September 14, 2025 Holy Spirit: Breath of God | Genesis 1:1-2; 2:4-7; John 20:19-23

Today, we are beginning a series on the Holy Spirit. We will be reflecting on Genesis 1:1-2; 2:4-7; John 20:19-23 The Holy Spirit: Breath of God. We first meet the Holy Spirit at the very beginning of the Bible as “hovering over the waters.” In Hebrew, the word for spirit is “ruah” and can be translated as spirit, breath, or wind. In the creation of Adam, God gives life to Adam through breathing into his nostrils the breath of life, revealing God as the creator of all creation and life. Our soul is a creation and gift from God, making us both physical and spiritual beings with the ability to serve and fellowship with God. In John, we see Jesus breathing on his disciples and saying, “Receive the Holy Spirit.” We are given a glimpse here of how the Holy Spirit regenerates us, creating in us the new life that comes through the sacrifice and resurrection of Jesus.

Transcript

The Holy Spirit – Breath of God

Genesis 1:1-2; 2:4-7; John 20:19-23

In the beginning, what a great way to start God’s story. In the beginning we meet God, the creator of the heavens and the earth and we’re given a glimpse of the Spirit of God hovering over the waters, the first person of God we’re introduced to. 

Over the next few weeks, we’ll be reflecting on who the Holy Spirit is. Francis Chan calls the Holy Spirit the “forgotten God,” as much of the church is unable to describe who the Holy Spirit is as God. He writes, “The Holy Spirit is absolutely vital to our situation today. Of course, he is always vital; but perhaps especially now. After all, if the Holy Spirit moves, nothing can stop him. if he doesn’t move, we will not produce genuine fruit—no matter how much effort or money we expend.”

In the beginning, “The earth was formless and empty.” In the Hebrew, the sense of this phrase points to chaos, confusion, and desolation. Over this, God speaks and order, beauty, and life appear. It all begins with the hovering of the Holy Spirit over the earth. Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown, write how the Spirit hovers over the waters, “as a fowl does, when hatching eggs. The immediate agency of the Spirit, by working on the dead and discordant elements, combined, arranged, and ripened them into a state adapted for being the scene of a new creation.” The image is of the Spirit preparing for the coming creation of the universe and filling it with life.

Moses shows us that God is the creator of everything, including all living beings, setting the stage for the rest of the Biblical story. This is the fundamental difference between God and all creation, God is the creator and we the created; everything, including all living creatures, owe their existence to God’s creative power. The creation story emphasizes the sovereignty of God over everything.

The high point of creation is recorded in Genesis 1:26-28 with the creation of humanity.  “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. God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.” Genesis 2 gives us a very personal glimpse of humanity’s creation, “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.” 

These verses have fascinated people throughout history with the personal warmth and care that God shows in creating us. There are two parts to our creation; the first is God forming a man from the dust of the ground. The verb is “vasar” and describes the work of an artist. In other places in the Bible, it’s often used for a potter forming a clay vessel; in a similar way, God is described as creating humanity. After God forms the body, he breathes into the man’s nostrils the breath of life and the man becomes a living being. The Hebrew is “living soul,” making humans both physical and spiritual beings, giving us the ability to have a relationship of fellowship with God. Louis Berkof writes, “His body was formed out of the dust of the earth, while his soul was an immediate creation of God.” 

Bonhoeffer marvels at this act of creation, “To say that Yahweh fashions humankind with Yahweh’s own hands expresses two complementary things. On the one hand, it expresses the physical nearness of the Creator to the creature—expresses that it is really the Creator who makes me, the human being, with the Creator’s own hands; it expresses the trouble the Creator takes, the Creator’s thinking about me, the Creator’s intention with me and nearness to me. On the other hand, it expresses also the omnipotence, the utter supremacy, with which the Creator fashions and creates me and in terms of which I am the Creator’s creature; it expresses the fatherliness with which the Creator creates me and in the context of which I worship the Creator. That is the true God to whom the whole Bible bears witness.”

In other places in the Bible, we see that the Holy Spirit gives life, Job 33:4, “The Spirit of God has made me; the breath of the Almighty gives me life.” Psalm 104:29–30, “When you hide your face, they are terrified; when you take away their breath, they die and return to the dust. When you send your Spirit, they are created, and you renew the face of the ground.” And in Isaiah 42:5, “This is what God the Lord says—the Creator of the heavens, who stretches them out, who spreads out the earth with all that springs from it, who gives breath to its people, and life to those who walk on it.” The scholar J.D. Dunn describes the Hebrew understanding of the Spirit, “From earliest Heb. thought rûaḥ had various meanings, all more or less equally prominent. 1. Wind, an invisible, mysterious, powerful force 2. Breath (i.e., air on a small scale), or spirit 3. Divine power…. At its heart is the experience of a mysterious, awesome power—the mighty invisible force of the wind, the mystery of vitality, the otherly power that transforms—all rûaḥ, all manifestations of divine energy.” 

Because we are spiritual beings, the fall into sin impacts us deeply, both physically and spiritually. To enjoy fellowship with God again, we need the Holy Spirit to renew our spirit, our soul. We need regeneration, a theological word for renewal and a new life spiritually. R.C Sproul describes regeneration as, “the ministry and work of the Holy Spirit to come to people who are spiritually dead…. and to re-create them as He regenerates them. “To regenerate” means “to generate anew.” By means of regeneration, the Spirit gives life to people who have no spiritual life.Regeneration is a work that the Holy Spirit does immediately upon the souls of people…, the Spirit directly brings spiritual life out of spiritual death.”

This helps us understand what Jesus is doing when he appears to his disciples after his resurrection and breaths on them, “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 goes on, “If you forgive anyone’s sins, their sins are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.” Just as the Holy Spirit is there at the beginning of creation and the giving of life, the echo to Ezekiel’s valley of dry bones, and now Jesus breaths on them the gift of the Holy Spirit, the gift of new life with God through his death and resurrection, looking ahead to Pentecost and the pouring out of the Holy Spirit on all of God’s people. The Spirit’s given as they’re sent out to share the good news of Jesus, to invite people to accept Jesus as their Lord and Saviour, into the new life found in Jesus. Jesus’ forgiveness points to the new life found in him, and the Holy Spirit is the person of God who works it out in us. But there is also the reality that those who believe they don’t need forgiveness, or those who refuse to repent, will not receive new life.

The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are all active in our salvation and regeneration; Titus 3:4–7, “But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life.” The evidence of our salvation is our changed lives through the shaping and power of the Holy Spirit, 1 Peter 1:22–23, “Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for each other, love one another deeply, from the heart. For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God.” 

If you’re experiencing a dessert time, a dry time spiritually, if you’re looking to move past where you’re at, looking for a new start spiritually, if you’re seeking God, forgiveness, and a new life of hope, right now is the time to ask Jesus to fill you with his Spirit, to ask the Spirit to stir within you a deeper desire for Jesus and his life. It’s never too late, or too soon to ask. As a church, we’re dedicated to helping you grow deeper in your relationship with Jesus, to give you tools beginning with the Scriptures, to grow in your faith no matter how long you’ve been following Jesus. You can connect with myself, your elder, or with Tammy our Faith Formation Coordinator and we would love to help you grow deeper in your faith.