The following comes from O.C. Chambers, a noted Christian author, and his book The Moral Foundations of Life.
“Genesis 2:7 reveals that man is made up of dust and Divinity. This means that in practical psychology we must always make allowance for the incalculable. You cannot exhaust man’s nature by examining his ‘dust’ qualities, nor by describing him in terms of poetic sentiment, for after you have described as much as you can, there is always an incalculable element to be taken into account. There is more than we know, therefore we cannot deal with ourselves as machines. One part of ourselves must be dealt with as a machine, and the more we deal with it as a machine the better; but to try and sum up a man as a machine only is to miss out the bigger part; or to say that man is altogether a spiritual being without anything mechanical in him is to miss out the incalculable element that cannot be summed up. These two things, dust and Divinity, make up man. That he is made of the dust is man’s glory, not his shame; it has been the scene of his shame, but it was designed to be his glory.”
When you and I look at the dust and the divinity that makes us who we are, there is some question about the incalculable element in us. Certain mindsets get frustrated by this and say that it is nonsense to talk about the spiritual side of ourselves; they describe us as nothing more than animals. Certainly that side can be seen, but the spiritual side of us has a desire as well. We desire to love and to be loved. Jesus knew this and He talked about it in nearly every talk He gave—We were made to worship God and to be loved by Him.
As I look at that, I know that Jesus was the ultimate sacrifice so that we could all be redeemed to be in eternal relationship with God. We just need to accept Jesus in our hearts as Lord and Savior and establish that relationship with Him. Then from that point there are more things to work out, but I offer that to you today to think about.
Do you see where the Lord has put into your life the balance of dust and divinity? How are you addressing those needs? Where are you getting fed? Just a thought and a few questions.
Blessings,
Pastor Dwight Elliott
Amboy Friends Church
“Genesis 2:7 reveals that man is made up of dust and Divinity. This means that in practical psychology we must always make allowance for the incalculable. You cannot exhaust man’s nature by examining his ‘dust’ qualities, nor by describing him in terms of poetic sentiment, for after you have described as much as you can, there is always an incalculable element to be taken into account. There is more than we know, therefore we cannot deal with ourselves as machines. One part of ourselves must be dealt with as a machine, and the more we deal with it as a machine the better; but to try and sum up a man as a machine only is to miss out the bigger part; or to say that man is altogether a spiritual being without anything mechanical in him is to miss out the incalculable element that cannot be summed up. These two things, dust and Divinity, make up man. That he is made of the dust is man’s glory, not his shame; it has been the scene of his shame, but it was designed to be his glory.”
When you and I look at the dust and the divinity that makes us who we are, there is some question about the incalculable element in us. Certain mindsets get frustrated by this and say that it is nonsense to talk about the spiritual side of ourselves; they describe us as nothing more than animals. Certainly that side can be seen, but the spiritual side of us has a desire as well. We desire to love and to be loved. Jesus knew this and He talked about it in nearly every talk He gave—We were made to worship God and to be loved by Him.
As I look at that, I know that Jesus was the ultimate sacrifice so that we could all be redeemed to be in eternal relationship with God. We just need to accept Jesus in our hearts as Lord and Savior and establish that relationship with Him. Then from that point there are more things to work out, but I offer that to you today to think about.
Do you see where the Lord has put into your life the balance of dust and divinity? How are you addressing those needs? Where are you getting fed? Just a thought and a few questions.
Blessings,
Pastor Dwight Elliott
Amboy Friends Church
