Formed to Conform

Genesis 2:7 states that the Lord (Jesus) God (Father) formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life (Holy Spirit); and man became a living soul. The Trinity of God was involved in man’s creation, and man was formed of the world (dust of the ground) but was formed to be a living soul and to conform to the image of God and not to the world.

Apostle Paul beseeched the church in Rome to not be conformed to this world: but be transformed by the renewing of their mind (Romans 12:2). Our minds need to be renewed to be like the humble and obedient mind of Jesus Christ (Philippians 2:5).

Points to ponder:
We were formed to conform to God’s image. We are not to be conformed to this world.
What are you and I conforming to – to God or to the world? Remember, friendship with the world is enmity with God. Am I a friend of God? Are you a friend of God?

Genesis 2:7 (KJV)
⁷ 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.

Romans 12:2 (KJV)
² And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

Philippians 2:5 (KJV)
⁵ Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:

James 4:4 (KJV)
⁴ Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.

(Holy) breath of life (-giving Spirit)

Genesis 2:7, states “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.” In the book of Job, the Bible records “The spirit of God hath made me, and the breath of the Almighty hath given me life.” (Job 33:4). After resurrection, when Jesus assured his disciples peace and commissioned them to go out as apostles, he breathed on them and said “Receive ye the Holy Ghost” (John 20:22). In the end times it is prophesied that after the two witnesses of God are killed and laid on the streets for three and a half days, the Bible records that the spirit of life entered into them and they came back to life and heard a great voice from heaven saying “come up hither” and they ascended to heaven (Revelation 11:11).

From these verses, we can understand that the breath of life (Genesis 2:7), the breath of the Almighty (Job 33:4), the breath of Jesus, who was made a quickening (life-giving) spirit (1 Corinthians 15:45) on the disciples (John 20:22) refers to the spirit of God, the Holy Ghost/Spirit. This gives us the evidence that the third person of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit God was actively involved in the creation of mankind.

Points to ponder:
When the Holy Spirit of God is breathed of a lifeless body, man becomes a living soul. The Holy Spirit of God is evident in creation. The Holy Spirit of Father God and of Jesus (who are one – John 10:30) is a life-giving Spirit, and a body without the Spirit of God is dead (James 2:26). Are you a dead body or a living soul? The Holy Spirit (who gives eternal life) is promised to all who believe in God the Father who sent Jesus and in Jesus who was sent (John 17:3). The Holy Spirit of God is evident in the recreation of man when we believe in Jesus for anyone who is Christ is a new creation (remade). Do you feel the breath of life, the breath of the Almighty, on you today and do you hear his voice “Receive ye the Holy Ghost” who is a life-giving (quickening) Spirit (1 Corinthians 15:45)? Only after the Holy breath of life (-giving) Spirit enters us, can we ascend into the presence of God in heaven. Believe in the Lord Jesus today and receive ye the Holy Ghost!

Genesis 2:7 (KJV)
⁷ 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.

Job 33:4 (KJV)
⁴ The spirit of God hath made me, and the breath of the Almighty hath given me life.

John 20:22 (KJV)
²² And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost:

Revelation 11:11 (KJV)
¹¹ And after three days and an half the spirit of life from God entered into them, and they stood upon their feet; and great fear fell upon them which saw them.
¹² And they heard a great voice from heaven saying unto them, Come up hither. And they ascended up to heaven in a cloud; and their enemies beheld them.

Gasp for the Breath of Life

As I sat in the operating room awaiting the birth of our second son, Ittai Aidan Paul, the similarilities of physical and spiritual birth dawned on me.

When a child is born in the physical sense, the baby gasps to take in the first breath of life. We are indeed joyous to hear the cry of the baby that results from the intake of the first breath, as the baby is assured into a new world and in a practical sense a new life.

This is not any different than how it ought to be when it comes to our spiritual birth; when one is born again by believing in the Lord Jesus Christ as the Savior of their soul. When one is born again, in Christ, they are a new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17). We must gasp for the breath of life that is found solely in the Holy Spirit of God (John 20:22) and such allegiance could cause us to suffer and cry for his name, but failure to take in that breath of life, who quickens our Spirit (1 Corinthians 15:45), has far greater consequences, than mere tears, in this life and the one to come.

Points to ponder:
Have you been breathed upon with the breath of life? Have you received the Holy Spirit of God who comes when you believe in the name of Jesus? (John 20:22; Ephesians 1:13)

John 20:21-22 (KJV)
²¹ Then said Jesus to them again, Peace be unto you: as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you.
²² And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost:

Ephesians 1:12-13 (KJV)
¹² That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ.
¹³ In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise,

The Bible is alive

When our beloved son, Reuben was about two years old, one of the first portions of the scripture that he had committed to memory, besides the Lord’s prayer and the Fruit of the Spirit was the Armor of God from Ephesians 6. But we taught him and he learned to end it always by saying … and the sword of the Spirit, is the word of God, “The Bible”. Little did I realize then that the addition of the words, ‘the Bible’ not only affirms that the Bible is the sword of the Spirit, but that it is the ‘Only’ word of God.

