From the beginning dust has been the plague of all mankind,
both physically and Spiritually.  In the physical, millions of
dollars are spent every year on dust control.  Dust ruins
machinery, engines, everything it touches.  Dust has plagued
the housewife since time began.  Dust has also plagued God since the
Garden of Eden.

      The Bible informs us that man was formed from the dust of the
ground.

    Genesis 2:7  "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."

      God formed man of the dust of the ground.  

      The word for ground is ADAMA  and means "ground, land and
earth".  Formed means "to shape or fashion".  Dust, APAR, is the
loose, fine particles of earth that are blown by the wind.  Dust
cannot be formed into anything.  Dust must be held together by
something such as water to become ADAMA (ground, land or earth). 
So man (ADAM) was made of the ADAMA.

      Then what purpose did the dust (APAR) have in the creation of
man?  The APAR (dust) is the nature of man.  It was clothed upon
with ADAMA, the ground or earth, which was flesh.

     God made man in His image and likeness, but man did not stay
in that image and likeness very long.  Why?  Because it was the
carnal nature (Adam nature) that caused man to sin.  And it is our
old Adam nature that causes us to come short of the glory of God. 
It is the Adam nature that exalts itself to be like God.  It is
also the Adam nature that rebels against God.

     When the serpent spoke to Eve, he related,  

      "God knows your eyes shall be opened and ye shall be as
      gods."  *** Genesis 3:5  

     This is the first place in the Bible the word "gods" appears. 
Before that there was only one God.  Satan had planted the idea of
more than one God in the mind of God's creation.  When man listened
to satan, the Adam nature was established.  

      "And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food,
      and that it was pleasant to the eye, and a tree to be
      desired to make one wise..." *** Genesis 3:6

     There are 3 important factors in this verse:

      1 - Food represents the lust of the   
         flesh
      2 - "Pleasant to the eyes" represents 
         the lust of the eyes
      3 - "Desired to make one wise"        
         represents the pride of life

      *** I John 2:16   "For all that is in the world, the lust
      of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of
      life, is not of the Father, but is of the world."

      John said that these were not of the Father, but of the
world. The old Adam nature serves the world and worldly lusts.  The Adam
nature brings forth disobedience, rebellion, death and separation
from God.

      When God breathed into Adam's nostrils, he became a Spiritual
creation.  His mind, will and emotions were Spiritual.  There were
no outside or satanic influences in Adam's life at creation.  All
his thoughts were directed by God.  All these thoughts were for
Adam's good.  There were no destructive thoughts in Adam's mind or
makeup.  

      When sin entered in, man was no longer a Spiritual creation. 
He became a soulish creation, living by his senses and instincts
instead of by the voice of God.  The voice, or presence of God, no
longer walked with them in the cool of the evening.  This condition
plagued all mankind until Jesus came to re-establish His creation
as a living soul in the earth.  

      In order for us to be re-established as a living soul before
God, we must deal with the Adam nature of sensuality and sin.  The
old Adam nature is sensual, carnal, worldly, selfish, disobedient,
rebellious and Anti-Christ.  This is the dust nature 
of God's creation which has been present from the beginning.

      *** Genesis 3:19   "In the sweat of thy face shalt thou
      eat bread, till thou return unto the ground;  for out of
      it wast thou taken:  for dust thou art, and unto dust
      shalt thou return."

     One of the curses that God pronounced on man was that he was
dust and would return to the dust.  Was Adam dust when he walked
with God before sin?  NO!  At that time he was a Spiritual living
soul.  The dust nature was present with Adam, but the Spiritual
subdued the dust.  It was not until Adam succumbed to the
temptation of sin and was disobedient to God's voice that the
Spirit had to leave and the dust nature became evident in Adam's
life.  He became sensual and carnal.  He had returned to dust.

     When Adam fell from his spiritual state, his attention was
drawn to his nakedness.  Man has never gotten his eyes off the
naked body and the sensuality of the flesh.  When Adam sinned,
death came with it.  At that time satan held the keys to death
because there is no death in God.  Only after Jesus' resurrection
were the keys of death and hell removed from satan.  Those who,
again, come into a Spiritual relationship with the Father have
received the giver of life.  Death no longer reigns in them. 

     Two of the signs of the old Adam nature are fear and a lack of
willingness to accept responsibility for one's actions.

      *** Genesis 3:9-10   "And the Lord God called unto Adam,
      and said unto him, Where art thou?

      And he said, I heard Thy voice in the garden, and I was
      afraid, because I was naked;  and I hid myself."

