EFM Devotional
God’s Concern for His Creation
Genesis 1:1-2 – “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon [brooded over] the face of the waters.”
Predating the creation of man, and even before there was physical light, the Holy Spirit of God was brooding over “the face of the waters.” Commentators are almost unanimous in using this term and in referring to the picture of a hen warming her nest, or even of one gathering her chicks under her wings to protect them.
What was His purpose in brooding over the waters? One commentator declares, “The immediate agency of the Spirit, by working on the dead and discordant elements, combined, arranged, and ripened them into a state adapted for being the scene of a new creation.” God was preparing to bring light and life into being in the formation of a beautiful paradise where man would be able to live in joy and peace.
The Holy Spirit fulfills a similar function in the process of men’s salvation. Here is a world which sin has disordered; here are men whom sin has disoriented; here are nations that sin has destroyed; and in the chaos of the spiritual darkness and death, God broods over His creation, preparing first this heart, then that tribe, then another family, for the entrance of light and life.
Charles Spurgeon called Him “the first efficient mover in the new creation. He visits the dead and dark heart, and begins the work of salvation within.” He doesn’t wait for us to look for Him. Even before we know we have a spiritual need, God is already seeking us!
When missionaries enter new territory, they are encouraged to know that God has preceded them. He has brooded, has sought willing hearts, has prepared the ground, so that the preaching of the gospel will effectively bring His light and life to the men and women for whom Christ died.
