The Breath of Life
Can you picture this scene? God took some dust from the earth and formed a slab of flesh. Then He breathed His life into that flesh. What a moment that must have been! God, the eternal Creator of heaven and earth, breathed into man the very thing which makes God be God.
This kind of life referred to in the New Testament—eternal life, the life Jesus has—is in the original Greek language, zoe, which means "life"—the God-kind of life. The uniqueness of Who God is was transferred from God into that slab of flesh...and man became a living soul.
I want you to notice how at that moment man had the presence of God inside him in the form of God's zoe life. That presence gave man supernatural ability in every area of existence. He was gifted physically, intellectually, and spiritually.
When God Comes to Visit
As we have seen, God's nature and ability was present inside Adam in the form of God's zoe life. But that was not the only level at which Adam enjoyed the presence of God. As we are about to see, man experienced God's presence in a much more literal way.
In Genesis 3:8 we find God walking in the garden in the cool of the day looking for Adam and Eve. Obviously it was God's practice to spend time with them in this way on a regular basis.
Think about that. Adam and Eve had the privilege of walking, talking, laughing and fellowshipping with God—face to face! They experienced the presence of God in the fullest way you can possibly imagine.
The reason this is so hard for most of us to comprehend is that, even though we are born-again children of God, we still carry around the old sin-consciousness. Even though the Word says we are righteous and justified and sanctified by the blood of Jesus, we are still more sin-conscious than righteousness-conscious.
Prior to falling into sin, do you think Adam and Eve greeted God's presence in the Garden with fear, shame, or a sense of unworthiness? Absolutely not! They greeted Him with joy and a total sense of belonging.
It was only after sin had stripped them of their innocence and covering of glory that they felt unworthy to enjoy God's presence.
If you want to know what you can expect from dwelling in the presence of God, take a look at what Adam experienced. Above all else, he experienced an abundant provision for every need he could possibly have.
In Genesis 2:9 we see God providing an abundance of food: "And out of the ground made the Lord God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food...."
In verses 11 and 12 we see Him providing wealth: "The name of the first [river] is Pison: that is it which compasseth the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold; And the gold of that land is good...."
Then in verse 18 we see Him providing companionship and completion: "And the Lord God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him."
Are you beginning to get the picture? When you live in the presence of God, no needs will go unmet. Abundance, sufficiency and increase are all you will ever see.
The presence of the Lord is a wonderful thing. Not only do you, as a child of God, get to experience the wonderful fellowship and communion of God Himself, you get all your needs met as a side benefit. That's why Jesus was able to say: "But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you" (Matt. 6:33).
When you find the kingdom of God, you have found God's presence. When you have found God's presence, you can know that every need will be met in abundance.
by Creflo Dollar
Excerpt permission granted by Harrison House Publishers