The Dancing Hand of God, Part 3 — The Spirit Upon and Within

The dancing hand of God is the Holy Spirit making visible what God has already planned and spoken. In this third message of the series, Dr. William P. Hohman returns to Genesis 1 and 2 and traces three movements in creation: the Spirit hovering over the deep, God speaking, and God forming man with His own hands and breathing life into him. He then shows the same pattern repeating at Pentecost, when the church was born.

This message continues from The Dancing Hand of God Part 2 – Divine Choreography & Prosperity. Below you will find the full video, a structured summary, every key Scripture (linked to the New King James Version on Bible Gateway), a timestamped outline and practical steps for this week.

Sermon at a Glance

This message was preached at NTC Ministries and posted on September 20, 2022. It runs about 63 minutes and ends with an invitation to be born again. Pastor Hohman opens by saying the whole Bible is parabolic, story after story showing who God is, and that all of creation declares His glory. Creation shows His perfect will; anything that varies from it came through man’s corruption, not God’s intention.

Because we are made in His image and likeness, he says, we are meant to mimic Him, doing what Jesus would do all the time, not only in unusual moments.

Three Elements of Creation

Genesis 1:1–5 says the earth was without form and void, “and the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.” Pastor Hohman explains that hovering means to brood, the way a mother hen sits on her eggs. The Holy Spirit was active over what was about to come into being. The same presence is here today, he says; if you get still and allow Him, you can feel Him brooding.

Then God said, “Let there be light.” Pastor Hohman identifies the One speaking as Jesus, because John 1:1–3 says all things were made through the Word. He describes the Trinity at work this way: the Father is the great architect who planned everything, Jesus is the general contractor who builds, and the Holy Spirit breathes life into what God purposes. That is why Jesus said He would build His church (Matthew 16:18).

Speaking is where faith comes in. Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen (Hebrews 11:1), so faith speaks what God wants, not what we see. People say they just have to “call it like it is.” No, he says. If you come home from church and your dog is gone, you do not stand on the porch shouting that the dog is gone. You call, “Fido, come here.” You call into existence what you cannot see.

That applies to health, prosperity and relationships. We are to call those things that do not exist as though they did (Romans 4:17). Instead of complaining about your marriage, start declaring that it is a good, open relationship where you listen to one another. Keep complaining, he warns, and that is all you will ever get.

The third element is unique to man. God spoke everything else into being, but He formed man from the dust with His own hands and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life (Genesis 2:7). “Man” here means humanity, male and female. And because every person is made in God’s image, Pastor Hohman says believers should not slam the people of the world; be patient and kind, walk in love and let the Spirit of God do His work.

Upon and Within: Love Above Law

From the breath of life Pastor Hohman draws two applications of the Spirit: one upon and one within. Every believer needs a relationship with the Holy Spirit both upon and within, but the within comes first. That order, he says, is a result of how corruption entered the world.

When corruption came, God had to do things differently. The law contained far more than ten commandments, and those commands, he explains, were given because of corruption: wash your hands, clean your dishes, live right. They were never God’s original intention. David understood that God did not want sacrifice and offering but a broken spirit and a contrite heart (Psalm 51:16–17).

Religion takes humility and turns it into a stick for beating a donkey: do this, do not do that. But in creation, he says, love needed an object to express itself to, and so God brought us into existence. We humble ourselves under love, allowing Him to pour all His love into our lives. Hope does not disappoint, “because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit” (Romans 5:5).

Love supersedes the law. When Jesus was asked for the greatest commandment, He answered with loving God with all your heart, soul and mind, and loving your neighbor as yourself (Matthew 22:37–39). Love now motivates and guides us, so we do not want to speak biting or hateful things. Instead we follow Ephesians 4:29: no corrupt word, only what builds up and ministers grace to the hearers.

The Hidden Rivers of Eden

In Genesis 2:10–14 a river flowed out of Eden and parted into four heads: the Pishon, the Gihon, the Tigris and the Euphrates. Two are still known today. The other two, where God said the gold and precious stones were, are missing. Pastor Hohman teaches that when corruption came, Eden vanished beneath the desert, and those rivers with their treasures were hidden.

He calls this a type and shadow of the church. Jesus said that whoever believes in Him, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water (John 7:38). The Holy Spirit is in charge of all the wealth of heaven. Every good and perfect gift comes from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning (James 1:17). So a tornado that destroys a home, bankruptcy or a lost job is not God’s purpose, though He will turn it around for your good.

Psalm 46:4–7 speaks of a river whose streams make glad the city of God. The nations rage, but the Lord of hosts is with us. The world cannot receive the Spirit, yet believers can, because He is in them and with them. That is not elitism, he stresses. Israel’s mistake was binding God’s Word to themselves instead of passing it on, which is why Jesus’ parable of the sower urges us to keep sowing (Matthew 13:3–8).

