Gen 2:7 BREATHE AGAIN

Genesis 2:7

MEN'S BREAKFAST
22 July, 2008

We get all sorts of hard questions at Moore College. I don't mean in the tests, although asking me for the time of day in Greek will probably kill me. One of the ones I still find strange (and surprisingly hard to answer) is this... “What's your favourite Bible verse?”
You want me to narrow this down to one verse? How many people actually have a favourite? Let's try... just raise your hand if you can honestly say that you have one favourite? I'm not going to ask anyone what they are...


I can really narrow it down to four, myself...
● GENESIS 2:7 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
● JOHN 3:16 FOR GOD SO LOVED THE WORLD THAT HE GAVE HIS ONLY SON, THAT WHOEVER BELIEVES IN HIM SHOULD NOT PERISH BUT HAVE ETERNAL LIFE
● MICAH 6:8 HE HAS TOLD YOU O MAN WHAT IS GOOD; AND WHAT DOES THE LORD REQUIRE OF YOU BUT TO DO JUSTICE, AND TO LOVE KINDNESS AND TO WALK HUMBLY WITH YOUR GOD?
● PROVERBS 30:7-9 TWO THINGS I ASK OF YOU; DENY THEM NOT TO ME BEFORE I DIE: REMOVE FAR FROM ME FALSEHOOD AND LYING; GIVE ME NEITHER POVERTY OR RICHES; FEED ME WITH THE FOOD THAT IS NEEDFUL FOR ME, LEST I BE FULL AND DENY YOU AND SAY 'WHO IS THE LORD?', OR LEST I BE POOR AND STEAL AND PROFANE THE NAME OF MY GOD.

I started philosophy yesterday, and philosophy is (to a point) the art of asking the right questions. And our Philosophy lecturer opened proceedings with one question on the whiteboard... WHY ARE WE HERE? He gave us five minutes to discuss this one.



Well – the answers were all pretty interesting, because they all depended upon other things; who's WE? Where's HERE – the lecture theatre, Moore College, Sydney, the earth? For that matter – who's asking? Would we give a different answer if our friend asked us the question quietly than we would to a lawyer asking the same question. But -

But – here's the thing, our lecturer pointed out. The question should be answerable, and the fact that a group of clearly intelligent people couldn't come up with a clear answer is good for humour, but the fact remains that a large percentage of males between the age of 16 & 24 struggle so hard to find a sensible answer that this one demographic ends up as a massive bulge in the statistics of single-car accidents... females under the age of sixteen struggle with this simple question so hard that they take a horrible fascination with sharp knives and their forearms...
He had our attention at this point...

And it's true – as a society, it's a question that we really struggle with. Individually, it IS a question that occupies us: WHY ARE WE HERE? What are we doing here? It takes some thought.

It's one of the reasons why I love Genesis so much. It's why I love the opening chapters of the Bible so much. Because this is where we see Yahweh the Creative, Creating God at his labour of love. By his powerful spoken Word, everything came into existance. Light, water, land, soil, vegetation, animals... everything except one.

GENESIS 2:7 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.

How powerful is this picture? God, stooping low, scooping the red soil and beginning to sculpt. The only one of His creation not spoken into being, but hand-made. Made not by the strange impersonal evolutionary accidents that the Richard Dawkinses of the world wants us to finally accept, made not by trial and error, but formed in the image of The Lord God Himself.

I think I've told this story before – a friend took me in to the Australian Museum for a debate about evolution vs intelligent design. Not much of a debate; there was no-one on the side of intelligent design. But I was introduced to a retired scientist beforehand, and (as I was introduced as “someone from Church”) he was very keen to hear ANY point of view away from the accepted norms, and if I acepted either side blindly, or thought it out. I simply said that I draw huge comfort from the knowledge that I am a masterpiece, fearfully and wonderfully made – and that in itself gives me far more solace when I'm alone than the thought that I'm the product of a billion accidents that went right.

WHY AM I HERE? Because, simply, the Lord God wants me to be - here. Of course, there's far more to it than that. But what a beautiful starting place.



The birth of Man was when God breathed into our nostrils the breath of life. And when Nicodenmus meets Jesus, Jesus tells him “You must be born again.” Nicodemus is obviously confused by this, so Jesus explains that “unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the Kingdom of God. That which is born of flesh is flesh, but that which is born of the Spirit is spirit”. Here's a funny thing. The Greek word for spirit – pneuma – is the same word for wind and breath. The Hebrew word for spirit – ruach – is the same word for wind and breath. Jesus' words take us right back to our first birth... the breath of the Lord God in our lungs, giving us life. And Jesus goes further – “for God so loved the world that he gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him might not perish but have everlasting life.”

Why are we here? Because God loves us. Because God loves us so much that he gave us life, and then he gave our lives back to us. What gives our lives purpose? Our love for our Lord and His Son. “If you love me you will obey my commandments,” he said, and so we do – at least, we try to as best we can. Certainly, we're here to do His will, but we do it willingly. We love Him – but we love Him because He first loved us.

This is the Good Message that the world outside these doors desperately needs.

So here's a little bit of homework. And I'm going to do the same myself, as much as I find it a hard one. Find one verse – not just a favourite passage – but one verse that, for you, answers the question WHY AM I HERE?
Write it down.
And on the same piece of paper, write down a verse that might answer the question for someone at work, a neighbor, a mate – someone who you would love to see saved.
Write them down, and then LEARN THEM. Take the trouble, take the time. It might take some searching through, to find the best verse, but do it. Don't be satisfied with the first quick answer that comes to mind... really go to town on this.

And then use them in your prayers for that person. We've got to go out of those doors to work now, but let's also get to work for the Kingdom, for the Lord, and for the people He also lovingly made.