Dust and spirit
In Genesis 2:7 God created our body out “of the dust of the ground” and then breathed into it “the breath of life”, we could say the spirit of life; remember “God is Spirit” John 4:24, and we were created “in the image of God” Genesis 1:27. Then God gave us a soul which seems to take on the characteristics of either body or spirit depending on which one we cultivate, so it can represent either. In Psalm 119:25-32 we see the contrast between the body of dust and the spirit of life; in these verses the Hebrew meaning of soul is a “breathing creature” which clings and adheres to the dust. While God created the body of dust it was created good, but it was that which was enticed to disobey God pulling the spirit of man down with it (see Genesis 3:1-7) and the man of dust still wields that downward pull, and following it still leads to heaviness, grief, and guilt that we so often try to cover up with deceit and hypocrisy, like Adam and Eve tried to cover themselves in Genesis 3:7! But the spirit man is crying out for God “Revive me according to Your word” Psalm 119:25, and through the rest of these verses we see the spirit man pulling upward and crying out for God. Psalm 42:2 nails it for the one that cultivates the spirit man, “My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.” And Psalm 84:2 “My soul longs, yes, even faints For the courts of the Lord; My heart and my flesh cry out for the living God.” Yes, we are made for God, and it is only in Him that we are free and obtain peace and abundant life which is available only through Jesus, remember His words, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me” John 14:6, and again “I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly” John 10:10.
The spirit’s cry
By Rose Hill
To You oh Lord my heart cries out,
I need You so, without a doubt.
Consistently now for You I seek,
My earthly life doth seem so weak.
To Your word I will take heed,
To be refreshed is my great need.
Teach me to understand Your way,
My soul cries out to You today.
Scripture quotations are from the New King James Version copyright …1982 by Thomas Nelson Co. used by permission.