Dust and Breath: How God Made the First Man

Formed From the Dust

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When God made the first man, He started with the plainest stuff in the world: dust. That dust has a lot to teach us about God and about ourselves.

The verse. “And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground” (Genesis 2:7). Dust is dry, loose dirt, the kind that blows up from a dirt road.

Up close. God made the stars by speaking. He made Adam up close. The word formed is the word for a potter shaping clay with his hands.

The potter. A potter decides what each pot will be. He presses, turns and smooths the clay until it is just right. That is how carefully God made the first man.

A name from the ground. In Hebrew, the word for man sounds like the word for ground. Every time someone said Adam's name, it reminded him where he came from.

Made for the ground. God put Adam in the garden “to tend and keep it” (Genesis 2:15). The man made from the earth was made to care for the earth.

Made on purpose. Nothing about Adam was an accident. “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works” (Ephesians 2:10). Workmanship means something carefully made by a master.

You were formed too. David prayed, “For You formed my inward parts; You covered me in my mother’s womb” (Psalm 139:13). God shaped you before you were born.

Wonderfully made. David also prayed, “I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made” (Psalm 139:14). Fearfully means with awe. God did amazing work when He made you.

Humble dust. Dust is small and plain. It reminds us that we are not God. We need Him for every breath, every meal and every good thing.

After sin. When Adam disobeyed, God said, “For dust you are, And to dust you shall return” (Genesis 3:19). Because of sin, people die, and their bodies go back to the ground.

God remembers. The Bible says God knows how we are made. He remembers that we are dust, so He is gentle and patient with His children (Psalm 103:14).

Not the end. Jesus' body was placed in a tomb, but it did not stay there. “Christ is risen from the dead, and has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep” (1 Corinthians 15:20). Firstfruits means the first of many. Because Jesus rose, God's people will rise too.

What to do. When you feel proud, remember that you are dust. If you ever feel worthless, think of who shaped you. Today, thank God that He made you on purpose.

Genesis 2:7 tells us exactly how God made the first man, and each part of the verse teaches us who we are.

Yatsar (2:7). The verb yatsar (say: yah-TSAR) means to form or shape. It is the word for a potter's work. The same verb describes God forming Israel (Isaiah 43:1) and forming a child in the womb (Jeremiah 1:5).

The potter's house. God sent Jeremiah to watch a potter at his wheel. When a pot was spoiled, the potter shaped it again. God said His people were like clay in His hand (Jeremiah 18:1-6). Isaiah prays that God is our potter and we are the clay (Isaiah 64:8).

Aphar (2:7). Dust is aphar (say: ah-FAR), loose, dry soil. God did not choose gold or precious stones. He chose the humblest material, so the glory of the finished work would clearly be His.

Adam and adamah. The man, adam (say: ah-DAHM), comes from the ground, adamah (say: ah-dah-MAH). His name says he is a creature, not a god. It also ties him to his work: he was made from the soil to tend the soil (2:15).

Dust and death (3:19). After the fall the same word returns: “For dust you are, And to dust you shall return.” Death undoes what God formed. Ecclesiastes says the dust returns to the earth and the spirit returns to God who gave it (Ecclesiastes 12:7).

A God who remembers. David writes that God knows our frame and remembers that we are dust (Psalm 103:14). Our weakness does not surprise Him. It moves Him to be gentle with His children.

Workmanship. Paul calls believers God's workmanship (Ephesians 2:10). The Greek word is poiema (say: POY-ay-mah), something made, like a work of art. The God who formed Adam is now shaping His people in Christ “for good works.”

Two Adams. Paul says the first man was of the earth, made of dust, and the second Man is the Lord from heaven (1 Corinthians 15:47). As we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly Man (1 Corinthians 15:49).

Firstfruits. “Christ is risen from the dead, and has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep” (1 Corinthians 15:20). The firstfruits were the first sheaf of the harvest, a promise that the rest was coming. Jesus' risen body is the promise of ours.

Humble and hopeful. The dust keeps us from pride, because we are creatures and not the Creator. The resurrection keeps us from despair, because God will raise the dust of His people. Christians live with both truths at once.

Application. Ask God to shape you like clay in His hands. When He corrects you through His Word or through your parents, do not fight the Potter. He knows what He is making.

