Mankind as God’s Handiwork
And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground.
Genesis 2:7
Read Genesis 2:4-7
For the second time, we are confronted with the fact of man’s creation. This
is not superfluous information; every verse in God’s infallible Word is important.
This second account of how man was made adds details that were
not revealed in Genesis 1. There our attention was focused on the truth that
God created everything out of nothing. In the verses before us we are alerted
to the fact that man was made in a particular way. The Lord adds a personal
touch to man’s creation; He formed man out of the dust of the earth. Then,
while Adam lay lifeless upon the ground, the Lord breathed into him the
breath of life. With His own mouth God breathed into man’s nostrils the
breath of life. In this way, man became complete; he was made by and for
his Creator.
Today, our society has their own ideas with respect to what man may do with
his life, including his body. Self-determination is advocated everywhere. By
advocating abortion many years ago, man declared self-control over the
womb. And when anyone becomes weary of life, he has the prerogative to
bring an end to it. They say that man is autonomous, and it is up to him to
choose what he does and what he ignores.
Genesis 2 tells us something different. Autonomy and self-government are
Satan’s ideas. By having a Creator, mankind cannot be autonomous. And
those who have a Saviour are happy that they belong to Him (Heidelberg
Catechism, Lord’s Day 1). Gladly, we will then confess, “My times are in thy
hand. “(Ps. 31:16)
Question: To what degree have you been infected with the post-modern
virus of self-determination?
Psalter 330: 1, 4 (based on Psalm 119)
Thou, Who didst make and fashion me, O make me wise Thy law to learn;
Then they that fear Thee shall be glad When they my hope in God discern.
Let those that fear Thee turn to me, Thy truth to them will I proclaim;
Instruct my heart to keep Thy law, That I may not be put to shame.
