Steak and chocolate? Watermelon and Feta cheese? Some would swear by these strange combos. How about dust and the breath of God Almighty?
In the creation of Adam, God merged material and immaterial. The physical and the spiritual world are brought together in humankind.
Humans are not so earthly that we are insignificant, and we are not so spiritual that we are divine.
Created from Dust
“Then the Lord God formed a man from the dust of the ground…” (Genesis 2:7).
As ones made of dust, we have physical bodies made of physical matter – bones and cells and platelets. Our senses help us engage with the physical world. We feel the warmth of sun on our skin. We taste sweet crunchy apples.
In disciplines such as biology and physiology, we can measure and study elements of the human body. We are creaturely beings – sweaty and snotty and stinky! (A quick count of human bodily secretions is shocking!) We live within time.
As living creations of God, we are utterly dependent on our Creator. The one who gives us breath is also the one who can take it away. The name “Adam” sounds like the Hebrew word for the “ground” (‘ăḏāmâ) from which he was formed, and to which our bodies will one day return.
Made of dust, we have material bodies and live in a material world, but that is not all that we are.
Brought to Life by the Breath of God
Humans are also spirit and we live in a spiritual world. In particular, our human spirits have been imparted to us by God, who is also Spirit.
The second part of the creation of Adam states:
“…and [God] breathed into [Adam’s] nostrils the breath of life…” (Genesis 2:7)
The Hebrew word for “breath” (nᵉshâmâh) in the verse above is elsewhere translated as “spirit.” A more frequently used word in the Bible (rûwach) can be translated breath / wind / spirit, depending on the context. In Hebrew understanding, breath and spirit are closely linked.
As humans, we are made of spirit / breath. We have an invisible, immaterial, spiritual dimension. “Supernatural” means something is “of an order of existence beyond the visible observable universe” (Merriam Webster).
Death and Resurrection
The Fall of humankind affected humanity materially and spiritually. Our bodies became broken and started malfunctioning. Our spirits – separated from God, our Source of life – died.
But God is a Redeemer. When we choose to become a follower of Jesus, God makes us new.
Adam became a living soul when God imparted his spirit / breath into Adam. When we become “born again” we become spiritually alive – a new creation with God’s Holy Spirit in us.
The Holy Spirit is also our guarantee of eternal life with God. One day those who believe in Jesus will have heavenly bodies without sickness, pain, or death. We will still be uniquely ourselves, and yet our bodies will be somehow different.
How Shall We Live?
In the meantime, we live within a tension because we belong to both the natural and spiritual worlds. Our bodies are creaturely and dependent, and they are temples of the living God.
“ But we have this treasure [the light of the knowledge of God’s glory] in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us” (2 Corinthians 4:7).
We are clay jars, formed of dust, and we are filled with God Himself, spirit / breath.
The only appropriate way to navigate both sides of this tension is to live humbly.
We humbly accept our creatureliness and dependency on our Creator. We thank God for the good material gifts he provides (food, shelter…). In turn, we care for the vulnerable and less fortunate.
And we humbly accept that we are the chosen dwelling place of God. He resides in us. We take care of our bodies and we treat all humankind with dignity.
Dirt Under God’s Fingernails
God doesn’t mind dirt under his fingernails, so to speak. He comes close. The Father formed Adam from the dust of the ground.
Jesus came close. The manger was not sanitized. He touched unclean lepers and the dead. He took all our sin.
The Holy Spirit comes close. He resides in our hearts, despite our flings with sin.
Our God does not stand far off while we get ourselves together. He is right here with us. He loves us and calls us his children and “He is faithful to complete the good work he has begun in each of us” (Philippians 1:6).
What a wonderful God we have!
You are Precious
Though the material realm is most obvious to us right now, it will not always be this way. One day we will be just as aware, if not more, of the spiritual world.
You there, reading this – with the messy hair and the weary heart – you are made of dust and the very breath of God Almighty. His Spirit resides in you. You are finite and weak and vulnerable and you are precious and beautiful and alive.
May God’s grace be yours in abundance as you live humbly in the tension of physical and spiritual, dust and breath / spirit.
