Peter gives valuable commentary on Genesis 1. He speaks of the world standing out of water and in the water in the context of the heavens of old. Here is his statement in context…

‘Beloved, I now write to you this second epistle (in both of which I stir up your pure minds by way of reminder), that you may be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets, and of the commandment of us,the apostles of the Lord and Savior, knowing this first: that scoffers will come in the last days, walking according to their own lusts, and saying, “Where is the promise of His coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation.” For this they willfully forget: that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of water and in the water, by which the world that then existed perished, being flooded with water. But the heavens and the earth which are now preserved by the same word, are reserved for fire until the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men’ [2 Peter 3:1-7].

Now let’s look again at day 2 in Genesis 1…

Then God said, “Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.” Thus God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament; and it was so. And God called the firmament Heaven. So the evening and the morning were the second day. [Genesis 1:6-8]

 

There is a process or a progression in the 6 days of creation that are introduced by the statement in Genesis 1:1 that in the beginning of time God created the heavens and the earth. The deep in Genesis 1:2 is liquid water and includes the unformed heavens and the earth. So at the end of day 1 there is a mass of water and a light source. The separation of day and night implies the deep was created with angular momentum.

On day 2 a firmament was made in the midst of the waters to separate the waters from the waters. Here is where Peter is helpful in that he says that ‘the earth standing out of water and in the water’ and further he adds ‘by which the world that then existed perished, being flooded with water.’  We take the waters below the firmament as the same subterranean waters that were the source of the ‘fountains of the great deep’ in Genesis 7. This makes the firmament of day two that which became the dry earth of day 3.

‘And God called the firmament Heaven’

Peter’s Testimony of Final Judgment and New Heavens and a New Earth

‘But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up. Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be dissolved, being on fire, and the elements will melt with fervent heat? Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells’ [2 Peter 3:10-13].

Note that the heavens ‘will be dissolved, being on fire’, but the great hope of the Christian is the promise of a new creation where righteousness dwells.

God’s Ultimate Purpose fulfilled in the New Heaven and New Earth

Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. Also there was no more sea. Then I, John,saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.” Then He who sat on the throne said, “Behold, I make all things new.” And He said to me, “Write, for these words are true and faithful.” [Revelation 21:1-5]

The Lamb and His bride are together on the new earth. Heaven is in the presence of God.

We desire a view of Scripture that is consistent with Christ and His Apostles…

“Sanctify them by Thy truth. Thy word is truth” [John 17:17].

And again,

‘All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work’ [2 Timothy 3:16-17].

The Scriptures offer a framework of science, meaning that when the Bible speaks regarding history and origins it speaks truth. God is accommodating to His image bearers in expressing these things in simple and understandable terms which are descriptive of His creative genius and power.

By way of example consider the use of the word “kind” in Genesis 1…

“Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb that yields seed, and the fruit tree that yields fruit according to its kind, whose seed is in itself…” [Genesis 1:11].

‘God created great sea creatures and every living thing that moves, with which the waters abounded, according to their kind, and every winged bird according to its kind’ [Genesis 1:21].

“Let the earth bring forth the living creature according to its kind: cattle and creeping thing and beast of the earth, each according to its kind” [Genesis 1:24].

All life forms whether plant or animal are self-replicating and with the discovery of the DNA/RNA genetic system inside the living cell, we now have a better understanding of the language God used to convey this truth in simple terms. The details of the bio-chemical mechanisms were not given, but the intended function of His design was revealed to us. The details were left for man’s discovery.

There is similar information about the cosmos for us to consider in this light…

The deep of Genesis 1:2 is the initial created mass from which everything else in the universe originates. The firmament in the midst of the waters that separate the waters from the waters in Genesis 1:6 is the original crust that divided the subterranean waters from the surface waters. The firmament of the heavens in Genesis 1:14 in which exist the Sun, Moon and stars is what we call interstellar space. The face of the firmament in Genesis 1:20 is the atmosphere in which the birds fly.

Therefore, quasars are not the brightest, most distant and rapidly moving things in the observed universe, but they are among the youngest. The Big Bang Theory is false because it has been scientifically falsified. Halton Arp is now at the Max Planck Institute in Germany. 

[What does it mean that high redshifted quasars are young and that inherent redshift is a measure of age? What does it mean that quasars have parent galaxies? These are the interesting questions being pursued by today’s scientists. Meanwhile the darwinites are doing all they can to suppress these advancements in science by defending their obsolete and dying theories.]

For some interesting non-orthodox views from scientists who deal with the evidence and recognize the anomalies and who are NOT creationists: http://www.electric-cosmos.org/indexOLD.htm

Re: http://townhall.com/columnists/AlanSears/2010/12/28/morality_and_the_military

• Quasars, Redshifts and Controversies 1987
• Seeing Red: Redshifts, Cosmology and Academic Science 1999

In these two books, Halton Arp elaborates his contention that since 1966, observations have been accumulating which contradict the generally accepted big bang cosmology. The key issue is the interpretation of redshift, the fractional increase in the wavelengths of lines in an astronomical spectrum when compared with laboratory wavelengths. Arp puts together a substantial body of observations to produce a very different picture of the universe from that envisaged in big bang cosmology. Since the big bang is the current astronomical orthodoxy, it is no surprise that Arp and others with similar views have encountered unrelenting, often unreasonable, opposition in publishing their findings.

