ASHES
TO ASHES – DUST TO DUST
(Ecc
12:7) Then the dust will return to the earth as it was, and the
spirit will return to God who gave it.
And
so it might seem that when we breathe our last, that the end has
truly come. Such is not the case. Our exceptionally short 70 or 80,
or 90 years living on this planet, wearing the tent of our bodies
cannot begin to compare to the eternity that awaits us just beyond
the horizon. The endless miracle of life promised through Jesus
Christ, by our belief in Him, extends beyond the grave.
(1Co
15:42-44, 47) So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown a
perishable body, it is raised an imperishable body; it is sown in
dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised
in power; it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body.
If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. The
first man is from the earth, earthy; the second man is from heaven.
With
a broken heart, God passed sentence on Adam's seed when a solemn trust
between man and His Maker was violated. The sentence was death.
(Gen
3:19) By the sweat of your face You will eat bread, Till you return
to the ground, Because from it you were taken; For you are dust, And
to dust you shall return.
God's
sentence applied to the seed of Adam, and thus all born of woman
through this seed shall die. Since we all are of this seed, we share
this condemnation. It applies to all.
(Job
21:23, 25-26) One dies in his full strength, Being wholly at ease
and satisfied; While another dies with a bitter soul, Never even
tasting anything good. Together they lie down in the dust, And worms
cover them.
Then
Almighty God gave us His Son, to stand in our place, to suffer the
consequences began by Adam's prideful disobedience. Jesus sacrificed
Himself, and through the spilling of His blood He died a horrible and
painful death that released those, who would believe on Him, from
God's eternal wrath pronounced so many years ago. Through the
perfect sacrifice of our Lord Jesus, those of us who believe on Him
can be set free. We can be born again.
(Psa
16:9) Therefore my heart is glad and my glory rejoices; My flesh also
will dwell securely.
(Job
19:26) "Even after my skin is destroyed, Yet from my flesh I
shall see God;
(Php
3:20-21) For our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly
wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ; who will transform the body
of our humble state into conformity with the body of His glory, by
the exertion of the power that He has even to subject all things to
Himself.
(Psa
39:4) "LORD, make me to know my end And what is the extent of my
days; Let me know how transient I am.
(Psa
90:12) So teach us to number our days, That we may present to You a
heart of wisdom.
Thus we humbly lift our prayers of
thanksgiving for the gift given us by our Lord and Savior, the
Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, AMEN.
HAVE
YOU READ YOUR BIBLE TODAY?
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