      Adam was afraid and naked.  Adam lost his Spiritual covering.

      *** Genesis 3:11-12  "And He said, Who told thee that
      thou wast naked?  Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I
      commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat?

      And the man said, The woman whom Thou gavest to be with
      me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat."

      Adam began to make excuses and blamed God for his
disobedience and rebellion.  "The woman whom Thou gavest..."  He refused to
accept responsibility for his actions.  Fear and a blaming of
others are signs of the old Adam nature.  The Adam nature is our
immature nature before God.  When the Spirit left Adam, he was no
longer a living soul.  His carnal nature took over, and fear
entered in.  Fear is one of the main ingredients of the Adam
nature.  The world today is living in fear because there is no 
hope for the old Adamic nature.  This nature must be destroyed.

      *** I Corinthians 15:22   "For as in Adam all die, even
      so in Christ shall all be made alive."

     In Adam all die.  The Adam nature brings forth death because
the Adam nature separates us from God and the Spirit of life.  Only
in Christ are we made alive.  Light, (the Spirit of life), and
darkness, (death) can not dwell together.

      *** I Corinthians 15:45   "And so it is written, The
      first man Adam was made a living soul;  the last Adam was
      made a quickening spirit."

     Most relate the first Adam to the Adam creation that was made
a living soul.  But Adam was a living soul until sin entered in. 
After sin, Adam was no longer a living soul because death had
entered in.  Light and dark cannot dwell together.  

     Jesus overcame the dust nature in Adam.          

      ***  Romans 8:3   "For what the law could not do, in that
      it was weak through the flesh, God sending His own Son in
      the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin
      in the flesh:"

     There was no sin in Jesus.  Jesus thus became our example of
the first Adam, the living soul, who gained the victory over the
old flesh nature and condemned sin in the flesh instead of allowing
sin to reign in His mortal, flesh body.  Jesus is our example of
God's creation, man, succeeding where the Adam of Genesis failed. 

      Jesus was the first Adam, a living soul.  He was not a
quickening, living Spirit while He was in the flesh.  When the
Spirit came upon Him as a dove, it rested upon the flesh, ***
Matthew 3:16.  Thus the Holy Spirit anointing was upon His flesh. 

      On the Day of Pentecost He came as the Holy Spirit of God and
rested upon the flesh of the 120 in the upper room, *** Acts 2:3. 
Thus, He was the second Adam when He became the quickening Spirit
of God.

      *** John 1:14   "And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt
      among us, (and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the
      only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth."

      *** John 3:6   "That which is born of the flesh is flesh; 
      and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit."

      That which is born of the Spirit is Spirit.  Jesus drew a
line between flesh and Spirit.  When Jesus walked the earth, He was
flesh, the same as you and I.  Here in lies our hope.  When Jesus
walked the earth, He was a living soul, the same as 
the original Adam.  He was the first Adam revived!  

     Adam was created without sin.  Jesus came without sin, made of
the same material as the original Adam;  flesh.  We were born into
sin, but through the shed blood of Jesus, we receive forgiveness of
sin.  In baptism we bury the old man of sin and through the Holy
Spirit we overcome the nature of sin.  When we have overcome the
old Adam (dust) nature of sin, then we no longer serve sin and
become a living soul as our example, Jesus. 

     When Jesus received the Spirit on the banks of the Jordan, the
Spirit immediately took Him to the wilderness to be tried.

      *** Luke 4:1   "And Jesus being full of the Holy Ghost
      returned from Jordan, and was led by the Spirit into the
      wilderness."

     When Jesus was baptized with the Holy Ghost, the Spirit led
Him to the place of testing.

      *** Luke 4:2-3   "Being forty days tempted of the devil. 
      And in those days He did eat nothing:  and when they were
      ended, He afterward hungered.

      And the devil said unto Him, If thou be the Son of God,
      command this stone that it be made bread."

     Satan's first test.  Jesus had fasted 40 days and forty
nights.  Satan said, "Turn the stones to bread."  (Food;  lust of the flesh) 

      *** Luke 4:5-6   "And the devil, taking Him up into an
      high mountain, shewed unto Him all the kingdoms of the
      world in a moment of time.

      And the devil said unto Him, All this power will I give
      thee, and the glory of them:  for that is delivered unto
      me;  and to whomsoever I will I give it."

      Satan showed Jesus all the kingdoms of the earth.  (lust of
the eye).

