The Holy Spirit in Creation
Chapter two
“In the beginning God created the Heaven and the Earth. And the Earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters” (Gen. 1:1-2).
“You send forth Your Spirit, they are created: and You renew the face of the Earth” (Ps. 104:30).
THE EARTH WAS VOID
The Bible introduces us to the Holy Spirit at the very beginning of the Bible, in the First Chapter of Genesis. The first sentence states that God created the Heaven and the Earth. The second says that the Earth was without form or void, and with darkness upon the face of the deep. And then the third sentence tells us that the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.
Somewhere in the dim eons of the past (whether millions, billions, or even trillions of years), God created the Heaven and the Earth. When God creates something, it is invariably good. The six days of recreation are referred to in Genesis 1:31, where it says, “And God saw every thing that He had made, and, behold, it was very good.” No doubt the original Creation, which God also made, was very good too.
A part of God’s Creation involved Angels — including the great and mighty archangel, Lucifer. However, this “super-angel” was lifted up in his own pride, which caused his fall. And when he fell, he drew approximately one-third of the angels with him — which caused great chaos in Heaven and upon the Earth.
Many Bible scholars feel that Lucifer was actually the ruler of this world — in the eons of the past. This, of course, was long before Adam and Eve, and long before the chaotic conditions that subsequently developed. Lucifer was beautiful and righteous, and he carefully followed the Lord. Ezekiel 28:12 tells us that he “seals up the sum.” This means that nothing more could conceivably be added to enhance his perfection.
He had everything associated with greatness. When describing him, nothing more could be said. He was probably the greatest (and most powerful) archangel ever created by God and the Lord Jesus Christ. But he fell, and when he fell, utter chaos ensued.
In the Second Verse of the opening Chapter of Genesis, we see that the world was void, covered by water, and a totally desolate place. Between the First and Second Verses of Genesis, the Earth became void and without form. Many students of Scripture feel that an immense time-gap exists between these two Verses.
It appears that an entire story is left untold, and little information is given to explain just how this created Universe became “without form and void.” Certainly God did not create it that way, but it may well have come about due to Satan’s fall. The Bible states that darkness was upon the deep (Gen. 1:2), and we know that God is not associated with darkness (I Thess. 5:5). It is Satan who delights in darkness. He is the originator of sin, which destroys, injures, and kills. Sin and darkness dwell together, and one causes the other. Wherever there is one, there is the other. They inevitably coexist.
CREATIVE POWER
Now God had a twofold plan. He decided not only to create man, but to make this world a habitable place for him. He would do this through Jesus Christ, by the Holy Spirit.
Picture the world in its calamitous condition, with nothing but darkness everywhere. Water covered the entire face of the Planet. It was a dead world, totally without life. There weren’t even any fish in the seas; God later created the fish (Gen. 1:20).
The Holy Spirit is not simply some “general power” surrounding the Earth. Instead of having little power, the very opposite is true. While personally meek, the Holy Spirit knows no bounds when exercising the power of God. The Holy Spirit is actually dynamo, the generator, the Power Source of the Godhead.
We read in Acts 1:8, “But you shall receive power, after that the Holy Spirit is come upon you.” The power the Holy Spirit can give us as individuals is limited, of course, for He could never turn over His full power to the fallible hand of man. The power of the Holy Spirit is an explosive power, a great and mighty power, while at the same time a gentle power. The Holy Ghost power is particularly needed today to overcome the powers of darkness — the powers of Hell.
Salvation is brought by Jesus Christ. It was bought and paid for at Calvary when Jesus died — and also as He rose again. He redeems us from the Law of Sin and Death — when we are Born-Again. But the Holy Spirit is the One Who gives power for the kind of life we should be living.
The Holy Spirit power was involved in Creation throughout the creative and recreative process. The Holy Spirit moved upon the face of this chaotic world to put into effect the creative Word of God, through Jesus Christ. He carried out the organizing process — assembling, structuring, and intricately balancing all the elements that composed the oceans. He sorted them out and put them in place, carrying out the directives of the Son of God.
