Saturday, November 30, 2013

The Breath of God - by Pastor James R. Gray





Learn more reverence, not for rank and wealth that needs no learning, That comes quickly, quick as sin dies, aye and culminates in sin; But for Adam's seed, man, trust me 'this a clay above your scorning, With God's image stamped upon him, and God's kindling breath within.
--Elizabeth Barrett Browning

God's breath! What a concept! One that is completely Biblical. The Bible clearly speaks of the breath of God. God's breath is an indispensable part of man. We cannot escape it. The Bible reveals there are distinct times that the breath of God is related to man:IN CREATION

 
When God created man, we are expressly told that He "formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul" (Gen. 2:7). This verse is revealing about the creation of man. We see man was "formed" by God. The Hebrew is yatsar. It is an artisan word. It means to mold or form, and describes the activity of a potter forming or molding the clay on the potters' wheel. It carries the idea of molding the day with particular care and personal attention. Here God is seen as the potter. He fashioned us out of the clay of the earth with minute and precise detail. Interestingly, the word for dust here is not a clot of dirt, but the finest part of the material of the earth. No wonder the writer of the Psalms declares that he was "fearfully and wonderfully made" (Psalm 139:14).

Not only was man made by the artistic hands of God, but God "breathed into his nostrils the breath of life." The word translated "breathed" is interesting. It is the Hebrew word napah, the root meaning of which is to puff, as one puffs to forcefully ventilate a fire, thus to blow, to exhale. It is used of the giving up of life (Job 31:39, Jer. 15:9), as well as giving of life. In this passage the meaning of giving of life is dear, God exhaled or blew life into man. God formed man from the dust of the earth after His own likeness, and into this mold of dust, breathed or exhaled into it His own immortal breath. Of all creation, God did this only to man. As Leupold in his comments on Genesis notes; "A personal, vitalizing act of the Creator imparts life to man-- an honor bestowed upon none of the lesser creatures" (Exposition of Genesis, 116).

The result of this act was that "man became a living soul," The student of the word should be careful here.

While the act of imparting life to man was unique, the result does not seem to be. The phrase does not seen to point to a distinguishing aspect of man. In Genesis 1:24, we see that the same Hebrew word, here translated soul, is translated "living creature" and it refers to animal life. The Scofield Bible notes that the Hebrew word nephesh (soul), "implies self-conscious life, as distinguished from plants, which have unconscious life" (p. 5). A study of the phrase "living soul" shows it refers to both man and animals (Gen. 1 :24; 2:7; I Cor.15:45; Rev. 16:3). By the act of God exhaling into man the breath of life, man became animated, a living soul.

Because both man and animals are living souls, that does not mean that this event was not unique. God's breath animating man does have a special significance. It does place man on a higher plane, and a special place in relationship to God that is higher than the beasts of the field. It directly links man with God, a link formed by God Himself at the time of creation, a link that was marred and corrupted by an act of sin. Man will not be able to escape the responsibility before God for breaking that link.

* IN CONVERSION
The breath of God is active not only in creation, but conversion. Not unlike the work of creation, is the miracle of regeneration where the breath of God is a quickening breath. It quickens and converts dead sinners into living saints. This quickening is the work of the Holy Spirit. It is significant that the New Testament word translated spirit is pneuma, like its Hebrew counterpart ruach, means both "breath" and "spirit." It is a form of the Greek word, pneo, which means a current of air, to blow upon.

The word pneuma is translated both "wind" and "spirit" in John 3:8. Christ is making a comparison here between wind and the Spirit. Both are sovereign in their activities and mysterious in their operations. Both are sovereign in their actions, beyond all human control. Both are irresistible in their power and invisible, for who has seen the wind or the Spirit? Both are invigorating, refreshing us from the heat of the day and life.

