The Bible tells an overarching story of creation, the fall, redemption, and restoration. It is God’s word, offering guidance on how to live while looking forward to the return of Jesus and the coming Kingdom.

Creation

God’s existence is revealed to humanity through both general and special revelation. In terms of general revelation, Thomas Aquinas explains general revelation refers to the beauty of the earth and universe, miracles, scripture, and the supernatural—everything we experience through our senses: sight, sound, smell, touch, and taste. Genesis describes God as Creator: “God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep…” (Gen 1:1-2).

At some point, everyone has wondered why we are here and who our creator is. The Bible is seen as the source of truth for these questions. In Genesis 1, we meet the Trinity: “Let us make mankind in our image…” (Genesis 1:26). This doesn’t mean there are three gods; rather, God is Triune—three persons in one: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. Genesis repeats “God said” ten times, showing how He spoke creation into being. In the Old Testament, God communicated through His prophets, as in “He sent out his word and healed them…” (Psalm 107:20) and “…my word…will accomplish what I desire…” (Isaiah 55:11). In the New Testament, God still speaks through His Word, now embodied in His Son, the ‘logos’—reason and divine order. In His humanity, Jesus relates to creation; in His divinity, He is sinless and conquers death. The Apostle John highlights this by calling Jesus the Word: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God,” linking back to Genesis 1. Jesus’ mission was to restore humanity to God, so He took on flesh, was born a Jew—His chosen people—and was called Immanuel, meaning “God with us.” Before His death, in John 17, Jesus prayed, “…Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you…I have brought you glory on earth by finishing the work you gave me…glorify me…with the glory I had with you before the world began.” Jesus is the living personification of God’s spoken word.

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The Holy Spirit

The Holy Spirit’s role in creation first appears in Genesis 1:2, where “the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.” Throughout the Old Testament, the Holy Spirit is active, and in the New Testament, He miraculously causes the virgin Mary to conceive, anoints Jesus at His baptism, and descends on the apostles at Pentecost. The Bible records two occasions when all three persons of the Trinity are present together: creation and the baptism of Jesus. At His baptism, “Just as Jesus was coming up out of the water, he saw heaven being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove” (Mark 1:10), and the Father declared, “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased” (Mark 1:11). Jesus was divine from birth and didn’t need the Spirit to enter Him; His baptism fulfilled prophecy, such as Isaiah 42:1, which foretold the public bestowal of the Spirit before His ministry began. Baptism symbolizes rebirth—dying to self and being born again. Jesus explained to Nicodemus, “…unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” During His ministry, Jesus stressed the importance of the Holy Spirit, saying, “Every kind of sin and slander can be forgiven, but blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven” (Matthew 12:31). He told His disciples that after He returned to the Father, the Spirit would come to be with them forever: “…I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever—the Spirit of truth…” (John 14:16-17).

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Sin

Divine intellect in the mind, body, and soul would have remained in humanity if not for the fall that corrupted human nature (Stillwaggon). The serpent cunningly deceived Adam and Eve into disobeying God, bringing evil and death into the world (Genesis 3). The world will not be free from this until the return of Jesus. John Calvin taught that all creation is under God’s authority and, according to His justice, has been cursed (Lamoureux). As Paul writes in Romans, “For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God. We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time” (Romans 8:20-22). Through God’s grace, mercy, love, patience, and forgiveness, humanity has been given a path to redemption. The Law was given to so people could understand what sin is—referred to as works—which is impossible to uphold. Only with the coming of the Messiah can humanity place faith in Jesus Christ instead of works, so that no one may boast (Romans).

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Israelites

God’s existence is revealed to humanity through both general and special revelation. In terms of special revelation, Thomas Aquinas explains that while reason can grasp God’s existence and certain attributes, other truths—like the Trinity—are known only through it. In Exodus, God reveals Himself to the Hebrews, making Israel a unique theocracy. Historian Josephus Flavius and theologians such as Aquinas and Barth affirm the biblical accounts of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph as real historical events. Joseph’s story describes the Jewish people moving from Canaan to Egypt, living in slavery for 400 years until God delivers them from Pharaoh through Moses. God teaches them to love and worship Him, the one true God, instead of the pagan gods of Egypt. Still, Israel often fell into idolatry under the influence of surrounding nations, leading to judgment and eventual captivity by the Assyrians in 722 BC and the Babylonians in 586 BC. In the end, Jesus accomplishes what Israel could not.

Israel deserves the world’s respect because it is through the Jewish people that the Messiah came. Jesus came from this ethnic group for the sake of the whole world. We don’t know why God chose them, as they’ve been called “stiff-necked” and “hard-hearted.” Eventually, Israel will come to believe in Jesus Christ when the fullness of the Gentiles arrives (Romans 11). In Genesis 12, God promises to bless those who bless Israel and curse those who curse it. He made a promise to Abraham to create a nation through his bloodline, and God always keeps His promises. If He didn’t, how could we trust Him to keep His promises to us? The Church is the bride of Christ, and Israel is His people—He’s not done with them yet.

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References
Lamoureux, D. O. (2016). Beyond the Cosmic Fall and Natural Evil. Perspectives On Science &
Christian Faith, 68(1), 44-59. Retrieved by: https://lopes.idm.oclc.org/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=113835293&site=eds-live&scope=site
Stillwaggon, J. (2014). The Problem of Propagation: Original Sin as Inherited Discourse. Studies In
Philosophy & Education, 33(1), 61-73. doi:10.1007/s11217-013-9362-7. Retrieved by: https://lopes.idm.oclc.org/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=93447361&site=eds-live&scope=site