      *** Luke 4:9-11   "And he brought Him to Jerusalem, and
      set Him on a pinnacle of the temple, and said unto Him,
      If thou be the Son of God, cast Thyself down from hence:

      For it is written, He shall give His angels charge over
      Thee, to keep Thee:"

      Satan said, "Cast yourself off the temple and God will
preserve you."  (Pride of life)

      Great Works!  Man is forever bragging about the great works
he has done in the name of God.

     God needed a man that He could use who would not give into
that old Adam nature (dust).

      *** Hebrews 4:15   "For we have not an high priest which
      cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; 
      but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without
      sin."

     Jesus was tempted like we are, but He sinned not.  He was
tried as Adam, and sinned not.  He is our example of overcoming the
Adam nature.

      *** I Peter 2:21-25   "For even hereunto were ye called: 
      because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an
      example, that ye should follow His steps:

      Who did no sin, neither was guile found in His mouth:

      Who, when He was reviled, reviled not again;  when He
      suffered, He threatened not;  but committed Himself to
      Him that judgeth righteously:

      Who His own self bare our sins in His own body on the
      tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto
      righteousness:  by whose stripes ye were healed.

      For ye were as sheep going astray:  but are now returned
      unto the Shepherd and Bishop of your souls."

      Jesus is our example.  We should follow in His steps.  Peter
was speaking of Jesus' walk in the flesh, overcoming the old Adam nature,
overcoming the world.  Jesus said, "I have overcome the world."

      *** I Peter 2:22   "Who did no sin..."  Sin was not found in
His life.  People are taught they must sin because they are only
human.  But Paul said in Romans,

      *** Romans 6:6   "Knowing this, that our old man is
      crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be
      destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin."

      The old man, the old Adam nature, is crucified and the body
of sin destroyed that we should not serve sin.  The old Adam nature
should have been destroyed at baptism.  But it was not.

      Many use their forgiveness of sin as an excuse to sin.  This
is how Israel used the sacrificial system under the law.  They
sinned because they could offer an innocent animal and have their
sin covered.  Today, many sin because they can receive forgiveness
by confessing their sin before God.  This is not destroying the old
Adam nature, but, rather, it feeds the old Adam nature.

      *** I Peter 2:24   "Who His own self bare our sins in His
      own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should
      live unto righteousness:  by whose stripes ye were
      healed."

     Why are we not living in righteousness?  Because the body of
sin and the old Adam nature has not been destroyed nor overcome. 
The old Adam nature is a friend of the world.  And that which is a
friend of the world is an enemy of God.

      *** James 4:4   "Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye
      not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? 
      whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the
      enemy of God."

     Many proclaim, "I could never be like Jesus."  The scriptures
proclaim, "If you are not like Him, you will not see Him."

      *** I John 3:1-3   "Behold, what manner of love the
      Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called
      the sons of God:  therefore the world knoweth us not,
      because it knew Him not.

      Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet
      appear what we shall be:  but we know that, when He shall
      appear, we shall be like Him;  for we shall see Him as He
      is.

      And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth
      himself, even as He is pure."

     Verse 2 begins with a question, "Beloved, now are we the sons
of God?"  Next, John makes a statement, "It doth not yet appear
what we shall be."  He follows that with an absolute fact, "We know
that when He shall appear, we shall be like Him."

      Those who desire to see Jesus will only see Him if they are
as He was in His earthly walk.  We must rise above sin and overcome
the tempter.  If we allow the tempter in our life, then we are back
in the garden, as Eve, listening to that which will separate us
from God.

      Jesus is our example of the first Adam that overcame sin and
led a victorious life.  When He came as the second Adam, He
empowered us that we may have the power to overcome sin in our
lives.  We rise above sin by destroying the old Adam nature.

      When Jesus came as a quickening spirit, second Adam, He was
our example of that which was flesh becoming Spirit.

      *** I Corinthians 15:49-52   "And as we have borne the
      image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the
      heavenly.

      Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot
      inherit the kingdom of God: neither doth corruption
      inherit incorruption.

      Behold, I shew you a mystery;  We shall not all sleep,
      but we shall all be changed,

      In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last
      trump:  for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall
      be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed."

     Paul wrote, "In a moment, a twinkling of an eye, this mortal
flesh will put on immortality (Spirit).  When this change takes
place, we will, once again, be as Adam before sin.  We will, at
that time, become living souls.  And no death will reign in our
changed bodies.

