"By the word of The LORD were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath (Hebrew: ruach, i.e Spirit) of His mouth." (Psalm 33:6).
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THE LIVING [ZAO] GOD who is THE FATHER, possesses life [zoe] in Himself. He created all things by and through His WORD and omnipresent SPIRIT who is THE BREATH OF LIFE [ZOE].
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Greek Septuagint translation of Genesis 2:7:
καὶ ἔπλασεν ὁ θεὸς τὸν ἄνθρωπον χοῦν ἀπὸ τῆς γῆς καὶ ἐνεφύσησεν εἰς τὸ πρόσωπον αὐτοῦ πνοὴν ζωῆς καὶ ἐγένετο ὁ ἄνθρωπος εἰς ψυχὴν ζῶσαν.
The words in English:
- In the New Testament eternal life is always called zoe aionios (life eternal).
- The Greek texts of the New Testament never call eternal life zao aionios (alive forever).
zōē is a noun, and refers to life as God has (possesses) it, and gives it. The word can refer either to
(a) Eternal life; OR
(b) To the life-time of the creature, for example:
"Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life [zōḗ] (your life-time)? It is even a vapour, that appears for a little time, and then vanishes away." (James 4:14).
zaō is a verb. "Zao" means to live, breathe, be among the living (not lifeless, not dead) (from Thayer's Greek Lexicon)
- "There is to us only one God: The Father, of whom are all things, and we in Him." -- 1 Corinthians 8:6a)
- "In Him we live | are alive [zao], and move, and have our being; For we are also his offspring." -- Acts 17:28
- "There is to us only one Lord Jesus Christ, through whom are all things, and we by Him." -- 1 Corinthians 8:6b).
"The Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living soul | being" (Genesis 2:7).
Created beings: "Then (when the creature is no longer living | alive) shall the dust return to the earth as it was: [Greek: zao] )
Creator: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it." (Ecclesiastes 12:7).
When Jesus raised a young girl from the dead, "her spirit came again, and she arose straightway: and he commanded to give her meat." (Luke 8:55).
🠊There is no such thing as a 'dead' human spirit. The human spirit is the breath of life from God. The human spirit is of Spirit.
- No human being born into the world does not have the breath of life [zoe] from God (Genesis 2:7; Genesis 6:17; Genesis 7:15 & 22; Ecclesiastes 12:7) is alive [zao] -
- but we are not alive [zao] forever | we do not live [zao] forever. We die because we do not possess everlasting life [zoe aionios] in ourselves (Ecclesiastes 12:7; Genesis 2:7; Genesis 6:17; and Genesis 7:15 & 22);
and the breath of life from God, which is given to each human being who has been born, is not everlasting life. Everlasting life [zao] has to be given to us by God.
Yet when He created mankind, God never intended for human beings to die:
"For God made not death: neither hath he pleasure in the destruction of the living. For he created all things, that they might have their being: and the generation (creation) of the world was healthful; and there (was) no poison of destruction in them (created things), nor the kingdom of death upon the earth: (For righteousness is immortal)
- but ungodly men with their works and words called it (death) to them: for when they thought to have it their friend, they consumed to nought, and made a covenant with it, because they are worthy to take part with it." (The Apocrypha: Wisdom 1:13-16 [KJVA])
"Say unto them, As I live, saith the Lord YHWH, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live: turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways; for why will ye die, O house of Israel?" (Ezekiel 33:11).
It is sin that causes death (Romans 6:23; 1 Corinthians 15:56; James 1:15):
-- "Just as sin entered the world through one man - and death through sin - death spread to all people, because all sinned." (Romans 5:12) --
Not only did all the offspring (all descendants) of the first humans sin IN Adam, but "all have sinned, and fall short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23).
(Anyone who has ever had sinful thoughts and desires, told lies, or broken one of the other ten commandments, or committed any other sin, is a sinner: Jesus said, "For out of the heart come evil ideas, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander." -- Matthew 15:19).
In other words, if we ever have things going on in our hearts and minds that are sin in God's sight, then even before we commit sin and become sinners,, we have been sinful, inwardly (James 1:15).
