Art Toombs Ministries 

Online Bible Commentary

Genesis 1:1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 2 Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters… ​26 Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness…

John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made…

16 Out of his fullness we have all received grace in place of grace already given. 17 For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. 18 No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is himself God and is in closest relationship with the Father, has made him known. (NIV)

The Christian God is defined by a term called the Trinity. The term “Trinity” means that God has revealed Himself through three persons, God the Father, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit.

Therefore there is one God, revealed in three persons. This is proven by the presence of all members of the Trinity being present at the creation of the world. Therefore, they all preceded the world, as God would have to do in order to create the world.

In Genesis 1:1 we see that the “Spirit of God”, the Holy Spirit, was present at the creation. Note the word “Spirit” is capitalized in the translation denoting that the Hebrew language was referring to a proper name and not just a spirit of God. Throughout the Bible when the word spirit is capitalized it is referring to the Holy Spirit. We also know that God the Father was present at creation because of the usage of the word “God” in the narrative in Genesis.

Further proof of the Trinity is that God used the plural when He said “Let us make mankind in our image” in Genesis 1:26. The Hebrew word for God is ‘elohiym, a plural noun. ‘Elohiym is used with a plural verb in verse 26 but a singular verb in verses 1 and 27. Thus God is both plural and singular, i.e. one God revealed in multiple persons.

Finally, in John 1 we see that the Word, Jesus Christ, was also present at the creation, thus completing the understanding of the Trinity.