The Breath of Life.

I was reminded this morning of why God wanted me to start blogging. He pours his thoughts through me, reveals his Word, and teaches me things that I have never learned before. The precious words of God are flooding my soul and I want to share those with you. 

“Then he breathed on them and said, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit.'” -John 20:22

In this scene, we see Jesus appearing to his disciples after he was crucified, buried in a tomb, and resurrected. This is the second time that he appeared to them and this time he breathed on them. When I first read this verse, I was struck by it. Why would Jesus breathe on them? And when I dug a little further, the answer became quite clear and was very astounding.

• “And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.” (Genesis 2:7 KJV) – This is the first time we see God breathe into man. God’s breath gave him physical life. Our bodies are a lifeless shell without a living soul, a beating heart, and breath from our lungs. God’s breath to Adam, gave birth to the physical, living human race.
  
• But look how amazing it is when we see Jesus in this room with his disciples. Jesus breathes on them. This is the second time we see God breathe into man but this time he gives them eternal, spiritual life. The Spirit was given to them so they could go forth and witness to the world about the good news of Christ. Wiersbe explains, “the breath of God in the first creation meant physical life, and the breath of Jesus Christ in the new creation meant spiritual life. Apart from the filling of the Spirit, they could not go forth to witness effectively. The had dwelt with them in the person of Christ, but now the Spirit would be in them.” How amazing is this! The law had been fulfilled when Jesus died on the cross as our ultimate sacrifice and when he rose 3 days later from the grave. But it would not have been complete until Jesus’ Spirit was given to believers.
• When God breathed life into Adam, he was a perfect human. But Adam and Eve cursed man when they sinned against God in the garden. As a result, when we are born into this world, we are born into sin. We are sinners by nature. But because of God’s gracious sacrifice and love we can now live (John 3:16). Jesus explains to Nicodemus in John 3 how we can be reborn. John 3:5-6, “Jesus replied, ‘I assure you, no one can enter the Kingdom of God without being born of water and the Spirit. Humans can reproduce only human life, but the Holy Spirit gives birth to spiritual life.'” Because we are born into sin, the only way we can live beyond this life is if we accept Christ as our Lord and receive his Spirit. The old self is put to death and now we live by the Spirit. “But God is so rich in mercy, and he loved us so much, that even though we were dead because of our sins, he gave us life when he raised Christ from the dead.” (Ephesians 2:4-5) 

Father, thank you for the physical breath of life you have given me. But nothing in this life would matter if you hadn’t given me the spiritual and eternal breath of life. Fill my lungs with your life, my heart with your love, and my soul with your Spirit. Amen.