Genesis 1:24-25

‘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. And God made the beasts of the earth according to their kinds, and cattle according to their kinds, and everything that creeps upon the earth according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.'

We note here that God is not said to ‘create' these living creatures. Thus their created life must in some way be derived from the previously mentioned living creatures (Genesis 1:21). This shows a continuity of a process which began with the latter.

Again it is stressed that God planned a diversity of creatures, each according to its kind. Diversity in creation is not blind chance, but results from the purpose of God. Note that His plan included both animals that would later be domesticated, and what we would call ‘wild animals'. Man's good is clearly in mind.

The creation includes ‘everything that creeps', including the tiny scavengers that clean up the world. All have their place in God's creation.

Now we come to the moment that it was all leading up to, the creation of man in God's image. Everything that has gone before was subordinate to this. It is for man that the world has been made.