IT IS A BREATHTAKING SENTENCE: “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,” (Genesis 2:7, NASB).   It is simply stated, but the implications are immense. All of human history begins here.  Every human being and every human thought, act, and deed is founded here àjust here.

WHEN WE take this sentence at face value and leave aside all the baggage that humans have gathered around this great concept, the origin of humanity is exhilarating.  It gives us roots and dimensions that nothing else can supply – our own identity. By this information, we acknowledge our origin with every breath of air that we inhale and exhale!  What an incredible thought!!

BREATHING IS something we do almost unaware that we are doing it.  It is just natural and automatic.  Yet it is indeed “the breath of life.”  Take away the air, and no human or any other form of life can continue to live.

IN GENESIS, there is a separation between forms of life.  Human life is at once seen as distinguished from animal life.  Human life is life in the image of God (Genesis 1:26, 27). When God completed the action described in Genesis 2:7, He set before Himself, and the heavenly host, a complex and diverse humanity.  The rest, as they say, is history.

BUT WHAT HISTORY IT IS!  Each and every human – every man, woman, and child – is a story, and that individual story is a history within itself.  Combined across the ages, the stories of uncountable numbers of people, form the whole of the human experience and the relationship with our Creator.  Our Creator knows the number.  He knows every person by name and life.  And to Him every human will repair.  It is indeed a great and sobering thought.  Thanks be to God for His grace. To Him be all the glory and honor, now and forever.  Soli Deo Gloria!

---Robert L. Gregg