby, gain a new understanding as to why God chose to share Himself with us, in such a stern, yet loving manner.  Please allow me to suggest that you pray earnestly for the guidance and wisdom of the Holy Spirit himself, as you pursue this study.  It is not what you would expect!  You will need your Bible to do this.

The first item listed introduces God as preexistent.  That means He has always been alive.  See the proof texts below please.

 0430 'elohiym {el-o-heem'} (from Strong numbers listed in the Online Bible)   plural of 0433; TWOT - 93c; n m p
 AV - God 2346, god 244, judge 5, GOD 1, goddess 2, great 2, mighty 2, angels 1, exceeding 1, God ward + 04136 1, godly 1; 2606

 1) (plural)
 1a) rulers, judges
 1b) divine ones
 1c) angels
 1d) gods

 2) (plural intensive - singular meaning)
 2a) god, goddess
 2b) godlike one
 2c) works or special possessions of God
 2d) the (true) God
 2e) God

Can this distinction be upheld by scriptures?  Absolutely, as you can see below:

Isa 43:10  You are my witnesses, says the LORD, and my servant whom I have chosen, so that you may know and believe me and understand that I am he. Before me no god was formed, nor shall there be any after me.
Isa 45:21  Declare and present your case; let them take counsel together! Who told this long ago? Who declared it of old? Was it not I, the LORD? There is no other god besides me, a righteous God and a Savior; there is no one besides me.
Jer 5:22  Do you not fear me? says the LORD; Do you not tremble before me? I placed the sand as a boundary for the sea, a perpetual barrier that it cannot pass; though the waves toss, they cannot prevail, though they roar, they cannot pass over it.

Job 39-41  These Chapters are God's answers to Job's challenge arguments concerning his righteousness, and how God was being unfair to him.  Job's sin?  Egotism!

While these are not the only proof texts, they can certainly serve to get you started  in your study.

Do you see how the scriptures just encountered answer the rest of the items?

Many claim that the ancient documents relating to the creation are separate accounts, and that they differ or contradict each other!    It is said that Genesis 1 is known as the "P" document.  That is to say, the Priest(ly) account.   It is further said that Genesis 2 is the "J" document.  In this case, "J" stands for Yahweh or Jehovah, as it was later translated.  One author equates the Book of J as being a myth of Shakespearean grander, written  by a woman.  Included in his work is a translation by the co-author.  What was most impressive to me, concerning this work is twofold.

          1.  The work begins with Gen 2:4, eliminating the verses concerning the day of rest. (Sabbath)
          2.  The J document, elusive as the text is, supposedly covers from Gen 2:4 through 2 Chron.

How very interesting a situation this leaves us with.  It seems that scholars can't quite get together on what happened when and how God has handed us a number of very simple explanatory texts; not only concerning His creation, but also why we humans are as depraved as we are.  That is, unless we are saved by grace!    And so, I'll ask you to indulge me in offering the following explanation and chart.

It takes only a moment to realize that God already had an active kingdom, inhabited by numerous creatures such as cherubim, seraphim, arch angels and a lower order of angels.  In the remoteness of that infinite time, something disastrous occurred.  One angel, Lucifer, decided to usurp God's holy order of things.  There are two notable places in the Bible to read about this -- Ezekiel 28:11-19 and Isaiah 14:12-15+ if you want a bit more about Satan revealed).

 2 Pe 2:4  For if God did not spare the angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell and committed them to chains of deepest darkness to be kept until the judgment;
Jude 1:6  And the angels that did not keep their own position but left their proper dwelling have been kept by him in eternal chains in the nether gloom until the judgment of the great day;
Re 12:9  And the great dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent, who is called the Devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world--he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him.

If the passages above seem odd at this time, consider this statement:

As God is committed to love and creation, Lucifer (Satan) is committed to hate and destruction.   There will ultimately be a place of infinite bliss in the presence of God, and a place of infinite torment and separation from God.

All of this is also taught in the first three chapters.  While chapter three is not an account of the creation itself, it does show, lucidly, what happened, as the eternal battle between good and evil commenced here on the earth.  But for now, let us look at and compare those creative days.  In Gen 1:1,2  we know that God the Father was not alone, for we learn here that the Holy Spirit was also present.  Cf John 1:1-4 and Col 1:16,17 concerning who God is and who did what in creation.

Ge 1:3  And God said, "Let there be light"; and there was light.

Here is God's first act of creating.  Nothing has been brought into existence but light.  Light overcomes darkness, and in turn, can provide a method by which things can be seen.  We can also say that light is the by-product of heat, so we may safely understand that a great deal of power is at work here.

Ge 1:4  And God saw that the light was good; and God separated the light from the darkness.
Ge 1:5  God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, one day.

