In Genesis 2:4; This is the history of the heavens and the earth when they were created, in the day that the LORD God made the earth and the heavens, before any plant of the field was in the earth and before any herb of the field had grown. For the LORD God had not caused it to rain on the earth, and there was no man to till the ground; but a mist went up from the earth and watered the whole face of the ground. (NKJV)
Everything had and has a beginning, and in the life of every Christian there was a beginning. The beginning is when a bold and intentional step was taken out of the world and into Christ. But, this can’t be all. Were we just called to join a fellowship of people who sang hymns and prayed hoping for an eternal life with their Saviour? Of course not! Although I congratulate you on securing a place in Christ Jesus, yet, if you rest here and choose not to find out the next step, you would be roaming in a wilderness wetted by the mist of sermons and brotherly fellowship. Where there is no man useful to God, God has to do temporary and superficial works of nourishment.
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 (Gen. 2:7 NKJV). It is revealing to say that God always seeks a raw material before any of his work can begin. We were once sinners, yes, we now became believers by our bold steps, but it doesn’t stop there; we need to be formed by God. God used dust, anyone could be his dust; dust in that you are worth nothing. If you consider yourself as worth something then He can’t make anything out of you. God didn’t pick gold, silver, marble or any precious stone; He didn’t choose what the Church refer to as capable or qualified, instead he sought one without worth, one who counts himself as nothing, one who can be trampled upon; spat at; swept off; not obviously regarded; dusted off. Dust doesn’t regard his own opinion or deems itself as qualified. An inherent quality doesn’t improve God’s making process in you, it only impedes it. You may due to upbringing, be admired as gentle, patient, loving and the other admirable traits; unless formed by God, these also wouldn’t be “in the image of God” (Genesis 1:26). If this character wasn’t formed during God’s making process it only stifles the work of God. If you check your life and cannot trace a timeline of consistent formation towards the likeness of Christ, then maybe the formation in your life hasn’t started.
Dust doesn’t make itself; it is made by its Maker. Dust doesn’t paint its future itself or draw out its blueprint. When God makes a man, he must remain dust throughout the process or else he doesn’t get the breath of life. Once he deviates from this, it becomes impossible for him to be completed by God. No wonder in our days, there are men who seem to have an element of life in them; but on a closer look, something isn’t just complete. Check their history and you may find the place where they broke off from God’s making process. As much as the formation of a man is necessary more also is the breath of God to be breathed in him most expedient. After this dust had been formed, it remained dust till God himself dimmed it fit to breathe the breath of life into the man. Sorry to say, it is God Who determines the time this breath is given, the dust cannot influence the length, rhythm or pattern intended by God. In the same measure we want to become men breathing God’s breath, so also God wants His men out there living His own kind of life. This is the main emphasis of any Christian life; the making of a man.
Until this is completed, only then will God begin to effect the auxiliary essentials. Yet the question remains, HOW MANY OF US WILL LAST THROUGHOUT THIS MAKING PROCESS? We can’t afford to be sentimental or adamant about this issue. God makes men, and every one of us is a vital raw material, but He doesn’t enforce it on anyone. It is always an intentional and conscious decision to yield ourselves as dust, but the battle is always about our self; bringing ourselves too low to be scorned at and trampled upon. Yes it is demeaning, but it is an essential price to pay to become useful in God’s hands.
But, it doesn’t end there, in Genesis 2:8-15, we see all that the Lord uncovers after the making process had been completed; the Lord God planted a garden eastward of Eden, and there he put the man He had formed (NKJV). God in his strategic plan designed a garden specifically meant for the man whom he had formed in the east. It is therapeutically advised to stay under the early morning sunrays for adequate vitamin D and its tender soothing effect on the skin, guess where the sun rises from; the east. God didn’t stop there, yes the man had a place to lay his head and rest, but He also made every tree to grow that is pleasant to the sight and good for food… now a river went out of the garden… what else could this man want that his Maker had not provided?. God provided hospitality, rest, peace, continuous supply of food and water to drink and to nourish the garden.
But take note, all this the Lord made after making the man, they were not an already existing surety before the making. It wasn’t a prearranged arrangement or inheritance used as precondition to become dust, no! It was all made after the making of the man. God will not afford to lose your concentration by making the garden before the man in you. If so, this would have made the man dishonest. So, here we see another impediment to the making of a man. Many of us are trying to make an agreement with God; that if we surrender ourselves for this making process He must ensure that our requirements would be met. Sorry to say, as much as God is looking for men, He maintains sovereignty throughout.
When the man finally obtained the breath of life, the man did not venture out on his own into the misty wilderness. Even though he had the breath of life in him, he was still patient and unwilling as dust. I suppose that, while he stood in the place where he had been formed he saw green (fertility) before him, but yet chose to restrain his itching self, wishing to explore. I could picture him (this formed man) whistling and watching earnestly for his Creator to give the next instruction. But why is it that many of us are yet in the making but already looking outside, we have been given the breath of life and now count it a right to choose for ourselves. Choices like where we want to serve, where we want to live, who we want to marry, what fellowship or denomination to attend, what school or course to study? I see us struggling with ourselves on choices to make. When God has breathed into you, his rule doesn’t end there. He, in verse 15 will still have to come and place you (the man He has made) in the garden He has prepared for you, only if He finds you where He kept you.
Finally, what precious stone have you been all this while that has hindered God from initiating the making process in you. Or are you satisfied with the misty-feel of the wilderness? Wouldn’t you want to carry the express image of God in your life? There is only one precondition to become useful in the hand of God: you must become dust; free to be moulded by God into His desired shape. If your primary reason for becoming dust is other than becoming like Christ then, your pursuit would be based on a misconception which only conceives resentment. Nevertheless, after God makes a man and breathes into him, a garden is always provided which is tailored to the man He made. And it is only God that takes this man and puts him into his own garden where his life can begin to work effectively and in line with God’s required plan.