Jesus promised water that becomes a fountain springing up into everlasting life (John 4:14). Many Christians expect their deepest experience with God only in public meetings, but, as with a marriage, intimacy belongs at home too. If God did not spare His own Son, how will He not freely give us all things (Romans 8:32)?

It Starts With Your Mouth

In creation, the Spirit hovered and then God spoke. So the first place to find these deep rivers, Pastor Hohman says, is your mouth. When someone is truly born again, the first thing affected is how they talk. He recalls running construction sites after he was saved and suddenly being appalled at words that had always seemed normal to him.

Death and life are in the power of the tongue (Proverbs 18:21), and he points out that it is your tongue that matters. Other people can say what they like; what defiles a person is what comes out of his own mouth (Matthew 15:11). Empty words are like a car left running in park: the engine runs and runs, burns all your gas, and gets you nowhere.

Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks (Matthew 12:34–35), so our words are the first fruit people see. Then he turns to Zephaniah 3:17, where the Lord in our midst rejoices over us with joy, rests in His love and rejoices over us with singing. Pastor Hohman teaches that the two words for joy describe God exuberantly rejoicing and dancing over His people. That, he says, is what believers sense when the Spirit’s presence fills a worship service.

People get embarrassed when God moves, he says, but he is not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God (Romans 1:16). We overcome by the blood of the Lamb and the word of our testimony (Revelation 12:11), refusing to let the flesh push Him away the way Adam chose another way.

He compares God’s hidden treasures to an Easter egg hunt. Nobody buries the eggs eighty feet down under cement. For little children we set them out in plain sight; for older ones we hide them better. It is the glory of God to conceal a matter and the glory of kings to search it out (Proverbs 25:2). The Holy Spirit reveals the hidden things, not by might nor by power but by His Spirit (Zechariah 4:6).

The Dancing Hand of God Made Manifest

The heart of the message is 1 Corinthians 12:1–7. Paul says he does not want believers ignorant concerning spiritual gifts. Pastor Hohman explains that not being ignorant means more than book knowledge; it means experiential knowledge. He illustrates it with a drive across the Egyptian desert, when a young man in the back seat told him he should read a certain book. Pastor Hohman had read it; he teaches that class. What he wants is not the nomenclature of the Spirit but an intimate relationship that nobody can argue him out of.

No one can say Jesus is Lord except by the Holy Spirit. There are diversities of gifts, ministries and activities, but the same Spirit, the same Lord and the same God. That is why ministry cannot be reduced to one method in a book. Then comes verse 7: the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all. The table below follows the words he unpacks in this message.

Quoting Barnes’ Notes, he says manifestation means that which makes something conspicuous or clearly visible. Like the Easter eggs laid out on a chair, the hidden river starts to flow and show what God desires. The Latin root of manifest, he teaches, joins the word for hand with the word for a choreographed dance. That is the dancing hand of God: the Spirit rejoicing over us and making God’s goodness visible.

So we mimic Him. Men everywhere, meaning all people, are to lift up holy hands (1 Timothy 2:8). And the gifts are given so that everyone benefits. Religion says you must live good enough to get a miracle. Jesus says it is by love. Pastor Hohman’s counsel is to start each morning asking the Father to tell you again how much He loves you; be confident in it, and you will see more manifestations of the Spirit than you can count.

No Christian should feel inferior, he adds, as if they were “just” a laborer or a homemaker. God stationed you, and with the gifts of the Spirit you become the most beneficial part of whatever workplace or home you are in. He tells of the new church NTC helped build in Pakistan, where, he reports, believers are given an official name that marks them as Christians. Even unbelievers there recognize who Christians are, he says, more than many Christians believe it themselves.

From Breath to Pentecost

Pastor Hohman then shows why the Spirit within and upon are two separate experiences. In Mark 16:9–11 Mary Magdalene told the disciples Jesus was alive, and they did not believe. He compares them to Jacob, who did not believe Joseph was alive until he saw the carts Pharaoh had sent full of Egypt’s treasure (Genesis 45:26–27), a picture of the Spirit bringing heaven’s goods.

That same evening, in John 20:19–22, Jesus stood among the frightened disciples, showed them His hands and side, and breathed on them, saying, “Receive the Holy Spirit.” Just as God breathed into Adam, Jesus breathed life into His church. That is the Spirit within.

Yet in Acts 1:4–5 He told the same disciples to wait in Jerusalem for the Promise of the Father, because they would be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now. Did Jesus lie? No, Pastor Hohman says; these are two separate instances. The Spirit who first comes in later comes upon, and that is where the power is.

In Acts 2:1–4 the pattern of creation repeats: a sound like a rushing mighty wind, divided tongues as of fire resting on each one, and then they began to speak with other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance. Paul, he notes, spoke in tongues more than all of them (1 Corinthians 14:18) and went on to write two-thirds of the New Testament.

