Two Types of Beings
The fifth day focuses on two types of creatures: Birds and sea creatures.
And God said, "Let the water teem with living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the expanse of the sky." So God created the great creatures of the sea and every living and moving thing with which the water teems, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. God blessed them and said, "Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the water in the seas, and let the birds increase on the earth." And there was evening, and there was morning-- the fifth day. (Genesis 1:20-23)
The two types represent good and evil. Birds are above and their wings maneuver them on the winds. Sea creatures are below. Like so many of God's metaphors, "up" and "down" give insight to what He has to say in the Bible. Here are a few more contrasts about up and down: God is up in heaven; His ways are above our ways; Lift up your hearts and eyes to heaven; Edify (lift up) one another; and at the end a new heaven will come from above. And at the other extreme: Satan will be cast into the pit; he was cast down from heaven; man fell in the garden of Eden; someone who misleads little ones will be cast down into the sea with a millstone around his neck.
Up Is Good; Down Is Evil
There are many familiar references to "falling." Some describe merely falling to the ground like when a little bird falls down to the earth (dies) God knows and cares about it. Or where Paul talked about the man who fell down out of the window to his death. The ultimate "down" is spiritual death resulting from following evil to its destination, hell –the place of Torment –the place of gnashing of teeth. That's the "down" where Jesus went to pay for our sins.
There are some end-times passages that hint about the depths (down in the bottom of the seas) like the one that says the seas will give up their dead. The most graphic description however is in the book of Jonah where he is in the depths while in the belly of the fish. It's actually a picture of Jesus' experience of being separated from His Father; but that's another story. The creatures that exist in the seas are, of course, fish. They represent being immersed in evil or total self-centeredness. One of our purposes in this life is to be fishers of men –pulling them up and out of the seas (of eternal death) to the safety of eternal life.
The most famous references to "up" are about being "raised " to the new life as Jesus was raised from His death. When Jesus was talking to Nicodemus, He talked about coming out of the water physically (being born of water) to be born again (to be born from above).
In reply Jesus declared, "I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again." "How can a man be born when he is old?" Nicodemus asked. "Surely he cannot enter a second time into his mother's womb to be born!" Jesus answered, "I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. You should not be surprised at my saying, 'You must be born again.' (John 3:3-7)
Back to the subject of good and evil... There are many Christians that deny that God created both good and evil (or bad). But the old testament contains many passages where God tells us that He made the quiet and also the storms (even tornados --whirlwinds) and earthquakes. One such passage comes from Isaiah:
I am the LORD, and there is no other; apart from me there is no God. I will strengthen you, though you have not acknowledged me, so that from the rising of the sun to the place of its setting men may know there is none besides me. I am the LORD, and there is no other. I form the light and create darkness, I bring prosperity and create disaster; I, the LORD, do all these things. "You heavens above, rain down righteousness; let the clouds shower it down. Let the earth open wide, let salvation spring up, let righteousness grow with it; I, the LORD, have created it. (Isaiah 45:5-8)
Even before man arrived (that was on the sixth day), evil was ready for us. Likewise, good (or godliness) was also here. The two trees in the garden symbolize them just a few pages later in Genesis. Just as He created the sky and seas; tree of life and the tree of death; He also created good and evil. It's always been about giving up our way which leads to death and chosing His way which is life through His Son.
