Holy Spirit in Material Creation
Text: Genesis 1:2
Series: Restoration Sermons
Date:
Speaker: Ed Rangel
Location: Waupaca Church of Christ
Bible Version: NASB 1995
Sermon Type: Expository
Learning Objectives
By the close of this lesson the hearer should be able to:
- Describe the distinct role of each member of the Godhead in creation — what God the Father did, what the Word did, and what the Holy Spirit did.
- Distinguish the three Hebrew words for creation (bara, asah, yatsar) and explain what each contributes to the picture of how the universe came to exist.
- Explain the specific role of the Holy Spirit in organizing matter: what "organizing" means in this context and how it differs from originating or creating.
- Explain the difference between beginning by miracle and continuing by law — and what this means for how the creation is sustained.
- Identify the Scripture texts that establish the Holy Spirit's continued presence in creation (Ps. 139:7-10; Job 26:13; Job 33:4) and explain what each contributes.
Thesis
The Holy Spirit's role in material creation is not incidental — it is specific, distinct from the roles of the Father and the Son, and ongoing. The Father originated and rules; the Word created and sustains; the Spirit organized the chaotic mass, gave laws for the creation's perpetuation, and continues to be present wherever the laws of the universe reach. Creation began by miracle; it continues by law; the Spirit is the one who gave it those laws.
Burden
Many people who believe in the Holy Spirit have never considered his work in creation. They think of the Spirit's work in terms of inspiration, conversion, or gifts — not in terms of organizing the material universe. The burden is to establish from Genesis 1 and the supporting texts that the Spirit was present at creation in a specific, irreplaceable role, and that his presence in creation is not an ancient event but an ongoing reality.
Introduction
"The earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the waters" (Gen. 1:2). The opening of Genesis does not describe the Holy Spirit's work as an afterthought or a peripheral contribution. He is present at the beginning — moving over the formless, void, dark chaos — before the organizing work of the six days begins.
The Godhead was present in creation. This is not a statement about three separate gods who cooperated; it is a statement about the one God — the Tri-Unity — who created through three distinct activities: the Father's origination, the Word's creation, and the Spirit's organization.
I. The Godhead in Creation
Each member of the Godhead had a distinct function in the creation of the material universe.
God originated, provided, and ruled. He is the source of all being — the one from whom everything that exists derives its existence. "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth" (Gen. 1:1). The ultimate origin of all material reality is in God's decision, power, and purpose.
The Word created all things. "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being" (John 1:1-3). The Word — Christ, the pre-incarnate Son — was the agent through whom the creation came into being. "For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible... all things have been created through Him and for Him" (Col. 1:16). "In these last days [God] has spoken to us in His Son... through whom also He made the world" (Heb. 1:2).
The Holy Spirit organized, gave laws, and guides. The Spirit's role is not creation in the sense of bringing things into being ex nihilo — that is the Father's through the Word. The Spirit's role is organization: taking the chaotic formless mass and giving it form, structure, law, and vital force.
II. The Holy Spirit Organized the Material Universe
The three Hebrew words for divine action in Genesis clarify the Spirit's specific contribution.
Bara — to create out of nothing (Gen. 1:1, 27). Used for the initial act of bringing the heavens and the earth into existence, and for the creation of man. This is the most radical act — bringing being from non-being.
Asah — to make, to do, to construct (Gen. 1:26). Used for the fashioning of things from existing material — the work of organizing what already exists into specific forms and structures.
Yatsar — to form, to shape, as a potter shapes clay (Gen. 2:7). Used for the shaping of the man from the dust. The word implies hands-on, purposeful, skilled formation of a specific shape from existing material.
The Spirit's work in creation is primarily the work of asah and yatsar — organizing, forming, shaping — rather than bara. When the earth was formless and void (Gen. 1:2 — tohu wabohu, waste and void), the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the waters: not yet organizing, but present, poised, before the organizing work began.