Arp is certainly no creationist, but we have no problem associating him with the great scientists and astronomers like Galileo and Kepler. His books illustrate how a scientific establishment, wedded to a particular paradigm, reacts to an unorthodox interpretation. A sympathetic reviewer of Arp’s work describes the politics of science as greater than the science:

"...the important factors for a successful career are your sponsors (where and with whom did you get your PhD); field of research (popular or unpopular); and diplomatic skills (always speak quietly with great conviction, and, when in doubt, agree with the wisest person present, who by definition must come from one of the very few recognized institutions). Look upon new ideas with great disapproval and never discover a phenomenon for which no explanation exists, and certainly not one for which an explanation within the framework of known physics does not appear to be possible."

Arp played this game for 29 years at the Mount Wilson and Palomar Observatories. He compiled the marvelous Atlas of Peculiar Galaxies, and was once rated among the top 20 astronomers. But he kept finding anomalies, apparently-associated celestial objects with different redshifts. More and more he began to believe and assert that some redshifts are not cosmological; that is, a measure of recessional velocity and distance per Hubble’s Law. Soon, his rating dropped from the "upper 20" to "under 200". The final (and disgraceful) blow came in the mid 80s, when he received an unsigned letter stating that his work was without value and that he could have no more telescope time! Arp now lives and continues his work in West Germany. [Burbidge, Geoffrey; "Quasars, Redshifts, and Controversies," Sky and Telescope, 75:38, 1988.]

Molecules such as proteins, pigments, and DNA—as well as intact cells and, in some cases, cells still grouped together in tissues—have been found in fossils that are supposedly millions of years old. Whole organisms are sealed in amber deposits, and over a thousand still-living kinds of microbes have been extracted from them.

Fresh tissues and living cells cannot possibly be millions of years old, and they constitute some of the strongest evidence for the young world consistent with the biblical record. The fossils are not a record of macro-evolution, but a very real testimony of the recent burial of contemporary life forms as would be expected in a worldwide catastrophic flood. Radio-metric dating is therefore suspect giving credibility to the theory of accelerated radioactive decay and the white-hole cosmologies. The new flat-earthers are the darwinites standing in the way of real science. They have become what they accused their opposition of in the Scopes propaganda show.

Satan may have his way in the unbelieving world, but for the believer, this age is passing away. Its so-called wisdom has been exposed by the eternal wisdom of Christ [1 Corinthians 1]. Paul can speak of the age to come as being in the future and also speak of it as being present. The New Testament testimony is that divine power and grace has come to light in the coming of Messiah and his everlasting gospel. In Christ the dawning of eternity is here. [from David Wells the Supremacy of Christ in Postmodern World] 

‘[Incarnation] means that God became one of us so that He could reach those of us who are willing to surrender to Him.’ – David Stokes

Re: http://townhall.com/columnists/DavidStokes/2010/12/25/the_forgotten_christmas_carol

“Thy people will be made willing in the day of Thy power…”

This is the essence of the incarnation…According to the everlasting covenant, Christ came and gave Himself a ransom to redeem a people from every lawless deed and purify them for His own possession; a people zealous for good works. [Titus 2]

The statement that He came to ‘reach those of us who are willing to surrender to Him’ implies sometime that is foreign to the doctrine of Christ. Is there something about believers that separates them from unbelievers other than the sovereign grace of God?

For who regards us as superior? And what do we have that we did not receive? But if we did receive it, why do we boast as if we did not receive it? [1 Corinthians 4:7]

Two things should be self-evident to reasonable men:

1. A presupposition that all things started from mass and energy makes revelation and infallibility unthinkable. This is the position of the naturalist. There can be no supernatural and personal God who has made man in His image. The concepts of sin, moral guilt and redemption are so much nonsense held over from past ages of mythology.

2. A presupposition of a personal beginning makes divine revelation to men through men both reasonable and expected. This is the claim the Bible makes of itself.

If one starts with the impersonal everything, then the concept of God communicating with man is nonsense. Yet, if one does begin with a non-personal everything, there is a question that demands an answer. Why is man to man communication not also nonsense?

The hyper-naturalist has no answer for the communication possible between men. Men can communicate with deep emotion and love because they are image bearers of the Personal and Infinite God and Creator of all things. There is no other answer that does not reduce to self-contradiction. [After Schaeffer; He is There and He is Not Silent]

There is a signature of wisdom and power impressed upon the works of God, which evidently distinguishes them from the feeble imitations of men.

In his word likewise he has a style and manner peculiarly his own. What he is pleased to declare of himself by the prophet, may be prefixed as a proper motto to the whole revelation of his will in the Bible:

"My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts" [Isaiah 65:8-9].

This superiority of his thoughts to ours causes a proportionate difference in his manner of operation. His ways are above our conceptions, and often contrary to them. He sometimes produces great effects, by means which, to us, appear unsuitable and weak. Thus he gave Gideon a complete victory, not by providing him an army equal to that of the enemy, but by three hundred men furnished with earthen pitchers and lamps [Judges 7:19-20].

It is eminently so with respect to the restoration of fallen man to the favor of God. We have but slight thoughts of his holiness, and therefore are but slightly affected by the evil of sin. But though he be rich in mercy, no wisdom, but his own, could have proposed an expedient, whereby the exercise of his mercy towards sinners might be made to correspond with his justice and truth, and with the honor of his moral government.

His gospel reveals this expedient, and points out a way in which mercy and truth meet together; and his inflexible righteousness is displayed, in perfect harmony with the peace of sinners who submit to his appointment; and thus God appears not only gracious, but just, in receiving them to flavor.

This is the greatest of all his works, and exhibits the most glorious discovery of his character and perfections. The means are answerable to the grandeur of the design, and are summarily expressed in the text...If sinners are to be saved, without injury to the honor of his law and government (and otherwise they must perish), two things are necessary.

I. That "a virgin shall conceive, and bring forth a son."

II. That this son of the virgin shall have a just right to be called Immanuel, God with us.