Counselor, Teacher, and Guide

A Christian astronomer was traveling cross-country by train, on his way to deliver a lecture. In his baggage was one of the first battery-powered scale models of the solar system, which he had constructed and was using in his lectures. An atheist sat down beside him on the train. In the course of their conversation, the atheist began to ridicule the idea of a divine creation of the universe.

The astronomer listened quietly for a while. Then he invited the atheist to accompany him to the baggage car. There he removed the cover from his model and pressed the switch. As the little planets orbited the sun in perfect harmony, the atheist was much impressed “Magnificent,” he said. “Who designed this?” The astronomer smiled. “No one designed it,” he replied. “It all came together by an accident of nature.”

The atheist was silent. These were the very words he had used to explain his ideas about the beginning of the solar system after which the astronomer had patterned his model. If the model needed a creator, how much more did the original design!

The earth, the heavens, and all that dwells in them are the handiwork of a divine Creator. It was by the power of the Holy Spirit that the spoken word of God was put into effect. In this lesson we will study the work of the Holy Spirit in Creation. Our divine, personal Friend was there when the world was formed, and He is still active in our lives today in creative power.

Cooperating In Creation

The Pre-Creation Planners

“In the beginning God . . .” (Genesis 1:1). These opening words of the Bible in the Hebrew language use a plural name of God. Although the Son and the Holy Spirit are not specifically named, the Triune God is implied.

The doctrine of the Trinity is part of God’s progressive revelation of Himself that was not developed until the writing of the New Testament. At the time that Moses wrote the Pentateuch (first five books of the Old Testament) many people were polytheistic (believed there were many gods). A revelation of the Triune God at that point in time would have brought confusion. God knew that the people were not ready to receive this truth, so He did not reveal it. His self-revelation is progressive because He knows exactly how much to reveal at any given time. Thus, the Creation account in the book of Genesis does not give us all of the details of God’s creative work. Other Scriptures help us to understand the role of each person of the Trinity in God’s creation plan as well as in His redemptive plan.

The book of Genesis talks about many beginnings: of creation, of man, of sin, of judgment, and of redemption. Only the first two chapters tell about Creation. The Creation account is recorded briefly as a background to the early events in man’s history leading to his need for redemption.

Even before Creation God already knew what would happen to His creation. He anticipated that man would sin, and He made a provision for man’s salvation. Several Scriptures reveal this to us:

1. Revelation 13:8 speaks of the book of life belonging to the Lamb (Jesus) that was slain from the foundation (creation) of the world.

2. Ephesians 1:4 tells us that God chose us in Christ before the creation of the world.

3. Matthew 25:34 refers to a kingdom prepared for the faithful since the foundation of the world.

Several Scripture references confirm the eternal existence of the Triune God. Thus, we know that the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, who always act in perfect unity, planned and carried out the creation of all things together. Let’s look at some of these Scriptures:

1. In Psalm 90:2 the psalmist declares: “Before the mountains were born or you brought forth the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God.” This is a reference to the preexistence of the Father.

2. The apostle John declares the preexistence of the Son in John 1:1: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning.” John goes on to say, “The Word became flesh and lived for awhile among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth” (John 1:14). The Son was there at Creation in equal presence with the Father.

3. The presence of the Holy Spirit at Creation is implied in Hebrews 9:14, where He is called the eternal Spirit. He is without beginning or ending, and He was present with the Father and the Son at Creation. The preexistence of the Holy Spirit is confirmed by this reference to His eternal nature.

The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit were present in the beginning. The Triune God, who caused everything else that exists, is Himself the “uncaused cause”—that is, He has always existed, and He will always exist. Our finite minds cannot fully grasp this truth, because we are time oriented. God is timeless. Before the beginning spoken of in Genesis 1:1, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit in perfect unity decreed the plan of Creation as well as the plan of Redemption.

The Co-Creators

Scripture also very clearly assigns the act of Creation to all of the members of the Trinity.

1. When the early church members prayed to God, they said, “Sovereign Lord you made the heaven and the earth and the sea, and everything in them” (Acts 4:24). They were obviously praying to the Father.

2. Again, in the beginning of John’s Gospel he spoke these words concerning the Son: “Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made” (John 1:3). Clearly Jesus was involved in creation.

3. In a beautiful psalm of praise, Creation is described as a work of the Holy Spirit. In Psalm 104:30 the psalmist declares, “When you send your Spirit, they are created, and you renew the face of the earth.” This speaks not only of the Spirit’s involvement in creating the earth, but also in sustaining it.