Disciples who had hidden behind locked doors went straight into the street declaring truth, and Peter explained it from the prophet Joel (Acts 2:16–18). As the Father sent Jesus, so He sends us. Pastor Hohman lists people who stepped out and believed God: Billy Graham, Billy Sunday, Kathryn Kuhlman, and John G. Lake, whose healing ministry in Spokane he describes. They were nobody special; they simply went for it.

He closes with an invitation. Salvation is not fire insurance, he says; it takes fear out and puts peace in. Being baptized in water without a new heart only means you “go down a sinner and come up a wet sinner.” The greatest miracle God does is giving a person a new heart and His Spirit, and he leads everyone in a prayer to be born again.

Letting the River Flow This Week

Here are practical steps drawn from this third message on the dancing hand of God:

• Get still before you speak. As the Spirit hovered before God spoke, take quiet time to sense His presence before you pray or decide.
• Call, do not complain. Like calling a lost dog by name, speak God’s will over your health, finances and relationships.
• Guard your mouth. Drop words that run the engine and go nowhere; speak only what builds up and ministers grace.
• Renew yourself in His love. Each morning ask the Father to tell you again how much He loves you.
• Seek the river at home. Do not save your deepest time with God for Sunday; let the river flow where you live.
• Ask for the Spirit within and upon. Thank Him for His presence in you and ask for His power upon you, with all His gifts.

Timestamped Outline

• 0:00 Creation reveals God’s perfect will
• 1:08 Genesis 1:1–5 and what Jesus would do
• 2:05 The Spirit broods over the deep
• 3:12 Architect, contractor and life-giver
• 4:14 Faith speaks; do not call it like it is
• 6:28 God forms man with His hands
• 7:30 Upon and within
• 9:47 Love supersedes the law
• 12:00 The four rivers of Eden
• 15:15 Psalm 46: a river that makes glad
• 18:14 Fountain of living water at home
• 21:52 It starts with our mouths
• 25:27 Zephaniah 3:17: God dances over us
• 30:04 The Easter egg hunt
• 34:32 1 Corinthians 12: not ignorant
• 35:42 The book in the back seat in Egypt
• 40:13 Manifestation: the hand that dances
• 43:57 Given to each one for the profit of all
• 47:25 The church in Pakistan
• 50:03 Mark 16 and Jacob’s unbelief
• 51:04 John 20: receive the Holy Spirit
• 53:09 Acts 1: wait for the promise
• 54:14 Acts 2: tongues of fire
• 57:41 Invitation to be born again

Dancing Hand of God Series

This message is part of an eight-part series at NTC Ministries. Start from the beginning or continue where this one leaves off:

• First message: The Dancing Hand of God, Part 1 — The Holy Spirit From Creation to Today
• Previous: The Dancing Hand of God, Part 2 — The Hidden River That Now Flows From Within
• You are here: The Dancing Hand of God, Part 3 — The Spirit Upon and Within
• Next: The Dancing Hand of God, Part 4 — The Finger, Hand and Arm of God

Frequently Asked Questions

Why does the pastor say Jesus was the one speaking in Genesis 1?

Pastor Hohman bases it on John 1:1–3, which says the Word was in the beginning with God and that all things were made through Him. In his picture of the Trinity, the Father is the architect who planned creation and Jesus is the general contractor who carried it out by speaking. That, he says, is why Jesus later said He would build His church.

Is book knowledge about the Holy Spirit enough?

No. Pastor Hohman teaches that when Paul says he does not want believers ignorant of spiritual gifts, he means experiential knowledge, not just information. He warns that people with only book knowledge can end up teaching against the gifts. Knowledge gained by experiencing God, he says, is something nobody can argue you out of, because God always wanted a hands-on relationship, just as He formed Adam with His own hands.

Does God send disasters or financial ruin?

Pastor Hohman answers firmly that He does not. Every good and perfect gift comes down from the Father of lights, and there is no variation or shadow of turning in Him. A tornado that destroys a home, a bankruptcy or the loss of a job is not His purpose. What he does teach is that God will turn those situations around for your good when you look to Him.

Scripture References

All passages open in the New King James Version on Bible Gateway:

• Genesis 1:1–5 — the Spirit hovering over the waters
• Genesis 2:7 — God forms man and breathes life
• Genesis 2:10–14 — the four rivers of Eden
• John 7:38 — rivers of living water
• Zephaniah 3:17 — He rejoices over you with singing
• 1 Corinthians 12:1–7 — the manifestation of the Spirit
• John 20:19–22 — receive the Holy Spirit
• Acts 2:1–4 — the day of Pentecost

How this summary was made: written with AI assistance from the sermon’s own transcript and checked against the Scriptures listed above.

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