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The Holy Spirit and Creation
The natural and
spiritual realms
When
we look around us, it is very easy to take for granted a created
and material universe. Anybody who contemplates the existence
of God, even the atheists, must ask himself or herself, where
did the material universe come from? The material world is
temporary and physical, while the spiritual world is eternal and
invisible to the material. In the beginning, when God created
the universe, the Spirit of God was present, over the formless
matter of the physical world (Genesis 1:2). The physical world,
according to scripture, derives its being from the invisible
spiritual realms of God presence (Hebrews 11:3).
The
concept of a spiritual realm is denied by the philosophy of
Naturalism, which is the basis of today’s science.
Encyclopedia Britannica defines Naturalism as,
a theory that
relates scientific method to philosophy by affirming that all
beings and events in the universe (whatever their inherent
character may be) are natural. Consequently, all knowledge of
the universe falls within the pale of scientific investigation.
For
those focused on a physical and material world, the concept of
spiritual world is alien. However, even the visual and physical
world, which we comprehend, is only partially visible, limited
by the capacity our senses, our eyes, only see a portion of the
electromagnetic spectrum. For example, we cannot see
ultraviolet light, infrared light or even radio waves, yet they
all exist in the physical world. Though we can detect them
through equipment, our physical senses design does not
comprehend them.
In
the same way, we cannot comprehend aspects of the physical
world; we are not able to comprehend the
 spiritual
world. The spiritual realms are alien to the physical and
carnal (Hosea 9:7).
14 But the
natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God,
for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because
they are spiritually discerned. I Corinthians 2:14
Why then is this physical world, so alien to the
spiritual realms? Did something go wrong?
The Holy Spirit
in Creation
The role of the Holy Spirit is first seen in
Genesis 1:2, where the Spirit of God
hovers over the vast formless creation of matter in the
universe.
2 The earth was
without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the
deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of
the waters. Genesis 1:2
The Spirit of
God gave vital life to the vast creation, the term waters,
signifies the vast expanse of creation, illustrated by the
boundless expanse of the “waters”.
6 By the word of
the Lord the heavens were made, And all the host of them by the
breath of His mouth. Psalm 33:6
In Psalm 33:6,
the word used for breath is ruwach, also translated
spirit. Here we see the dynamic between the Word of the Lord
(Jesus) and the Spirit in the creation.
John 1:1-3, says he, Jesus (the Word), made
all things. Here the Spirit and the Word are unified in
creation.
30 You send
forth Your Spirit, they are created; And You renew the
face of the earth. Psalm 104:30
The Spirit, whose omniscience (all present) and omnipotence
(all-powerful) maintains life and order in the universe. This
point is further made in Isaiah 40:12-14, where His eternal nature is
affirmed.
12 Who has
measured the waters in the hollow of His hand, Measured heaven
with a span And calculated the dust of the earth in a measure?
Weighed the mountains in scales And the hills in a balance? 13
Who has directed the Spirit of the Lord, Or as His
counselor has taught Him? 14 With whom did He take counsel, and
who instructed Him, And taught Him in the path of justice? Who
taught Him knowledge, And showed Him the way of understanding? Isaiah 40:12-14
At the incarnation of the of The Son, the Holy Spirit
formed His earthly body, again demonstrating the role of the
Spirit in creation.
20 But while he
thought about these things, behold, an angel of the Lord
appeared to him in a dream, saying, "Joseph, son of David, do
not be afraid to take to you Mary your wife, for that which is
conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit.
Matthew 1:20
Made in the Image of God
Who are we? Where did we come from? Naturalist
philosophy and today’s current science tells us we evolved. From
the explosion of matter at the “Big Bang”, matter came
into existence from nothing.
Then formed by “chance” into our Galaxy, then into a solar
system and then into our planet. This paved the way for our
existence, all by random chance when just the right chemicals
formed, linked up, eventually causing the first cell, our
original ancestor.
The Bible says, not so! We were formed in the
image of the Creator of the Universe. We are in His image, not
the image of random life, the result of accidental mutations.
We resemble God, because we are in His image, we
are models of God, with Adam being the first model. Adam is
called a “Son of God” (Luke 3:38), because He, unlike the rest
of us, was formed by God directly from the dust, molded in God’s
image. Does this mean we resemble God physically, spiritually
or both?
First, we can clearly, see humanity is different
from the animal world, though we have bones, flesh, eyes and
hair, like the animal world, our nature separates us. God like
a master builder, might have used similar materials construct
humans and animals, we however are made in His image, after His
likeness resemble the creator.
Man unlike animals, can imagine and then build to
fulfill his vision. We have the ability to create our vision,
like our Creator. We love, hate and are jealous, emotions used
to describe God. We have an eternal spirit (Revelation
21:4,14:11), which will spend an eternity in heaven or hell. Our
Creator is also eternal, because we are made in his image we are
eternal. We have the ability to choose good from evil because we
have freewill like our Creator.
