Message Magazine’s Online Devotional for Sunday, February 7, 2016
This Week’s Devotional Focus is, “The Holy Spirit.”
This Week’s Devotional Focus is, “The Holy Spirit.”
“And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.” (Genesis 1:2).
We will be taking a closer look at one of the holiest, most mysterious subjects in all of Scripture this week. Often shrouded in mystery, yet bursting full of heaven’s vital and eternal power is the ministry and Person of the Holy Spirit. Although nobody has ever seen His divine form, He has often condescended to manifest His presence. As the winds cannot be seen, neither do we fully understand exactly from where they are coming or going, yet we are aware of their influence as they move powerfully through our environment, so are the movements of the Holy Spirit.
One point is critical before we discuss Him any further this week. As His name aptly instructs, He is Holy. He is the “Holy” Spirit. Thus, we must reverently treat any discussion of His nature, character, and ministry in heaven or on earth. We will not subject Him to human scrutiny. We will instead simply appeal to the authoritative record of Scripture, which He inspired, to glean as much as we can about His interaction with us.
For today, I would like to highlight The Spirit’s ministry from the very beginning of human existence. Our theme text shows that He moved upon the face of the waters in the beginning. Before the pronouncement of, “Let there be light,” He was there. Before the waters were separated from the waters, He was there. Before God said, “It is good,” He was there. Before God breathed (remember this phrase for later in the week) into Adam’s nostrils the breath of life, He was there. The Spirit was present and cooperative at the creation of earth and humanity.
The word, “moved” as used in our theme text is a wonderful and curious term in the context. This does not simply denote motion. This word actually denotes a careful superintendence like an eagle hovers or flutters above its young. If we were to rephrase that portion of the verse to appropriate this meaning it would read, “And the Holy Spirit caringly hovered above the face of the waters as God prepared to create the earth.”
Notice that at this point in the creation, the Bible says that the earth was formless and void. Please do not miss this spiritual lesson. While the Genesis chapter one account is literally about all it depicts, and not some mysterious, cryptic message, we must not ignore parallels anywhere in Scripture as they manifest themselves. You may recall from our lessons on the Revelation, that in symbolic Bible prophecy, waters represent masses of people. Could it be that we can learn even from the creation story how the Spirit would caringly superintend the nations? Could it be that just as He hovered above the literal waters in the void during creation, that He hovers above the nations actively recreating us from the void into sons and daughters of God? Whether or not you can see this parallel from the Genesis account, there is no denying that the composite of Scripture trumpets this blessed reality throughout its pages. The Holy Spirit is ever-present with the message of Jesus Christ to infuse our lives with truth as He hovers above the nations.
I am so glad the Bible did not present the Spirit as an afterthought, but rather depicts Him front and center from the earliest part of the human story. We are blessed to unpack His movements in our lives with reverence and thanksgiving.
