The Dove and the New Creation

First, thanks to Jason Stewart for piquing my interest to look into this and give it some thought during the week.  Tomorrow is the Baptism of Our Lord, the first Sunday after Epiphany, so this is appropriate.  And now to our text:

And when Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him . . .
~Matthew 3:16

So the question is, why a dove?  What significance does it have?  Jason briefly mentioned in his sermon last week that it has been said that the Jews associated the dove with the Holy Spirit.  If so, then how would they have known to do this?  I think the question can be answered by looking back to two Genesis passages.

First, the most obvious:

Then he sent forth a dove from him, to see if the waters had subsided from the face of the ground.  But the dove found no place to set her foot, and she returned to him to the ark, for the waters were still on the face of the whole earth. So he put out his hand and took her and brought her into the ark with him.
~Genesis 8:8-9

Noah releases a dove after the flood that covers the face of the earth to see if the waters have subsided.  The dove flies from the ark and hovers over the face of the waters, and finds no resting place.  Three times he releases the dove, before the waters subside.

Of itself, this may not bring to us thoughts of the Holy Spirit.  But I believe the story of the dove is a clear allusion to an earlier event in Genesis:

In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.
~Genesis 1:1-2

At the creation of the heavens and the earth the Spirit also hovers over the face of the waters.  In the Noahic flood God remakes the world.  It is a type of the new creation.  When we read Genesis we should see this and associate the hovering of the dove over the water with the hovering of the Spirit in the opening phrases of the Bible.

And when Jesus comes out of the water and the dove descends on him, this also should bring Genesis to mind.  The dove is again hovering over the face of the water at the beginning of a new creation.  The ultimate New Creation is before us, as God purposes to remake Heaven and Earth through his Son, Jesus.

By baptism we identify with Christ, even as he identified with us, and so enter that New Creation.