Trinity Sunday

Genesis 1:1-2 In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. 2 The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.

Good morning! Happy Trinity Sunday everyone! I don’t know about you but I’m thankful to be a part of a church that has a special Sunday set aside to study, remember, and be thankful for the blessed gift of the Holy Trinity. Now we know what the three parts of the Holy Trinity are don’t we? Exactly! Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. This morning we are going to look at this text found in the beginning of the Bible and see how the Holy Trinity existed before creation itself even took place. In addition to locating each person of the Holy Trinity, we are going to look at what each member of the Holy Trinity did before the beginning of all time and how they each still operate within the world today.

Our first point this morning and the first person of the Holy Trinity is our Almighty, Father, God. I don’t know about you, but I have a difficult time attempting to comprehend what existence was like before anything existed. However, we read in the very first verse that even before anything ever existed there was God. In studying on the person of God, commentaries across the board seem to agree on one thing. God was and still is omnipotent. He did and still does have the power to do anything He wants. One commentary I read stated that in these first two verses of Genesis, the title that is used of God is the Hebrew word “Elohim.” Charles Ellicott says, “included in one Person all the powers, mights, and influences by which the world was first created and is now governed and maintained.” How beautiful is that. Have you ever been met with a task in life that you questioned whether or not you had the ability or what it took to perform the task. Let’s say you were told you were going to have to give a speech in front of 100 people. Or say you were told you were going to have to move a load of dirt that weighed over 100 pounds by hand. We face what seems to be a lot of impossible tasks within our lives but guess what, our God never does! He is so mighty, so powerful, so amazing, He is able to do anything. I don’t know but I feel that within many churches around the world today and we as Christians in general have lost our view of who God is and how powerful and mighty He is.

I think I have used this analogy with you before, but it is one I often turn to when I struggle to comprehend God’s relationship with creation and His size. When I was a teenager I LOVED to play with legos! I built entire cities of legos. I would work and work on a creation and was always so proud when I finally completed it. My size in relation to my lego city creations reminds me of what God must be like to us. Not only is there a massive difference in size but just as I took the time to construct by city piece by piece, so too did God. However, to be 100% accurate, God didn’t even have to assemble us, He simply spoke, and into existence the world came. Which leads into our second point for this morning. The Son.

Now, I can already hear your probing question. Where was Jesus, the second person of the Trinity, during creation? At the beginning of all time, we read clearly of the presence of God the Father and the Holy Spirit, but where was Jesus, the Son, the 2nd person of the Trinity? Well, in order to figure this out, we have to go look at another book of the Bible to find the answer to this question. But, before we go leave here, I want you to keep one thing in mind as we go searching, remember the fact that God SPOKE creation into existence. Okay! Now, if you will turn with in your Bible’s to John 1:1 “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”

John 1:1-4 “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men.”

The spoken word of God, what I believe, did the creating, was none other than Jesus Christ our Lord. Paul makes mention of this point in the book of Colossians where he writes Colossians 1:16 “For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him.” I like what one commentator says on this topic. He writes, “John 1 was written to explain that Jesus was the One Who spoke at Creation. It was Jesus Who said “Let there be light…” and so John calls Jesus the Word to make clear that Jesus was the Creator. Even though Jesus is not mentioned by name in Genesis 1, John’s Gospel tells us that Jesus was present at that moment. In fact, He was the One speaking!”

One more note on this before we leave this point. We find in Hebrews another description of the Word. Hebrews 4:12 reads, “For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.” Until writing this sermon, I never realized that we could easily place Jesus’ name in here and it still be true. For Jesus is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joint and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. How amazing is the Word of God, Jesus Christ, the second person of the Trinity. And in being the Word, Christ guides us to the Father. I had this revelation this week in preparing for the sermon. See if you can follow along. Okay. So, Jesus Christ is the Word. and in being the Word, what was the first thing that was created? Light! Exactly. Therefore, in Christ being the Word, He is also the Light that guides us through life and ultimately into the arms of our Loving, Creator God.

We have now reached the end of our 2nd point for this morning. We have seen God’s presence at the beginning of all time, and have now seen Jesus present at the beginning, now we are going to jump back in the text and see the presence of the Holy Spirit.

Genesis 1:1-2 “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.”

In the text we find the Holy Spirit, referred here as the Spirit of God, was hovering over the face of the waters. What was He doing? According to many commentaries and through study of the original text, scholars believe that the Spirit of God was preparing the formless, void, and dark world for existence. I don’t know if you know this or not, but my mom LOVES to organize. You dont know how many times I will go up to mom and dad’s house, walk in, and she will have everything that was in the closet pulled out, spread all over the house and be cleaning and organizing. And she always tells me the same thing. I know this looks bad, but I’m working on something here. LOL! We find that in the text for today as the Holy Spirit was hovering over the surface of the earth He was doing this very thing: organizing. Before any thing ever existed the world was in chaos. and before God wanted to put anything into this world, there had to be order. Therefore, I believe that while the Holy Spirit was hovering over the surface, He was bringing order to it. On a side note, how interesting is it that before creation, there was chaos and how God wanted order. Years and years later, here we are in a world filled with chaos. How long will it be before God comes and once again proclaims order for His beloved?

Another way to explain the moving of the Holy Spirit here, is how David Brown puts it in his commentary. He writes, “Our English version does not give the meaning correctly; for this word does not convey the idea of progressive motion, but that of brooding over—cherishing—the act of incubation which a fowl performs when hatching its eggs.” It is through the workings of the Holy Spirit that cause the commands of God to be fruitful. It is my belief that in hovering over the surface of the earth, the Holy Spirit was preparing it for God’s creation. Just like one must tend the soil, treat it and nourish it before planting the plant, so did the Holy Spirit prepare the earth for God’s creation. And it was through the Holy Spirit that creation came about.

What amazes me is how in the first command of creation, the entirety of the Trinity was present. First we have God, proclaiming the command to let their be light. Second, we have Christ, the spoken command, the Word of God. and third we have the Holy Spirit, who we know is a symbol of breath or wind. I envision the breath that God breathed in verbalizing the command as being the presence of the Holy Spirit. and it was in and through the Holy Spirit that the command came to be. You see folks, we can shout, scream, holler, proclaim, command all we want, but without the Spirit of God nothing will ever happen.

It reminds me of the scripture regarding love. 1 Corinthians 13:1-3 says, “If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing.” Since God is love, without Him and the working of the Holy Spirit nothing we command will ever happen. Creation only took place through the will of God, the Word, which is Jesus, and moving of the Holy Spirit and all of it through love. And thus we have reached the end of the presence of the Holy Spirit in creation.

It is amazes me church, to see how from the very beginning verses of the Bible how the Trinity: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are each present and active participants in the creation. And they each continue to move and work within the lives of Christians today. Can you spot the presence of each member of the Trinity in your life? Can you see how each one is different and yet they are all the same? I am so thankful and blessed that we bear witness to the existence and working of the Trinity. May each of us as we go forth this week be looking for the presence of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. And it is in His presence I commit this sermon to you this day. Amen!