Unblemished human beings chose to disobey God’s perfect instruction!
When God created Adam from (Genesis 2:7) the dust of the ground, that dust became glorious. When Adam fell and brought sin into the world and into the nature of all his descendants, the dust which had previously become glorious then became dirt. When Adam was glorious dust, he was spiritually alive because he shared in eternal life, the very life of God. But sin introduced death to every person in the fallen world. So that every human being is born physically alive but spiritually dead, because we are totally separated from God even though, in God’s original plan, we were planned in love, designed in beauty and destined for glory because we were created (Genesis 1:26) in God’s image in order to reflect and represent Him. But we were sold (Romans 7:14) under sin. But don’t despair – listen! God did not consider us worthless and fit only to be exterminated. His original plan could not be destroyed by Adam’s sin or yours or mine. Our Omnipotent God always has a backup plan, which disobedient sinners can never thwart, because (Romans 5:20) where sin increased and abounded, God’s grace surpassed it and increased the more and super abounded. Because in ourselves we could not die (being already spiritually dead) so that we could not have another birth which would bring us spiritual life. We were totally helpless and without hope. But - - - God loved us!!!!!
Because Jonathan loved David (1 Samuel 18:4) he took off his royal robe and gave it to David. So that he would have to clothe himself in David’s old, stained, smelly shepherd clothes. Jesus took off His holy robe of pure righteousness (2 Corinthians 5:21) and clothed me with it. Then He clothed Himself with my filthy, stained tattered, ragged garments of sin. Because He was dressed that way and took on Himself the stench of every vile thing embraced in my repulsive rags. Because He was dressed that way, He incurred all the suffering and anguish, the relentless outpouring of the divine fury of God’s holy wrath. Jesus, as Man, became everything that He as God, loathed and hated. Pause before this mystery and consider HIM. How can it be (Jude 24) that He will present us faultless before God’s throne with joy? He became what I was so that I could become what He is.
Oh the Blood, the precious Blood
That Jesus shed for me
The reason Jesus was willing to bear the anguish and agony of the atonement was not just to keep us out of Hell. God so loved the world and Jesus so loved the Father, that He was willing to bear the sin of the whole world in order to reconcile us to God and to restore us to God’s original plan and purpose for us. God so loved that He gave His Son. Jesus so loved that he gave His life. Genuine love (1 Corinthians 13) is always sacrificial. That’s why forgiving others means I’m willing to take on myself the suffering for their wrong. That’s what Calvary love is all about.
God has appointed the DUST that we are (Ephesians 1:12) to live to the praise of His glory by conforming us (Romans 8:29) to the image of His beloved Son and by revealing (Galatians 1:15-16) His Son in us, so that we will work with Him (Matthew 16:18, Acts 1:8) in the building of His church.
How personally wicked if any of us should accept (Ephesians 2:8) all the goodness of God’s grace and regard it as fire insurance, then return to former ways and live as DIRT. Take care, (Hebrews 3:12) an unbelieving heart can turn you away from God. Check yourself to see if you are even slightly beginning to drift. If it no longer bothers you to let “little things” slip – be warned. When the sewer filth of the flesh tries to masquerade as righteousness, the offensive stench of pride comes through like poison in the atmosphere. How shall we escape if we have received but now neglect (Hebrews 2:3) our so great Salvation? If we keep our eyes on Jesus, we can have a life which says (Oswald Chambers) “no affinity with the old life but only with the life of God. It is unutterably humble, unsulliedly pure and absolutely devoted to God”. As we behold, with nothing between, (2 Corinthians 3:18) the dear face and Person of Jesus in the mirror of God’s Word, we are constantly being transfigured into His very own image in ever increasing degrees, from one degree of glory to another.