In regards to our physical image, God is spirit,
yet in the Bible God has taken on human form, after all we are
told Adam heard God walking in the garden (Genesis 3:8). God
appeared in human form throughout the Bible, (Genesis 18:1-3,22;
32:24-30, Joshua 5:13-14, Ezekiel
1:26). Angels, created before man, are also
described in human form, not blobs of ethereal matter (Daniel
9:21; 10:16).
Finally, Jesus took on human flesh, not just form
at the incarnation, since he was the source of creation, it
could actually be said, we were made in His image and
likeness. So an argument could be made, that when we were made
in the image of God, it was not just a “spiritual image” but
also a physical. We were made to have fellowship with our
creator, because we were made like him.
There are five steps in our spiritual journey
that we need to be aware once we begin our journey in the
Spirit.
 1.
We were designed for God
In Genesis, at Adam and Eve’s creation, God
walked in the Garden of Eden with them, God had a relationship,
and humanity had fellowship with their Creator (Genesis 3:8).
Man was created perfect, when God had completed creation, He saw
it was “very good” (Genesis 1:31). We were made in our Creators
likeness and image.
26 Then God
said, "Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our
likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea,
over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the
earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth."
27 So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He
created him; male and female He created them.
Genesis 1:26-27
This however changed, after the fall, Adam and Eve
hid from God’s presence, ashamed of their nakedness. The
fellowship was broken man was expelled from the Garden, and
forbidden to return. Man, created in the very image of God, was
now distant from his creator, who he was modeled after.
When man fell, all of creation was afflicted in the
fall. Creation to this day groans under the fall of man,
awaiting the day of redemption. Creation in the physical world
awaits humanities redemption, when God created the earth, he
made it subject to man, who was given dominion over it (Genesis
1:28).
20 For the
creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because
of Him who subjected it in hope; 21 because the creation itself
also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the
glorious liberty of the children of God. 22 For we know that the
whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until
now. Romans 8: 14-22
2.We were
fallen
The fall of Adam and Eve resulted in our “fallen”
or “depraved” nature, since we are children of Adam and Eve. We
were made in the image of God, but the fall has corrupted us. We
have lost the capacity to communicate with the one who made us.
Even though we have lost our communion with God,
we have His traits along with our fallen nature. For this
reason, we see in history humanities desire to worship and be
worshipped in our fallen nature. Great leaders in human history
have tried to assume god-like titles, people who started out
small, proclaim their deity as their pride rises. Alexander the
Great, Julius Caesar, Hitler, Mao and Lenin are few examples of
people throughout history, who attempted to become god-like.
Man’s is built for fellowship with his creator
for this reason humanity looks for things to worship, we seek
idols. This is the draw or religion and fame; they become “God
substitutes”. In our fallen nature, we are looking for a way
to fill the emptiness of a lost relationship with our Creator.
Blaise Pascal captures this thought in his statement,
“There is a God shaped vacuum in the heart of every man which
cannot be filled by any created thing, but only by God, the
Creator, made known through Jesus”
Even in the formally official atheist communist country of
the Soviet Union, the body of Lenin exists in a preserved and
mummified state, because they cannot let his image die.
Some have fashioned idols from trees, Isaiah
describes the fallen and blind state of man, who uses part of
the
 wood
of a tree to cook with, the other part he uses to make an idol,
calling it his god.
17 And the rest
of it he makes into a god, His carved image. He falls down
before it and worships it, Prays to it and says, "Deliver me,
for you are my god!" 18 They do not know nor understand; For He
has shut their eyes, so that they cannot see, And their hearts,
so that they cannot understand. Isaiah 44:17-18
For others, the idol may be fame, success or
beauty, striving to fill the missing part. Looking at the world
of fame, people model themselves after famous people, trying to
accomplish what they achieved hoping the empty feeling fill.
Programs such as American Idol even include the word Idol,
because that is exactly what they stand for we want idols, its
part of our fallen nature.
Alexander the Great was the model for Julius
Caesar. When Caesar was about thirty-seven (63 B.C), he saw a
statue of Alexander the Great in Cadiz Spain, he fell down and
cried because at thirty-seven he was only an aristocrat, while
Alexander was conquering the world. From that point, Julius
strived to be like the image of Alexander, he modeled himself
after him.
Moreover, like his model, he became the subject of worship.
3.
We are restored for fellowship
This is why Jesus Christ died for our sins, to
restore us from our “fallen” state. Only through redemption
could we again have the fellowship we lost. Jesus’ death paid
the price for our sins, He restored us to God, through the
Spirit.
