Holy Spirit’s Role in Creation

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Table of Contents

Introduction
Possible Perspectives on the Holy Spirit’s Role in Creation
Holy Spirit’s Role in Enacting What Was Spoken by the Father
Holy Spirit’s Role in Enacting What Was Architected by the Son
Specific Functions and Activities
Potential Theological Dangers
Conclusion
Proposed Bibliography

Introduction

Unless one adheres to blatantly non-Trinitarian denominations, there is no doubt from a theological standpoint that the act of creation is an act of God in His totality. Consequently, one should assume that the act of creation involves all three Trinitarian persons in one capacity or another. While these points are largely indisputable, there are still grounds for disagreement and dissuasion when it comes to the role in creation played by the Holy Spirit specifically.

There are several reasons why this particular topic is worth studying thoroughly. First of all, when compared to other persons of God, the Holy Spirit is the one occupying the background position. It is not as prominent as Father or Son in the Scripture – in the words of Ware, it “does not seek or desire to be the center of attention.” Secondly, there is a somewhat oversimplifying tendency to identify each person of the Trinity with a particular activity, as if overshadowing the triune nature of God. In specific terms, this tendency leads to associating Father with creation, Son with redemption, and the Holy Spirit with sanctification, largely disregarding their interplay in these and other activities. It obviously limits the understanding of the Triune God in His complexity and offers a simplified categorization instead. Thirdly and finally, even when one recognizes the Spirit’s role in creation, it is not necessarily clear what it is. Thus, a pneumatological look at creation is not merely theologically possible but needed and definitely useful for a better understanding of the Triune God and the act of Creation.

Possible Perspectives on the Holy Spirit’s Role in Creation

As mentioned above, Holy Spirit’s role in the act of creation can be disputable from the theological perspective. There are not that many direct references to the part that this person of the Trinity plays, and those that are present are usually open to interpretation. Moule is right to point out that even in the New Testament, much less the Old one, the references to the Holy Spirit are “by no means… specific or clear-cut.” The most relevant passage in this respect would be the one describing the Holy Spirit hovering over the primeval chaos not yet shaped and put to order by the divine will (Gen 1:2). One possible interpretation of this passage allows assuming that the Holy Spirit played no active role in the creation. This interpretation would assume that creation was the sole prerogative of the Father as the first person of the Trinity, and the funciton of the Holy Spirit was “limited to being passively present.” However, this version seems to be an oversimplification that does not do justice to the third person of the Trinity.

Another possible perspective on the role of the Holy Spirit in the act of creation is that it was more than merely present while existence took shape according to the Father’s Word. It is true the principal role commonly associated with the Holy Spirit is that of sanctification. However, the situation becomes clearer when one tries to assess the Spirit’s role in the grand scheme of divine intent, for it would be naïve to assume that God envisaged the act of creation as a thing in itself. If the Holy Spirit plays a sanctifying role in the creation, it is because this role is weaved into the fabric of creation in the first place. From the breathing of life into Adam’s nostrils, “the Spirit is present everywhere, directing the universe toward its goal, bringing to completion first the creational and then the redemptive purposes of God.” In other words, if the Spirit plays such an essential role in the functioning of all creation, it is because it was an active agent involved in said creation rather than an unconcerned passive observer.

Holy Spirit’s Role in Enacting What Was Spoken by the Father

As stated in the thesis for this paper, the Holy Spirit’s role in creation was that of a facilitator, as it brought into existence what was spoken by the Father. This practical and, one might say, functional role is evident in at least several passages from the Scripture. Most obviously, the Holy Spirit is associated with the breath of life that God breathed into Adam’s nostrils to animate the mud and dust (Gen. 2:7). In this respect, the Holy Spirit as a person of the Triune God is the bringer of life. Pinnock is right to note that life would not have been created as such “if matter had not been breathed upon by the Spirit of life.” It is not an overstatement to say that the Holy Spirit is called “Lord and bringer of life” in the Nicene Creed. The Holy Spirit quite literally allows the existence to function as intended and spoken by the Father, and it would be hard to find a clearer example of its role in creation.

It is also important to stress the role of the Holy Spirit in the creation of humanity in particular. As noted above, it was the Holy Spirit that animated the body of Adam after it was molded to fulfill the divine design. When speaking of the Holy Spirit’s role in the creation of humankind specifically, one should remember that God’s intention was to create beings “in his image, filled with his spirit.” In this respect, the third person of God is the essential agent in making humans what they are supposed to be. The people’s inherent humanity and their link with the image of their God, in full accordance with His Word, achieves realization through the role that the Holy Spirit played in creation.

