How Was the Holy Spirit Involved in Creation?

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 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 1:1–2)

Today’s big question: how was the Holy Spirit involved in Creation?

We have seen previously that Jesus Christ, the Son of God and second person of the Trinity, was involved with God the Father in the creation of everything (John 1:1–3). Now, in Genesis 1:2, we see that the “Spirit of God” was also involved in creation.

The Hebrew word for “Spirit” is often translated as “wind” or “breath” in the Old Testament. The same word is found in Psalm 33:6, where we again catch a glimpse of the Spirit’s work in creation: “By the word of the Lord the heavens were made, and all the host of them by the breath [Spirit] of His mouth.”

The next verse of this psalm continues, “He gathers the waters of the sea together as a heap; He lays up the deep in storehouses” (Psalm 33:7). Certainly, this should remind us of how “the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters” in Genesis 1:2.

If we look closer at the word “hovering,” we find that it conveys the idea of a bird sitting in a nest, hovering and brooding over her eggs, caring for the new lives. The same word is used to describe how “an eagle stirs up its nest, [and] hovers over its young” in Deuteronomy 32:11.

What a beautiful picture of God preparing to bring life into the world through His Spirit! God designed all of creation for life—our life. “By His Spirit [God] adorned the heavens” (Job 26:13), and they were designed with us in mind:

For thus says the Lord, who created the heavens . . . who formed the earth and made it . . . he did not create it empty, he formed it to be inhabited! (Isaiah 45:18, ESV, emphasis added).

On this fascinating topic, we should also note that Scripture describes a similar “hovering” of the Holy Spirit in one of the greatest miracles of all time—the miraculous conception of Jesus Christ: “And the angel answered and said to [Mary], ‘The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you’” (Luke 1:35).

Just as God worked through Jesus and the Holy Spirit to bring life into the dark, formless world at Creation, so also He now offers eternal life to any who repent and believe through the Spirit in the name of Jesus Christ (John 3:5, 6:63).

Today’s big idea: all three persons of the Trinity were involved in Creation—the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

What to pray: ask God to create a clean heart within you (Psalm 51:1).