The good news (gospel)
Through the grace of God the Logos ("Word") of God, in whom is life [zoe] (John 1:4) - through whom all things were created (Psalm 33:6; John 1:1-3)
- came down from God into the world, took on a human body (John 1:14), and bore our sins - which cause death - in His own body, and died (His body died), and He rose again from the dead.
He possessed zoe (life) in Himself (John 5:26), and death could not hold Him (Acts 2:24).
His name is Jesus.
He was killed, and He rose again from the dead and is alive [zao] forevermore (immortal), possessing (everlasting) life [zoe] in Himself:
"Fear not; I am the first and the last:
I am he that is alive / that liveth [zao],
and was dead;
and, behold, I am alive [zao] to the ages of the ages, Amen;
and I have the keys of hades and of death."
(Revelation 1:17-18) .
"He alone possesses immortality and dwells in unapproachable light, whom no human has ever seen or is able to see. To him be honor and eternal power! Amen." (1 Timothy 6:16).
He alone possesses immortality - because He has (eternal) life [zoe] in Himself.
Have you ever heard someone say, "I have eternal life because God has given me eternal life"?
The following three verses tell us about who possesses, who gives, and who receives Life [zoe]:
1. John 1:4: "In Him (the Word of God) was life [zoe] and the life [zoe] the light of men."
2. John 5:26: "For as the Father hath life [zoe] in himself; so hath he given to the Son to have life [zoe] in himself."
3. 1 John 5:11: "And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life [zoe aionios], and this life [zoe] is in his Son."
Jesus told those who believe in Him and belong to Him:
"I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you."
(John 14:19b-20b)
Jesus also told all human beings that we need to be born of the Spirit (John 3:3-8) in order to perceive, experience, and have knowledge of the Kingdom of God, which He said "does not come with external evidence (that can be observed). Nor will they say, 'Look, here it is!' or 'It's over there!' For take heed, be discerning, and perceive this:
The kingdom of God is within you."
(Luke 17:21);
and in Colossians 1:27 Paul talks about "the mystery which has been hidden from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints,
which is Christ IN you, the hope of glory."
Paul also wrote, "When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory." (Colossians 3:4).
Paul, an apostle of Christ, wrote:
The reason Christ died [apothnesko] and rose again from the dead [anistemi], and lived again | was alive again [anazao], was so that he may be the Lord of both the dead [nekros] and living [zao: those who are alive, not dead] (Romans 14:9).
- until the resurrection of the dead (2 Corinthians 5:6-9; Romans 8:23-25).
- which is why
(a) the "quickening" (making alive again) of the dead body; and
(b) the resurrection of the dead body - through and by the power of the quickening and resurrection of the dead body of Christ Jesus - is an integral part of the gospel, which is the good news of redemption from sin AND death - by the blood, death for our sins, and resurrection of Jesus Christ our Savior.
🠊There is no such thing as a 'dead' human spirit. The human spirit is the breath of life from God. The human spirit is of Spirit, and there is no such thing as the "quickening" (making alive again) of a 'dead' human spirit (so-called spiritual regeneration)
So statements of faith that express words like "When those who believe in Jesus die, they go to heaven and will be with God in heaven forever" are based on handed-down ignorance of the gospel:
God did not create human beings so that we could "die and then go to heaven when we die". God created all things in order that they might live [zao] and have their being. Death is the enemy of God (1 Corinthians 15:26; Ezekiel 18:32)
ONE GOSPEL
In the good news (gospel),
BEING BORN ANEW OF THE SPIRIT OF GOD
PLACES AN INDIVIDUAL IN CHRIST
CAUSING THE INDIVIDUAL'S
DEAD | DYING BODY
WHICH WILL PRODUCE
THE RESURRECTION OF THE BODY FROM DEATH
WHEN HE RETURNS
(BECAUSE OF, AND THROUGH THE POWER OF CHRIST'S RESURRECTION)
AND THE REGENERATION OF ALL THINGS.
THIS IS THE NEW TESTAMENT'S TEACHING,
AND IT'S ALL THANKS TO CHRIST TAKING ON A HUMAN BODY,
AND TAKING OUR SIN UPON HIMSELF,
BEARING THE SIN IN HIS OWN BODY ON THE CROSS
AND DYING, AND RISING AGAIN FROM THE DEAD,
HIS DEAD BODY HAVING BEEN QUICKENED BY THE SPIRIT.
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