Previous Challenge Entry (Level 2 – Intermediate)
Topic: First (as in original) (01/10/05)
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TITLE: Dirt in Hand, First Man, Perfect Plan | Previous Challenge Entry
By Andy Gilmer
01/16/05 -
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Did you ever wonder why God used dirt and not some grander stuff as the original building blocks for man? Why did He choose to put us in this clumsy clay while the angels were given glorious and eternal anatomy? Allow me the liberty to relay to you a story of how it might have been on the day that Jesus formed Adam from the dust of the ground. From the scripture references you will see that our Omniscient Redeemer had the final things in mind when at first He made man “a little lower than the angels”.
It’s day six and the sun is still climbing its way up from the horizon. Jesus gives a nod of approval as the last stripe is supernaturally sketched across the Zebra’s back. The Creator surveys the landscape now abundantly covered with wildlife.
“Let us make man in our image, after our likeness…” He says, stooping down to grab a handful of dirt.
A dog sitting next to the Lord tilts its head curiously as it watches the clay take shape. More animals gather around as the finishing touches flow from the Creator’s fingertips. The serpent moves in to get a closer look. Jesus stands and studies the motionless soil sculpture. A smile widens across His face. The Creator kneels over the figure of dust and draws in a deep breath. He pauses. The smile momentarily leaves His face as His infinite mind races forward through the pages of His Word to view the events that will be.
Gen. 2:16-17 “And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.”
Jude 6 “And the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day.”
Gen. 3:4 “And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die:”
Gen. 3:6b “…she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.”
Gen. 3:19 “In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.”
Gen. 3:22b, 23 “…and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever: Therefore the LORD God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken.”
John 11:25 “… I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live:”
Luke 20:36 “Neither can they die any more: for they are equal unto the angels; and are the children of God, being the children of the resurrection.”
I Cor. 15:45 “And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit.”
The image of Adam’s disobedience corrupting the entire creation with sin is quickly replaced as the first things pass away and all things become new. The picture of our flimsy flesh plagued with infirmities is erased as Christ steps out of eternity to experience every pain with us. Jesus watches as the death of every believer is dimmed in the light of His own death on the cross. Then, in the twinkling of an eye, He observes as the power of His own resurrection raises us to eternal life, and “…Death is swallowed up in victory”. The final pages of history’s future open in His mind’s eye as His grace once again opens the way to the Tree of Life. He sees us eternally forgiven and not eternally fallen because we were first made from the earth to be reborn in His Spirit.
The smile returns to Jesus’ face as He leans over the face of Adam and breathes into him the breath of life.
Quotations are taken from The Holy Bible, King James Version.
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