Genesis 1:1-2
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 2The earth was without form [tohu] and void [bohu]. and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.
Matthew Henry pointed out the account we have here of the first matter and the first mover. The comments on the account of the first matter can be found on the January 31st 2010 entry. This entry will deal with the account we have here of the first mover.
Matthew Henry: “The Spirit of God was the first mover: He moved upon the face of the waters. The Spirit of God begins to work, and if He works, who or what shall hinder? God is said to make the world by His Spirit…
Psalm 33:6
By the word of the Lord the heavens were made, And all the host of them by the breath of His mouth
Job 26:13
By His Spirit He adorned the heavens; His hand pierced the fleeing serpent.
…and by the same mighty worker the new creation is effected. He moved upon the face of the deep. God is not only the author of all being, but the fountain of life and spring of motion. Dead matter would be forever dead if He did not quicken it. And this makes it credible to us that God should raise the dead.”
Clay Miller: God created every measure of seemingly endless space and created all the matter that inhabits that space. That is a big deal. There was no force outside of God that He used, nor was there a force He had to work against. He alone existed before there was anything else. The Holy Spirit makes an entrance onto the scene of Scripture pretty quickly as the first mover…the force that acted on the creation. And what did He do? He set them into existence and set them in order. This is a pretty powerful act (understatement). And it is a beautiful picture of the Spirit’s activity on that which is otherwise dead…and shows us in a physical picture, what He does to a spiritually dead person when that person becomes what the Bible calls a new creation…
2 Corinthians 5:17
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.
…I am in Christ because I am a new creation…but who is the Creator here? Whose new creation am I? Did I create my new spiritual self? Or, did God create my new spiritual self? I cannot and will not take credit for being in Christ because God tells me I am in Christ because of Him, not me…
1 Corinthians 1:30
But of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God--and righteousness and sanctification and redemption
…So in the same way the Spirit moved upon dead, inanimate matter at the beginning of time, so He must move upon a dead spirit in order for it to move and have life. Now, someone may be thinking or asking about what I mean by a dead spirit. If we are alive, is not our spirit alive? Yes and no. It is alive, but it is a corrupt spirit and so there is a sense in which it is dead…it is dead to God. It is dead to sensitivity to loving God truly as He is and as He is worthy to be loved. The Bible describes our condition as being “dead in sin”. Dead! Not drowning, not dying, but dead. A corpse is unresponsive. You can kick it, woo it, scream at it, sing to it, etc…but it is dead. And unless God intervenes and awakens it, so that it can and will respond to outside stimulus, it will remain dead. This is our spiritual condition.
The good news is God is the source of life in the first place. He is the one who animated this universe, gave it its energy and breathed life into its creatures. So this passage, as Henry notes is really a faith-building encouragement that God can make alive any dead matter, including the human spirit that is dead to Him. He must do it if one is to be saved. And when He does it, the new life responds to His call. God is an all-powerful amazing God.
