Third Creation Day
Typological treatment in the corpus
The third creation day — on which the earth emerges from the water (Gen. 1:9-13) — is identified by Nee & Lee as a type of Christ’s resurrection. The earth rising from the primordial waters portrays how Christ rose on the third day from the depths of death.
Biblical Anchoring
| Reference | Context |
|---|---|
| Gen. 1:9-13 | ”God said: Let the waters under the heavens be gathered into one place, so that the dry land may appear” — emergence of the earth on the third day |
| Gen. 1:1-2 | The earth as formless, empty and covered with waters — initial state before restoration |
| John 12:24 | The grain of wheat falling into the earth and dying, yet bearing fruit — resurrection theme |
| 1Cor. 15:4 | ”He was raised on the third day, in accordance with the Scriptures” |
| Hos. 6:2 | ”After two days He will revive us; on the third day He will raise us up” |
Typological Treatment by Author
Watchman Nee & Witness Lee
Lee articulates the type of the third creation day in The All-inclusive Christ, ch. 1:
“Then He separated the water from the earth, and the earth came out of the waters on the third day. It was the third day when the Lord Jesus Christ came out from the depths of death. So you see, this is a type. On the third day God brought the earth out of the waters of death. From this type you can understand what the earth is. The earth, or the land, is a type of Christ.”1
This type is not self-contained but embedded in Nee/Lee’s broader teaching that all creation is shadow of the spiritual reality in Christ:
“First of all, I would have you see that according to the Scriptures, all physical things, all material things which we see, touch and enjoy, are not the real things. They are merely a shadow, an image of the real.”1
The third creation day is the most explicit proto-typological moment in the creation narrative: the emergence of the earth from the water is prophetic shadow of the emergence of Christ from death. The restoration creation begins on day 3 — a creative act that is simultaneously an eschatological promise. The earth that Lee identifies as type here functions elsewhere in the work as the overarching Canaan type of Christ as the all-inclusive Land.
Related Types
- Connected: Barley (firstfruits type of resurrection, connected to the day-3 theme)
- Connected: Wheat (type of incarnation/death, preceding resurrection)
- Connected: Canaan (the land that emerges is a type of Christ as the Land)
- Connected: Red Sea Crossing (water as boundary between death and life — related water type)