Through the Work of the Holy Spirit, continents and mountains began to appear as the oceans sought their proper places. The waters went to one place and the dry lands came to another. That is power — and that is the Holy Spirit at work.
In Job 26:13 it says, “By His Spirit He has garnished the Heavens.”
It is stated in Job 33:4, “The Spirit of God has made me, and the breath of the Almighty has given me life.”
In Psalms 104:30 it states, “You send forth Your Spirit, they are created: and You renew the face of the Earth.” This refers to what the Holy Spirit did. God gave the orders — and, of course, Jesus Christ is also involved in this ordering. After this, though, it was the Holy Spirit who did the actual “nuts and bolts” Work of restoring order to the world and to the Universe.
The Holy Spirit was the “construction foreman” on this great Work of redevelopment and recreation. It was no problem for the Holy Ghost — the very Spirit of God — to bring the dry land out of chaos or to cause the waters to recede. He thus made this Earth a fit place of habitation for man. But it is easier to control the elements of nature than to move the stubborn will of man.
Jesus had no trouble whatsoever calming the storm in the Sea of Galilee. He said, “Peace be still,” and that was the end of it. But when it came to His Disciples, the Pharisees, or the judges and people of Israel — so many with whom He had contact — there was much difficulty. The reason man is so difficult to work with is because God had given him a free will. He doesn’t have to obey God as the natural forces do. God never forces His Will upon man. He made man a free moral agent, and He never violates the freedom of will He guaranteed.
If a man is to be changed, it must be by divine persuasion, and then by human response. The Holy Spirit moves on man, encourages him, persuades, and speaks to him — but it is man who must do the deciding. Satan comes with force and pressure and enslaves people, while God never works this way. Satan puts people into bondage as he forces, binds, and destroys them. Such action is totally opposite to that of the Holy Spirit.
FROM CHAOS TO BEAUTY
When working on the process of recreating the things of the Earth, the Holy Spirit easily transformed the world to a thing of beauty, wonderfully fit for the habitation of man. The Holy Spirit hovered over the waters as today we might see a tern inspecting his oceanic domain. It is not surprising that one of the symbols of the Holy Spirit, as used in the Word of God, is the dove. The personality of the dove illustrates the gentle ministrations of the Spirit.
Originally, as stated in Genesis 1:1, “God created the Heaven and the Earth.” They were made perfect and without flaw right from the first. But this refers back to the dateless past, or the beginning of the creative ages (Job 38; Ps. 8:3-8; 19:1-6; Prov. 8:22-31; Jn. 1:3; Acts 17:24-26; Col. 1:15-18; Heb. 1:1-2; 1:10-13; Rev. 4:11). It is important that we realize that the six days of Creation described in Genesis 1:3 through 2:25 are not the original Creation of the Heavens and the Earth.
FIRST DAY — As the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters, He separated them. “And God said, Let there be light: and there was light” (Gen. 1:3).
Undoubtedly, light had once existed upon the Earth, but the consequence of sin is darkness. The Earth, therefore, became enveloped in darkness for some indeterminate period. But God now allowed the light to shine through, and divided the light and the darkness, calling them day and night.
This refers to the evening and morning of the first day, with light coming into existence again. However, the sun and other luminaries are not mentioned until the fourth day. The event described for the first day is basically the restoration of the light to the Earth, as it was when Lucifer ruled it before sin brought total darkness (Gen. 1:2; Jer. 4:23-26).
And now God gave the command, “Let there be light,” and there was light (Gen. 1:3-5). The word “let” is used in the sense of permitting light to be present. It is as if one were to say, “Turn on the light.” This word “let” does not primarily denote Creation, but rather indicates that the judgment of God upon the Earth is beginning to cease. Now the sun, moon, and stars will be allowed to shine again on the darkened Planet. This, of course, was God’s original creative purpose.
