The work of the Holy Spirit - pagina 76

— THE CREATION

36 and

He compares

"Receive ye the Holy Ghost."

said:

Spirit to the wind.

In both the Biblical languages,

the Holy

Hebrew and

And

Greek, the word spirit means wind, breathing or blowing. the Church confesses that the Son Father, so

Holy

confesses that the

it

is

Father and the Son as by breathing.

"And

passage,

waters," and the life

"

—

The Spirit word of Job, "

points to a special

Before

Spirit

Hence we conclude

God breathed

work

Our image,

in

"

of the

the breath of

First, that

after

—in

God moved on the face of the The Spirit of God hath given me

of

Holy life

Spirit.

in the lifeless dust, there

was a conference in the economy of the divine Being

make man

that the

breathed into his nostrils the breath of life"

connection with,

as

by the proceedeth from the

eternally generated

Our

likeness."

:

"

Let Us

This shows

each divine Person had a distinct work in the creation

man — " Let Us make man." Before this the singular is used of God — " He spake," " He saw"; but now the plural is used, " Let Us make man," which implies that, here specially and more clearly of

than in any preceding passage, the activities of the Persons are to be distinguished. Secondly, that man was not created empty, afterward to be endowed with higher spiritual faculties and powers, but that the very act of creation made him after God's image, without any subsequent addition to his being. For we read " Let Us create man in Our image and after Our likeness" This assures us that by immediate :

creation

man

received the impress of the divine image

;

that in the

creation the divine Persons each performed a distinct work

;

and,

man's creation with reference to his higher destiny was effected by a going forth of the breath of God.

lastly, that

This

is

the basis of our statement that the Spirit's creative work

was making

man's powers and gifts instruments for His own them vitally and immediately with the powers of God. This agrees with Biblical teachings regarding the Holy Spirit's regenerating work, which also, the differently, brings the power and holiness of God in immediate contact with human all

use, connecting

powers.

We

deny, therefore, the frequent assertion of ethical theolo-

Holy Spirit created th.Q personality of man, since this opposes the entire economy of Scripture. For what is our personality but the realization of God's plan concerning us? Such as God gians, that the

from eternity has thought each of

us, as distinct

from other men,

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