As the last and crowning act of creation, "God created man in His own image." (Genesis 1:27) The process is thus briefly described: "And the Lord God made man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life and man became a living soul." (Genesis 2:7)
Man is therefore animated dust; but the life which animates him is the life of God. If men would but keep those two facts in mind, and not be ashamed to acknowledge them, they would be just what God wishes them to be; for when man had been made, "God saw everything that He had made, and, behold, it was very good." (Genesis 1:31)
The expression is the strongest that could be used. God himself could find no fault in man, and that means perfection.
When man forgot that he was but dust, and began to act as though he were God, he fell, and the image of God was shattered. It is in this condition that we all find ourselves in this world, as sons of the fallen Adam. God's purpose in Christ is to "restore all things," (Matthew 17:11) and therefore, "If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature [or, "there is a new creation"]." (2 Corinthians 5:17)
The work of Christ, in whom all things were created in the beginning, (Colossians 1:16) is to make man over again, in the image of God, so that, as in the beginning, God can look at him and say, "very good."
Only one thing stands in the way of this new creation, and that is man's unwillingness to believe that he is nothing but dust. The thought is too humiliating. Dust has no power in itself, and if man were to confess himself to be but dust, that would be an admission that of himself he can do nothing; and that he does not like.
The natural man is continually boasting of his own powers,--"power of intellect," "power of body," etc., forgetting that the higher degree he makes out for himself, the more of a lie he is, (Psalm 62:9) since "Every man at his best state is altogether vanity." (Psalm 39:5)
That this refusal to acknowledge himself to be but dust stands in the way of the new creation, appears from this, that since man deliberately chose his present condition, God leaves it to him to choose if he will accept the original condition again. And since man in the first instance was made in the image of God out of the dust, it follows that it is only as dust that he can become a new man again. Man has nothing more to do with his new creation than Adam had in the beginning; but every man can choose to be made new. God alone can do the work.
Although man is for the most part quite indifferent as to his condition, except as expressed by the commonly-declared desire to "better his own condition," God is not indifferent. His great desire is to see man as good as man was when the breath of the Almighty first gave him life and understanding, and no one knows so well as God that this change is impossible as long as man entertains the high notions of himself that he does. Therefore God's attention is directed towards causing man to see and realize that he is but dust, and that "life, and breath, and all things," (Acts 17:25) come from Him alone. This is shown in the prayer of Moses, which is in part as follows: "Lord, You have been our dwelling place in all generations. Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever You had formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting You are God. You turn man to destruction, and say, Return, you children of men. For a thousand years in your sight are but as yesterday when it is past, and as a watch in the night." (Psalm 90:1-4)
Looking at the margin of the Revised Version, we find a better reading of the word rendered "destruction." It is "dust," or "crushing." The Jewish version, by Rabbi Leeser, gives the proper word, "contrition." "Contrite" means "ground together," as the chemist reduces a substance to powder in the mortar.
Another form of the same word that occurs in the 90th Psalm is found in: "The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and a contrite heart, O God, You will not despise." (Psalm 51:17)
That is, a heart, broken to pieces, and ground up to dust. It is true that man is only dust, no matter how high he exalts himself in his pride, so that the work of God in turning him to dust, or contrition, is to make him see his condition.
When we are by the Spirit of God made conscious of our sinfulness, pride at once departs. God has many ways of bringing men to this condition, none of them pleasing to the natural man; but we are at present concerned only with the fact that God brings us low for our good.
In ancient times, when men were more picturesque and vivid in their representation of things, they put dust on their heads, (Joshua 7:6; Job 2:12) or sat in the dust, (Isaiah 47:1; Lamentations 2:10) as an indication of their low state. That was a sign of repentance, for it showed that they recognized that they were nothing but dust. That is all that God wants. He does not desire to humiliate man, but only to get him to recognize the facts as they exist, in order that He may lift him up.
Nothing is too hard for the Lord. He does not despise a broken and a contrite heart, because out of it He can create a new heart. It suits His purpose much better than anything else could. What He did in the beginning He can do again. All that anyone needs in order to be saved, is to recognize that he is but dust, and then implicitly to believe the story of creation. Wonderful things God can do with dust, as the Bible narratives plainly show. "If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature." (2 Corinthians 5:17)
To be in Christ plainly means to be of the same nature, and the first thing necessary to this is the acknowledgment, "I can of my own self do nothing." (John 5:30)
Christ, in whom we have redemption, "is the image of the invisible God." (Colossians 1:15)
Such a one is "created in righteousness and true holiness," (Ephesians 4:24) and day by day "renewed in knowledge after the image of Him that created him." (Colossians 3:10)
The first man was made faultless. God looked him over, and could not detect a single flaw. He was pronounced "very good." (Genesis 1:31)
Of Jesus Christ, in whom the new creation is effected, it is said, "in Him is no sin." (1 John 3:5) "There is no unrighteousness in Him." (John 7:18)
This is why the first man was made perfect, because "in Him were all things created." (Colossians 1:16,RV)
Therefore He is able to take us when we are but dust, and present us "faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy." (Jude:24)
Who will humble himself, that he may be thus exalted?--Present Truth, November 10, 1898.