In The Beginning – Holy Spirit

In the beginning, before all time, God existed “all-in-one,” not as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit as we know Him to be today. He created time to govern the earth, but He lives in eternity. He created light and called it day, and the darkness night. He then created lights on the fourth day to mark seasons, days, and years. We know the story of creation from Genesis 1.

Before He created time, the physical realm, spiritual beings, man, cosmos, and everything else, He existed all-in-one. But by Genesis 1, we are introduced to Elohim- One in three persons. We are talking about eternity before He created time.

We see an image or typology of that in Adam. He created man (Adam) “all-in-one,” and then pulled Eve out of him.

Adam is first “all-in-one” as a spirit. Then, God stoops down to the ground and forms a body for him. He then breathes into the lump of clay, and man comes alive, now in body, soul, and spirit, a tri-part being. He who was just a spirit becomes a living soul in physical body. The amplified bible puts it this way:

Then the Lord God formed [that is, created the body of] man from the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and the man became a living being [an individual complete in body and spirit] (Genesis 2:7).

He now has a will- he can choose and exercise free will. He has emotions and a mind, which consists of intellect, thoughts, understanding, etc.

But man is still “all-in-one,” and God says that it is not good for him to be alone. He takes one rib from Adam and makes Eve out of it. Adam wakes up to another separate tri-part human being, complete as he, a suitable helper, for she is also body, soul, and spirit.

And from this pattern now, human beings recreate the same way. The woman receives seed, as the body that God created received the breath of life. The baby then grows in her womb, but it is not good for the mother and baby to be all-in-one. The mother must push out the baby by the ninth month, and the cycle of reproduction continues.

Remember, we started with one spirit man in Genesis 1. God breathes into the physical body, and he comes alive, complete in body, soul, and spirit. Out of this tri-part being comes out another tri-part being but female, to continue with recreation.

That’s the pattern. God, all-in-one as Spirit, in the beginning (before all time), who then replicates Himself and begins to exist eternally in three persons, Father, Son, and Spirit. Is it not interesting that One Person of the Godhead also puts on flesh like Adam, and becomes The Last Adam?

But there is a huge difference between man and God’s existence. The creation of man is just a shadow or typology. God made Eve out of Adam’s rib, but she was different from him. She was body, soul, and spirit, but she was female. Her physique is different. Her strength and physical features are different. Should we even start with the differences between men and women?

Either way, human beings will continue to co-exist eternally as male and female. In the same way, God will continue to exist eternally as Father, Son, and Spirit. However, while men and women are different persons, God is one in three persons.

You will see a distinction in the Father, Son, and Spirit, mainly in function and relationship to man. The obvious distinction is that the Son put on flesh. He still exists with a glorified human body as He revealed Himself to John in Revelation 1.

Later in Revelation 4, John gives us a description of the Father in heaven sitting on His throne. But who has seen the Holy Spirit? How do we describe Him? He is not a dove, tongue of fire, wind, or ghost. He is God. He was God before all time. Remember, man was spirit first, then his soul and body came alive when God breathed into the physical body he formed.

God was Spirit before all time. He became flesh for our redemption. He also exists in three persons for the sake of our relationship and understanding. He is too mighty when “all-in-one” for man to comprehend and relate to Him.

So now, when you need fatherly love and understanding of your purpose in life, you turn to the Father. When you need a Savior who can relate to the feeling of your infirmity and break the bondage of sin, you turn to Jesus, the Son of God. When you need to know the truth, revelation, or receive comfort, you turn to the Holy Spirit.

I’ve picked just a few roles for illustration, but we know from Scriptures that there is so much more. God is one in three persons, all equally God in every way, and co-existing eternally.

Everything is or exists because God, while “all-in-one,” thought of it and created it (everything) in His mind before creating it, including the spiritual and physical realm. What we see in both realms is just a fraction of His mind; just a fraction of what He thought about and spoke into being.

He said, “Let there be,” and whatever He called appeared in the physical realm according to Genesis chapter one. He confirmed that whatever appeared was good, meaning that it looked and functioned just as He had created it in His mind.

If all that is in the heavens, on earth, and under the earth is just a fraction of what He thought and spoke into being, how much more is still on His mind? How big, how majestic is the next fraction? He dwells in eternity. What else has He thought about and created in His mind since He created the world that we now know and live in?

He then became the Godhead (One in three persons) to ‘manage’ all that He intended to manifest or create in the spiritual and physical realm. The Godhead exists because of order in His creation, not because He could not handle it all while being “all-in-one.”

So, with Father, the Word or Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit, human beings (His sons and daughters) would know which Person of the Godhead to relate to for specific things. For instance, we pray to the Father in Jesus’ name (John 16:23). We depend on the Holy Spirit on earth for comfort, empowerment, teaching, and guiding us to all truth (Read John 14:16, 26; John 16:13).

He went a step further. The Word became flesh and dwelt among us. He is the image of the invisible God, revealing to us the character, attributes, love, compassion, power, glory, and all that the Godhead is and can do. The fullness of the Godhead dwells in Christ (Colossians 1:19; 2:9).

Christ became the way for us to be reconciled and united with God. Now, the fullness of God dwells in us who believe and have received Him as our Lord and Savior. He guides us and teaches us His ways from within. He reveals Himself to us from within. In addition, we have Scriptures talking about Christ, who is the image of the invisible God, revealing God to us.

See, the “all-in-one” God we have talked about, the one who existed before all time, before anything was created, that is the person of the Godhead we call the Holy Spirit. Yeah, the One we rarely talk about. The One we sideline, misunderstand, misrepresent, and reduce to symbols, such as a dove, tongues, a ghost, etc.

The Holy Spirit is God in His fullness. He has been and will always be God.

Shalom.