On the Fifth Day, Life of Varied and Diverse Forms Exhibits the Authority of the Creator in Different Ways

Scripture says, “And God said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that has life, and fowl that may fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven. And God created great whales, and every living creature that moves, which the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind, and every winged fowl after his kind: and God saw that it was good” (Gen 1:20–21). Scripture clearly tells us that, on this day, God made the creatures in the waters and the birds of the air, which is to say that He created the various fish and birds, and classed them each according to kind. In this way, the earth, the skies, and the waters were enriched by God’s creation …

As God’s words were spoken, fresh new life, each with a different form, instantly came alive amidst the words of the Creator. They came into the world jostling for position, jumping, frolicking for joy…. Fish of all shapes and sizes swam through the water, shellfish of all kinds grew out of the sands, scaled, shelled, and spineless creatures hurriedly grew forth in different forms, whether great or small, long or short. So too did various kinds of seaweed begin to briskly grow, swaying to the motion of the various aquatic life, undulating, urging the stagnant waters, as if to say to them: Shake a leg! Bring your friends! For you’ll never be alone again! From the moment that the various living creatures created by God appeared in the water, each fresh new life brought vitality to waters that had been quiescent for so long, and ushered in a new era…. From that point onward, they nestled against each other, and kept each other’s company, and conferred no distinction upon each other. The water existed for the creatures within it, nourishing each life that resided within its embrace, and every life existed for the sake of the water because of its nourishment. Each conferred life upon the other, and at the same time, each, in the same way, bore testament to the miraculousness and greatness of the Creator’s creation, and to the unsurpassable power of the Creator’s authority …

As the sea was no longer silent, so too did life begin to fill the skies. One by one, birds, big and small, flew up into the sky from the ground. Unlike the creatures of the sea, they had wings and feathers covering their slim and graceful figures. They fluttered their wings, proudly and haughtily displaying their gorgeous coat of feathers and their special functions and skills bestowed upon them by the Creator. They soared freely, and skillfully shuttled between heaven and earth, across grasslands and forests…. They were the darlings of the air, they were the darlings of all things. They would soon become the tie between heaven and earth, and would pass on the messages to all things…. They sang, they joyfully swooped about, they brought cheers, laughter, and vibrancy to this once empty world…. They used their clear, melodious singing, used the words within their hearts to praise the Creator for the life bestowed upon them. They cheerfully danced to display the perfection and miraculousness of the Creator’s creation, and would devote their whole lives to bearing testament to the authority of the Creator through the special life that He had bestowed upon them …

Regardless of whether they were in the water, or of the skies, by the command of the Creator, this plethora of living things existed in the different configurations of life, and by the command of the Creator, they gathered together according to their respective species—and this law, this rule, was unalterable by any creatures. Never did they dare to go beyond the bounds set forth for them by the Creator, nor were they able to. As ordained by the Creator, they lived and multiplied, and strictly adhered to the life course and laws set for them by the Creator, and consciously abided by His unspoken commands and the heavenly edicts and precepts that He gave them, all the way up to today. They conversed with the Creator in their own special way, and came to appreciate the meaning of the Creator, and obeyed His commands. None ever transgressed the authority of the Creator, and His sovereignty and command over them was exerted within His thoughts; no words were issued forth, but the authority that was unique to the Creator controlled all the things in silence that possessed no language function, and which differed from mankind. The exertion of His authority in this special way compelled man to gain a new knowledge, and make a new interpretation, of the Creator’s unique authority. Here, I must tell you that on this new day, the exertion of the Creator’s authority demonstrated once more the uniqueness of the Creator.

Next, let us take a look at the last sentence of this passage of scripture: “God saw that it was good.” What do you think this means? Here, we get a glimpse of God’s emotions. God watched all things that He had created come into being and stand fast because of His words, and gradually begin to change. At this time, was God satisfied with the various things that He had made with His words, and the various acts that He had achieved? The answer is that “God saw that it was good.” What do you see here? What does it represent that “God saw that it was good”? What does it symbolize? It means that God had the power and wisdom to accomplish that which He had planned and prescribed, to accomplish the goals that He had set out to accomplish. When God had completed each task, did He feel regret? The answer is still that “God saw that it was good.” In other words, not only did He feel no regret, but was instead satisfied. What does it mean that He felt no regret? It tells us that God’s plan is perfect, that His power and wisdom are perfect, and that it is only by His authority that such perfection can be accomplished. When man performs a task, can he, like God, see that it is good? Can everything that man does accomplish perfection? Can man complete something once and for all eternity? Just as man says, “nothing’s perfect, only better,” nothing that man does can attain perfection. When God saw that all that He had done and achieved was good, everything made by God was set by His words, which is to say that, when “God saw that it was good,” all that He had made assumed a permanent form, was classed according to type, and was given a fixed position, purpose, and function, once and for all eternity. Moreover, their role among all things, and the journey that they must take during God’s management of all things, had already been ordained by God, and were immutable. This was the heavenly law given by the Creator to all things.

“God saw that it was good,” these simple, underappreciated words, so often ignored, are the words of the heavenly law and heavenly edict given to all creatures by God. They are another embodiment of the Creator’s authority, one that is more practical, and more profound. Through His words, the Creator was not only able to gain all that He set out to gain, and achieve all that He set out to achieve, but could also control in His hands all that He had created, and rule all things that He had made under His authority, and, furthermore, all was systematic and regular. All things also lived and died by His word and, moreover, by His authority they existed amidst the law that He had set forth, and none was exempt! This law began at the very instant that “God saw that it was good,” and it shall exist, continue, and function for the sake of God’s plan of management right up until the day that it is repealed by the Creator! The unique authority of the Creator was manifested not only in His ability to create all things and command all things to come into being, but also in His ability to govern and hold sovereignty over all things, and bestow the life and vitality upon all things, and, moreover, in His ability to cause, once and for all eternity, all things that He would create in His plan to appear and exist in the world made by Him in a perfect shape, and a perfect life structure, and a perfect role. So too was it manifested in the way that the thoughts of the Creator were not subject to any constraints, were not limited by time, space, or geography. Like His authority, the unique identity of the Creator shall remain unchanged from everlasting to everlasting. His authority shall always be a representation and symbol of His unique identity, and His authority shall forever exist side-by-side with His identity!

—The Word, Vol. 2. On Knowing God. God Himself, the Unique I