Apart from the aspects mentioned above, there is also the role the Holy Spirit plays in the continuous maintenance and development of the existing universe. After the initial act of creation ex nihilo – that is, from nothing – the natural world continues to develop according to the divine design. Assuming that God withdraws from any active interaction with the universe after the initial act of creation would be deism – and not a well-founded one at that. As rightfully noted by Horton, “scripture itself teaches the doctrine of creatio continua” – the continuous maintenance and re-creation of the natural order after its initial formation. In this respect, the Holy Spirit did not merely participate in the act of initial creation only to be done with it afterwards. On the contrary, the natural phenomena put into the World by the Father’s Word are “brought to fruition by the Spirit” – continuously, persistently, and inexorably. Father’s Word is a speech-act that unites utterance and fruition, and the third person of God is indispensable for the latter. Thus, the Holy Spirit’s role is positively crucial in bringing the cosmos out of chaos as spoken by the Father.

As with the initial act of creation, one has to pay special attention to the specifically human dimension of creatio continua. It is important to remember that God knows every specific human being even before their conception and assigns a role to them long before they perform it actively. A clear example would be Jeremiah, whom God had consecrated for the role of a prophet long before the latter was even an embryo in his mother’s womb (Jer. 1:5). To put it simply, God assigns individual human roles in the process of continuous creation, which is all a part of His plan first uttered in the initial moments of the creation. Yet it would be strange to assume that a person could perform the function consecrated by God without coming to God first. In this respect, the Holy Spirit plays an essential role as a facilitator once again because the Gift of the Spirit is “the initial Christian experience.” Regardless of the specific aspect of the Creation as spoken n by the Father, the Holy Spirit never fails to perform its humble yet essential function in it.

Holy Spirit’s Role in Enacting What Was Architected by the Son

In a sense, the pneumatological dimension of creation is just as crucial when one speaks about what was architected by the Son as it is when one discusses what was spoken by the Father. In order to understand the relations between Christ and the Holy Spirit as they both pertain to creation, it is necessary to outline Christ’s role in it at least briefly. The Son is no stranger to divine creation – if anything, He is essential to it from a teleological point of view because His story structures the ongoing history of creation. To put it simply, creation is not something that happens before Christ’s incarnation so that the latter has no direct bearing on it. On the contrary, “creation is through and to Christ,” who, by being incarnated, gives structure to its ongoing development. This is when the Holy Spirit’s role in creation manifests: it is the incarnating spirit that provides the possibility for the Son to structure the creation. Just as the Holy Spirit is a facilitator of the creation spoken by the Father, it is also indispensable for its structuring as architected by the Son.

One should also consider the importance of the Holy Spirit for the continuous re-creation of humankind. While humanity is initially created in the image of God as spoken by the Father, it is all too obvious how far people can stray from the divine image. Had it been the case, there would be no need for redemption, which is the work of the Son. Creation is not a one-time act but a continuous process, and re-creation of oneself in the image of God is an inherent part of it. The third person of the Triune God is the incarnating spirit that “rests upon and empowers the humanity” of the Son. In this sense, the Holy Spirit is essential for the continuous re-creation of humans, who may otherwise stray away, in the image of God. It is hard to deliver this point better than Guthrie: “it is by the Spirit that the eternal Word of God becomes truly and fully human.” The Son is the foremost example of how God maintains the connection with His creation, and the Holy Spirit is the necessary prerequisite for it to be possible.

Another point closely related to the previous one is the essentiality of the Holy Spirit to the worship of Christ. There is no denying – at least not for any Christian belonging to a Trinitarian denomination – that the Holy Spirit as a person of God is crucial in inspiring righteous and sincere worship. As mentioned above, it is through the Gift of the Spirit that people come to feel the glory and majesty of God. Much in the same sense, the presence of the Holy Spirit is necessary to glorify the Son and come closer to His design for all creation. To put it simply, one cannot say “Jesus is accursed” in the presence of the Holy Spirit, and neither can one sincerely say “Jesus is the Lord” except by the Holy Spirit. The Spirit is the mediator that allows humans to honor the Son and approach the design for all creation as architected by Him. Once again, the third person of God manifests its role in the continuous creation not by setting its basic parameters but by promoting and enabling their fulfillment in practice.

An obvious objection would be that this last aspect is related to redemption rather than creation and, as such, has no direct relation to the topic if this paper. Yet the point here is not which specific activity related to the Son is facilitated by the Spirit but, rather, how the Spirit is incorporated into said activity. As mentioned above, the Spirit is essential for animating matter when the Father speaks so and is equally essential as the incarnating spirit in the coming of Christ. Moreover, the worship of Christ, which is certainly a necessary step toward the fulfillment of humanity’s place in creation as spoken by the Father and architected by the Son, is also impossible without the Spirit. The third person of the Trinity is “the very condition for the possibility of a confession of Jesus as Lord,” just as it is one for the creation of life. Whatever a divine activity is, the Holy Spirit is indispensable for it as a facilitator because its role is woven into the fabric of creation itself.