Reference is made to the luminaries on the fourth day, but the light existing on days one, two, and three came from this same source. The fourth day reference marks the permanent regulation of the Solar System as related to the restored Earth. Light and darkness were distinctly marked off into evening and morning, the tilt of the Earth’s axis was established for seasons, and, in short, the celestial controls on our Earth’s meteorological systems were regulated.
SECOND DAY — The work of this day has to do with the restoration of the clouds (here called the firmament) to again hold the waters that had inundated the Earth. This second-day action was not so much a creation of clouds, but a restoration of them to their original creative purpose.
THIRD DAY — Vegetation was once again restored to the Earth. It had grown profusely on the Earth before the calamity and flood resulting from the fall of Lucifer. It was no doubt during the first Creation that the awesome amounts of vegetation were laid down and buried deep in the Earth’s crust, which today supply the Earth with its oil supplies.
“In the beginning God created the Heaven and the Earth.” Some reputable scholars feel this might better be read, “the Heaven and the dry land.” In Genesis 1:2, it is apparent that the dry land is restored with vegetation growing upon it. This vegetation was to sustain life on the restored Earth. The flood was possibly of extreme duration, and all life forms and seeds had been destroyed. Therefore, this creation of vegetation was necessary and was accomplished by the creative power of the Spirit of God.
This flood was unquestionably much longer than Noah’s flood, which came later when man was again destroyed because of his sinfulness. Only righteous Noah and his family were spared. After the flood of Noah’s time, vegetation again sprouted up spontaneously (with no further need for God’s creative intervention).
FOURTH DAY — It is stated that the sun, the moon, and the stars were created on this day (Gen. 1:14-19). But light had been present for the previous three days, and had even been divided into day and night. Here it is the order of the plants and their effects upon the Earth that was arranged. The seasons and the meteorological changes associated with them were determined for the newly restored Earth.
FIFTH DAY — On the fifth day there was the creation and formation of new sea life and fowls. Each of these individual creations was to subsequently bring forth “after his own kind.” (God’s Word does not agree with Darwin’s theory that one life form will develop into another.)
SIXTH DAY — On the sixth day, land animals and man were created (Gen. 1:24-31). New land animals (and man) were created to replace the animals and the inhabitants of the first system — which were destroyed in the disastrous fall of Lucifer and the angels. In Chapter Two, Genesis gives a more detailed account of the creative activity of the third, fifth, and sixth days.
“And God said, Let Us make man in Our Image, after Our likeness” (Gen. 1:26). Man was made in the image of God — which definitely separates him from the plants and animals.
The Hebrew noun ruach means “wind” or “breath.” The associated word is ruah. In Palestine the people are totally dependant on the wind to bring rain. Breathing is related to creating — the giving of life. In Genesis 2:7 we read that God breathed into man the breath of life.
Every man is kept by God. Your life is in God’s Hands (Dan. 5:23). God is the Creator, and He sustains us. The Holy Spirit is involved in sustaining. Throughout the Old Testament, the Holy Spirit was the dynamic Spirit.
“let us”
Returning to the Scripture quoted just above, Genesis 1:26, “And God said, Let Us make man in Our Image.” This is of particular interest.
The Hebrew word for “God” used throughout Genesis is Elohim. This is a uniplural word, which means a word that implies a unit comprised of more than one. In our language, we have such uniplural words as family, troop, herd, association, flock, congregation. Each of these is a single unit, but made up of a number of members. Use of the uniplural word “Elohim” for God reinforces the concept of the Trinity. As has been noted, this does not mean three Gods, but a tri-unity or a Triune God: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit, the Spirit of God empowered by God the Father and God the Son, was intimately involved in Creation. God the Father is the great Designer, the Master Architect. The Son is (in a manner of speaking) the Contractor. And the Holy Spirit is the Energizer, or the Action. He is the Construction Crew! God is indeed a creative God, and God the Holy Spirit is involved in all creative activity.
