The Breath of God

I have been teaching from a phrase that Jesus used and it took me to some deeper studies about the key words.

And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ This is the first commandment. 
And the second, like it, is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”
Mark 12:30-31

Notice the Key Words… Heart, Soul, Mind, Strength. This has been my focus of study over the past few weeks.

Today, I want to share with you a the second keyword. Soul.

What is the soul?

I must utilize the study dynamics of the “Law of First Mention” to get my foundation. This is the study technique that uses the First Mention of anything as the foundation of all thought and future reference.

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

Think about this scripture. Break it down into smaller components. Then, consider the actions described. My summation is very simple.

Man is formed from the dust, and while shaped as God planned, He Breathed His Breath into Man’s Being. Man became a living soul.

Now. Consider the meaning of the words.

• Breathed = Action: Inhale from out to in, exhale from what was within to that which is without.
• Breath = Noun: a puff, that is, wind, angry or vital breath, divine inspiration, intellect or (concretely) an animal: – blast, (that) breath (-eth), inspiration, soul, spirit.
• Life = God’s very own breath…His exhalation.

Now. Not to think too deeply about this, but we breathe in oxygen and exhale carbon dioxide. One thing saves us, the other will kill us. From his very own breath of life, he breathed the breath of life into us.

His exhalation is our inhalation.

With His action something happened we cannot even begin to understand. That shape of clay took on a living body as we understand our bodies today. That exhalation of breath into our bodies caused the reaction of our bodies to seek breath. His exhalation forced our bodies alive, and it became our inhalation. With our response, we become a living soul. A God ordained being that requires God’s breath to live. We do NOT find God did this with any other of His creation. Mankind is Special!

Scripture says, “Man became a living soul.”

Take away this breath, and you separate the body from the soul. My body cannot live without the Breath of God.
I’m no longer a living soul.

Why? Because what God has created, is created, but what God has breathed of his own self into, well, that person has His Breath, His Life, His Plan active.

But that person, just like Adam and Eve, still gets to make a choice…Take away the choice of the person to choose, then you try to become the god of someone else. Do you have that right?

We all understand accidental deaths, war, and maybe we even understand the death penalty, but when I insert myself into the equation and take away the ability of a person to become, and to choose, then I’m exerting “god-like” powers when I do not have the right!

You shall not murder. (Deuteronomy 20:13)

Take it one more level. As a body we have the ability to reproduce ourselves into the life of another. But that new life becomes a living soul because we have our breath that tracks all the way back to that first man. Adam. God’s breath into Adam produced life that has a Living Soul.

I’m not allowed to murder life.

I’ve never taken a life, but I’ve been around others who have. Some were in prison for their actions, others did it by accident, and others do it with their “medical” actions all the time. Life has become something we think is okay to exterminate. Ethnic cleansing. Racial execution. Super Power control over others.

What’s the bottom line? Let’s quit taking control of life as we have. Life lives and is a living soul. Only God has the power to take away life.

I’m compelled to say this…take one step down a slippery slope, it will be hard to stop… Read This!