Dust

It's a fundamentally important truth in understanding who and what we are. If we misunderstand this, there are implications for how we live our lives, and what we hope for.

"Then the LORD God formed man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being." (Genesis 2.7)

Our Creator Father took the lowly elements of the earth in His hands, and fashioned His highest creation. After "fearfully and wonderfully" (Psalm 139.14) molding our earliest ancestor, He animated him with life-giving breath. Thus, he became a living soul. He didn't receive an immortal soul from our Father, but rather became one. Death, then, would be the exact reversal of this: "when you take away their breath, they die and return to the dust." (Psalm 104.29)

Why this creation truth is important is that it provides an important definition of what life really is, as well as death. And, that has implications for what happens when we die.

The fact that God took hands and formed the first man, and bent down to breathe the breath of life into his body, says something of our value. He could have spoken a word and brought him into full being. Rather, He meticulously formed him. Surely we are immensely valuable to Him.

Knowing the truth of Genesis 2.7 impacts understanding of the end of life. If the breath returns to God, and on that day I "do not know anything" (Ecclesiastes 9.5), I can be comforted in knowing that all life function is suspended until the moment of resurrection. From the perspective of the deceased, time will be irrelevant. Whether a minute or a millennium, I will not know how long I have slept in death. It will be as though I went instantly from mortality to immortality.

The truth of our origins, as revealed in Genesis 2.7, is important for understanding. It leaves us in awe of our importance, and at peace concerning our destiny.

©Steve Taylor, 2016 --Used by permission

Be sure to also visit http://thetruthrevolution.wordpress.com/  

Amazon ebook & print devotional -http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00FQ1Q9GW
paperback print copy of book — https://www.createspace.com/4500045