You Are A Living Breath of God

You will never truly know how far you've fallen until you gaze upon how you were made and for what!

Phillip James Bailey, an English poet of the late 19th century, once said: “Let each man think himself an act of God; his mind a thought; his life, a breath of God; and let each try, by great thoughts and good deeds to show the most of heaven he hath in him.”

One of the extraordinary revelations of the Orthodox Christian Faith is humanity's high dignity in this wondrous creation. We humans, uniquely empowered by grace, to have an actual relationship with the Uncreated, are called to such dignity BECAUSE of our origin – the Breath of God Himself!

Look at our lesson today in Genesis 2:4-19. We won’t read the whole pericope, but I hope you take the time later!

These are the generations of the heavens and the earth when they were created.

In the day that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens when no plant of the field was yet in the earth and no herb of the field had yet sprung up — for the Lord God had not caused it to rain upon the earth, and there was no man to till the ground, but a mist went up from the earth and watered the whole face of the ground — then the Lord God formed man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living being. And the Lord God planted a garden in Eden, in the east; and there he put the man whom he had formed. And out of the ground the Lord God made to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food, the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

This second recapitulation of the Creation of Humanity is Moses’ way of emphasizing the purpose of Genesis in the first place. Genesis is a story, a true story, of the creation of Humanity. Only the creation of humanity is repeated three times in the first three chapters of Genesis. It’s done for emphasis so that we humans will grasp what we are made of, for, and by!

By the way, this emphasis on you knowing how and why God made us humans is directly tied to you knowing who you are and why you are here. This creation from God lays the foundation for meaning and purpose in our lives. Missing this powerful insight means we will wader and wonder who we are!

• We are made OF this creation. God took our flesh from His earth. We are made of the stuff of creation, not separate from creation. And this is because we were created to be the caretakers of creation. We were meant to feel deeply our connection to this earth and our shared responsibility for this earth. And it is in learning our stewardship of this creation, our characters are shaped so that we resemble our Creator. This is our home. Our willingness to care for our home and cherish, value, and be grateful for our home works as a spiritual treasure within us!

• We are made FOR communion. God creates humanity in His Image. Moses sets the tone for the rest of Genesis by focusing primarily on the creation of Humanity. The rest of the creation story is relegated to footnote status or merely a place made so that Humanity can BE there. But make no mistake, Genesis is about Humanity! And this Humanity is uniquely gifted to be in communion with each other and our Creator. What feeds and fosters communion is good; what breaks and interrupts communion leads to death.

• We are made BY God Himself. Notice how God first forms our body from this creation. Then, God does something unique for His Humanity: He breathes “the breath of life " into our nostrils. He does not do this for any other creature He made, just us! This means that we humans are living breaths of God. This dignity of God sharing His breath with us sets us up for an amazing possibility—we can embrace our dignity and grow up to be “like” God, or we can squander our potential and descend into death.

God provides for His Humanity and sets two trees in the Garden for His Humanity, but God asks His Humanity one labor before all others: to fast! Don’t eat this. But His Humanity failed to fast in the Garden, so now we are called to do what our first parents failed to do: fast so that we will strengthen our hearts to choose wisely instead of consuming His creation without gratitude, honor, or a sense of responsibility for His creation.

As we finish up Clean Week, I hope and pray you have taken advantage of the evening services at your parish. This week, the Compline services, the Pre-Sanctified services, and the Akathist service are all meant to help you embrace the spiritual spring cleaning of Great Lent. The Hymns, Prayers, and even the vestments are all meant to reorient you to honest repentance and renew your true purpose: to become like Christ and approach Pascha ready to celebrate.

Today, as we live at this beginning of Great Lent and attentively fast and pray and give to grow the virtues in our lives, we are once again, lovingly and hopefully, offered another moment first provided to Adam and Eve. And once again, life hangs in the balance. Once again, we are offered the wisdom of being a living breath of God, a new creature in Christ! Finally, you can become a Normal Orthodox Christian!

P.S. O how awesome is your judgment, Lord! With the Angels standing by, the humans being brought in, the books of life being opened, the works being uncovered and the thoughts being searched! What judgment shall be on me who has been conceived in sin? Who shall extinguish the flames of my fire? Who shall illumine my darkness: Unless you, Lord, have mercy on me as a true friend of man? (from the Evening Compline Service)

Fr. Barnabas Powell is the parish priest at Sts. Raphael, Nicholas, and Irene Greek Orthodox Church in Cumming, GA. He is also the founder of Faith Encouraged Ministries and produces the Faith Encouraged Daily Devotional on Substack. Watch the Faith Encouraged YouTube Channel here - https://www.youtube.com/@FaithEncouragedTV