     When God told Adam He was dust, and to dust He would return, 
in the natural the application was concerning Adam's body, which
was formed from the earth and would return to the earth, or dust
state.  But it also has a Spiritual application in that Adam was
not a living soul until God breathed His Spirit into His nostrils. 
At this time the Spirit gave Adam eternal life.  But when Adam
sinned, he lost eternal life and returned to dust, the Adam nature.
He became sensual man, no longer living by the supply of God.  He
had to earn his living by the sweat of his face.

     God also cursed the serpent.

      *** Genesis 3:14   "And the Lord God said unto the
      serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed
      above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; 
      upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all
      the days of thy life:"

      God cursed the serpent because he allowed satan to use him. 
The serpent did not speak, but satan spoke through the serpent. 
The serpent was only the vessel that satan used.  And because the
serpent allowed satan to use him, God's curse was put upon him.  He
was to crawl on his belly.  He would be the lowest of all God's
creation.  From that time forward, the serpent would be a symbol of
satan.  Many today become vessels for satan's use.  

      God told the serpent that he would eat or feed upon dust. 
Anyone familiar with snakes knows they do not eat dirt or dust. 
God in His infinite wisdom was revealing that satan would feed upon
the old Adam nature as long as it existed.  Adam returned to dust
and he was satan's meat.

      *** Isaiah 65:25   "The wolf and the lamb shall feed
      together, and the lion shall eat straw like the bullock: 
      and dust shall be the serpent's meat."

      Dust is the serpent's meat.  The only way to keep satan from
chewing on us is to get rid of the old Adam nature.  Jesus was our
example.  He stated,

      *** John 14:30   "Hereafter I will not talk much with
      you:  for the prince of this world cometh, and hath
      nothing in me."

      The prince of this world had nothing in Jesus.  There was no
Adam nature in Jesus.  When Adam sinned, first there was lust. 
Lust brought forth disobedience.  Disobedience brought rebellion,
and rebellion brought forth death.

      *** James 1:14   "But every man is tempted, when he is
      drawn away of his own lust, and enticed."

     When man is tempted, he is drawn away by his own lust.  Satan
is the tempter.  But what does he tempt?  The old Adam nature. 
Lust is not caused by satan.  Lust comes from the old, lustful,
Adam nature, (dust).  

     Man's own lust entices him.  Entice means "to lure by bait, or
be trapped".  Satan may use many kinds of bait:  drugs, alcohol,
women, men, sports:  the list is endless.  All his bait appeals to
the flesh.

      *** James 1:15   "Then when lust hath conceived, it
      bringeth forth sin:  and sin, when it is finished,
      bringeth forth death."

     When lust is conceived, it brings forth sin.  Conceived means
"an impulse to lust".  Sin, when it is finished, brings forth
death.  Lust justifies disobedience, which fosters rebellion, which
produces death.  It is a process that was established in the garden
and it is still in the earth today in those who refuse to deal with
the old Adam nature.

     When a comparison is made between the old Adam nature and
dust, it is easy to see why God used dust to reveal the old Adam
nature.  Dust cannot be shaped, molded, nor controlled.  Every
little breeze blows it about.

      *** Ephesians 4:14   "That we henceforth be no more
      children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every
      wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning
      craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive;"

      The old Adam nature causes those to be blown about with every
wind of doctrine.  The old Adam nature is as dust, having no
foundation.

      *** II Timothy 3:7   "Ever learning and never able to
      come to the knowledge of the truth."

      Ever learning, but never able to come to the knowledge of the
truth because they refuse the knowledge of the truth.  They will
only accept that which they can understand.  Truth is not a block
of knowledge.  Truth is the Spirit of Truth and the Spirit of Truth
will lead us into all truth.  Those who are not able to come to the
knowledge of the truth do not need to change churches.  They need
to change their relationship with God and come to the knowledge of
the truth, the Holy Spirit of God.

      *** II Timothy 3:5   "Having a form of godliness, but
      denying the power thereof:  from such turn away."

     Those who do not know the Spirit only have a form of godliness
because they have denied the power.  Paul revealed the power of God
in his letter to the Corinthians.
      
      *** I Corinthians 1:24   "But unto them which are called,
      both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the
      wisdom of God."

     Christ is the power of God and Christ is the Holy Spirit. 
Paul wrote, "Those who deny the power, from such turn away."  Those
who deny the power are still dust.  They are still in their old
Adam nature.  These are children tossed to and fro by every wind of
doctrine having no foundation.  They are still dust, still soulish.
When we give in to the lust of the flesh we feed the old Adam
nature.  We are still in our garden of ignorance not knowing good
and evil.

      *** Isaiah 26:19   "Thy dead men shall live, together
      with my dead body shall they arise.  Awake and sing, ye
      that dwell in dust:  for thy dew is as the dew of herbs,
      and the earth shall cast out the dead."