“In the beginning God created the Heaven and the Earth. And the Earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters” (Gen. 1:1-2).
“You send forth Your Spirit, they are created: and You renew the face of the Earth” (Ps. 104:30).
THE EARTH WAS VOID
The Bible introduces us to the Holy Spirit at the very beginning of the Bible, in the First Chapter of Genesis. The first sentence states that God created the Heaven and the Earth. The second says that the Earth was without form or void, and with darkness upon the face of the deep. And then the third sentence tells us that the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.
Somewhere in the dim eons of the past (whether millions, billions, or even trillions of years), God created the Heaven and the Earth. When God creates something, it is invariably good. The six days of recreation are referred to in Genesis 1:31, where it says, “And God saw every thing that He had made, and, behold, it was very good.” No doubt the original Creation, which God also made, was very good too.
A part of God’s Creation involved Angels — including the great and mighty archangel, Lucifer. However, this “super-angel” was lifted up in his own pride, which caused his fall. And when he fell, he drew approximately one-third of the angels with him — which caused great chaos in Heaven and upon the Earth.
Many Bible scholars feel that Lucifer was actually the ruler of this world — in the eons of the past. This, of course, was long before Adam and Eve, and long before the chaotic conditions that subsequently developed. Lucifer was beautiful and righteous, and he carefully followed the Lord. Ezekiel 28:12 tells us that he “seals up the sum.” This means that nothing more could conceivably be added to enhance his perfection.
He had everything associated with greatness. When describing him, nothing more could be said. He was probably the greatest (and most powerful) archangel ever created by God and the Lord Jesus Christ. But he fell, and when he fell, utter chaos ensued.
In the Second Verse of the opening Chapter of Genesis, we see that the world was void, covered by water, and a totally desolate place. Between the First and Second Verses of Genesis, the Earth became void and without form. Many students of Scripture feel that an immense time-gap exists between these two Verses.
It appears that an entire story is left untold, and little information is given to explain just how this created Universe became “without form and void.” Certainly God did not create it that way, but it may well have come about due to Satan’s fall. The Bible states that darkness was upon the deep (Gen. 1:2), and we know that God is not associated with darkness (I Thess. 5:5). It is Satan who delights in darkness. He is the originator of sin, which destroys, injures, and kills. Sin and darkness dwell together, and one causes the other. Wherever there is one, there is the other. They inevitably coexist.
CREATIVE POWER
Now God had a twofold plan. He decided not only to create man, but to make this world a habitable place for him. He would do this through Jesus Christ, by the Holy Spirit.
Picture the world in its calamitous condition, with nothing but darkness everywhere. Water covered the entire face of the Planet. It was a dead world, totally without life. There weren’t even any fish in the seas; God later created the fish (Gen. 1:20).
The Holy Spirit is not simply some “general power” surrounding the Earth. Instead of having little power, the very opposite is true. While personally meek, the Holy Spirit knows no bounds when exercising the power of God. The Holy Spirit is actually dynamo, the generator, the Power Source of the Godhead.
We read in Acts 1:8, “But you shall receive power, after that the Holy Spirit is come upon you.” The power the Holy Spirit can give us as individuals is limited, of course, for He could never turn over His full power to the fallible hand of man. The power of the Holy Spirit is an explosive power, a great and mighty power, while at the same time a gentle power. The Holy Ghost power is particularly needed today to overcome the powers of darkness — the powers of Hell.
Salvation is brought by Jesus Christ. It was bought and paid for at Calvary when Jesus died — and also as He rose again. He redeems us from the Law of Sin and Death — when we are Born-Again. But the Holy Spirit is the One Who gives power for the kind of life we should be living.
The Holy Spirit power was involved in Creation throughout the creative and recreative process. The Holy Spirit moved upon the face of this chaotic world to put into effect the creative Word of God, through Jesus Christ. He carried out the organizing process — assembling, structuring, and intricately balancing all the elements that composed the oceans. He sorted them out and put them in place, carrying out the directives of the Son of God.
