Children playing with clay make snakes, horses, fish, and other creatures – it’s fun and easy. In Genesis, God does the same thing when creating humanity from the dust of the earth. But there comes a point when God does what we can’t: “God formed man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being” Genesis 2.7).
Some etymology: inspire is Latin from “in” (meaning, into) and spirare (meaning, breathe) which combines to be: to breathe into. God breathed into – God took something that was inside God and put that into people. Wow!
Some call that the soul – that part of our human nature that yearns and turns to God. This innate desire for a supernatural being is one thing which separates humans from the rest of the animal kingdom. To my knowledge, we have not discovered any animals who built shrines dedicated to a higher being. Only people do this because, in my opinion, we have been “breathed into” by God with a soul, a part of God which longs to rejoin God but is separated for the length of our humanity.
Golgotha is a hill just outside Jerusalem’s walls where criminals were executed. Jesus Christ was crucified on a cross on that place. By the way, the word excruciating has the etymology “ex” (meaning, out of) and “crux” (meaning, cross) – the Romans devised crucifixion as the most painful way of death because it keeps the person alive, and experiencing pain, as long as possible.
While on that cross, “Jesus cried out in a loud voice saying, ‘Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.’ With these words he breathed his last.” (Luke 23.46). Jesus’ spirit left him and he died – Jesus expired. The origins of “expire” are of “out of + spirit.” When that part of God which resides in our human frame leaves, we die. We do not know where the spirit goes but we presume it returns to its owner, to God – where else would it go?
God took part of God’s self and placed it into humanity. God is inspired into each one of us; while we live we have part of God in us (that does not make us gods, though). When we expire, our soul returns to its creator; when we die, our eternal spirit goes back to God (that doesn’t make us gods, either). It is comforting to me to know that a “Steve-tinged” part of God will live for eternity just as right now a God-soaked soul lives temporarily in Steve.
Lead On!