In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. – John 1:4.

Physical Life – Continued

From last lesson: We read in Genesis that “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 being” (Genesis 2:7).

All the terms in this verse from Genesis are important. In the first place, we are told that God formed man of the dust of the earth. When God does a work in human history He uses common substances or common people so that the glory might be to His name alone and not to man’s. We see this in His choice of Abraham, Moses, David, the prophets, Mary and Joseph, John the Baptist, and the disciples to do certain things. The Apostle Paul states in 1 Corinthians 1:26–29, “For you see your calling, brethren, that not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called. But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise . . . that no flesh should glory in His presence.” We have the same principle in the opening chapters of the Bible.

When God formed man, what did He use? Did He use gold, silver, iron, uranium, platinum? No, He used dust, dirt, a common substance. But He breathed into it the breath of His life. Thus, even though we may be “fearfully and wonderfully made,” as the psalmist says (Psalm 139:14), nevertheless, the glory is God’s and there is nothing in us about which man can boast. I remember I once read that, “So low is the dust, that God gave it to the serpent for the food of his curse. Job uses the word twenty times to describe the littleness of man in his misery. It is to dust that all bodies return in death. But we can look up to the Lord in confidence because ‘He knows our frame; He remembers that we are dust.’ (Psalm 103:14).”

There is a lesson for us in the dust; but we must remember that it is the breath of God that makes the dust live. However, you  may be asking, “What is God’s breath?” Simply put, it is that which goes forth out of His mouth. It is His Spirit, the Holy Spirit, and it is associated with His spoken word. When we speak about these three terms in English, breath, Spirit, and word, they seem to be unrelated. But this is not true in the Hebrew language. In Hebrew the same word that is used for Spirit is also used for “breath.” It is the word ruach, and what is more significant, is that in Hebrew it is thought the breath of God or the breath of a man is associated with the person’s spoken words. For a man speaks, as we know, by means of it. When we put these ideas together, we find that God brought forth life in man by speaking the word of life (which John has already identified with Jesus Christ) in such a way that the Spirit of life (which is His Holy Spirit) passes into man and causes him to breathe. In other words, these terms provide an illustration of the role of each member of the Trinity in creation.

The significance of man’s created nature is seen most clearly when he is contrasted with the Lord Jesus Christ. In the great resurrection chapter, 1 Corinthians 15, there is a verse toward the end that says, “ ‘The first man Adam became a living being.’ The last Adam became a life-giving spirit.” (1 Corinthians 15:45). In other words, even though we live by the breath of God, we do so only by inhaling. Christ lives by exhaling. Thus, we know that we are His creation and that He is the Creator.

To Be Continued

Adapted and modified excerpts from James Montgomery Boice, The Gospel of John: An Expositional Commentary.
Unless otherwise noted, Scripture taken from the New King James Version®, NKJV © 1982 by Thomas Nelson.
Used by permission. All rights reserved.