Where do dinosaurs fit into the creation story and thereafter? Also, is the universe a closed system, running by its own causes and effects?

This text is from a letter written by David Gooding in 1992.

Thank you for your letter which raises the very interesting matter of dinosaurs and where they fit into the Christian explanation of creation, and into what happened after creation.

We can, of course, say certain things at once: God made the dinosaurs; and, as far as land dinosaurs are concerned, they were made on the fifth day of creation.

It is interesting to notice in Genesis 1 that the phrase 'And God said' occurs many times, and generally once on each day; but there are two days in which the phrase 'And God said' is used twice. The first of these days is day three, and on this day the first occurrence deals with the separation of water and land. Up to this point everything that has been dealt with so far in the first three days concerns itself with inanimate things. But now, in the second half of day three, Genesis is about to announce the creation of living things—on this occasion, plant life. And therefore Genesis adds another 'And God said', to make very clear the point that living matter did not arise out of inanimate matter by simple development. The production of life necessitated another creative word by God.

The second day in which the phrase 'And God said' is used twice is day six. The first time it is used concerns the creation of terrestrial animals. But in the second half of day six, Genesis is going to announce the creation of man. Here, therefore, once more Genesis inserts another 'And God said', to make it clear that human life did not arise out of animal life by simple development. The coming to be of human life required a separate intervention of God's creative word, 'And God said'. I regard this as very important, since the New Testament repeats that 'the worlds were made by the word of God' (see Hebrews 11:3).

Now, as far as the creation and development of fish and birds is concerned, day five is content to use the phrase 'And God said' only once. And this, therefore, stands in great contrast to what happens on day six. It is also interesting to notice that the account of creation in Genesis 1, together with the account in Genesis 2, includes not only creation in the strict sense of that term, but also organization and development. For instance, in Genesis 1, when it comes to the creation of man, Scripture says simply 'And God said, Let us make man . . . So God created man' (Genesis 1:26–27). But it does not tell us by what process God's creative word was carried out. The account of creation in chapter 2, however, concentrates our attention on those creative processes, and particularly the processes by which woman was made. She was not made in the twinkling of an eye, so to speak, the moment God spoke the word. But first Adam was formed, and he named the animals; and then God put him into a sleep and formed woman out of his rib (Genesis 2:21–22). It is helpful, therefore, if we bear in mind these different aspects of the work of God.

In addition, we should remember that God not only created by his word, but that he still maintains the universe. In speaking of this, Hebrews 1:3 says that our Lord 'upholds all things by the word of his power'. In other words, Christ does not uphold the universe simply by the strength of his arm, as a man might hold up a heavy weight. He holds the universe up by the 'word of his power'. Christ's words are not just statements; they involve the putting forth of divine energy. Just as at creation the worlds were made by the word of God (such as when God said 'Let there be light', his word conveyed his creatorial power), so the universe is upheld by Christ's constant injection of energy, which is what Scripture means by 'the word of his power'.

The universe is not a closed system, which runs and develops simply according to its own causes and effects. It is an open system, constantly open to the injection of energy from Christ himself.