All three persons of the Trinity have always existed as God and all three persons had a part in creation but they differ in their relationship to each other. If the Trinity were compared to a construction company God the Father would represent the owner of the company. Jesus would represent the project superintendent. The Holy Spirit would represent the general contractor who does the actual building work. See: Genesis 1:2, Psalm 104:30, Job 26:13 and 33:4.
The Holy does almost all the heavy lifting for God and is intimately involved in every aspect of God’s salvation plan for man and the governance of God’s creation. The Holy Spirit was the real father of Christ’s body and the Holy Spirit led Jesus his entire life. Before Christ the Holy Spirit was present in the world but not as pervasive as today. The Old Testament documents 16 people who were anointed by the Holy Spirit for various lengths of time. Of those 16 I’m only aware of King David being indwelt by the Holy Spirit all his life.
At Pentecost in 33 AD the Holy Spirit came to earth from the Father permanently to indwell all believers as their helper, guide and comforter during their walk with God. It’s the Holy Spirit who enlightens us to the truth of God’s Word as it’s preached and read. It’s the Holy Spirit who regenerates our spirit, indwells us and seals us as God’s property. It’s the Holy Spirit who gives us the spiritual gifts of God as He sees fit and it’s the Holy Spirit who will take our eternal spirit back to God when we die. It’s the Holy Spirit who convicts the unsaved of their sins and upon their salvation translates them from death to life.
People think it’s the body of Christ, the church, that is holding back the spirit of the antichrist from manifesting itself. That isn’t true. We don’t have the power to do that. It’s the Holy Spirit that acts as a divine dam, holding back and limiting the full power of Satan and of sin. When the rapture removes all believers from the earth and the Holy Spirit along with them, the start of the tribulation won’t be far behind. The end will come come very quickly, like the floodwaters after a dam bursts.
Witnessing for Christ