The Breath of God
This is a marvelous symbol. It is one of the most powerful & universally applicable notions I've ever come across.
The entire, and I mean ENTIRE, cycle of the creation, and the life processes of all creatures / systems within it, has been called The Breath of God.
Simply:
God breathes out --> The Universe is Created
God breathes in --> The Universe Returns to God.
This cycle has 4 distinct phases:
1 - God dies (exhales), so
2 - We can live (the breath is outside), so
3 - We can die (inhales), so
4 - God can live (the breath is inside)
These are the 4 phases of Christ's life as
written in the Bible, Phil 2:5-11:
Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Who, (#1) being in very nature God,
did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing,
(#2) taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man,
he humbled himself and (#3) became obedient to death- even death on a cross!
Therefore (#4) God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name,
that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
NIV
1 - Existing in the form of God, He "Died to God",
2 - Living as a human,
3 - Died on the Cross, and
4 - Reclaimed His Divinity!
And please note, as we try repeatedly to point-out, that this cycle is to be ours!
Before each of the 4 phases, the Creation is in 4 different states:
1 - Unconscious Unity - The baby in the Womb; "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you" Jer 1:5
2 - Unconscious Separation - The baby just born
3 - Conscious Separation - The baby an adult: self-aware & self-absorbed
4 - Conscious Unity - The adult fulfilled: self-aware & self-transcended
This cycle happens individually AND as a whole:
1 - Unconscious Unity - The World before God Created
2 - Unconscious Separation - Adam & Eve in the Garden - Innocently unaware
3 - Conscious Separation - The Human race, selfish & self-absorbed
4 - Conscious Unity - The Sanctified Human Race, united into The Body of God.
This cycle happens even in inanimate systems, like computers:
1 - Unconscious Unity - The Mainframe computer
2 - Unconscious Separation - The Mainframe with dumb terminals
3 - Conscious Separation - The dumb terminals gain memory & functionality, turning into Personal Computers
4 - Conscious Unity - The Personal Computers link into the Web, each of them sharing the total knowledge of the "Mainframe"