The Breath of Life

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Dust by itself is not alive. A clay figure cannot walk, talk or love. Something more had to happen before Adam could live.

God breathed. The Lord God “breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being” (Genesis 2:7). Adam's very first breath came from God.

Life is a gift. No one can make life out of nothing. Scientists can study life, but only God can give it. Every living thing depends on Him.

Your breath too. You breathe about twenty thousand times a day without even thinking about it. Each breath is a gift from the God who first breathed into Adam.

Different from the animals. Animals are living creatures too (Genesis 1:24). But only the man received life from God's own breath, up close. People are made to know God in a way no animal can.

A spirit inside. Job said that the Spirit of God had made him and the breath of the Almighty gave him life (Job 33:4). Every person has a spirit that can talk with God.

Something went wrong. When Adam and Eve sinned, they did not stop breathing that day. But their friendship with God broke. The Bible says people without Jesus are dead in their sins (Ephesians 2:1). They are alive on the outside but far from God on the inside.

Dry bones. God once showed the prophet Ezekiel a valley full of dry bones. A prophet is someone God chooses to speak His message. God told Ezekiel to speak to the breath. Breath came into the bones, and they stood up alive (Ezekiel 37:1-10). Only God can bring the dead to life.

The last Adam. Paul wrote, “The first man Adam became a living being.” Then he said of Jesus, “The last Adam became a life-giving spirit” (1 Corinthians 15:45). Adam received life. Jesus gives it.

Jesus breathed. On the evening He rose from the dead, Jesus breathed on His disciples and told them to receive the Holy Spirit (John 20:22). The God who breathed life into Adam was giving new life again.

A new heart. God promised, “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you” (Ezekiel 36:26). That is what God does for everyone who trusts Jesus.

Made new. God saves us “through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit” (Titus 3:5). Regeneration means being born again. The Holy Spirit is a Person who comes to live inside God's children.

Breath for praise. The very last verse of the Psalms tells everything that has breath to praise the Lord (Psalm 150:6). Our breath was made for worship.

What to do. Take a slow, deep breath and thank God for it. If you have never asked Jesus for new life, you can ask Him today. He loves to give it.

The first creation and the new creation both begin the same way: God breathes. Genesis 2:7 and John 20:22 belong side by side.

Neshamah (2:7). The breath of life is neshamah (say: neh-shah-MAH). Proverbs 20:27 uses the same word when it calls the human spirit the lamp of the Lord. God's breath gave Adam more than a heartbeat. It gave him an inner life that can know God.

Nephesh chayyah. Adam became nephesh chayyah (say: NEH-fesh khai-YAH), a living being or living soul. The same phrase is used of the animals (1:24). What sets Adam apart is how he received life: God breathed into him personally.

Wind and spirit. Hebrew also has ruach (say: ROO-akh), which can mean breath, wind or spirit. In Ezekiel 37 the dry bones live when God's ruach enters them (Ezekiel 37:9-10). Breath, wind and Spirit are tied together all through Scripture.

Pneuma. The Greek word pneuma (say: NOO-mah) also means wind, breath or spirit. Jesus told Nicodemus that the wind blows where it wishes, and so it is with everyone born of the Spirit (John 3:8). New birth is God's breath at work.

The same verb. The Greek Old Testament, the Septuagint (say: sep-TOO-ah-jint), uses emphysao (say: em-foo-SAH-oh), to breathe into, in Genesis 2:7. John uses that same verb when the risen Jesus breathed on His disciples (John 20:22). In both places God gives life by His breath.

Dead in sin. Adam did not drop dead the moment he ate, but that day he died toward God. Paul says we were dead in trespasses and sins (Ephesians 2:1). A dead person cannot breathe life into himself.

The last Adam (1 Corinthians 15:45). Paul quotes 2:7, “The first man Adam became a living being,” and then says, “The last Adam became a life-giving spirit.” Adam received life. Jesus gives life, because He is God.

A new heart (Ezekiel 36:26). “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you.” God does not just patch up the old life. He gives a new one.

Regeneration (Titus 3:5). God saves us “not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy,” through the renewing of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit is not a force but a Person, God Himself living in His people.

Application. Your physical breath is lent to you by God every second. Your spiritual life must be received from Him too. Ask the Holy Spirit to fill you, and use your breath to praise Him.

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