19. Creation Holy Spirit

Breath of God

The word for "Spirit" in the Hebrew "ruach" of the Old Testament translates into English as "breath." The Creation Holy Spirit is the divine channel by which God imparts human beings with something of himself. Genesis 2.7 explains, "Then the Lord God formed a man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being." ✞

Man

Note here that the Hebrew for "man" sounds like "adam" and may be related to "adamah," the Hebrew for "ground." It is also the name "Adam." Genesis 2.20 reads, "Therefore the man gave names to all the livestock, the birds in the sky, and the wild animals. But for Adam, no suitable helper was found." "Adam" may be translated as "the man" and is derived from "mann" in Old English. The Old English form can also signify "a person of unspecified gender." "Man" is, until recent times, a word describing "a person of either sex, both men and women," hence its strange-sounding use today in the King James Version and the old English Prayer Books. In the Elizabethan period, "man" was used to designate "one" and is entirely proper in its usage. ✞

Warmly Personal Breath

Earth In Hands Jesus also bestows the Holy Spirit by breathing on his disciples. John 20.22 tells us, "and with that, he breathed on them and said, 'Receive the Holy Spirit.'" Derek Kidner (1913-2008), an eminent Old Testament scholar, adds, "Breathed is warmly personal, with the face-to-face intimacy of a kiss and the significance that this was an act of giving as well as making, and self-giving at that." ✞

God's Making

The Creation Holy Spirit gives life to those who inhabit the earth, the realm of God's making, by breathing life into them. The prophet Isaiah explains in Isaiah 42.5, "This is what God the Lord says, the Creator of the heavens, who stretches them out, who spreads out the earth with all that springs from it." The Holy Spirit still today "gives breath to its people and life to those who walk on it!" ✞

Live By God's Spirit

Martin Luther (1483-1546), the great Reformation leader, wrote in "Creation and Fall," "God breathes his spirit into the body of a human. And this spirit is life and makes humans alive. God creates other life through his word. Where humans are concerned, he gives of his life and his spirit. A human being does not live without God's spirit. To live as a human means is to live as a "body in spirit." Escape from the body is an escape from being human and an escape from the spirit as well. The body is the existence form of the spirit, as the spirit is the existence form of the body." To be alive as a human means to live in the spirit of God. ✞

Holy Spirit's Breath

God Image The Holy Spirit's breath brings new life to the Creation and sets humans apart from other animals. Understanding and wisdom come from the "Holy Spirit's breath" in a person rather than by any human effort. In Job 32.8, we read, "But it is the spirit in a person, the Almighty's breath, that gives them understanding." Note that "the spirit" translates as "Spirit" with a capital "S" in this passage. God wants humans to be like himself and to gain understand, wisdom and knowledge. ✞

Earth's Custodians

In Genesis 1.26, we discover why God gives us understanding and wisdom. "Then God said, 'Let us make mankind in our image, and likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, the livestock, the wild animals, and the creatures that move along the ground.'" The phrase "wild animals" may be translated "earth" in this verse. Human beings are indeed custodians of the earth as climate change has taught us. God intended humans to take control and responsibility for all creation. Understanding and wisdom set humans apart from other animals and are necessary for survival, control, and development. ✞

God-Breathed

Sun The Holy Spirit's breath creates us. In Genesis 2.7, we read, "Then the Lord God formed a man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being." Once the Creation Holy Spirit gives his breath to human beings, they acquire authority over the creation on earth. Genesis 1.28 says, "God blessed them and said to them, 'Be fruitful and increase in number. Fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and every living creature that moves on the ground.'" In this way, God gives his divine seal of approval to humanity. ✞

Continuous Renewal

One of the other particular functions of the Holy Spirit is to sustain life. He is responsible for "finishing off" what the Creator has set in place. The Holy Spirit's breath is responsible for the continuous cycle of nature and the year's seasons as they come and go. The Holy Spirit brings understanding to humans and therefore gives them authority. ✞

Holy Spirit Commissioning

Joshua And Friends The Holy Spirit is a brother to Jesus in the Trinity. He leads and guides all Christians, indwells all individuals with life, and stirs their consciences within. The Creation Holy Spirit indwells people whom God uses for his service. ✞

Joshua and Jesus

Joshua (1355-1245 BC), or "Jehoshua," experiences the Holy Spirit indwelling him before being commissioned for the Lord's service. His original name was "Hoshea," the son of Nun, of Ephraim's tribe, but Moses called him "Joshua," in Numbers 13.16, the name by which we know him today. Joshua was born in Egypt before the Exodus. "Jesus" is the English derivative of the Greek "Yehoshua." In the Septuagint, all instances of the word "Yehoshua" render as "Iesous," the closest Greek pronunciation of the Aramaic "Yeshua." Thus, in modern Greek, Joshua is called "Jesus, son of Naue" to differentiate him from "Jesus of Nazareth." ✞

Leadership Gift

In Numbers 27.18, we read, "So the Lord said to Moses, 'Take Joshua son of Nun, a man in whom is the leadership spirit, and lay your hand on him.'" In this verse, "the leadership spirit" may be translated as "the Spirit." Othniel, the first of the Judges in Israel and Caleb's younger brother, was given the Holy Spirit's leadership to judge Israel. In Judges 3.10a, we read, "The Spirit of the Lord came on him so that he became Israel's judge and went to war." The phrase "Israel's judge" may be also translated as "Israel's leader." ✞

Sampson and Saul

Anointing Of David As Sampson grew, so the Holy Spirit indwelt and stirred within him. He was a man of extraordinary strength. In Judges 13.25, we read, "The woman gave birth to a boy and named him Samson. He grew, and the Lord blessed him, and the Spirit of the Lord began to stir him while he was in Mahaneh Dan, between Zorah and Eshtaol." In Old Testament times, God generally gave the Spirit to a person for a particular task. On the other hand, the Spirit was removed from those disobedient to him and replaced with an evil spirit, as happened with Saul. 1 Samuel 16.14 tells the story, "Now the Spirit of the Lord had departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the Lord tormented him." The phrase "an evil spirit" may be translated as "a harmful spirit." Once the Holy One left King Saul, the Lord allowed an evil spirit to enter him. A prophecy is a phenomenon from very early times. Moses is known as the great prophet indwelt by the Holy Spirit.✞

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