Why did God make man out of the dust of the earth (Genesis 2:7)?

The truth then is, that in this chapter 2 you will find everything savours of, or chimes in with, the establishment of relationships. "These are the generations of the heavens and of the earth when they were created, in the day that the LORD God made the earth and the heavens." Observe that there is creation, and also making. This is precisely right, creation having the first rank, and making the subsequent place. "And every plant of the field before it was in the earth, and every herb of the field before it grew: for the LORD God had not caused it to rain upon the earth, and there was not a man to till the ground. But there went up a mist from the earth, and watered the whole face of the ground. 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 soul." Why is this introduced in chapter 2 rather than in chapter 1? For I affirm that you could not transplant this into the first chapter, and that the true cause depends, not upon a different writer, but upon quite another object and line of truth. The design here is not to show man made a creature, though at the head of creation. This is the subject-matter of the first chapter; and there his dominion is fixed by God, and pointed out by the sacred historian. But in the second chapter the aim is not merely to bring out that God made man, as He made every other creature, out of the dust of the ground (reminding him of the humility of his origin), but that he had that which came direct from God in a way no other animal had.

Into whose nostrils did Jehovah-Elohim breathe the breath of life? Into man's, and man's alone. We have no reason to think it was so with angels even. The man who was made out of the dust of the ground was not in full proper relationship with God until God breathed the breath of life into him. On this depends the immortality of the soul; and all who dispute or doubt this truth fritter away its singular weight. Nor is it confined to such errorists. Those who have read Bp. Jos. Butler's works know that the great moralist failed to solve the difficulty of man's partaking in the resurrection, while other animals do not. There lies the secret. God breathed into man's nostrils the breath of life, and thus it was he became a living soul. Every other animal became a living soul materially and without this. Man alone of all that live on the earth stands in immediate relationship to God. He may sin against Him, and he, consequently alone of all on earth, will be lost for ever. Thus the very fact that he has the breath of the Lord God in his nostrils will be the ground of his misery consequent on eternal exclusion from God. That God breathed into man, and he thus became a living soul, constitutes man's capacity for blessedness through belief of the truth, and for being so brought into the presence of God; as it is his misery when banished from Him for the rejection of Christ into the blackness of darkness for ever. Their arguments are for the most part the unintelligent misapplication of Old Testament texts that treat of the present life, or death, to that which is outside the world and everlasting. Thus, "Thou shalt surely die," and "The soul that sinneth, it shall die," are applied by them to deny the soul's unceasing existence; whereas they speak solely of God's government in this life. The New Testament has brought to light not only life and incorruptibility, but the second death and eternal judgment. The wages of sin is death, but not death only; for after death comes the judgment.

While we are told of God's creating man on the sixth day, now we are told the means of His doing this (v. 7). Nothing like this is said of the fish, animals or birds. But “the Lord formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.” It is man's body that is formed of dust. This is certainly intended to keep us from being proud of ourselves! But on the other hand, man is given a dignity far above the animal creation. God's breath in his nostrils separates him completely from the rest of earthly creation. This should make us both thankful and serious in realizing that such a dignity brings the responsibility of representing the God who has breathed into us.

While we are told of God's creating man on the sixth day, now we are told the means of His doing this (v.7). Nothing like this is said of the fish, animals or birds. But "the Lord formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul." It is man's body that is formed of dust. This is certainly intended to keep us from being proud of ourselves! But on the other hand, man is given a dignity far above the animal creation. God's breath in his nostrils separates him completely from the rest of earthly creation. This should make us both thankful and serious in realizing that such a dignity brings the responsibility of representing the God who has breathed into us.

In the third place, Adamah, "ground," carries on the thought. Man is Adam, from adamah, "dust from the ground;" and in it every element of all flesh (as that) is found. God has to add to it a higher principle to make it such, and lift it thereby into a higher sphere. Instead of mere chemistry, it is now permeated by vitality, and displays powers wholly foreign to it before. Thus, as in man God has taken up the dust of the earth to raise it above itself and lift it into another sphere, so with man himself; what he is in the old creation is but the shadow of what he shall be in the new creation. The dust of the ground is, as exalted in man, a type and prophecy of man himself.

