There are at least twelve instances in Genesis that indicate or imply the Trinity. The first is Genesis 1:1, which says, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” The subject of this verse, God, which is Elohim in Hebrew, is plural in number, but the predicate, created, is singular. Thus, Elohim is uni-plural, implying the Trinity. The plural subject, God, implies the three of the Godhead, and the singular predicate, created, implies the one God. The three of the Godhead worked as one to create.
God created the heavens and the earth in His trinity because He created the heavens and the earth for man (vv. 26-27). Zechariah 12:1 says, “Thus declares Jehovah, who stretches forth the heavens and lays the foundations of the earth and forms the spirit of man within him.” This verse reveals that God’s intention and goal in creating the heavens and the earth were to have a man with a spirit so that man may possess Him and enjoy Him and so that God may work Himself into man to fulfill His eternal plan. The first indication of the Trinity in the Bible, revealed in God’s creation of the heavens and earth, is for man to exist so that God may dispense Himself into man for man’s enjoyment and God’s expression.
Genesis 1:2-3 says, “The Spirit of God was brooding upon the surface of the waters. And God said, Let there be light; and there was light.” Initially, we may not see that these verses also imply the Trinity. However, we must consider why the subject of verse 2 is the Spirit of God and not simply God as in verses 1 and 3. After verse 1 says, “God created,” verse 2 says, “The Spirit of God was brooding.” This implies the Trinity. God is not as simple as some think—He is triune. In a sense, the word triune, meaning “three-one,” is a complicated, puzzling word.
Verse 1 describes God’s original creation, and verses 2b and 3 describe His restoration and further creation after the judgment and corruption implied in verse 2a. God carried out His restoration and further creation by His Spirit and His speaking—His word. John 1:1-3 says, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God...All things came into being through Him.” All things came into being, were created, through the Word. Hebrews 11:3 says, “The universe has been framed by the word of God.” The universe was framed, that is, created, by the word of God. Psalm 33:9 says, “He spoke, and it was.” This means that God’s speaking created. In Genesis 1:1 it is God who is creating, but in verses 2 and 3 it is the Spirit of God and God’s word who are creating. Here is the implication of the Divine Trinity—God, His Spirit, and His word. Revelation 19:13 says that Christ is called the Word of God.
The Divine Trinity being implied by God, His Spirit, and His word shows that the three of the Trinity are distinct but not separate. God’s Spirit is God’s breath (Job 33:4), and God’s word is God’s breathing (2 Tim. 3:16), which is by God’s breath—Spirit. Job 33:4 says, “The Spirit of God has made me, / And the breath of the Almighty has enlivened me.” In this verse we can see that the Spirit of God is the breath of the Almighty. Second Timothy 3:16 says, “All Scripture is God-breathed.” God, His Spirit, and His word are distinct, but they are inseparably related to one another. A man, his breath, and his speaking are three distinct things, but they cannot be separated from one another. It is impossible to speak if we do not breathe. Therefore, speaking is a kind of breathing. Thus, the implication of the Trinity in Genesis 1:1-3 with God, His Spirit, and His word establishes a basic principle concerning the Trinity—that the three are distinct but not separate.
God’s aspect of being singular yet plural is also shown in Genesis 1:26-27, which says, “God said, Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness;...God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.” Elohim referred to Himself in verse 26 using Us and Our, but Moses referred to Elohim in verse 27 using His and He. The pronouns Us and Our are plural, but His and He are singular. Again, this reveals that God is uni-plural, triune. Furthermore, the Trinity is clearly indicated here directly for the creation of man in God’s image with the intention that man may express God by having God wrought into him. These points strongly confirm that the Trinity is for God to dispense Himself into us for our enjoyment and experience so that we may express Him.