“The Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground.” (Genesis 2:7). The first major truth our Creator shared with the human family was this: “Dust you are and to dust you shall return!” He let Adam and Eve know up front that they were mortal beings and would someday die, returning to the earth from which they were taken. He further told them that if they were disobedient to Him and His instructions and counsel that they would someday surely die, that is they would die a death from which there would never be a resurrection, the second death! God then built upon that sure foundation of eternal truth generation after generation through enlightenment given His prophets and chosen spokesmen. Revelation was progressive and never contradictory. If and when one hears a doctrine, a teaching that runs counter to the foundational statements of truth uttered early on by our Creator, then Satan has “entered the garden,” once again, so to speak, and is sowing seeds of confusion.
“The dead praise not the Lord, neither any that go down into silence (i.e., the grave)” (Psalm 115:17). George Jones, Tammy Wynette, and Frank Sinatra are not sitting around God’s throne singing their hearts out. Redeemed or unredeemed when they died – they DIED! They, and all others born human who have passed away, are dead, awaiting a resurrection to restore them to life! “His (a human’s) breath goes forth (he breathes his last breath), he returns to his earth. IN THAT VERY DAY HIS THOUGHTS PERISH!” (Psalm 146:4).
Jesus warned, “The scripture cannot be broken.” (John 10:35). It is what it is. ‘He (God) remembers that we are dust” (Genesis 103:14). Due to false teaching, men are prone to forget that. God does not! In the mind of God, as well as in the mind of every truly informed believer, death is nothing more than a profound sleep – a sleep from which the one at rest will someday be awakened by none other than His Lord and Savior! Why fear sleep? Sleep is the welcome rest at the end of a long and trying day. Life, to those of us who have been granted many years, is nothing more than a long and trying day. We look forward to taking our rest in sleep, knowing that when we awaken we shall be clothed in immortality and enjoying incorruptible spirit bodies far more real and lasting than our failing physical frames. We know, also, that we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. And, just as in the flesh we sometimes have a bit of trouble in falling to sleep, so, too, some may have some difficulty in entering their final rest. But God gives grace and strength to meet every pain, every discomfort, every difficulty along the way.
Our Creator wants us to trust Him, to rely upon Him, to depend upon Him, and to believe Him even when every one of our physical senses is leading us to doubt and to fear. It took me many decades to learn that perfect trust comes from perfect obedience. The more obedient we are to our Lord, the more real He becomes in our life. Daily, or continual, disobedience pushes the spirit world further and further away and reduces Jesus Christ to nothing more than an historical figure. Those of us who are in, or have passed our eighth decade of life, have much to be thankful for. Billions never made it this far! At the judgment God might well ask, “What did you do with the added years? Did you realize their value and their scarcity? I invested much time in you; where are my dividends?” I, for one, want to answer Him well.
Christ’s Aged Servant (Galatians 1:10-12),
Donald Wiley