     Most would say that Isaiah was speaking of the resurrection of
the dead.  Isaiah was speaking to those who are asleep in the dust;
asleep in the old Adam nature.

      *** Matthew 25:5   "While the bridegroom tarried, they
      all slumbered and slept."

      While the bridegroom tarried, they slumbered and slept. 
God's people are so caught up in trying to please and appease the Adam 
nature that they are asleep as to what God is doing in their earth
(flesh).

      Isaiah proclaimed, "Awake and sing, ye that dwell in the
      dust."  

      God does not want us dwelling in the dust.  He wants us to
arise from the dust, and be seated in heavenly places in Christ
Jesus.

      Isaiah stated, "Thy dead body shall live."  

      We were dead in sins.  By the shed blood we are resurrected
from the dead, and now we are to arise out of the dust nature and
live unto God. 

      Paul prayed that our spirit, soul and body be preserved until
the coming of the Lord, *** I Thessalonians 5:23. 

      God spoke, "My dead body shall they arise",  *** Isaiah
26:19. It is time His body, the body of Christ arises out of the dust, the
old Adam nature.  When this happens, we will be singing the praises
of our God.  It is time to come out of the garden of our youth and
grow up into the head which is Christ.  We are the creation of God
to bring glory back unto the earth.  

     The dust nature will never glorify God.  it is only food for
satan.  When we overcome the old Adam nature, satan will starve to
death.  He has no place in us.  It is time to awake and sing!
      
      *** Psalm 30:9   "What profit is there in my blood, when
      I go down to the pit?  Shall the dust praise thee?  shall
      it declare thy truth?"

     Shall the dust praise thee?  The old Adam nature cannot praise
God because it is carnal.  

      *** Psalm 103:14  "For He knoweth our frame;  He
      remembereth that we are dust."

     God knows we are still dealing with the carnal nature.  God
reveals how we are to deal with the old carnal nature?

      *** Psalm 119:25   "My soul cleaveth unto the dust: 
      quicken thou me according to Thy word."

     It is only through the Word that the old carnal nature can be
changed.

     Jesus spake to His disciples about their walk in Him.

      *** Luke 9:5   "And whosoever will not receive you, when
      ye go out of that city, shake off  the very dust from
      your feet for a testimony against them."

      Feet represent our walk.  Those who do not receive us or our
words, their dust we are to shake off from our walk.  Their old,
carnal, Adam nature is not to effect our walk.  We are to shake it
off.  

      The Adam nature always pleases the flesh.  The flesh is God's
enemy.  Jesus overcame the Adam nature.  The Word says, "When He
was reviled, He reviled not back, *** I Peter 2:23.  What reviles
back?  The old Adam nature.  We need to deal, today, with the old
dust nature.  We are to arise out of the dust.

      Isaiah, the prophet, spoke of the dust nature.  

      *** Isaiah 52:1-3   "Awake, awake;  put on thy strength,
      O Zion;  put on thy beautiful garments, O Jerusalem, the
      holy city:  for henceforth there shall no more come into
      thee the uncircumcised and the unclean.

      Shake thyself from the dust;  arise, and sit down, O
      Jerusalem:  loose thyself from the bands of thy neck, O
      captive daughter of Zion.

      For thus saith the Lord, Ye have sold yourselves for
      nought;  and ye shall be redeemed without money."

      We are to arise from the dust and put on our beautiful
garments.  These are garments of praise, holiness and righteousness
in Christ Jesus.  We need to cease being serpent's food.  Jesus
said, "He has nothing in me."  And he will have nothing in us, if
we arise from the dust and be loosed from the hold the old Adam
nature has on our life.  

     God hath redeemed us.  Hath is past tense.  It has already
been finished.  It is up to us, as individuals in Christ, to
recognize that it is the old Adam nature that separates us from
God.  When we recognize that it is the lust of the eye, the lust of
the flesh and the pride of life that keeps us from wholly coming
unto God, then we can "Arise from the dust and begin to sing the songs of Zion".  Praise God! 

Questions

1.    What causes us to come short of the glory of God?  

2.    What has been the plague of all mankind since the beginning? 

3.    The old Adam nature serves what? 

4.    When Adam sinned and disobeyed God's voice, what happened?  

5.    What are two signs of the old Adam nature?  

6.    How do we rise above sin?   

7.    How can the old carnal nature be changed?  

8.    What are the three things that keep us from wholly coming
      unto God? 


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