We need look no further than the very first chapter of Genesis to find critical activity of the Holy Spirit of God. Genesis 1:1 tells us that “In the beginning,” Elohim-“God created the heavens and the earth,” And “God” is clearly in the Hebrew plural and rendered “Elohim”. Following in verse 2, the Holy Spirit of God is referenced with the words “and the spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.” The Hebrew word for “move” is the word translated into English as “brooded”, brooded in the way a mother hen broods over her anticipated chicks in incubation.
She broods over them, or “tends” them, in expectation of their coming to full development. So, too, the Spirit of God brooded over the face of the waters, preparing them to bring forth what was intended in creation. And, here again, we have an unmistakable reference of each member of the Triune Godhead being operative in a key activity. God, Elohim, “created the heavens and the earth. The Spirit brooded over the face of the waters” and all things were brought into being by the eternal Son, “without whom nothing that was made was made,” John tells us in chapter 1. Thus, in the first two verses of the first chapter of the first book of the Bible, Genesis tells us all three members of the Triune God were participants in the creation of the heavens and the earth. How fitting, then, for the Spirit-inspired writer of Ecclesiastes to record in chapter 12, “to remember now thy Creators in the days of thy youth,” and, yes, the plural is used in the Hebrew…”thy Creators.” And “Creators” is in perfect harmony with the combined testimonies of the Old and New Testaments as regards the acts of creation. So, precisely who created the heavens and the earth? The Elohim…the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit…all in concert and complete harmony befitting of the dignity and majesty of their Persons.
We need look no further than the very first chapter of Genesis to find critical activity of the Holy Spirit of God. Genesis 1:1 tells us that “In the beginning,” Elohim-“God created the heavens and the earth,” And “God” is clearly in the Hebrew plural and rendered “Elohim”. Following in verse 2, the Holy Spirit of God is referenced with the words “and the spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.” The Hebrew word for “move” is the word translated into English as “brooded”, brooded in the way a mother hen broods over her anticipated chicks in incubation. She broods over them, or “tends” them, in expectation of their coming to full development. So, too, the Spirit of God brooded over the face of the waters, preparing them to bring forth what was intended in creation. And, here again, we have an unmistakable reference of each member of the Triune Godhead being operative in a key activity. God, Elohim, “created the heavens and the earth. The Spirit brooded over the face of the waters” and all things were brought into being by the eternal Son, “without whom nothing that was made was made,” John tells us in chapter 1. Thus, in the first two verses of the first chapter of the first book of the Bible, Genesis tells us all three members of the Triune God were participants in the creation of the heavens and the earth. How fitting, then, for the Spirit-inspired writer of Ecclesiastes to record in chapter 12, “to remember now thy Creators in the days of thy youth,” and, yes, the plural is used in the Hebrew…”thy Creators.” And “Creators” is in perfect harmony with the combined testimonies of the Old and New Testaments as regards the acts of creation. So, precisely who created the heavens and the earth? The Elohim…the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit…all in concert and complete harmony befitting of the dignity and majesty of their Persons.
In his volume on Christian theology, Dr. William Cook wrote, “Thus each reviving Spring and each successive generation of men and inferior animals, like a new creation, is declaratory of the Spirit’s presence and omnipotent energy.” How is it possible that we should know of these profound and awesome works of the Holy Spirit of God? Only by the Agency of the same Spirit who has revealed His works through the revelation He Himself inspired and preserved in the pages of our Bible, the Spirit-inspired Word of God.
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