The First Gift; Life, Breath

The first ‘gift’ God ever gave man was life. He breathed into Adam’s nostrils and he became FULLY alive; physically AND spiritually.

When God created the universe, He spoke everything into being except man. God said “Let us MAKE man in our own image, after our likeness” (Genesis 1:24a). God put His hands into the clay of the ground and formed man. Then He breathed into his nostrils. “Then the Lord God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature” (Genesis 2:7).

God didn’t “let the earth bring forth” man as the rest of creation but personally got in there and MADE man to be like Him. God was not ‘alone’ as we would think of the word when He made the world. He was, is and will always be a triune being. He is the Creator, the power of the Word, and the Spirit that moved through all that was created. So, when God made man, He did so in His likeness; a triune being. And man’s spirit was ALIVE at that time because God breathed His own life into man.

We know that man didn’t stay ‘alive’ in his spirit. He surrendered that life to sin and became the children of a spiritually dead father, Satan. Adam and Eve did surely die that day in the garden. They died spiritually. From that day forward EVERY person ever born was born spiritually dead.

But God wasn’t through giving life. He would give us a new birth through His Son Jesus Christ. I’m getting ahead of myself though because I want to talk about the physical life that God continued to give as the first gift to every person ever conceived.

I purposefully used the word conceived here because I want to include all the children who never made into the world through live birth. This includes children who were aborted by man’s hand, those that died in utero for whatever reason, and those who did not survive the birth process. God knew and knows EVERY life that ever began. He created it. He knit it together. He knew that life before it even began. “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations” (Jeremiah 1:5). “For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb” (Psalm 139:13).

David and Jeremiah are NOT the only ones that God gave this special attention to. He gives it to ALL of us, sometimes even before conception. The stories of Isaac, John the Baptist, and Jesus are just a few stories where God told the parents before conception even occurred.

Once the child is born, he or she begins to give God praise by expressing the breath placed in them during their own personal creation. Recently, there has been an interpretation of the name God spoke to Moses at the burning bush. This interpretation or pronunciation isn’t specified in the bible but has some sound understanding behind it. We are told that the name YHWH when pronounced in its original form is the sound of breathing. It is a BEAUTIFUL thought. If it is actual fact, we will not know until we stand before Him and ask Him how to pronounce it. For me, I choose to embrace this conclusion that I am speaking the name of God with each breath. This gives new meaning to Romans 9:17; For the “Scripture says to Pharaoh, ‘For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I might show my power in you, and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.’”

Let’s back up to the point I touched on earlier. Where God gives us again LIVING breath, spirit. The most notable story regarding this is when Nicodemus comes to Jesus asking how to inherit eternal life. Jesus tells him that he must be “born again.” Nicodemus doesn’t understand how this can happen. Jesus relates tells him, in hearing of His disciples, that it is not a physical rebirth that has to happen but a spiritual one. We must receive ‘the breath of God’ into our dead spirit to become alive and one of His children. And we receive this new life when we confess our faith in Jesus and His work on the cross for us.

This new life is a living spirit. One that was once dead is now alive. And that new life is ETERNAL. I’m going to leave you with a few links to scripture passages that speak of that new life. John 3:16-17 tells us of the beginnings of that life. Romans 8 and 2 Corinthians 5 are good places to learn about living that new life.

Breathe deeply with me and hear God’s name from a living spirit!

Father God, THANK YOU for the breath in my lungs AND in my spirit. I once was dead, but now I’m alive in You. NOTHING I did on my own. Let me praise You with every breath I take and every move I make.

Thank You for ALL the gifts You have given me, including this idea to focus on those gifts during this season of giving. I KNOW I won’t be able to cover EVERY gift You have given man. Help me focus on the ‘gifts’ You want to highlight right now. I pray others enjoy ‘unwrapping’ these gifts too and are drawn closer to You in doing so.