Dust to Dust

This past weekend I attended my first funeral in Germany.

Sure, "there is a time for everything," but when the "time to die" (Ecc. 3:1-2) hits, it's never easy.

I didn't know the man very well, but I remember that he laughed often, and seeing his lifeless body  was so surreal. That, combined with yesterday being Remembrance Day and reflecting on many lives laid down, was such a strong reminder that "all come from dust, and to dust all return" (v. 20).

Image Credit: Timo Kahlen

Death seems so daunting, the grave so greedy. And the last breath appears so final. Indeed, if "passing away" is understood as the end, even the Apostle Paul wrote, “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die" (1 Cor. 15:32). 

God "he knows how we are formed, he remembers that we are dust. The life of mortals is like grass, they flourish like a flower of the field; the wind blows over it and it is gone, and its place remembers it no more" (Psalm 103:14-16). 

If death really is the end, and there is no such thing as resurrection or life afterwards, Paul writes that preaching is useless, our faith is futile, and we believe in vain.

That doesn't sound very hopeful. 

But what if there is something stronger than the power of the grave?

What if a lifeless body returning back to the earth is not a symbol of meaninglessness, but instead of hope and promise? Like how a seed sown in dust, in earth, in soil, does not bear fruit...unless it dies?

 Image Credit: Ladies of Virtue

"The body that is sown is perishable, it is raised imperishable; 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" (1 Cor. 15:42-44).

Sounds pretty impossible, doesn't it? How can life come from lifelessness? But I have good news for you: "Death has been swallowed up in victory!"

Jesus Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, and because He lives, we also may live! God Incarnate, through His death, conquered the power of death itself.

Whoever believes in Him has eternal life. What a promise!

This reality provides hope for our life here on this earth. It gives us a purpose, because it shows us God's plan. After an entire chapter where he focuses on the resurrection of Jesus Christ, Paul concludes: "Therefore, my brothers and sisters..." Therefore, since we know that Christ is risen, since we too will rise, since God has the victory, since the grave has lost its sting, since our faith is not useless, and because of resurrection power... "Therefore, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain."

What we do with our lives here on earth is not in vain. The work we do, the people we love, the ways we serve...it matters. In the famous 1 Corinthians 13 chapter we read that "LOVE NEVER FAILS."


And it was exactly THIS great love that took Jesus to the cross. 

GOD…the greatest Being

SO… to the greatest degree
LOVED…the greatest passion
THE WORLD…the greatest company of people
THAT HE GAVE…the greatest act
HIS ONLY SON…the greatest sacrifice
THAT WHOEVER…the greatest opportunity
BELIEVES IN HIM…the greatest decision
SHOULD NOT PERISH…the greatest rescue

BUT… the greatest alternative
HAVE …the greatest possession
EVERLASTING LIFE…the greatest gift 

(adapted from PawCreek)