God's Spirit was presentduring creation.
The opening of Genesis is intriguing.Genesis 1:1-2(NIV) says, "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 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."
So there the earth lay, formless, void,chaotic, andinhospitable for life. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. Literally, inHebrew the verse reads, "… and the breath of God was hovering over the waters."
This word "hover" is used in Deuteronomy 32:10-11 (NIV)describing a mother eagle hovering over her nest, caring for her young, protecting the nest, incubating her eggs, nourishing, strengthening, and preparing her young to spread their wings and live their lives. "In a desert land he found him, in a barren and howling waste. He shielded him and cared for him; he guarded him as the apple of his eye, like an eagle that stirs up its nest and hovers over its young, that spreads its wings to catch them and carries them on its pinions."
Just who or what is this hovering, doting, life-giving breath of God? As the story of creation unfolds, a conversation ensues within the Godhead. Pay close attention to the pronouns. In Genesis 1:26 (NIV) God says to himself, "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness…"
Whatever the breath of God is, it isn’t an "it." He is personal, he is active, he is distinct, he is divine, he exists in eternal community with God, and he was there before, during, and after creation. And he is like a mother eagle guarding her nest and incubating new life. Psalm 33:6 (NIV) echoes Genesis 1:2. "By the word of the Lord were the heavens made, their starry host by the breath of his mouth."
Job 26:13 (NIV) says, "By God’s breath the skies became fair."The King James Bible translates Job 26:13, "By his Spirit he adorned the heavens." The breath of God (the Spirit of the Living God) is the adorner, the nurturer, and the perfector of all creation, making all things beautiful according to God’s sovereign plan.
The Holy Spirit is the completer of creation, bringing it to its final form.
Abraham Kuyper,in his book The Work of the Holy Spirit, describes how in creation the Father demonstrates power to bring forth life,the Son demonstrates power to arrange and order God’s creation under his Lordship, and the Spirit demonstrates the power to perfect creation.
The Father is the supreme planner, author, and designer. The Son is the worker, the faithful Son who carries out the directives of the Father. TheHoly Spirit is the completer or consummator, bringing to final form that which was brought into existence by the Son at the Father’s command, according toAbraham Kuyper.
Psalm 104 eloquently describes God’s work of creation, and how God sustains every aspect of his creation with abundant food and water. But toward the end, notice how the vital role of God’s Spirit, the breath of God, is described.Psalm 104:27-30 (NIV) says,"These all look to you to give them their food at the proper time. When you give it to them, they gather it up; when you open your hand, they are satisfied with good things. 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 earth."
The Spirit of God is living and active, hovering over creation just like a mother eagle tending the nest of her young, providing food at the proper time, and giving it to her babies.And what do the baby eagles do? They open their mouths and gather up what’s given, and are satisfied. In the Spirit they are created and renewed.But apart from the Spirit they are terrified, helpless, they die, and return to dust.
God's Holy Spirit enables us to soar like eagles.
In Exodus 19:3-6 (NIV) God describes Israel in these very terms. He tells Moses, "This is what you are to say to the house of Jacob and are to tell the people of Israel:'You yourselves have seen what I did to Egypt, and how I carried you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself. Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession. Although the whole earth is mine,you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.' "
And how can we forget Isaiah 40:27-31 (NIV) where God says, "Why do you say, O Jacob, and complain, O Israel, 'My way is hidden from the Lord; my cause is disregarded by my God'? Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom. He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall;but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.' "
So we're to be soaring on wings like eagles,living victoriously, drawing strength from God’s hovering Spirit, finding renewal and refreshment, running and not growing weary, and walking without growing faint. We're to have total confidence in God’s care and concern and daily provision. Yet how many of us would say that we're soaring on wings like eagles?
Without the Holy Spirit, we fall into sin and lose hope.
Genesis 2:7 (NIV) says, "…the Lord God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being."It’s the breath of God that makes us fully alive! It’s the breath of God that nourishes and sustains our life. And when we do not receive the breath of God and let us ourselves be filled, we grow tired and weary. We question God’s concern. We stumble and fall into sin. We lose hope.
In Isaiah 44:1-5 (NIV) God admonishes Israel, "But now listen, O Jacob, my servant, Israel, whom I have chosen. This is what the Lord says— he who made you, who formed you in the womb, and who will help you: Do not be afraid, O Jacob, my servant, Jeshurun, whom I have chosen. For I will pour water on the thirsty land, and streams on the dry ground; I will pour out my Spirit on your offspring, and my blessing on your descendants. They will spring up like grass in a meadow, like poplar trees by flowing streams. One will say, 'I belong to the Lord'; another will call himself by the name of Jacob; still another will write on his hand, 'The Lord’s,' and will take the name Israel."
