Between Breath and Dust

"The LORD God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being." ~ Genesis 2:7 (NIV)

The Apostle Paul writes of the human condition in his letter to the church in Rome that through Adam’s transgression came sinfulness and death for all (Rom. 5:12). Referring to the story of Adam it is interesting to note that the man Adam was made by God from the dust of the ground. God formed Adam from the dust which is a play on the Hebrew word “adamah” for fertile cultivatable soil. There were none to till the soil or keep the garden, so God made Adam from “adamah.” He is by very nature a man of the earth.

But he has another aspect of his being just as significant. God breathed into him the breath of life and Adam became a living soul. Here breath is a translation of “ruach” which is also translated as spirit and wind. Adam became something more than dirt. Humans are dust formed by the Creator’s hand and animated by the breath (ruach or spirit) that God gives. We are always under the influence of these aspects of human quality. We are caught between our earthly lower nature and our divine higher nature.

At Lent we are reminded of our lower nature, dust. When God pronounced the consequences of Adam’s transgression, he said, you are dust and to dust shall you return. We are mortal and our mortal lives will end with our bodies returning to earthly elements. That is the result of Adam’s sin. We had a shot at a paradise-like relationship with God our creator, but the thought of not tasting the forbidden things was just too much. The serpent made the forbidden fruit seem so good.

The serpent is cursed to crawl on its belly and eat dust. Do you hear the symbolism? Our earthly nature is crawling with the serpent and his lies. He slithers about and feeds on us, on our lower nature.

But God has acted in Jesus Christ to save us from this curse. He has freed us from this condition by handing Jesus over to death for our trespasses and raising Him for our justification (Rom. 4:25). If we trust in God’s work to free us through Christ we are seen a righteous in God’s eyes, no longer as unrighteous trespassers. Through Christ we are made right again with God. The curse is broken.

Lent gives us the opportunity to remember that we are also breath. The breath of God filled Jesus and He paid the price of our transgressions and defeated death itself in His resurrection. So Paul tells us that we have to make a choice between the old condition where we were basically serpent food (dust) and the new condition filled with the Holy Spirit (breath). Paul writes in Rom. 6:19 “Just as you used to offer the parts of your body in slavery to impurity and to ever-increasing wickedness, so now offer them in slavery to righteousness leading to holiness.”

Discuss together with your mate:

How much of our time is dedicated to intentional acts of righteousness and the pursuit of holiness?

How much is an automatic giving of ourselves over to dust?

We are caught in the midst between dust and breath, but thanks be to God who gives us victory in this tension through the victorious presence of Christ Jesus. May His Spirit enable you to share in God’s holiness.