Creation is the result of perfect cooperation of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. We don’t fully understand how this took place. Stanley Horton says, “The Father is the Creator, the Maker. He created through the Son and by the Spirit. The mystery of how this was done is not explained in the Bible in any detail. The attention is on the fact that He is the Creator and we are His creatures” (Horton, The Holy Spirit, p. 52).

We will see that the Holy Spirit took an active part in all of creation. He is specifically mentioned as moving in creative power, which is a dominant feature of many of His activities (See Job 33:4; Psalm 104:30; John 6:63; and also Romans 8:11 for reference to the Spirit’s life-giving power.)

Creating The World

Bible scholars, among others, have given many theories to explain the darkness and void that covered the earth before the acts of creation began. Since the Word of God does not reveal the reason to us, and we can only suppose what may have brought it about, we will not attempt to discuss it here. We know from Scripture that it was a condition of emptiness and ruin which only the operation of the Spirit of God could transform into the fullness and beauty that followed.

Moving on the Waters

Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters (Genesis 1:2).

The foregoing verse pictures the Holy Spirit hovering over the pre-creation universe. Deuteronomy 32:11 uses the same verb to describe a mother bird hovering or fluttering over her young in an energetic, protective way. The dynamic spiritual energy of the third Person of the Trinity is revealed here as ready to carry out the creative decrees of God. The series of creative commands that followed were His to carry out. He is revealed as the active agent of Creation.

The first command came: “Let there be light” (Genesis 1:3). Immediately there was light, and it was good.

The second command came: “Let there be an expanse between the waters to separate water from water” (Genesis 1:6).

The foggy mist lifted and became clouds above the waters by the action of the Holy Spirit. One interpretation of Job 26:13 describes what happened: “By His breath [Spirit] the skies became fair.”

The third command was given: “Let the water under the sky be gathered to one place, and let dry ground appear” (Genesis 1:9). The oceans surged back as the omnipotent energy of the Spirit of God operated within and upon it. Whole continents emerged from the waters and became dry land.

Moving in the Earth

The commands that follow (Genesis 1:11-13, 20-25) regarding the earth portray the Holy Spirit as the Spirit of Life. We saw earlier that this is one of the titles given to Him.

He moves over the vast lands of the earth’s continents, and they begin to produce all kinds of vegetation suited to the condition of their climate (Genesis 1:12). He moves in the oceans and lakes and rivers, and they are filled with unnumbered creatures. Beautiful birds fill the air (vv. 20-22). He moves again over the land and gives the breath of life to every kind of animal (vv. 24-25).

The singer of Psalm 104 praises God especially for this part of Creation, and says, “When you send your Spirit, they are created” (Psalm 104:30). It is obvious from the context that they refers to the living creatures that populate the waters and lands of our earth (see Psalm 104:24-25).

The variety and beauty of plants, animals, fish, and fowl leave us in awe as to the capacity of their Creator. In the African museum in Brussels, Belgium, there is an enormous variety of plant and animal life from the continent of Africa. One of the most interesting displays is of hundreds of delicate, intricate, and colorful insects and bugs. Some of them have the appearance of tiny jewels sparkling in the sunlight. This is just a minute part of the great variety in God’s creation. It was the Holy Spirit who put God’s plan into action in creative power.

Moving in the Heavens

By the word of the Lord were the heavens made, their starry hosts by the breath of his mouth (Psalm 33:6).

In this Scripture the Psalmist records the creation of the heavens by the Spirit (breath) of God. The Genesis account of creation focuses on the earth and the placement of heavenly bodies as its lights (Genesis 1:14-18).

No study reveals the awesome power of God as much as a study in astronomy (the science of the celestial bodies, such as stars). Our universe has such enormous dimensions, to comprehend it goes beyond the ability of our imagination. As human beings we are but specks of dust on the earth, and the earth seems less than a speck of dust in proportion to the universe.

Distances in the universe are so great, our earthly means of measurement seem totally inadequate. For example, measurements in deep space must be based on the speed of light, which travels 186,000 miles (299,270 kilometers) per second. Distances in space are not measured by seconds or minutes, or even hours or days. The measurements are in light years!

The nearest star outside our solar system is four and one-half light years away. In other words, its light takes four and one-half years to reach us traveling at 186,000 miles a second. At the present time, astronomers can observe stars three billion light years away from the earth!

To give you some idea of the number of stars that were made by the breath (Spirit) of God, there are 100 billion stars in our galaxy (a galaxy is one of many systems of stars). Astronomers have observed more than a billion galaxies of stars.

