OUT OF DUST, AFTER ALL

When we look around, and try to make sense of the world, and the general direction it is going towards, we wonder if things are going in the right direction.  However, man, both in the world, and the Church, in a general sense, seems to be pretty happy with the direction of their journey.

Sarah Bessey expresses this lostness of the Church, quite eloquently…
– “I remember hearing a preacher once claim the miracle of a good parking spot. As in, she taught a church full of people how to pray for a good parking spot, how to claim it, and how to rejoice when it came. My side eye at this cannot be overestimated. If your greatest notion of suffering is having to walk a few more rows to the Target, then I think we can safely say you’ve lost the plot.”

We, as Christians, have come to accept such distorted teaching, to be sound and significant spiritual insights, about the God of the Bible, who is the God of all creation. Such teaching perfectly fits into our consumeristic, and needs driven outlook, and our desire for constant change…including our need for knowing God…in “newer” ways…the point and the chief end being, God Almighty serves us, and meets our needs…just as He promised. This attitude of “christians” is summed up well by John Mark Comer…
– “Here’s how you know if you’ve created God in your own image: he agrees with you on everything.”

Let us see, what the Word of God has to speak to us, on human beings, our intelligence, and our arrogance. 

LET US KNOW OUR CREATION
– “7 And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.” – Genesis 2:7

THE RESULT OF OUR DISOBEDIENCE AND THE FALL
– “19 In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread Till you return to the ground, For out of it you were taken; For dust you are, And to dust you shall return.” – Genesis 3:19
– “23 therefore the LORD God sent him out of the garden of Eden to till the ground from which he was taken.” – Genesis 3:23

HUMAN PRIDE LEADS TO DESTRUCTION
– “18 Pride goes before destruction, And a haughty spirit before a fall.” – Proverbs 16:18

GOD KNOWS OUR FRAME, BUT DO WE?
– “14 For He knows our frame; He remembers that we are dust. 15 As for man, his days are like grass; As a flower of the field, so he flourishes. 16 For the wind passes over it, and it is gone, And its place remembers it no more.” – Psalms 103:14

GOD GIVES GRACE TO THE HUMBLE
– “6…“God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble.” – James 4:6
– “12 And whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.” – Matthew 23:12

THE ACTION POINT FOR US
– ” 5 Likewise you younger people…Yes, all of you…be clothed with humility, for “God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble.” 6 Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time,” – 1 Peter 5:5-6

Humility leads to blessing and fruitfulness. Pride leads to arrogance, downfall and destruction. If we know that we were created by God, and not we ourselves; and if we know, that we are but finite; then we see who we actually are, in its proper perspective. But for the goodness of God, we cannot be fruitful, even though we may multiply and increase. There is a world of difference between the two positions – being fruitful, and to increase…a world of difference. May the LORD help us to choose wisely.