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Inspiration, Creation, Incarnation, Resurrection, Salvation – All Variations on a Theme
Breathe in, breathe out. By that exercise, I have defined, and explained inspiration in a very limited form. As words literally cannot be said without the breath of life, divine inspiration is the breath of spiritual life.
Using another brief but hopefully instructive analogy, let’s look at John’s monologue:
John 1:1,14 – In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God…. And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.
Inspiration, like the incarnation – but on a much, much smaller scale – is the breath of God in man for the purpose of salvation. With the incarnation, it is Jesus living in human form, while with inspiration it is the Holy Spirit speaking through human forms.
The Bible itself claims to be the breath of God:
2 Timothy 3:16-17 (ESV2011) (16) All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, (17) that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.
2 Peter 1:20-21 (NASB 95) (20) But know this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture is a matter of one’s own interpretation, (21) for no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.
“Moved” means “carried along”. Think of how a wave carries along the foam; or how wind carries along a leaf. Putting these two texts together:
God breathed out the Spirit, so that scripture is written by men being carried along by the Divine Wind.
This idea of God breathing out is also found in Jesus, incarnate God:
John 20:22 (NASB) And when He had said this, He breathed on them and *said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit.”
Putting “breathed out” with “in-spired” we can say words breathed out by God are breathed in by man and written down. This describes the Bible. It is God’s word to man, not man’s words about God.
How did God create Adam? He breathed out and into a body that was not alive which became Adam’s first breath:
Genesis 2:7 (CSB) Then the LORD God formed the man out of the dust from the ground and breathed the breath of life into his nostrils, and the man became a living being.
Do you see how God created man is much like how God created scripture?
God breathing life into Adam and God breathing the words of life into men is like God breathing out on the final day our resurrection! The resurrection is pictured in the OT describing “dead” Israel coming back to life (please read Ezekiel 37:1-14):
There is a connection between prophesy, which is God moving and breathing out and into Ezekiel; with God causing breath to come into the bodies so that they could become alive. That same process of God breathing out and into the dead describes not only our bodily resurrection, but our spiritual resurrection:
Titus 3:5 (CSB) he saved us —not by works of righteousness that we had done, but according to his mercy —through the washing of regeneration and renewal by the Holy Spirit.
Acts 2:38 (CSB) Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, each of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit
God foreshadowed both resurrection and inspiration by the way God created Adam. In that first breathing out of God and breathing into Adam, we have a picture of inspiration. Another scripture that shows us the close connection to inspiration and our bodies is Hebrews 4:12-13.
God made Adam by breathing out and into him. You can believe scripture is breathed out and into the writers. You can believe that everyone needs to repent and be baptized in the name of Jesus, God incarnate, for the forgiveness of sins, and receive the life of the Holy Spirit. You can believe that one day, our dead bodies will come back to life by God breathing out, and into us all. Amen.
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