The Divine Breath of Life and Inspiration
This page will eventually analyze every instance that Christ refers to the
"Holy Spirit," but since this is a big topic, let us begin by looking at every
instance that Christ refers to the idea of "holy" and "spirit" separately so we
can understand what his vision is.
Christ uses the word translated as "holy" (hagios
) to refer those things which dogs cannot appreciate (Mat
7:6), holy places (Mat
24:15), holy angels/messengers (Mat
25:31,
Mar 8:38,
Luk 9:26), and the Father (Jhn
17:11).
Since dogs cannot appreciate them, holy things are valuable in a way that
animals cannot see. What separate humanity is the values we appreciate that
animals cannot. While some of these values arise from society, these holy or
sacred values come from God. The most uses of this word are connected with
messengers from God.
Christ used the word translated as "spirit" or "ghost" (pneuma)
without the "holy" to describe something people can lack (Mat
5:3), the truth from the Father that speaks within us (Mat
10:20,
Mat 22:43,
Jhn 3:34,
Jhn 6:63,
Jhn 14:17, the power of God from which Christ gets his power (Mat
12:28,
Luk 4:18), as our multiple inner demons (Mat
12:45,
Mar 5:8,
Luk 10:20,
Luk 11:26), the good desires within us (Mat
26:41,
Mar 14:38), that which gives people their ideas (Luk
9:55), that what Christ gave up when he died
(Luk 23:46), the appearance but not reality of a physical body (Luk
24:39), that which gives us birth into the kingdom of God (Jhn
3:5), that which is the source of spirit (Jhn
3:6,
Jhn 3:8), the proper way in which to worship God (Jhn
4:23,
Jhn 4:24), the source of the words of life (Jhn
6:63), and the spirit of truth (Jhn
14:17,
Jhn 15:26,
Jhn 16:13).
So the "breath" of life and inspiration is an invisible force
within us that is separate from our physical being. This force contains
information because it contains the truth. Some of Christ's earliest words in
the Gospels (Mat
4:4) is that "man does not live by bread alone but by every word
that comes from the mouth of God." The Greek for word is "logos," that is,
information. This information coming from the mouth of God is the breath of
life. Information isn't just inanimate fact. It is the instruction set by which
our bodies and our minds run. There is power in those instructions because the
universe was designed to interact with them. An analogy might be a computer
program, controllinga computer, this spirit operates within physical reality but
it exists on a level beyond that physical reality. The set of instructions or
ideas of information contains both good impulses (consider them subroutines) and
bad impulses. The right instructions in this program give us power in the world
and entry into the higher-level kingdom, the universal rule of God.
This idea of the divine breath of life goes further. Breathing is a process of
reversing cycles. We must inhale and exhale. The breath of life fills us as
children and empties out of us at death, but the cycle repeats in each life, in
each generation. This is why Christ calls us children of God and says that they
are like the kingdom of heaven (Mat 19:14).
As children, we are these seeds of information coming from the breath of spirit,
planted in the world (Mat 13:38).
Who are those that blaspheme against the divine breath of life? Aren't these
those who believe that the material world that we can see is all there is? We
can get beyond our mistakes is we blaming God for our problems. We can get
beyond our mistakes if we blame other people. Where people get stuck is when
they make the mistake of believing that the physical world is all there is, that
there is no divine breath of life, no spiritual dimension to life, no
information or, to put it more simply, no meaning to life. When that happens,
people are not only stuck, but they cause of all the disputes in the world. If
there is no greater purpose, there is no uniting force. The world is just a
bunch of empty, competing egos with no moral center and no moral restraints.
How does this idea of "breath" tie to the nature of adversity and Christ's and
our power over it? I would suggest that Christ is also saying, in a very
consistent way, that the cycle of adversity and achievement is also part of the
"breath" of life. We get energy from adversity and transform that energy into
actions for good. This adversity is part of God's kingdom. It has a purpose.
This purpose is also a part of the divine breath of life and its cycles. If you
believe in purpose, adversity makes sense. If you don't believe meaning, all the
suffering of the world is meaningless and empty and endless.
How does this tie to the whole previous discussion of the nature of adversity
and Christ and our power over it? I would suggest that Christ is also saying, in
a very consistent way, that the cycle of adversity and achievement is also part
of the "breathing cycles" of life. This adversity is part of God's kingdom. It
has a purpose. This purpose is part of the divine breath of life and its cycles.
"Holy" is from
hagios (
hagios ),
which means "devoted to the gods," "pure," "holy," and on the negative side
"accursed."
"Spirit" is
pneuma (pneuma),
which means "blast," "wind," "breath," "the breath of life," and "divine
inspiration."