Specific Functions and Activities

After describing the Holy Spirit’s role in creation as related to what was spoken by the Father and architected by the Son, it makes sense to cover specific functions associated with the Spirit as a creative agent. Naturally, one has to remember that Christian God is triune God, and any attempt to assign a particular activity to one person but not the other two is oversimplifying and ultimately misguiding. Thus, while this section will address specific activities associated with the Spirit as mentioned in the Scripture and theological literature, it does not attempt to represent them as monopolized by the Spirit. Any divine action is taken by God in His totality, and the activities of the Holy Spirit should not be understood as assigned to this specific person only.

One particular function of the Holy Spirit in Creation was already mentioned in the course of this paper- as the animating agent, the Spirit provides life to creation. Holy Spirit was the bringer of life ever since God breathed it in the nostrils of Adam molded from dirt and dust and turned the inert matter into a living creature (Gen. 2:7). References to the Holy Spirit as a bringer of life to creation are abundant throughout the Bible. For example, Job clearly refers to the Holy Spirit when speaking about the breath of life in his nostrils (Job 27:3). This particular function if the one most frequently mentioned when discussing the creative role of the third person of the Trinity, as it is the easiest to discern and the most stressed in the Bible. Guthrie sums it up when pointing out that “in creation, the Spirit is the breath of God that animates the dust of the ground.” Overall, this role is so prominent and easy to notice that mentioning it borders on stating a truism, but there are also other creative functions belonging to the Spirit.

One of these slightly less notable roles is the Spirit’s work on providing order to the creation. There are multiple references throughout the Scripture stressing that creation is one of order (Isaiah 40:12; Job 26:13). With this in mind, one can rightfully ask what is the underlying force making this order possible – and, as far as the persons of the triune God are concerned, the answer is the Holy Spirit. In the initial act of creation, it is the Spirit that makes the inert and chaotic mass stable and ready for the creative speech-act of the Father. As noted by Williams, quoting Calvin, the world is “rendered stable for the time, by the secret efficacy of the Spirit.” The third person of the Trinity may not outline the explicit design of the creation, for it is largely the Father’s prerogative. Yet the Spirit is responsible for providing the laws and systems that hold allow this design to manifest by holding the matter together and bridging it to order. Thus, the Spirit is not the one to envisage order, yet definitely the one to create the necessary prerequisites for it.

Another role that God’s third person plays in creation is closely related to the one outlined in the previous paragraph: just as the Spirit gives order to creation, it is responsible for maintaining it. It is important to remember that the Spirit was present even before the Father’s Word brought the cosmos out of chaos. In fact, the Holy Spirit is the first person of the Trinity the Bible mentions when describing the primeval chaos, and it is already at work even before the Word is spoken (Gen 1:2). Williams points out that, following the Biblical narrative itself, the action of the Spirit precedes that of the Word. In other words, even the inert primeval mass of the world not yet shaped by the Father’s Word still needs nurturing, and the Spirit is the one to provide it.

It is only reasonable to assume that the Spirit maintained the same function as the Father brought the cosmos out of chaos, thus also assuming the role of preserving the creation. After all, there is infinitely more to take care of the orderly creation brought by the Word as compare to the original mass of inanimate matter. There is at least one reference to the Spirit’s work in renewing the creation in the Bible (Psalm 104:30). Renewing is essential for maintenance and preservation, and, in this respect, one may safely assume that the Spirit also plays a part in “renewing [the creation] so that it is preserved.” Hence, while the Spirit is not the person commonly associated with renewal – this role primarily belongs to the Son – it still has its role in maintaining and preserving creation.

Last but not least, the Holy Spirit plays its part in adorning the existence. Just as the creation is one of order, it is also one of astonishing beauty, and the Scripture refers to it as the work of the Spirit. For instance, the Bible describes the starry grandeur of the heavens as made by the breath of God, which is a common designation for the Holy Spirit (Psalm 33:6). With this in mind, once can certainly agree that “it was the Spirit’s particular work to adorn eh creation to the glory of God.” It may not be the most notable role to play, not it is the most functionally important, but it is present in the design of all creation and remains the ministry of the Spirit.