We are not told how long this light lasted, but we do know it was a part of God's infinite time.  This will become more clear as we progress through the next two days.  Now the area we know as the Universe, which will contain the earth and other planetary bodies is prepared.

Ge 1:6 And God said, "Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters."
Ge 1:7  And God made the firmament and separated the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament. And it was so.
Ge 1:8  And God called the firmament Heaven. And there was evening and there was morning, a second day.

Here is described the "dome" many notes allude to when discussing Gen 1.  The idea is of a person looking up and seeing how God was creating the heaven(s) and the earth.  However, it would be better to understand the view of looking down upon this creative work, as would have been the case of the heavenly host watching God at work.  You may also consider that this could be taking place in the area outside of, or beneath Heaven.  But let us now go to the third creative day.

Ge 1:9  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.
Ge 1:10  God called the dry land Earth, and the waters that were gathered together he called Seas. And God saw that it was good.
Ge 1:11  And God said, "Let the earth put forth vegetation, plants yielding seed, and fruit trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind, upon the earth." And it was so.
Ge 1:12  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.
Ge 1:13  And there was evening and there was morning, a third day.

At this juncture then, God has created the Universe (space) and only the earth inhabits it.  But there is another, most significant detail.  Now we are about to see how God will blend His infinite time with a temporal time we must appropriately name "Man's time".

Ge 1:14 And God said, "Let there be lights in the firmament of the heavens to separate the day from the night; and let them be for signs and for seasons and for days and years,
Ge 1:15  and let them be lights in the firmament of the heavens to give light upon the earth." And it was so.
Ge 1:16  And God made the two great lights, the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night; he
made the stars also.
Ge 1:18  to rule over the day and over the night, and to separate the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good.
Ge 1:19  And there was evening and there was morning, a fourth day.

Some scholars contend that each creative day was a 24 hour day.  I'm not saying that God could not have used equivalent periods of time in infinity, but we must also consider what science is teaching us.  Science is, after all, spawned from the intellect that God gave man.  Man's intellect will always be inferior to God's, but it does, according to Godly planning, hold vast resources for accomplishment, and has done so since Adam's advent upon terra firma.  Else wise, how could he have named all those animals, and then his own wife?  There will be more along this line of thinking, but it is not necessary now.  The important thing to grasp here, is that God has brought into existence, a method of temporal time for man's life on earth, and that He has partly explained why He did so.  Let us move on.

Ge 1:20 And God said, "Let the waters bring forth swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the firmament of the heavens."
Ge 1:21  So God created the great sea monsters 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.
Ge 1:22  And God blessed them, saying, "Be fruitful and multiply and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth."
Ge 1:23  And there was evening and there was morning, a fifth day.

Here we can see how the evolutionary theory got a foothold with so many people.  Many life forms, did indeed come to being in the sea.  But, if one will take note, there is a major distinction between the sea creature and the birds!  Nothing in the text indicates an evolution from fish to bird.  And as we will see in the next texts, the bugs animals share their own uniqueness too, rather  than having been formed from sea creatures.

Ge 1:24 And God said, "Let the earth bring forth living creatures according to their kinds: cattle and creeping things and beasts of the earth according to their kinds." And it was so.
Ge 1:25  And God made the beasts of the earth according to their kinds and the cattle according to their kinds, and everything that creeps upon the ground according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.
Ge 1:26 Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, after our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth."
Ge 1:31 And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, a sixth day.

We have arrived at a most important place in the scriptures, for at long last, we see the companions with whom we share life on earth.  Now I realize that most modern teaching equates human life as nothing more than an evolved ape or the like; but God took the time to make sure we could see and read that we are a distinct creature.  Each form of life on earth was given a name and method of reproduction.  We can even answer the old joke question of "who came first, the chicken or the egg?"  God created chickens, who in turn, lay eggs.  We can see how ( God - Elohiym a plural word) and man or mankind can be seen as uniplural.  In other words, God is indeed Father, Son, and Holy Spirit; and man can mean either a male, or a species.  (homo erectus)

Ge 2:1 Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them.
Ge 2:2  And on the seventh day God finished his work which he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had done.
Ge 2:3  So God blessed the seventh day and hallowed it, because on it God rested from all his work which he had done in creation.

The first question we should ask here is "Why does this text appear in Bible, but not in the Book of J?"
The second question would naturally be, why begin a Chapter this way, rather than include the verses in Chapter One, which would after all, seem the more logical place for them?  There is a simple and logical explanation.  God intended for us to do some studying, and glean some very important information by noting that something seems amiss, and we should search for pertinent  answers.  Please note the NT proof texts that follow:

Jer 4:22  "For my people are foolish, they know me not; they are stupid children, they have no understanding. They are skilled in doing evil, but how to do good they know not.
ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.
Jer 2:13  for my people have committed two evils: they have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters, and hewed out cisterns for themselves, broken cisterns, that can hold no water.
Ho 4:6 My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge; because you have rejected knowledge, I reject you from being a priest to me. And since you have forgotten the law of your God, I also will forget your children.
2 Ti 3:16  All scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness,
1 Co 13:12  For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall understand fully, even as I have been fully understood.