Through the Work of the Holy Spirit, continents and mountains began to appear as the oceans sought their proper places. The waters went to one place and the dry lands came to another. That is power — and that is the Holy Spirit at work.
In Job 26:13 it says, “By His Spirit He has garnished the Heavens.”
It is stated in Job 33:4, “The Spirit of God has made me, and the breath of the Almighty has given me life.”
In Psalms 104:30 it states, “You send forth Your Spirit, they are created: and You renew the face of the Earth.” This refers to what the Holy Spirit did. God gave the orders — and, of course, Jesus Christ is also involved in this ordering. After this, though, it was the Holy Spirit who did the actual “nuts and bolts” Work of restoring order to the world and to the Universe.
The Holy Spirit was the “construction foreman” on this great Work of redevelopment and recreation. It was no problem for the Holy Ghost — the very Spirit of God — to bring the dry land out of chaos or to cause the waters to recede. He thus made this Earth a fit place of habitation for man. But it is easier to control the elements of nature than to move the stubborn will of man.
Jesus had no trouble whatsoever calming the storm in the Sea of Galilee. He said, “Peace be still,” and that was the end of it. But when it came to His Disciples, the Pharisees, or the judges and people of Israel — so many with whom He had contact — there was much difficulty. The reason man is so difficult to work with is because God had given him a free will. He doesn’t have to obey God as the natural forces do. God never forces His Will upon man. He made man a free moral agent, and He never violates the freedom of will He guaranteed.
If a man is to be changed, it must be by divine persuasion, and then by human response. The Holy Spirit moves on man, encourages him, persuades, and speaks to him — but it is man who must do the deciding. Satan comes with force and pressure and enslaves people, while God never works this way. Satan puts people into bondage as he forces, binds, and destroys them. Such action is totally opposite to that of the Holy Spirit.
FROM CHAOS TO BEAUTY
When working on the process of recreating the things of the Earth, the Holy Spirit easily transformed the world to a thing of beauty, wonderfully fit for the habitation of man. The Holy Spirit hovered over the waters as today we might see a tern inspecting his oceanic domain. It is not surprising that one of the symbols of the Holy Spirit, as used in the Word of God, is the dove. The personality of the dove illustrates the gentle ministrations of the Spirit.
Originally, as stated in Genesis 1:1, “God created the Heaven and the Earth.” They were made perfect and without flaw right from the first. But this refers back to the dateless past, or the beginning of the creative ages (Job 38; Ps. 8:3-8; 19:1-6; Prov. 8:22-31; Jn. 1:3; Acts 17:24-26; Col. 1:15-18; Heb. 1:1-2; 1:10-13; Rev. 4:11). It is important that we realize that the six days of Creation described in Genesis 1:3 through 2:25 are not the original Creation of the Heavens and the Earth.
FIRST DAY — As the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters, He separated them. “And God said, Let there be light: and there was light” (Gen. 1:3).
Undoubtedly, light had once existed upon the Earth, but the consequence of sin is darkness. The Earth, therefore, became enveloped in darkness for some indeterminate period. But God now allowed the light to shine through, and divided the light and the darkness, calling them day and night.
This refers to the evening and morning of the first day, with light coming into existence again. However, the sun and other luminaries are not mentioned until the fourth day. The event described for the first day is basically the restoration of the light to the Earth, as it was when Lucifer ruled it before sin brought total darkness (Gen. 1:2; Jer. 4:23-26).
And now God gave the command, “Let there be light,” and there was light (Gen. 1:3-5). The word “let” is used in the sense of permitting light to be present. It is as if one were to say, “Turn on the light.” This word “let” does not primarily denote Creation, but rather indicates that the judgment of God upon the Earth is beginning to cease. Now the sun, moon, and stars will be allowed to shine again on the darkened Planet. This, of course, was God’s original creative purpose.
