PCEA

The Spirit in creation

In our series of Theology for Teenagers, we have been thinking of God as a Fellowship of Three Persons — Father, Son and Holy Spirit. They are usually thought of in that order, the Father first, the Son second, the Spirit third. That does not mean that one of them is higher than the others, for they are “the same in substance, equal in power and glory”. But they have special work attributed to each, the Father purposes or plans, the Son executes, and the Spirit operates or applies. Now it is the operation of the Spirit we are to think of in this third section of the series. He is called the Holy Spirit, perhaps because He reveals and conveys the holiness of God to us. For that reason we shall speak of Him in a further article as the One who sanctifies or makes holy.

The Bible first mentions the Spirit in the record of Creation which is given in Genesis 1. In verse 2 it says: “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.”

“Moved” is the first activity of the Spirit mentioned to us, and however sublime the context in which it is found, the word itself is strangely familiar and homely. It describes the action of a bird incubating her eggs from the warm vitality of her own body. It is, therefore, the Spirit who brooded over the chaos and darkness, and created order and system in the universe.

Three Elements

When we read the chapter carefully we must be impressed by the fact that Infinite Mind is at work: it is the Infinite Intelligence of the Spirit that brings order out of chaos. The three elements we notice here are familiar to us in everyday life: they are matter, energy, light, and the three are so closely connected that scientists tell us that they are “phases of the same reality”. We are familiar with this in our home in the use of electricity. It began as matter, whether it be water or oil or gas. Then it became energy that can drive an engine, as in a washing machine. But it goes further, it turns energy into light which lightens our home. These are the three elements we have in this chapter, but they operate in the opposite direction.

First, the Spirit brings “light”. On the first day of creation, before the sun had been put in the heavens, God said: “Let there be light”, and at His command light came. It is interesting to remember that the word “Spirit” in the Bible is the same as the word for “breath”, so that the Spirit of God in operation may be thought of as the breath of God going out with power to create. The Psalmist thought of it like that, for he said: “By the word of the Lord were the heavens made, and all the host of them by the breath of His mouth” (Ps. 33:6). The “breath” or Spirit of God first brought light to His universe.

The second thing that happened is that light became energy. It was transformed into power that worked.

Then the energy was transformed into matter, or substance, and it is of this matter that the material universe is formed.

Infinite Intelligence

The interesting thing is that though science has learned to transform matter into energy and energy into light, the Spirit of God worked in the opposite direction and transformed light into energy and energy into matter. Little by little our scientists are beginning to recognise that it took infinite intelligence to operate in this way, and they are, even now, trying to trace the footprints of the Creator so that they may learn to operate like this. But most of them are agreed that light was the first element that could appear, A great scientist of the recent past, Sir James Jeans stated that the work of creation could not be more fully and adequately introduced than by the fiat, “Let there be light” (The Mysterious Universe).

When we ponder the resources of wisdom and knowledge and power that could devise this machinery, put it into action, and keep it going, we come face to face with God the Spirit “upholding all things by the word of His power” (Heb. 1:3). God has planned, God has executed, and God operates.