Jeremiah spoke for humanity when he used the expression “as countless as the stars of the sky and as measureless as the sand on the seashore” (Jeremiah 33:22). The Psalmist David proclaimed the wonder of God’s creation in Psalm 19:1: “The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.” What a mighty God we serve! This same Holy Spirit who carried out the Father’s decrees as the agent of Creation is working in our lives today; His power is available to us to carry out the Father’s will in the world that He formed so amazingly.

Creating Man

Designed by God

“Then God said, ‘Let us make man in our image, in our likeness”’ (Genesis 1:26). Again there is the plural name of God, followed by plural pronouns. The Godhead is seen planning a special manifestation of divine love.

We described man as a speck of dust when he is compared to the size of the universe. To God he is a very special “speck of dust.” He is the crowning work of God’s creation and the peculiar object of His divine love.

Revelation 13:8 reveals that man’s salvation was planned before creation. This divine decision (Genesis 1:26) must have taken place before the beginning of time. Let’s try to imagine what took place in the Godhead. “Let us design a being like ourselves,” the Father said, “a being that can think and feel and make decisions—a spiritual being we can communicate with—a being with whom we can have close communion.”

In making this plan, God determined to give man full freedom to accept or reject the love of his Creator. In His omniscience, He knew that man would fall into sin, and that it would be necessary to provide a way for him to renew his fellowship with God. The Son of God would be called upon to make the supreme sacrifice. He willingly offered Himself. The Holy Spirit would be the one to carry out the plan. God knew that there would be a select company who would by an act of will choose to follow Him. This company of believers would be partakers of His own nature. Even before the act of Creation God worked out the plan of salvation.

So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them (Genesis 1:27).

Formed by God

“And the Lord God formed man from the dust of the ground” (Genesis 2:7). Other species of life came into existence as God spoke the word and the Holy Spirit moved over the face of the earth.

Man was different. God personally molded his body from the dust of the ground. His creation was distinct from all other creative acts. Chapter 2 of Genesis gives us fuller details about some of the creation events in chapter 1. In Genesis 2:21-22 we see that the creation of man was made complete when God took one of the man’s ribs and made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man.

Quickened by God

And the Lord God . . . breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living being (Genesis 2:7). The Spirit of God has made me; the breath of the Almighty gives me life (Job 33:4).

To quicken means to give life. First God formed the body. Then the Spirit of God breathed into it, bringing to life the spiritual person who would inhabit the body. The living being which came from the breath of God seems to be more of an impartation of the Holy Spirit than a creation. Some element of creation is there, but the living being comes from the breath of the Almighty.

While we are considering here both facts and powers beyond our human ability to understand, it is safe to say that the creation of man gives him a place of closeness with God that none of God’s other creatures possesses.

Sustaining All Things

Just as all three Persons of the Trinity were involved in the creation of all things, so are they active in sustaining creation. Many Scriptures speak of God preserving His people (see Deuteronomy 6:24; Psalm 31:23; Proverbs 2:8; 2 Timothy 4:18). Psalm 121 declares:

I lift up my eyes to the hills—where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth. He will not let your foot slip—he who watches over you will not slumber; indeed, he who watches over Israel will neither slumber nor sleep.

The Lord watches over you—the Lord is your shade at your right hand; the sun will not harm you by day, nor the moon by night.

The Lord will keep you from all harm—he will watch over your life; the Lord will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore.

Jesus, you will recall, said He would ask the Father to send the Counselor to be our constant Companion (John 14:16). It is He who watches over us day and night, and we are safe in His care. His watchful care extends not only to us but also to the entire created order.

As we behold the magnitude of God’s creation, we must stand in awe and amazement at the wonders He has performed. Surely He is worthy of our honor and praise. When He completed His work on the sixth day and observed all that He had done, He said that it was very good.

God created all things for His glory. “The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands” (Psalm 19:1). His creation reveals His glory. He created us that we might glorify Him. Many Scriptures exhort us to glorify God (see 1 Chronicles 16:29; Psalm 29:1; Romans 15:6, 9). Do you glorify God your Creator? Do you honor Jesus, the Son, and the Holy Spirit who has come to dwell within you?

There is no better conclusion to this lesson than the words of the four and twenty elders who fell down before the Creator and cast their crowns before His throne (Revelation 4:11, KJV):

Thou art worthy, 0 Lord, to receive glory and honor and power: for thou has created all things and for thy pleasure they are and were created.