Reference is made to the luminaries on the fourth day, but the light existing on days one, two, and three came from this same source. The fourth day reference marks the permanent regulation of the Solar System as related to the restored Earth. Light and darkness were distinctly marked off into evening and morning, the tilt of the Earth’s axis was established for seasons, and, in short, the celestial controls on our Earth’s meteorological systems were regulated.
SECOND DAY — The work of this day has to do with the restoration of the clouds (here called the firmament) to again hold the waters that had inundated the Earth. This second-day action was not so much a creation of clouds, but a restoration of them to their original creative purpose.
THIRD DAY — Vegetation was once again restored to the Earth. It had grown profusely on the Earth before the calamity and flood resulting from the fall of Lucifer. It was no doubt during the first Creation that the awesome amounts of vegetation were laid down and buried deep in the Earth’s crust, which today supply the Earth with its oil supplies.
“In the beginning God created the Heaven and the Earth.” Some reputable scholars feel this might better be read, “the Heaven and the dry land.” In Genesis 1:2, it is apparent that the dry land is restored with vegetation growing upon it. This vegetation was to sustain life on the restored Earth. The flood was possibly of extreme duration, and all life forms and seeds had been destroyed. Therefore, this creation of vegetation was necessary and was accomplished by the creative power of the Spirit of God.
This flood was unquestionably much longer than Noah’s flood, which came later when man was again destroyed because of his sinfulness. Only righteous Noah and his family were spared. After the flood of Noah’s time, vegetation again sprouted up spontaneously (with no further need for God’s creative intervention).
FOURTH DAY — It is stated that the sun, the moon, and the stars were created on this day (Gen. 1:14-19). But light had been present for the previous three days, and had even been divided into day and night. Here it is the order of the plants and their effects upon the Earth that was arranged. The seasons and the meteorological changes associated with them were determined for the newly restored Earth.
FIFTH DAY — On the fifth day there was the creation and formation of new sea life and fowls. Each of these individual creations was to subsequently bring forth “after his own kind.” (God’s Word does not agree with Darwin’s theory that one life form will develop into another.)
SIXTH DAY — On the sixth day, land animals and man were created (Gen. 1:24-31). New land animals (and man) were created to replace the animals and the inhabitants of the first system — which were destroyed in the disastrous fall of Lucifer and the angels. In Chapter Two, Genesis gives a more detailed account of the creative activity of the third, fifth, and sixth days.
“And God said, Let Us make man in Our Image, after Our likeness” (Gen. 1:26). Man was made in the image of God — which definitely separates him from the plants and animals.
The Hebrew noun ruach means “wind” or “breath.” The associated word is ruah. In Palestine the people are totally dependant on the wind to bring rain. Breathing is related to creating — the giving of life. In Genesis 2:7 we read that God breathed into man the breath of life.
Every man is kept by God. Your life is in God’s Hands (Dan. 5:23). God is the Creator, and He sustains us. The Holy Spirit is involved in sustaining. Throughout the Old Testament, the Holy Spirit was the dynamic Spirit.
“let us”
Returning to the Scripture quoted just above, Genesis 1:26, “And God said, Let Us make man in Our Image.” This is of particular interest.
The Hebrew word for “God” used throughout Genesis is Elohim. This is a uniplural word, which means a word that implies a unit comprised of more than one. In our language, we have such uniplural words as family, troop, herd, association, flock, congregation. Each of these is a single unit, but made up of a number of members. Use of the uniplural word “Elohim” for God reinforces the concept of the Trinity. As has been noted, this does not mean three Gods, but a tri-unity or a Triune God: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit, the Spirit of God empowered by God the Father and God the Son, was intimately involved in Creation. God the Father is the great Designer, the Master Architect. The Son is (in a manner of speaking) the Contractor. And the Holy Spirit is the Energizer, or the Action. He is the Construction Crew! God is indeed a creative God, and God the Holy Spirit is involved in all creative activity.
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