Life was the result of direct creation (Genesis 1, 2). It was purposeful, diverse, organized, and mature. Its goodness reflected glory on a loving Creator. All creation is separate from, but reliant upon, the Creator. Most creation models place the Creation Week at from 6,000 to 10,000 years ago.

Plants and animals were created separately in groupings referred to as kinds. The Creation account states that living creatures were created 'according to their kinds,' rather than through common descent of all organisms. Creationists refer to the separate lineages as an 'orchard' of created kinds, as opposed to the evolutionary 'bush' of common descent.

All terrestrial life, man, land animals and flying creatures, were originally given 'green plants' to eat (Genesis 1:29-30). It wasn't until after man sinned, and death entered the natural world, that certain kinds became carnivorous or omnivorous.

God desired these living creatures to be fruitful and multiply, filling the earth. Within kinds, variation would occur as they spread throughout the earth and adapted to new habitats. As kinds diversified, distinct populations would become different species. Today, we recognize that a kind can encompass species, genera, and sometimes higher levels.

With Adam's sin (Genesis 3), Adam's dominion is cursed. Natural evil is embedded within the natural world. Death, disease, pain, and suffering influence every aspect of physical existence.

Violence filled a corrupted earth, so God sent a worldwide Flood to destroy it (Genesis 6, 7). God commanded Noah to build an Ark to save Noah's family and selected pairs of terrestrial animal kinds.

Much of the fossil record, from trilobites to dinosaurs, strange amphibians and giant aquatic reptiles, is a physical reminder of the judgment of God on man's sin.

When the Flood waters receded, and God opened the Ark's door, God promised to never destroy the world by Flood again. He once again directed the living creatures to fill the earth (Genesis 9).

The worldwide Flood waters had receded, but there was still environmental turmoil, climate change (leading to an Ice Age), and shifting ecosystems. Rapid adaptation led to widely diverging species, some surviving but others resulting in dead-end lineages. Fossils from localized catastrophic events during this period show rapid faunal changes throughout the earth. Many of these creatures are very different from species living today.

While the Ark protected the lineages of terrestrial created kinds, not all kinds have survived to the present day. Many aquatic organisms disappeared during the Flood. Other kinds survived for a period after the Flood but due to environmental changes, over-diversification, or encounters with other species (including humans), are now extinct.

One of the goals of creation biology is to determine (where possible) the boundaries of the created kinds' diversification. Baraminology is the study of biological kinds, using a variety of techniques to look at which species may or may not have common ancestry.

Climatic change after the Flood led to the Ice Age, which left its mark on the surface geology of several continents. It also had a significant influence on the biogeography of many created kinds.

Creation biology gives us a Biblical perspective on the natural world today. Predation, parasites, invasive species, zoonoses, extinction, and other natural problems demonstrate a world out of balance with the Creator. We know that we have a responsibility in creation care today, but ultimately it will be God who restores the natural world, just as it took the shedding of Jesus' blood on the cross, His death, and resurrection, to catalyze the restoration between God and man.