There are those, however, who would argue that this verse needs to be better translated. As we have already pointed out, the word wind and spirit are the Greek word pneuma. This is the only verse were the word is translated wind. Some suggest that a better translation would be: "The Spirit breatheth where He willeth, and His voice thou hearest; but thou knowest not whence He cometh and whither He goeth. Thus it is (with) everyone who has been begotten by the Spirit. " Their points for this are well taken. They point out that if wind was meant, that the normal word would have been used (anemos). In fact, John uses the word anemos to express wind in John 6:18. It is also pointed out that it is not correct to say that the wind cannot be traced. Scripture itself affirms that comings and goings of the wind can be known and traced (Eccles. 1:6). It seems that this view deserves consideration by the student of the Word.

There can be little doubt that breath is the emblem of the Holy Spirit. To become a child of God one must be "born from above" which is accomplished by the Holy Spirit, the breath of God. It is He who breathes life into those who are spiritually dead in trespasses and sins. Just as God breathed into man at creation to animate physical life, so the breath of God, the Holy Spirit, animates man's spiritual life, and the sinner becomes a new creation in Christ. The Apostle Paul reminds us that "if the Spirit of Him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, He that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by His Spirit that dwelleth in you" (Rom. 8:11). Quicken means to be made alive. Thus, we are born again from above "not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God" (John 1:13), the breath of God, the Holy Spirit. It is the Spirit that gives life eternal (II Cor. 3:6)

” IN JUDGMENT”


The third place that the Breath of God will meet man is in judgment. Scripture is clear. Isaiah 11:4 declares that God "shall smite the earth with the rod of His mouth, and with the breath of His lips shall He slay the wicked." The very breath of God is the rod with which He will chastise and smite the wicked. The return of the our Lord Jesus Christ to set up His kingdom will be accompanied and accomplished by the outpouring of His breath of judgment.

The Apostle Paul uses this phrase regarding the judgment of the Antichrist. Notice II Thessalonians 2:8 where Paul declares that this one will be consumed "with the spirit of His mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of His coming." Again the word pneuma in the King James Version is translated "spirit," however, it can be equally and better translated "breath" as in the New King James Version. The Antichrist will be consumed "with the breath of His mouth."

A parallel to these events is seen in the book of Revelation. In Revelation 19 the breath of judgment is symbolized by the sword proceeding out of Christ's mouth, which shall consume the wicked (Rev. 19:15, 20-21). At the second coming of our Lord, He will not return in a lowly procession upon a colt, but upon a white horse, as the great conqueror over the Antichrist and His forces. The manifestation of Christ at Armageddon will be a time of dire judgment, out of His mouth will come the breath of judgment, symbolized by the sword. The wicked will be judged.

Paul describes this outworking of God's judgment in 2  Thessalonians 1:7-9. Even as Antichrist and His army are destroyed and consumed with the breath of the Lord's mouth, so also will two classes of people be punished in that judgment. Two groups or classes are clearly intended in the text by the repeated articles in the original Greek. They are those who "know not God" and those who "obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ." The first class, those who "know not God" are what we would refer to as heathen, those who have refused such knowledge of God to be had from the light of nature (Acts10:34, Rom. 2: 1 0-15). The second class are those who have heard the gospel and rejected it. Their guilt is even greater. In disobedience they turned their back upon God and the gospel. Scripture indicates that those of this class, who have lived in this dispensation of grace, refuse the message of grace, and are alive after the rapture will still not believe. They will be duped by the Antichrist, "because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: That they all might be damned who believed not the truth; but had pleasure in unrighteousness (II Thessalonians 2:10-12).

Do you have "God's kindling breath within?" Have you been born from above, animated by the breath of God spiritually? If not, He who breathed life into man, will come with the breath of judgment. You are under that condemnation already, for "He that believeth not is condemned already" (John 3:18). You cannot escape the breath of God. But be assured, those who accept His provision of salvation by faith will pass from spiritual death into eternal life (John 5:24). The breath of God will quicken you spiritually, and you will be a new creation in Christ (II Corinthians 5:17


 How God Saves Men
Believing Christ DIED, that’s HISTORY.
Believing Christ DIED for YOU SINS and Rose again that’s SALVATION.
Read Romans 1:16, Romans 10:9-10 and 1. Corinthians 15:1-4


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