Potential Theological Dangers

While the intellectual work to better understand the workings of the world as created by God is beneficial, pursuits preoccupied with specific issues should not overshadow cornerstone Christian teachings. Regarding the role of the Spirit in creation, the essential doctrine is that of the Trinity. One should remember that the Spirit is “not one-third God, but fully God,” every bit as much as the Father and the Son, since the three share the same divine nature. Thus, discerning the role of the Holy Spirit in creation should not lead to the neglect of the two other persons, as this tendency, when taken to its logical conclusion, may be tantamount to heresy. Consequently, it is necessary to briefly cover the potential theological pitfalls associated with focusing on the Spirit’s role in creation.

The first of these potential dangers is a preoccupation with technicalities that are not especially significant from a Trinitarian perspective, such as creating a “professional” distinction between the three persons of God based on their activities. Williams warns against such an oversimplifying approach where the Father is “seen as the creator, the Son as redeemer and the Spirit as sanctifier.” While this paper discusses the specific function in creation as performed by the Spirit, it stresses that neither of them is monopolized by the latter. If one adhered to a strict distinction between God’s persons based on their activities, a pneumatological approach to creation would be senseless because the Father’s role is emphasized much more strongly in this regard. The main premise of talking about the Spirit’s role is that all three Trinitarian persons are equal and involved in God’s every action. As such, the attempt to distinguish come creative functions as belonging to the Spirit and Spirit alone would miss the point and obscure the fact that each of the three persons shares the same divine nature.

Another possible pitfall of focusing on the Spirit’s role in creation too much may cause one not to merely oversee but to blatantly deny the doctrine of the Trinity. Admittedly, the Spirit’s part in creation is fascinating, just as the act itself and every aspect of it. Yet it should not lead to the absence of a clear and robust emphasis on Christ and Father as persons of the Triune God in the act of creation. For example, as mentioned above, the Spirit plays its role in the preservation of creation by renewing it. Still, the attempts to magnify its role in renewal may lead to downplaying the Son’s role in this respect. When taken to the extreme, this approach may result in adoptionism. This heresy claims that Christ was merely adopted by the Father and was nothing more than an ordinary, if virtuous, human before the Holy Spirit affected him. In other words, concentrating on the Spirit too much can result in stating that the Son was only divine insofar as he was affected by the Spirit. This assumption goes against the essentials of Trinitarian doctrine, which is why the latter should be the basis for any discussion of the role played by any person of the Trinity.

Conclusion

As one can see, the Holy Spirit plays multiple roles in creation, along with two other persons. It brings into existence what was spoken by the Father and architected by the Son, being a necessary prerequisite for sustaining life and glorifying God. It animates matter, provides order to the existence, maintains the creation and adorns it in all its magnificence. Yet, while doing so, it still remains one person of the triune God involve in creation in His totality, and focusing on the Spirit too much may lead to oversimplifying misconceptions and even heresy. Analyzing creation from a pneumatological perspective is undoubtedly useful for a better understanding of the divine, but it should not overshadow the fact that the Trinity manifests wholly in every action taken by God. The Father speaks, the Son architects, and the Holy Spirit – the ever-present facilitator of the divine intent – transforms the Word and the design into creation as envisaged by the Triune God.

Proposed Bibliography

Bavinck, Herman. Reformed Dogmatics: Holy Spirit, Church, and New Creation. Translated by John Vriend. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2008.

Bucur, Bogdan G. “Scholarship on the Old Testament Roots of Trinitarian Theology: Blind Spots and Blurred Vision.” In The Bible and Early Trinitarian Theology, edited by Christopher A. Beeley and Mark E. Weedman, 29-49, Washington, D.C.: The Catholic University of America Press, 2018.

Claunch, Kyle. “The Son and the Spirit: The Promise and Peril of Spirit Christology.” Southern Baptist Journal of Theology 19, no. 1 (2015): 91-112.

Gunton, Colin E. The Triune Creator: A Historical and Systematic Study. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 1998.

Guthrie, Steven E. Creator Spirit: The Holy Spirit and the Art of Becoming Human. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2011.

Horton, Michael. Rediscovering the Holy Spirit: God’s Perfecting Presence in Creation, Redemption, and Everyday Life. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2017. Kindle.

Moule, C. F. D. The Holy Spirit. London: Continuum, 2000.

Pinnock, Clark H. Flame of Love: A Theology of the Holy Spirit. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1996.

Ryrie, Charles C. The Holy Spirit. Chicago: Moody Press, 1997.

Stott, John. Baptism and Fullness: The Work of the Holy Spirit Today. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2006

Ware, Bruce A. Father, Son and the Holy Spirit: Relationships, Roles, and Relevance. Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 2005.

Williams, David T. “The Spirit in Creation,” Scottish Journal of Theology 67, no. 1 (2014): 1-14.

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