The breath of life, the breath of the Holy Spirit, is a seal, an imprint, that cannot be erased...


At the creation of the world, the earth was covered with waters, darkness, and depths, but “the Spirit of God—that is, the work of the Holy Spirit—was hovering over the face of the waters” (Gen. 1:2). The earth was invisible, and only the Spirit of God penetrated the darkness and depths. Then God made man “of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul” (Gen. 2:7).

The expression “the Spirit of God” clearly shows that at the creation of the world, the Holy Spirit reigned and expressed, as a Master, the Godhead. But when God made man, then “he breathed into his nostrils the breath of life.” This breath of life is a filling with the Spirit of God, which gives life to man made from nothing. It is the uncreated work of God, accomplished through the mediation of the Holy Spirit.

But because God “made man of the dust of the ground,” man was dust, and dust does not become spirit. Therefore, God, by His breath, by His own outburst from the depths of His existence, cast His own ray of light, Himself, into the dust, transmitting to it a very brilliant and very active work, which gave him life. Thus man came to be, from nothing, “with a living soul,” like God. Now his soul, his spirit were a living existence, and he could speak face to face with God and the Holy Spirit (cf. 1 Cor. 13:12).

The breath of life, the breath of the Holy Spirit, is a seal, an imprint, which is no longer erased. It was placed on man and became his definitive possession. According to the Fathers, the breath of life is called the “image of God.” The Holy Spirit showed His interest in man and made him a living image of God, so that he might attain the likeness of the divine prototype. Therefore, the Holy Spirit deals with us, we carry Him within us, we breathe Him, He speaks to us, He loves us, He envelops us. And yet, we do not feel Him. How could we feel Him? What powerful receptor could bring Him to us, so that we could see Him and speak to Him? None other than the Holy Spirit Himself, in the name of the Son. “The Spirit of God made me, and the breath of the Most High taught me,” says Job (38:8), meaning the Holy Spirit made me, and His breath, His grace, teaches me what the Son and the Almighty of my life want.

After we saw the birth of man, after we know that God, the Holy Spirit, is with us, let us now see some events from the Old Covenant.

The Holy Spirit did not stop examining people, working with them to succeed in becoming gods, always examining them either as one person or as several. Let us take some examples.

Moses, because the Jews were always murmuring, got tired and could no longer lead so many people alone. Then God told him to choose seventy men from the elders of the people and bring them to the Tent of Meeting. There the Holy Spirit examined them: “And the Lord descended in the cloud, and spoke to him, and took of the spirit that was upon him, and put it upon the seventy” (Num. 11:25).

Did the Lord descend from heaven? How did they see Him? As lightning? As thunder? As a man? As an angel? No, but “in the cloud,” to show that a cloud of complete light covered the Lord. Since the Lord is invisible, you realize that within the cloud, which appeared with such sweetness and light before the eyes of the seventy, was the Lord, and also the Holy Spirit. “And the Lord spoke to them” from the cloud “and put upon them” the Holy Spirit. The Lord poured out from His depths the Holy Spirit, and the seventy immediately began to prophesy.

Later, shortly before his death, Moses left as his successor Joshua the son of Joshua. “And Moses laid his hands on him, and Joshua the son of Joshua was filled with the spirit of wisdom” (Deut. 34:9). Moses had reached the age of one hundred and twenty years and someone else was to lead the Jews into the promised land. Whom did the Holy Spirit choose as his successor? Jesus the Son. And Moses “laid his hands upon him,” in the place of the Father and the Son, to show that by his own will he left him as his successor.

Let us take another example. Who anointed David? “Samuel anointed him (…) and the Spirit of the Lord came upon David” (1 Kings 16:13). At the moment when the prophet Samuel anointed David, “the Spirit of the Lord came,” that is, the Holy Spirit entered David, flooded his being, and David became a prophet, an important king, and a savior of the Jews. He himself says somewhere: “The Spirit of the Lord spoke to me” (2 Kings 23:2). Why did the Holy Spirit enter David? Because he was innocent, simple, and faithful.

Can't we also find a way, a method, so that we can make God give us the Spirit, and He can invade our innermost being? Let us pray that we can do this and you will see how our lives will change!

Archimandrite Emilianos Simonopetritus

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