Well, you say, was there nothing else? had he nothing to do? No; he had to refrain from doing, — he had not to take of the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. There was no labor that God required of him. He was the favorite of Heaven — the last, newest creature; he was put there in a marked way as a dependent one, the most dependent, I believe, of all God's creatures. He was put there into a paradise watched by and cared for by God Himself, all his necessities made but the means of God's care for him being manifested. He was essentially a dependent creature. The angels had fallen before this, as we know, and God had made man a creature like the angels — an immortal spirit, — one who was, as it were, His child — His offspring by creation. I say, God put this spirit which He had made into a body, with which it was to be linked, and upon which it was in a certain respect to be even dependent. You know how dependent we are upon our bodies. I don't mean that Adam was in the same way that we are. He was not. I don't mean to say that there could be in Adam any tendency to death, or any thing of that sort — the condition which we are in as fallen. Surely not. But he had necessities, he had to subsist by food, he was dependent upon the senses for his communication with the world, in which he was to subsist, not independently, but maintained by food. The angels fell by pride. God, by all this, was hiding pride from man. He was teaching him dependence; caring for him, at the same time, in a way that made that dependence no trouble to him. If He made him a needy creature, He made all these things avenues by which he could be filled with satisfaction and delight. How blessed and wonderful that! God has joined those two things together from the very beginning; making man dependent upon Himself, and making that dependence no trouble — no distress, but a means of realizing the loving care of his Maker and Preserver every day and hour.

To this condition the body of "flesh and blood" is perfectly adapted as a "body of humiliation," for the purpose of "hiding pride from man," by making him realize day by day his dependence; while the provision for and ministry to his wants bears as constant witness to the care and tenderness of God towards His creature, so as to hold him fast to the Source of blessing.

Adam, as we see, in the body of flesh and blood, was exactly suited to the conditional relation in which he stood to all around him. Sin would bring death upon him, as in fact it did. Mortal, as yet he was not: there was no tendency to death in his nature, no subjection to it on his part, no possibility of disease, no clouding of any faculty in this way. All was in vigour, and with capacity to retain that vigor indefinitely at least. With the knowledge growing upon us, as it is today, of the wonderful provision even yet perceptible in the human body for the removal of injurious elements, and for the recovery from any effect of these, it is not difficult to conceive that no poison could have affected him at all. The beasts were subjected to him. If we think of the possibility of accident, I believe we should have as to this to fall back upon the certainty of divine guardianship. He was dependent; his body to be sustained by food; and the ministry of the tree of life ordained for him clearly as additional enforcement of so needed a lesson, whatever we may conceive of its real virtues.

Adam, as we see, in the body of flesh and blood, was exactly suited to the conditional relation in which he stood to all around him. Sin would bring death upon him, as in fact it did. Mortal, as yet he was not: there was no tendency to death in his nature, no subjection to it on his part, no possibility of disease, no clouding of any faculty in this way. All was in vigour, and with capacity to retain that vigor indefinitely at least. With the knowledge growing upon us, as it is to-day, of the wonderful provision even yet perceptible in the human body for the removal of injurious elements, and for the recovery from any effect of these, it is not difficult to conceive that no poison could have affected him at all. The beasts were subjected to him. If we think of the possibility of accident, I believe we should have as to this to fall back upon the certainty of divine guardianship. He was dependent; his body to be sustained by food; and the ministry of the tree of life ordained for him clearly as additional enforcement of so needed a lesson, whatever we may conceive of its real virtues.

So the grass grows for cattle and herb for the service of man; God bent upon maintaining the creature, whom He has set in dignity upon the earth as His image and likeness, to know Him and to be for Him; and made him thus of all most thoroughly dependent, even because master of all. Where is there a creature ordained to frailty and long helplessness like a human babe? Where is there one so defenceless naturally, with neither tooth nor claw nor strength nor speed and with his very skin denuded to the blast, as is man in his prime? It is spirit in him that is to manifest itself and does, but by the recognition of his dependence and his careful use of all God's gifts.

While on our side prayer is a clear expression of dependence it also speaks of the unique place we fill in the scale of being. In the complex character of His being man has links both with spirit creation above and the animal class beneath. Bound by his body to the earth of which it forms part he has links with the creature beneath but taking a place in the spirit creation he not only has links with these but is fitted to hold converse with God the great Author of life to whom he owes his existence Then when we recall that the before time purposes of God specially concern the race of mankind though almighty power would repel, holy love attracts and we are encouraged to draw near and lay bare in His presence the inmost secrets of our heart. Both the natural and spiritual sides of our being should be kept in view when speaking of prayer. There are the bodily needs which must be met or death will terminate the earthly course while on the spiritual side the heart must have an object. All the great structure of life around us, where field and forest, city, town, and village appear, is traceable to the fact that man needs food for his body. But as a moral being cannot exist without an object, much of the same structure witnesses to the requirements of his soul. From the earliest ages man has sought to gratify his thirst for knowledge by investigating the various departments of creation to which he has access. Success here may-in his present state-exalt man but never satisfy him. Consequently he is compelled to look beyond what is material to Him who is over all, and in Whom he lives, moves, and has his being.