38 Question 4

To answer your good question, let’s read Genesis 1:1, “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.”  In this verse, the word translated God is ‘elohiym’ in the Hebrew language.  This word literally means strong or mighty.  This word is a plural word, referring to more than one.  ‘El’ or “Eli’ is the singular form of this word.  By using the word ‘elohiym’ as the very first name He gives to us, indicates that our God has the characteristic of being in a plural form.  We know Him to be a triune God, consisting of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Spirit.  So, in the first verse in the Bible, the Lord reveals to us His characteristic of being three in one.  Throughout Genesis, chapter one, the Lord uses the name ‘elohiym’.  Although that word is in the plural, look at what the Lord says in Genesis 1:29, “And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat.”  Notice that it is ‘elohiym’ speaking, but He says “I have given you every herb bearing seed.”  He doesn’t say ‘we’; He says ‘I’.  This shows that although God is a triune God, He is also singular, as we read in 1 Corinthians 8:4 which says, “…that there is none other God but one.”

Speaking of the creation, we read in Isaiah 45:11-12, “Thus saith the LORD, the Holy One of Israel, and his Maker, Ask me of things to come concerning my sons, and concerning the work of my hands command ye me. I have made the earth, and created man upon it: I, even my hands, have stretched out the heavens, and all their host have I commanded.”  Here, the word for Lord is, ‘Jehovah’.  So, we see that ‘Elohiym’ created the earth and everything in it; and that ‘Jehovah’ created the earth and everything in it.

Speaking of the Lord Jesus Christ, we read in Colossians 1:16, “For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him.”  We see here that Jesus created the world.  In fact, He created everything that was created.  Now let’s read Hebrews 1:1-2, “God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds.”  We learn here that God created the worlds by His Son, Jesus.  Let’s read John 1:1-3, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.”  Here we learn that Jesus, the Word, was with God and He was God, and all things were made by Him.

What about the Holy Spirit?  Did He have a part in creation?  Of course He did.  Looking again at the meaning of the word “Elyhiym” in Genesis 1:1, we see that it was in His triune characteristic that God created the world.  Genesis 1:2 mentions the Holy Spirit specifically.  It says, “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.”  We also read of the Spirit’s involvement in creation in Isaiah 40:12-13 where it says, “Who hath measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, and meted out heaven with the span, and comprehended the dust of the earth in a measure, and weighed the mountains in scales, and the hills in a balance?  Who hath directed the Spirit of the LORD, or being his counsellor hath taught him?”

So, we can see that our blessed God the Father, God the Son, and God the Spirit created the worlds.  May we be reminded of those wise words in Ecclesiastes 12:1, “Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth.”