14 how much more
shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit
offered Himself without spot to God, cleanse your conscience
from dead works to serve the living God? 15 And for this reason
He is the Mediator of the new covenant, by means of death, for
the redemption of the transgressions under the first covenant,
that those who are called may receive the promise of the eternal
inheritance. Hebrews 9:14-15
Once our sins were paid, we were redeemed. We
could be born again, because salvation was offered as a
gift of grace (Ephesians 2:8-9), to those who choose to accept.
Once we accepted this gift, the Holy Spirit was deposited in us
as down payment or guarantee of our coming redemption (Ephesians
1:14). Notice belief precedes the Holy Spirit, we receive the
deposit of the Spirit after we believe.
13b. having believed, you were sealed with the Holy
Spirit of promise, 14 who is the guarantee of our inheritance
until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise
of His glory. Ephesians 1:13b-14
The Holy Spirit, promised by Jesus, is the
Helper or
Parakletos,
who would proceed from the Father and Jesus. Through the
indwelling Holy Spirit, we are restored to our creator, despite
the fact; we remain in these earthly bodies. The Holy Spirit
testifies to the identity and purpose of Jesus.
26 "But when the Helper comes, whom I shall send to you
from the Father, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the
Father, He will testify of Me. John 15:26
4. We have the
capacity to overcome.
When we accepted Jesus Christ, an amazing event
happens, God Himself, in the person of the Holy Spirit, takes
residence in our body. We became the Temple of God (I
Cor. 3:16-17, I Cor. 6:19, 2 Cor.
6:16), because the Holy Spirit is God. This
is what means to be Born Again, to be born of the Spirit,
when God’s Holy Spirit dwells in us, through the work of Jesus
Christ (John 3:3,5).
Paul refers to our restored relationship in
Romans 8, notice we cannot be children of
God, without the Spirit of God, this is how we are restored.
Paul is trying to help the Romans and us understand our position
with God, as a result of the Holy Spirit.
14 For as many
as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.
15 For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear,
but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out,
"Abba, Father." 16 The Spirit Himself bears witness with our
spirit that we are children of God, 17 and if children, then
heirs-heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we
suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together. 18 For
I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not
worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in
us. 19 For the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits
for the revealing of the sons of God.
Romans 8:14-19
God’s indwelling Spirit testifies to our spirit
about the restored relationship. For now in the present age,
this relationship is concealed. Those who have the Spirit of
God, might seem like the rest of humanity, but our position with
God has changed. We are now His children, through the Spirit (I John 3:10). We have the power of God Almighty, who
is dwelling in us.
I once heard the story of a man who spent his
whole life, begging on the streets for money, so he could buy
food to eat. After he died though, it was discovered under his
house was gold, enough to make him a prince. All the while, he
was begging for survival, he had in his capacity to be a prince,
he however, through choice or ignorance had to beg.
In many ways, the Christian who is saved and does
not know the power of their salvation, is in the same the
predicament as that man. We like him, have the resources and
power through the Spirit to overcome our poverty, but many
times, we choose to go to the world and beg for food. We look
for things in this world to satisfy our hunger, rather then let
the wealth of God fill us.
5.
We are being transformed
In Christ, we have a purpose, beyond anything
this world could ever hope to offer. What we appear to be is
not what we will be. As children of God, one day we will
resemble God. We are in the process of transformation. We no
longer need to be subject to this world.
2 Beloved, now
we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we
shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like
Him, for we shall see Him as He is. I John 3:2
The Spirit of God, the Holy Spirit, dwelling
inside us is transforming us, day by day into the image of the
Son. This will be completed at the resurrection when the mortal
will put on immortality. But for now, we are being transformed,
the process of transformation is where we have a role.
18 But we all,
with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the
Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to
glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord. 2 Cor. 3:18
In his book, Life in the Spirit, Robertson
McQuilkin relates the story of a graduate student who hearing
about the Spirit-empowered life, wrote a note to the professor
with the words “How, How can I ever live that kind of life?”
Many who come to Christ face that question; left in the “ok now
what?” camp, Christians stagnate in their walk.
We have to choose, to be led by the Spirit, we
have the capacity and we have the power, but we need the will.
The Spirit of God guides us in the direction of Christ, but we
have to choose to follow. Jesus makes this point clear, when he
says about the Holy Spirit, “He will guide you”.
13 "However,
when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into
all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but
whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to
come. 14 "He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine
and declare it to you.
John 16:13-14
Ask yourself these questions;
-
Are we
willing to be transformed by the Spirit of God or do wrestle
and grieve God’s Spirit?
-
Do we want
to know how to stop resisting the Spirit?
-
Are we
willing to make changes, to remove obstacles for the Spirit?
Notice, Jesus says the Spirit will guide us, the Greek word
is
oJdhgevw
Hodegeo
and means lead on one's way, to guide, to teach. We however,
have the choice, God is not forcing us, He is leading us.
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