The six days of creation are days of organization. The raw material was already present (Gen. 1:1 — the heavens and the earth); the days describe the Spirit's organizing work: separating light from darkness, waters above from waters below, sea from land, establishing the luminaries in their places, filling the sea and sky and land with living creatures, forming man.
The Spirit organized matter, gave form to it, vital force, and pro-creative power. The vital force — the capacity of living things to live; the pro-creative power — the capacity of living things to reproduce; these are specifically the Spirit's gift to the creation. "You send forth Your Spirit, they are created; and You renew the face of the ground" (Ps. 104:30).
The Spirit launched creation upon its mission. When the organization was complete, the creation was not left to run without the Spirit's continued presence. The Spirit who organized it continues to sustain it.
III. The Holy Spirit Gave Laws to Perpetuate
All things began by miracle; they continue by law. This is the economy principle applied to creation: the miracle of origin does not need to be repeated; the law given at the beginning governs the ongoing operation.
Vegetable and animal life began by miracle. God spoke; the earth produced vegetation (Gen. 1:11-12); the waters and the land produced living creatures (Gen. 1:20-25). The initial act was miraculous — it required the Spirit's direct creative and organizing work. The continuation is by law: the laws of biology, genetics, growth, and reproduction that the Spirit established govern the continuation of what began miraculously.
Man began by miracle. "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" (Gen. 2:7). The formation of man was a direct, miraculous act — yatsar, shaped by divine hands; bara, the creation of the image of God (Gen. 1:27). The continuation of humanity is by the reproductive law the Spirit gave at the beginning.
The Spirit garnished the heavens. "By His breath the heavens are cleared; His hand has pierced the fleeing serpent" (Job 26:13). The beauty and order of the heavens — the arrangement of the stars, the movements of the constellations — reflects the Spirit's organizing and beautifying work. The heavens declare the glory of God (Ps. 19:1) because the Spirit who organized them organized them gloriously.
The Holy Spirit is everywhere. "Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence? If I ascend to heaven, You are there; if I make my bed in Sheol, behold, You are there. If I take the wings of the dawn, if I dwell in the remotest part of the sea, even there Your hand will lead me, and Your right hand will lay hold of me" (Ps. 139:7-10). The omnipresence of the Spirit is not simply an attribute — it is the condition of the creation's continued existence. The Spirit is wherever the laws of the universe reach, because he is the one who gave those laws.
The Spirit of God made Job. "The Spirit of God has made me, and the breath of the Almighty gives me life" (Job 33:4). This is a human being — not the initial creation of man, which was long past — attributing his own existence and life to the Spirit. The Spirit's creative work did not end with Genesis 2; it continues in every human life.
Application
The Spirit who is the subject of the doctrinal series — the Spirit of inspiration, the Spirit of conversion, the Spirit who sanctifies — is the same Spirit who organized the material universe and gave it its laws. The doctrinal study of the Spirit is not a study of a being who became relevant at Pentecost; it is the study of the one who was moving over the waters before the first day.
The practical implication of the Spirit's omnipresence (Ps. 139:7-10): there is no condition in which the Spirit is absent. There is no suffering so remote, no Sheol so deep, no sea so distant, that the Spirit is not there. The comfort this provides is not sentimental — it is grounded in the Spirit's constitutive relation to the creation itself: he is where his laws reach, and his laws reach everywhere.
Conclusion
"The Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the waters" (Gen. 1:2). The first sustained description of the Spirit's activity in Scripture is this: present over chaos, organizing, giving form, giving law, giving life. The creation that resulted reflects the Spirit's work; the laws that govern it express the Spirit's intention; the life that fills it is the Spirit's gift. The creation does not continue by the Spirit's withdrawal — it continues by his ongoing presence.
Invitation
The Spirit who organized the material creation is the same Spirit promised to those who obey the gospel: "Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit" (Acts 2:38). The gift of the Spirit is not a minor addition to the gospel — it is the gift of the one who has been organizing creation from the beginning, now dwelling in the person who has obeyed.