The Bible tells us that All scripture (The Bible) is God breathed (2 Timothy 3:16) and we see in the creation of man, God breathed into man’s nostrils, the breath of life (Genesis 2:7). We also read that within the ark  of Noah was the breath of life (Genesis 7:15). So if the Bible is God’s breath and the breath of God is the breath of life, the Bible is the breath of life. This establishes the fact that the Bible is alive (life). Jesus affirms this when He said that the words He spoke are life (John 6:63) and rightfully so Peter asks him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have THE WORDS of eternal life” (John 6:68).

Only in the Lord Jesus Christ, the ark of eternal life, is the breath of life (His words of eternal life). The question really is “does the words of Christ Jesus abide in us?” for without it, there is no life. Let our prayer be that we abide in Christ (the source of life), and let His words (life-giving) abide in us! (John 15:7)

John 6:63,68 (KJV)
⁶³ It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.
⁶⁸ Then Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life.

Hebrews 4:!2 (NKJV)
¹² For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.

Air – the Breath of Life

As we continue our series on The Elements, lets see how the element ‘air’ reflects the wondrous and incredible attributes of God and what is it that we can learn from it.

Ask a child to define ‘air’ and they are likely to tell you that it is what we cannot see but we know it is there because we feel it; it is what we breathe or it is what we need to live. The National Center for Atmospheric Research operated through the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research has this to say in their kids site “Stuff in the Sky” when answering the question, What is air? “The atmosphere surrounding Earth is full of air! Air is important for life on Earth. Plants and animals need air to survive”.

The Bible tells us that the spirit of God hath made us and the breath of the Almighty hath given us life (Job 33:4). In the creation of man, the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life (and you can say life giving air) and man became a living soul (Genesis 2:7). It is said of Noah’s ark there in it was the breath of life (Genesis 7:15).

Just as we all need to breath air to live ephemerally in our physical state, so also we ALL need THE BREATH OF LIFE (Jesus Christ) to live eternally in our spiritual state. Just as the atmosphere surrounding the earth is full of air, Jesus Christ surrounds all of creation (not just the earth) for by Him all things consists (Colossians 1:17). Jesus is not just someone in the sky (heaven) but He is omnipresent, surrounding each one of us. Even if you cannot see Him (because of the impurity of the heart), you know He is there, because you feel His presence. Just as everyone who was inside Noah’s ark, survived destruction and death, so also everyone who is in God (THE ARK) wherein is THE BREATH OF LIFE (Jesus) will survive damnation and eternal death.

Do you know Jesus to be YOUR Breath of Life (there is no other)? Do you feel His presence? Are you in the Ark of God wherein is Jesus, the life giving AIR? Jesus is THE ELEMENT, the AIR that gives Life.

The Elements – Earth, Air, Fire and Water

Earth Air Fire Water Ambigram

One of the movies that I like to watch is The Fifth Element, whose synopsis is two hundred and fifty years in the future, life as we know it is threatened by the arrival of Evil. Only the fifth element (divine supreme being) can stop the Evil from extinguishing life. The other four elements in the movie are earth, air, fire and water, which are not foreign to astrology and horoscopes and even fictional writers such as Dan Brown (author of the Da Vinci Code), in his book Angels and Demons refers to these four elements as mystical elements used as Illuminati markers and depicted artistically as an ambigram (as seen in this picture).

With a heavy undertone of these elements in horoscopes that several blindly follow, it perplexes me to realize as to why so many people would look to the stars (horoscopes) for answers, when they can look to the very One (Jesus Christ) who made the stars.

This series is entitled “The Elements”. My intent is to see from the scriptures how the LORD Jesus Christ is so beautifully represented in these elements, so that those who are seeking answers need NOT have to look at the elements but at THE ELEMENT and answer to all of their questions. You can view today’s articles as merely a preview of articles to come in which we will expand on each of these elements, representative of THE Christ and Savior, Jesus and what we are commissioned to be and do as followers of Christ, apropos.

Earth (rock) – Jesus Christ is the Rock (1 Corinthians 10:4), the Only One that stands, on whom on can stand and not fall, the Only One that Saves (Psalm 95:1)
Air -  The breath (air) of the Almighty God gives Life (Job 33:4)
Fire - The indwelling of the Holy Spirit of God was externally expressed as tongues of Fire on the day of the Pentecost (Acts 2:3-4)
Water - Jesus is the living Water (John 4:10-14)

Evident in the scriptures, the apt conclusion to this day’s article is this- For by him (Jesus) were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him: And he is before all things, and by him all things consist (Colossians 1:16-17).