And the Lord 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.
When God created Adam, He breathed into his nostrils the breath of life and Adam became a living soul. This breath of life was not the Ruach, the Holy Spirit of eternal life. When God's first children disobeyed Him, Adam and Eve were denied access to the Tree of Life which was the source of food that maintained their longevity (Genesis 3:22). Because of Adam’s disobedience, the DNA we inherit from our first ancesters carries the pollution of the disease of sin. Jesus is the propitiation for our sins through His death and resurrection. Jesus appeared to His disciples after His resurrection and breathed on them the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of the Father (Matthew 10:20) that was in Him (Romans 8:9). The word breathed is only used twice in the Scriptures, in Genesis 2:7 and in John 20:22, which is significant. See also -Is the Holy Spirit the same as the breath of life that God breathed into man?
The Breath of Life and the Holy Spirit
He breathed on them, and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit” - John 20:22
God created everything through His Son, Jesus Christ (Ephesians 3:9). Here Jesus is again the Creator breathing life into His disciples, providing a new eternal source of life, and our souls receive a new source of life-giving animation that will carry us into eternity.
Salvation is imparted to the believer by repentance and faith in the atoning blood of the Messiah, Jesus. When we believe, the Holy Spirit is given to the believer immediately for his sanctification. As soon as the Spirit was available after the resurrection Jesus breathed His Spirit upon His disciples for this purpose.
The Scriptures tell us that the Holy Spirit is diverse in His gifts (I Corinthians 12:4). Sanctification is only one aspect of His administrations.
As we can see from John 20:22, Jesus’ disciples were given the Holy Spirit prior to Pentecost, so their souls were already joined in unity with God’s Spirit as they were praying. They were in one accord on that day seeking the Lord when tongues of fire appeared above their heads and they were “baptized” or immersed in the Holy Spirit, that is; they were endowed with power and equipped with zeal and the gifts necessary for their commission to preach the Gospel. This anointing changed a small body of one hundred and twenty timid individuals into a powerful Holy Spirit filled people and the church was increased to three thousand souls in just one day - Acts 2:41.
This prophesied outpouring, (Acts 2:17, Joel 2:28,) was not restricted to one event but was repeated again in Acts 4:31 after a time of persecution of the Lord’s servants, indicating that the renewing power of God’s Spirit can be appropriated to strengthen and empower the believer when renewal is necessary.
Through these examples in the Scriptures we can see that the precious life-giving Spirit is imparted to the believer through the conduit of Messiah’s blood in three dispensations for sanctification, equipping and renewal. The Comforter has come, the Spirit of God within us, and comes again and again, the renewable resource of our Father’s love to His children; the Holy Spirit of God.
Copyright 2007 by H.D. Shively