If you have some grave doubts about what is being presented here, I can certainly understand.  We live in a world that is too busy to get really involved with much beyond playing church and "just getting by."  If you are offended after reading the OT passages, please do some spiritual re-evaluation.   Your soul is worth it after all.  We have all been given minds and a conscience to use to glorify God and use in a manner beneficial to the rest of mankind.  We can engage in the same sort of intellectual egotism that caused so much harm in antiquity.  We can join those who would prefer their own rules to Godly living.  But look around you folks- what have we accomplished as a human race?  Are hatred, bigotry, racism, and crime eliminated?  Until they are, perhaps we should keep looking for our answers in the time proven truths of the Bible!

Having addressed the issue of the peculiarity of how Genesis Two begins, let us also address its presentation compared with Genesis One, as to timelines, and additional information, including possible contradictions and explanations.

Ge 2:4 These are the generations of the heavens and the earth when they were created. In the day that the LORD God made the earth and the heavens,

Please note first of all, a major difference in this text and that of Ge 1:1.  The first timeline word we encounter, is "generations."  This word is normally used to give periods of time in life.  A generation is said to be the amount of time it takes for a person to bring about offspring (children):   i.e. a parent's generation as compared to a child's generation, including those who are now producing a third and subsequently a fourth generation.  Vis à Vis:

 Ex 20:5  you shall not bow down to them or serve them; for I the LORD your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me,
 Ex 20:6  but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.

The text shows itself as "looking back" rather than bringing to light, something that hasn't been known before - "In the Beginning God..."   We also see how the word day does not necessarily meant a twenty-four hour period.  Does this not lend credence to what was said about the days of creation shown in Gen 1?  Allow me to show you a curiosity:

Ge 2:4  These are the generations of the heavens and the earth when they were created. In the day that the LORD God made the earth and the heavens,
Ge 2:5  when no plant of the field was yet in the earth and no herb of the field had yet sprung up--for the LORD God had not caused it to rain upon the earth, and there was no man to till the ground;
Ge 2:6  but a mist went up from the earth and watered the whole face of the ground--
 Ge 2:7  then the LORD God formed man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.
Ge 2:8  And the LORD God planted a garden in Eden, in the east; and there he put the man whom he had formed.

May I ask you what day this account represents in comparison to Ge 1?   Re-read verse 5-7 very very carefully!  You have a full description of conditions on the earth.  What are they?  Most notable is that no vegetation is mentioned.  Not mentioned that is, until verse eight. The other important thing to notice is the narratives lack of a period until the end of verse 7.  In other words, all the information from "in the day"... are tied together as one event.  Also to be noted is the lack of a capitol letter where verse 7 begins.   Consequently, if you re-read Gen one, you will find that these events describe day three of that narrative.  What do you make of that?  Could it be that God made a very special blending of "time" and "kind" when He created Adam?  Was Adam (the first Adam) to be a type of Christ, who knew God before any other human being?  Lets go a bit further.

Ge 2:16 And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, "You may freely eat of every tree of the garden;
Ge 2:18 Then the LORD God said, "It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him."
Ge 2:19  So out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the air, and brought them to the man to see what he would call them; and whatever the man called every living creature, that was its name.   (note how this contradicts evolution's theory of all life coming from primordial ooze)
Ge 2:20  The man gave names to all cattle, and to the birds of the air, and to every beast of the field; but for the man there was not found a helper fit for him.
Ge 2:21 So the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and while he slept took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh;
Ge 2:22  and the rib which the LORD God had taken from the man he made into a woman and brought her to the man.
Ge 2:23  Then the man said, "This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man."

Allow me a simple explanation here - Eve did not witness the events, but rather, came into her existence as a very inexperienced being!

And so, you can mull over, and most importantly, pray about, what has just been presented.  For you now have a viable explanation concerning some age old questions about Genesis One and Two.  You can decide whether or not you care to remain standing in the light of  the account(s) being mere myths or something much more important.  You can consider if indeed, it doesn't matter which church you attend "cause they're all about the same any how."   Decide for yourself if the traditional Judeo-Christian concept of God is correct, or if you would prefer to cling to some other "faith."  Is this a more believable explanation of our Universe than a theory that has yet to be conclusively proved?  Remember that very knowledgeable scientists are themselves divided when it comes to the issue of how the universe and all it contains, first came into being.  The bottom line is simple though -- it is a matter of personal faith!  Where will you place yours --in God or something or someone else?