Breathe On Me Breathe Of God #216
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What is the Breathe of God- the Spirit of God
What is the Breathe of God- the Spirit of God
Play the Bible Project video to help understand
When we talk about the breathe of God in us I want to move beyond the air that you are breathing and the breathes you are taking to live- although we acknowledge that that is a gift from God also but the life I want to focus on this morning is much deeper and I would suggest much more important than your physical life
Having been sitting with this for some time I would suggest that it is possible for you and I to be “alive” but not living, to be dead in the ways that matter most
“In the Beginning…the Spirit was...”
“In the Beginning…the Spirit was...”
Lets to a look at the beginning to see what the Spirit was doing
Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.
Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.”
So God created mankind in his own image,
in the image of God he created them;
male and female he created them.
Then the Lord God formed a man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.
Now the Lord God had formed out of the ground all the wild animals and all the birds in the sky. He brought them to the man to see what he would name them; and whatever the man called each living creature, that was its name.
What is the difference between man and animals? It’s not the materials with which they were made- it’s the breathe
Why are our lives, human lives valued? They have the breathe of God in them, otherwise with out the breathe we are “dust of the ground”
Our life and worth come from God’s Spirit
The Book of Ezekiel:
The Book of Ezekiel:
Like the appearance of a rainbow in the clouds on a rainy day, so was the radiance around him.
This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord. When I saw it, I fell facedown, and I heard the voice of one speaking.
He said to me, “Son of man, stand up on your feet and I will speak to you.” As he spoke, the Spirit came into me and raised me to my feet, and I heard him speaking to me.
Something that the Spirit does continually through Ezekiel’s writings is “lift” him up
Then the Spirit lifted me up, and I heard behind me a loud rumbling sound as the glory of the Lord rose from the place where it was standing.
Then the Spirit came into me and raised me to my feet. He spoke to me and said: “Go, shut yourself inside your house.
The hand of the Lord was on me, and he brought me out by the Spirit of the Lord and set me in the middle of a valley; it was full of bones. He led me back and forth among them, and I saw a great many bones on the floor of the valley, bones that were very dry. He asked me, “Son of man, can these bones live?”
I said, “Sovereign Lord, you alone know.”
Ezekiel tries to get out of answering the question- “only you know Lord” might be similar to how we at times use “if the Lord wills”
Then God challenges Ezekiel
Then he said to me, “Prophesy to these bones and say to them, ‘Dry bones, hear the word of the Lord! This is what the Sovereign Lord says to these bones: I will make breath enter you, and you will come to life. I will attach tendons to you and make flesh come upon you and cover you with skin; I will put breath in you, and you will come to life. Then you will know that I am the Lord.’ ”
So I prophesied as I was commanded. And as I was prophesying, there was a noise, a rattling sound, and the bones came together, bone to bone. I looked, and tendons and flesh appeared on them and skin covered them, but there was no breath in them.
There was the appearance of a body- but no life- go back to Genesis, there you have the form of Adam laying in the dust on the ground but there was no life
Then he said to me, “Prophesy to the breath; prophesy, son of man, and say to it, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Come, breath, from the four winds and breathe into these slain, that they may live.’ ” So I prophesied as he commanded me, and breath entered them; they came to life and stood up on their feet—a vast army.
The life- the energy of God- was in the breath
Then he said to me: “Son of man, these bones are the people of Israel. They say, ‘Our bones are dried up and our hope is gone; we are cut off.’ Therefore prophesy and say to them: ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: My people, I am going to open your graves and bring you up from them; I will bring you back to the land of Israel. Then you, my people, will know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves and bring you up from them. I will put my Spirit in you and you will live, and I will settle you in your own land. Then you will know that I the Lord have spoken, and I have done it, declares the Lord.’ ”
Maybe today you feel like the people of Isreal, dried up pile of bones, maybe you are “alive” but you aren’t actually living
Here the word of the Lord this morning- “I will put my Spirit in you,” my RUAK in you, my energy in you, and “you will live”
Conclusion:
Conclusion:
Edwin Hatch was a very intelligent, studious, well educated theologian but he understood the simple core of Christianity- faith in Jesus
These lectures, which displayed Edwin at his most studious, were published and translated into various languages. However, the most famous publication of this highly educated man ended up being a prayer of simplest and most humble nature: Breathe on Me, Breath of God.
Edwin wrote Breathe on Me, Breath of God in 1878 and kept it private for many years. This adds to the unique nature of the hymn: it was originally meant only for Edwin and God. As much as Edwin loved complex thoughts and theologies, he understood that at the core of Christianity is something incredibly simple: faith in God. It is not too far a stretch to assume Edwin wrote the hymn as a reminder to never get bogged down in complex theology.
Breathe on Me Breathe of God is a prayer between us and God, its a simple reminder that faith in Jesus Christ is the most important thing
It a recognition that the spiritual life cannot be lived apart from the spirit, the breathe of God in us, its his breathe that fill us with His energy to:
Love what thou dost love and do what thou wouldst do
Make my heart pure
Make my will and His will one
Make me wholly thine, to the point that our earthly lives GLOW with thy fire
Give us eternal life
On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jewish leaders, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord.
Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.
He gave them a task- much like Ezekiel was given a task- and then he breathed Himself into them to do it
And you know what happened- seemingly nothing
Did they not receive the Holy Spirit right there? I tend to think they did, they didn’t fall over in the Spirit, they didn’t begin speaking in tongues, later the Holy Spirit would manifest itself that way
My prayer this morning is for the wind of the spirit to blow in this place- but not for a wind or breathe that knocks you down, but a breathe that lifts you up, energy that gives you life, life to do that which God has commissioned us to do.
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I would caution us to consider this question from Paul to the Galatian church, as we think about life in the spirit, the spirits work in our lives to do the things that I’ve just mentioned
That we not get to a place where we move beyond this simple yet profound reality, where we exchange the work of the spirit for the work of the law
I bring in something that I said a few weeks ago when we were talking about freedom in Christ
I would like to learn just one thing from you: Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or by believing what you heard? Are you so foolish? After beginning by means of the Spirit, are you now trying to finish by means of the flesh? Have you experienced so much in vain—if it really was in vain? So again I ask, does God give you his Spirit and work miracles among you by the works of the law, or by your believing what you heard? So also Abraham “believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.”
I’d ask this question what or who is capable of doing the things we previously mentioned
Love what thou dost love and do what thou wouldst do
Make my heart pure
Make my will and His will one
Make me wholly thine, to the point that our earthly lives GLOW with thy fire
Give us eternal life
Is it the law or is the breathe of God, the energy of God, the spirit of God in us