Washington Conference of Seventh-day Adventists

By Doug Bing, Washington Conference president

In one of his books, Ty Gibson writes about God’s “massively charged breath.” He connects that beginning of all creation with God’s breath. In Genesis 2:7 it says that God breathed into man his breath and as a result man became a living being.

But I also love the connection that Ty makes to the way Jesus ends his earthly ministry: with another “massively charged breath.” John 20:22 states that, “He breathed on them and said to them, “receive the Holy Spirit.”

This is a connection that I had not thought about much before. Yes, I have read these texts many times. But the connection is a great one! Both of those times of God breathing on man were times of creation. Both of those times were new beginnings. The first text was for the creation of the world and signaled a time when Adam and Eve daily walked with God and was filled with His Spirit.

The second text signaled a new creation. A time when, because of our commitment to Jesus, His Spirit will dwell with us and fill us. This is a time when both as a church and individually we can be made in the image of Jesus once again. This is a time when we can have new life as a result of the Holy Spirit being in us and is a force to influence us to be more and more like Jesus on a daily basis.

This week at camp meeting is a time of growing spiritually. The only way to continue growing spiritually is if daily we allow God’s “massively charged breath” to fill us with the Holy Spirit. Then daily we will be made new in Jesus with God’s power in our lives. May we all grow in Jesus today.