The Breath of Life

In the beginning, when God created man, He "breathed into his nostrils the breath of life and man became a living being" (Genesis 2:7).  We also know that in the beginning "the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters" (Genesis 1:2).  Also reading into the flood account we find that "They went into the ark with Noah, two and two of all flesh in which there was the breath of life" (Genesis 7:15).  If one were to compare the words for "breath" and "spirit" in these instances they'd find them to be irrevocably connected (Job 27:3, 32:8, and Isaiah 57:16).

So what does all this theological mumbo-jumbo amount to?
Basically, that God at creation not only breathed life into man at creation but also gave an extremely similar (if not identical in respect to the wording) life to all of the rest of the animals in creation.  God created monkey as well as man.  He made penguins as well as people.  This being the case we need to be respectful of all of his creation.  Of course, we should be able to discern this from his statements saying that all of it was "very good" but I just found this to be an interesting connection that I had not discovered before.

Psalms 104 adds an even deeper glance into this subject.  Talking about various different aspect in creation here the psalmist speaks of "lions," "badgers," "goats," and a variety of other animals.  Then he says that "You [God] send forth your Spirit, they are created and you renew the face of the earth."  Isn't that a wonderful thought! Every time new life enters into the world it is through the hands of the Almighty Creator.  As intricate and complex as God created this world, it still takes the hand of the Creator to produce life. From the newborn baby to a litter of kittens God is most certainly at work. I've heard people say that birth is a miracle and by all accounts of scripture: it is!  It may be natural in one sense: members being formed, atoms combining, genes mapping, and all that.  But in another more magnificent way God puts in his own personal touch: the Breath of Life.

God has personally given each and everyone of us the chance to know Him by giving us life.  And too, he cares for us so much and thinks so highly of us that he would subject even his own creation to us. Knowing this we should all be just a little more thankful for what God has done.