When I was a teenager one of my jobs was to mow the front lawn. No big deal. You fill the tank, pull the rope, and off you go, right? My parents' lawn was a breeze! But on one particular afternoon mowing became a terrifying experience. As I neared one of the trees in the yard, an angry bird let out a loud shriek and began dive-bombing asI passed under the tree. Birds are typically scared of humans, but not this bird! It was angrily defending this tree and I quickly discovered why. There on a branch was a nest full of terrified birdlings, mouths gapping open, calling for their mother, calling for food, and calling for nourishment.
The little birdlings' job was to open their mouths and receive all that they could. The mother bird’s job was to help her young and provide everything that they needed to thrive.
Have we closed ourselves to the working of God's Spirit in our lives?
A lot of time we're quick to presume that God’s Spirit has abandoned us and left us to struggle in our Christian life alone. But could it be that we’ve shut our mouths and closed our hands to God’s Spirit? Could it be that God has made us and formed us, is ready to help us, and is ready pour water on a thirsty land and streams on dry land? Could it be that God isready to bless us and pour his Spirit out on us? That he's ready to establish us like grass in a meadow or a poplar by a flowing stream? But what is our posture toward God?
In Isaiah 63:9-14 (NIV) we read this of God’s people."In all their distress he too was distressed, and the angel of his presence saved them. In his love and mercy he redeemed them; he lifted them up and carried them all the days of old." (SO FAR SO GOOD) "Yet they rebelled and grieved his Holy Spirit. So he turned and became their enemy and he himself fought against them. Then his people recalled the days of old, the days of Moses and his people— (NOTICE THEIR ASSUMPTIONS) where is he who brought them through the sea, with the shepherd of his flock? Where is he who set his Holy Spirit among them,who sent his glorious arm of power to be at Moses’ right hand, who divided the waters before them, to gain for himself everlasting renown,who led them through the depths? Like a horse in open country, they did not stumble;like cattle that go down to the plain, they were given rest by the Spirit of the Lord. This is how you guided your people to make for yourself a glorious name."
It’s a familiar refrain. It's a themethat appears often through the Old Testament. Nehemiah 9:30 (NIV) says,"For many years you were patient with them. By your Spirit you admonished them through your prophets. Yet they paid no attention, so you handed them over to the neighboring peoples."
Remember David’s confession of sin in Psalm 51:10-12 (NIV)?"Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me."
Instead of hungering for the Spirit of the living God and being filled with the breath of God, it is us who turn away from God.It’s we who grieve the Spirit and don’t ask him to nourish and sustain our lives, and protect us from evil, and renew us, and create us, and enable us to soar on wings like eagles!
We should desire to be consumed by the Spirit of God.
Oh, that we might be consumed by the Spirit of God! That we might be filled with the breath of the living God, and that his mighty wind might blow powerfully in our lives! Then we would live, we would thrive, and we would soar! Throughout this series I will teach you how. We certainly cannot do it alone.
Ezekiel 37:1-14 (NIV) says, "The hand of the Lord was upon me, and he brought me out by the Spirit of the Lord and set me in the middle of a valley; it was full of bones. He led me back and forth among them, and I saw a great many bones on the floor of the valley, bones that were very dry. He asked me, 'Son of man, can these bones live?' Isaid, 'O Sovereign Lord, you alone know.' "
"Then he said to me, 'Prophesy to these bones and say to them, Dry bones, hear the word of the Lord! This is what the Sovereign Lord says to these bones: I will make breath enter you, and you will come to life. I will attach tendons to you and make flesh come upon you and cover you with skin; I will put breath in you, and you will come to life. Then you will know that I am the Lord.' "
"So I prophesied as I was commanded. And as I was prophesying, there was a noise, a rattling sound, and the bones came together, bone to bone. I looked, and tendons and flesh appeared on them and skin covered them, but there was no breath in them. Then he said to me, 'Prophesy to the breath; prophesy, son of man, and say to it, This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe into these slain, that they may live.' So I prophesied as he commanded me, and breath entered them; they came to life and stood up on their feet— a vast army."
"Then he said to me: 'Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. They say, Our bones are dried up and our hope is gone; we are cut off. Therefore prophesy and say to them: This is what the Sovereign Lord says: O my people, I am going to open your graves and bring you up from them; I will bring you back to the land of Israel. Then you, my people, will know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves and bring you up from them. I will put my Spirit in you and you will live, and I will settle you in your own land. Then you will know that I the Lord have spoken, and I have done it, declares the Lord.' "