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Tag: God is Spirit

After God’s kind

Ittai A. PaulOur second born much loved Son, Ittai A. Paul, turned one today (March 20, 2013) and as we ponder on God’s goodness and faithfulness to us, my beloved wife Sangeetha and I, are ever so grateful to God for having loaned us two precious boys to cherish while we pilgrim on earth.

The Bible records that on the fifth and sixth day, God created the animals that live in the water, the birds that fly in the air, living creatures that live on the earth, every creeping thing, every cattle, and every beast of the earth, each after their own kind (Genesis 1:21, Genesis 1:25). Then on the sixth day, the Triune God in one decided to make man in his image, after the likeness of God the Father, his Holy Son Jesus and the Holy Spirit of God. (Genesis 1:26). So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.

In other words, while every other creature that has life was created after their own kind, only us (man) is not made after our own kind, but created after God’s kind. When man took his first breath,  he became a living soul (Genesis 2:7) to live according to the Spirit of God (and not according to the flesh) for God is Spirit (John 4:24). The world glorifies celebrities with physical beauty and charming bodies, and seldom are most celebrities who do not know Jesus Christ celebrated for their soul (living soul).

Points to ponder:
Are you living by the flesh or by God’s Spirit? What are you and I celebrated for?

Our precious second son Ittai, our firstborn Reuben, You and I are all fearfully and wonderfully made in the image of God (Psalm 139:4). We are made after God’s own kind and are wonderful – and that gives us every reason to praise God.

Genesis 1:20-27 (KJV)
20 And God said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life, and fowl that may fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven.
21 And God created great whales, and every living creature that moveth, which the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind, and every winged fowl after his kind: and God saw that it was good.
22 And God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let fowl multiply in the earth.
23 And the evening and the morning were the fifth day.
24 And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after his kind: and it was so.
25 And God made the beast of the earth after his kind, and cattle after their kind, and every thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind: and God saw that it was good.
26 And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.
27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.

Psalm 139:14 (KJV)
14 I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well.

The Name is Quickening Spirit

1 Corinthians 15:45 reads as follows – “And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit.” In fact, this is the only place in the Bible where “Quickening Spirit” is found. In the context in which this is written, Apostle Paul is writing to clarify and guarantee the reality of resurrection (hope in Christ in the life to come), without which the condition of ALL is most pitiable (miserable) as expressed in 1 Corinthians 15:19.

Quickening Spirit is life-giving spirit! This makes me wonder, if the first man Adam was made in the image of God who is eternal, then why is there a need for a life-giving spirit. The breath of God was breathed into Adam and Adam was made a living soul (Genesis 2:7) but his body was fashioned from lifeless (dead) dust. Genetically (or in the natural sense), as sons of Adam we inherit this. When we are born as sons of the first man Adam, we are born in the natural sense with living souls and bodies that will to perish or decay to dust. On the other hand, The last Adam (Jesus) in the beginning was God, was with God and  is God (John 1:1), and from everlasting to everlasting is God (Psalm 90:2), the Lord from heaven (1 Corinthians 15:47). And when we believe in Jesus Christ, the last Adam, the quickening spirit, our lifeless bodies will be translated (changed) in the resurrection (not reconstruction) so that it will never perish, but have eternal life. When we believe in Jesus Christ, we are born again with Jesus, the life-giving spirit in us and this life-giving spirit cannot die, for Jesus has conquered death by His resurrection.

Just as the progeny of a serpent has to be a serpent and one of a lion has to be lion, as sons of man (the first man Adam) we are made physically with a perishable mold and as sons of God, who is spirit (John 4:24) we are transformed into a new creature spiritually (2 Corinthians 5:17) , bearing the image of the heavenly (1 Corinthians 15:49) with imperishable and eternal nature.

In conclusion, if Quickening = Life-giving and God = Spirit then Quickening Spirit = Life-giving God and Jesus said that if any one believes in me, though he were dead yet shall he live (John 11:25). Jesus is THE One and Only Life-giving God. The Name is Quickening Spirit.

For a related reading – see Teach us to number our days

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