Word Study
| English Term | Greek Term | Basic Meaning | Usage in This Sermon | Sermon Significance | Key Texts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Was moving | merachepheth (Hebrew) | Hovering, moving, fluttering — the same word used for a bird hovering over its nest (Deut. 32:11). | Used in Gen. 1:2 for the Spirit's activity over the formless, void waters before the organization began. | The image is of a bird hovering protectively over a nest — not yet building, but present, watchful, poised for action. The Spirit's hovering over the chaos is the image of organized creation being prepared: not yet present, but being held by the one whose work will produce it. | Gen. 1:2; Deut. 32:11 |
| Formless and void | tohu wabohu (Hebrew) | Waste and emptiness — the description of the unorganized state of creation before the Spirit's organizing work. | Used in Gen. 1:2 for the condition that existed before the six days of organization. | The Spirit's organizing work addresses precisely this: tohu wabohu — waste and emptiness — is the raw material; the organized, law-governed, life-filled creation is the result. The Spirit's presence over the chaos is the condition for the chaos becoming cosmos. | Gen. 1:2 |
| Created | bara (Hebrew) | To create — used in the OT exclusively for divine action; never of human creating. | Used in Gen. 1:1 for the initial act of bringing the heavens and the earth into existence; in Gen. 1:27 for the creation of man in the image of God. | The exclusivity of bara for divine action establishes the absolute uniqueness of God's creative act. The Spirit's organizing work (asah, yatsar) operates on what bara has brought into being: the Spirit does not create from nothing but organizes what the Father's creative act produced. | Gen. 1:1, 27 |
| Breath / Spirit | ruach (Hebrew) | Wind, breath, spirit — the same word covers all three meanings; context determines which is primary. | Used in Gen. 1:2 for the "Spirit of God" moving over the waters; in Gen. 2:7 for the "breath of life" breathed into man; in Job 33:4 for the "Spirit of God" that made Job. | The range of ruach — from wind to breath to spirit — suggests the organizing, animating, life-giving character of the Spirit's work. The same reality that moves through the physical world (wind), gives life to bodies (breath), and acts as the divine person (Spirit) is the ruach of Gen. 1:2. | Gen. 1:2; Gen. 2:7; Job 33:4; Ps. 139:7 |
Scripture Interlock Table
| Theme | Boles' Outline | Supporting Scripture |
|---|---|---|
| "The Spirit of God was moving over the waters" | Text | Gen. 1:2 |
| "All things came into being through Him" — Word's role | I.2 | John 1:1-3 |
| "All things created through Him and for Him" | I.2 | Col. 1:16 |
| "Bara" — brought heavens and earth into being | II.1a | Gen. 1:1, 27 |
| "Yatsar" — the LORD formed man from the dust | II.1c | Gen. 2:7 |
| "Spirit garnished the heavens" | III.4 | Job 26:13 |
| "Where can I flee from Your Spirit?" — omnipresence | III.5 | Ps. 139:7-10 |
| "The Spirit of God has made me" — Spirit continues creating | III.8 | Job 33:4 |
| Gift of the Spirit — promised to those who obey | Invit. | Acts 2:38 |
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Converted from H. Leo Boles, Outline 166. Primary text: Gen. 1:2 (stated by Boles). OCR corrections: "Yarsar" → "Yatsar" (the correct Hebrew verb for forming/shaping); "lll." → "III." Doctrinal audit: the distinct roles of Father, Son, and Spirit in creation developed without collapsing the three into one undifferentiated divine action; the Spirit's role as organizer (not bara creator) preserved — this is careful theological distinction; the Hebrew vocabulary (bara, asah, yatsar) developed to show the layers of creative action; the "all things began by miracle, continued by law" principle consistent with the true theory of inspiration from the previous series; invitation retains full obedient response (Acts 2:38).
