Brothers : The Holy Spirit and Jesus
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Spirit in Creation
The Holy Spirit adorns Creation. At the origins of creation, the Holy Spirit was "hovering" over it. "The earth was without form and void, and darkness was upon the face of the deep, and the Spirit of God was moving over the face of the waters."1 Derek Kidner in his commentary on Genesis says, "In the Old Testament, the Spirit is a term for God's outgoing energy creative and sustaining." 2
Jesus at Creation
God's Son was also present at the origins of creation. Paul writes, "He (Jesus) is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation, for in him all things in heaven and on earth were created, things visible and invisible, dominions or rulers or powers - all things have been created through him and for him."3
The coming of this partner in creation as a human being is an event of the greatest possible magnitude. History is divided by Him. In the words of Charles Malik of Lebanon, "Jesus Christ is the hinge of history, the origin of Christianity." The Apostle John expands, "That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched - this we proclaim concerning the word of life."4
Boy Jesus
Bruce Larson describes two statues on Fifth Avenue, New York. At the entrance to the RCA Building stands a muscular Atlas straining to hold up the world on his shoulders. On the other side of the Avenue in St Patrick's Cathedral is a little statue of the boy Jesus, perhaps 8 or 9 years old and with no effort he is holding the world in one hand.5 The second person of the Trinity is more than our Savior, he holds up the earth.
Life-giving Breath
At the origins of creation, the life-giving breath is given to a human being by the Holy Spirit. "The spirit of God has made me, and the breath of the Almighty gives me life."6 A human being was created from dust and was lifeless until the breath of God was given. "Then the Lord God formed man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being."7
This "breath, wind or spirit" is a translation of the Hebrew word "ruach" which itself sounds like a deep exhalation of the lungs. It appears in the Old Testament as God's energy let loose. "It is not the lofty sails but the unseen wind that moves the ship."8 The word "spirit" was used by New Testament translators to represent the Greek noun "pneuma" which originally meant "a current of air." As time passed it began to symbolize other forms of unseen energy or life.
Renewal
The Psalmist writes that when God takes away his breath everything dies and returns to dust. "When you send forth your spirit, they are created; and you renew the face of the ground."9 The spirit brings new life and renewal to plant life and animal life on the earth. We forget sometimes in the midst of a debate between evolution and creation that in fact the creation was in fact finished after six days. Thereafter the Holy Spirit sustains and no doubt adapts what was created to a changing environment. The Spirit has a special job as he beautifies or adorns the heavens after the original creation. "By his spirit he has garnished the heavens, his hand hath formed the crooked servant." 10 The Psalmist extends this thought. "When I look at the heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars which thou hast established." 11 The phrase "thy fingers" refers to the work of the Holy Spirit at the origin of creation. John Owen writes, "By the finger or fingers of God the Spirit of God is in an especial manner intended." 12
Notes
1Genesis 1.2 2c.f. Psalm 104.30 3Colossians 1.15 41 John 1 5Bruce Larson "Believe and Belong" 6Job 33.4 7Genesis 2.7 8W. McNeil Dixon, "The Human Situation", Folcroft 9Psalm 104.30 10Job 26.13 11Psalm 8.3 12Matthew 12.28
By his spirit he has garnished the heavens
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