Creator, Father, King #32

The LORD God formed the man from the dust of the ground.

DUST.

Like gnats, mosquitoes, and revolving doors, dust is a bothersome fact of life that doesn’t seem to serve a purpose. But it’s everywhere.

Dust makes us sneeze. We sweep, spray, and vacuum our houses to get rid of it, especially before special guests arrive. During the Great Depression of the 1930s, a severe drought in midwestern America became known as the Dust Bowl.

But let’s not be too harsh on poor dust. After all, we originate from it.

In Genesis 2, we get fascinating insight into God’s creation of the first humans, learning that God formed Adam “from the dust of the ground” and “breathed the breath of life into the man’s nostrils, and the man became a living person” (verse 7). Shortly thereafter, God made Eve, the first woman, from “one of the man’s ribs” (verse 21).

Ever since God made Adam and Eve, he has given the gift of human life through procreation. But the first human life came from . . . well, dirt. Kind of sobering, huh?

What’s It Mean?

As a human, you are made in God’s image, as we’ve already discussed. This means you are greatly privileged above all else in the universe, even angels. The Lord loves and cherishes you more than anything in creation.

But you are also dust. As part of the curse of sin, God told Adam and Eve that death would be part of human reality, saying, “You were made from dust, and to dust you will return” (Genesis 3:19).

The Bible speaks in other metaphors to remind us of the frailty and brevity of human life. Scripture compares us to “dreams that disappear” (Psalm 90:5), withered “grass” (Isaiah 40:7), and “the morning fog” (James 4:14).

Scripture reminds us of these sad realities to keep us humble and remember our unique place in this world. We are dearly loved by our Creator, but we are also nothing without him—sinners in desperate need of a Savior. We would do well to remember both these truths.

Now What?

Read Psalm 103, which talks about how God “remembers we are only dust” (verse 14) and cares for us in the midst of our weakness.

Did You Know?

Here’s glorious news! First Corinthians 15:47-49 compares the imperfect first man (Adam) to the perfect Son of Man (Jesus Christ). Verse 49 says, “Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the man of heaven” (ESV). At Jesus’ return, every believer’s dusty body will be exchanged for eternal resurrection bodies that mirror the Savior’s!