“In the beginning,” what a great way to start God’s story. In the
beginning we meet God, the creator of the heavens and the earth and we’re given
a glimpse of the Spirit of God hovering over the waters, the first person of
God we’re introduced to.
Over the next few weeks, we’ll be reflecting on who the Holy Spirit is. Francis Chan calls the
Holy Spirit the “forgotten God,” as much of the church is unable to
describe who the Holy Spirit is as God. He writes, “The Holy Spirit is
absolutely vital to our situation today. Of course, he is always vital; but
perhaps especially now. After all, if the Holy Spirit moves, nothing can stop
him. if he doesn’t move, we will not produce genuine fruit—no matter how much
effort or money we expend.”
In the beginning, “The earth was formless and empty.” In
the Hebrew, the sense of this phrase points to chaos, confusion, and desolation.
Over this, God speaks and order, beauty, and life appear. It all begins with
the hovering of the Holy Spirit over the earth. Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown,
write how the Spirit hovers over the
waters, “as a fowl does, when hatching eggs. The immediate agency of the
Spirit, by working on the dead and discordant elements, combined, arranged, and
ripened them into a state adapted for being the scene of a new creation.”
The image is of the Spirit preparing the coming creation of the universe to
fill it with life.
God’s the creator of everything, including all living beings, setting the stage for
the rest of the Biblical story. The fundamental difference between God and all
creation is that God’s the creator and we’re the created; everything, including
all living creatures, owes their existence to God’s creative power. The
creation story emphasizes the sovereignty of God.
The high point of creation is recorded in Genesis 1:26-28, “Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our
likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the
sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures
that move along the ground.” So God created mankind in his own image, in the
image of God he created them; male and female he created them.” Genesis
2 gives us a very personal glimpse of humanity’s creation, “Then the Lord God formed a man from the dust of the
ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a
living being.”
These verses have fascinated people throughout history
with the personal warmth and care that God shows in
creating us. There are two parts to our creation; the first is God forming a
man from the dust of the ground. The verb is “vasar”
and describes the work of an artist; like a potter forming a clay vessel; in a
similar way, God is described as creating humanity. After God forms the body, he breathes into the man’s nostrils the breath of life
and the man becomes a living being. The Hebrew is “living soul,” making humans both physical and
spiritual beings, giving us the ability to have a relationship of fellowship
with God. Louis Berkof writes, “His body was formed out of the dust of the
earth, while his soul was an immediate creation of God.”
Bonhoeffer marvels at this act of creation, “To say that Yahweh fashions humankind with
Yahweh’s own hands expresses two complementary things. On the one hand, it
expresses the physical nearness of the Creator to the creature—expresses that
it is really the Creator who makes me, the human being, with the Creator’s own
hands; it expresses the trouble the Creator takes, the Creator’s thinking about
me, the Creator’s intention with me and nearness to me. On the other hand, it
expresses also the omnipotence, the utter supremacy, with which the Creator
fashions and creates me and in terms of which I am the Creator’s creature; it
expresses the fatherliness with which the Creator creates me and in the context
of which I worship the Creator. That is the true God to whom the whole Bible
bears witness.”
In other places in the Bible, we see the Holy Spirit give life, Job 33:4, “The Spirit of God has made me; the
breath of the Almighty gives me life.” Psalm
104:29–30,
“When you hide your face, they are
terrified; when you take away their breath, they die and return to the dust.
When you send your Spirit, they are created, and you renew the face of the
ground.” The scholar J.D. Dunn describes the Hebrew understanding
of the Spirit, “From earliest Heb. thought rûaḥ had various meanings, all
more or less equally prominent. 1. Wind, an invisible, mysterious, powerful
force 2. Breath (i.e., air on a small scale), or spirit 3. Divine power…. At
its heart is the experience of a mysterious, awesome power—the mighty invisible
force of the wind, the mystery of vitality, the otherly power that
transforms—all rûaḥ, all manifestations of divine energy.”
Because we’re spiritual beings, the fall into sin impacts us deeply, both physically
and spiritually. To enjoy fellowship with God again, we need the Holy Spirit to
renew our spirit, our soul. We need regeneration, a theological word for
renewal and a new life spiritually. R.C Sproul describes regeneration as, “the
ministry and work of the Holy Spirit to come to people who are spiritually dead….
and to re-create them as He regenerates them. “To regenerate” means “to
generate anew.” By means of regeneration, the Spirit gives life to people who
have no spiritual life. Regeneration is a work that the Holy Spirit does immediately upon the
souls of people…, the Spirit directly brings spiritual life out of spiritual
death.” This is what Jesus is getting at when he tells
Nicodemus that he must be born again.
This helps us understand what Jesus is doing when he appears to his disciples after his
resurrection and breaths on them, “Again Jesus
said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” And
with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.” He
goes on, “If you forgive anyone’s sins, their sins
are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.” Just
as the Holy Spirit is there at the beginning of creation and the giving of life,
just as in Ezekiel’s valley of dry bones, Jesus breathes on the disciples the
gift of the Holy Spirit, the gift of new life with God through his death and
resurrection. Jesus is looking ahead to Pentecost and the pouring out of the
Holy Spirit on all of God’s people. Life is more than breathing, it’s our inner
life shaped and directed by the Holy Spirit; it’s what motivates us, what gives
us purpose and meaning. Jesus is calling us to make his mission our work, to
make him the heart of our lives.
The Spirit’s given the disciples as they’re sent out to share the good news of Jesus, to invite people to
accept Jesus as their Lord and Saviour, into the new life found in Jesus.
Jesus’ forgiveness points to the new life found in him, and the Holy Spirit is
the person of God who works it out in us, shaping our character, how we see and
understand life through Jesus’ life and teaching. But there’s also the reality
that those who believe they don’t need forgiveness, or those who refuse to
repent, or reject Jesus will not receive new life. With all the hatred in the
world, all the violence which leads to death both physically, emotionally, and
spiritually, there’s a huge need for the new life the Spirit brings, for the
peace the Spirit brings. It begins right here with each other, with our
neighbours, co-workers, and even within our own families.
The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are all active in our salvation and regeneration; Titus 3:4–7, “But when the
kindness and love of God our Saviour appeared, he saved us, not because of
righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the
washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us
generously through Jesus Christ our Saviour, so that, having been justified by
his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life.” The evidence of our
salvation is our changed lives through the shaping and power of the Holy Spirit,
1 Peter 1:22–23, “Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the
truth so that you have sincere love for each other, love one another deeply,
from the heart. For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of
imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God.”
If you’re experiencing a desert time, a dry time spiritually, if you’re looking to
move past where you’re at, looking for a new start spiritually, if you’re
seeking God, forgiveness, or a new life of hope, right now is the time to ask
Jesus to fill you with his Spirit, to ask the Spirit to stir within you a
deeper desire for Jesus and his new life. It’s never too late to ask. At Bethel,
we’re dedicated to helping you grow deeper in your relationship with Jesus, to
give you tools, beginning with the Scriptures, to grow in your faith. You can
connect with myself, your elder, or with Tammy our Faith Formation Coordinator;
we would love to help you grow deeper in your faith.
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