The Final Fate 7-5-09
I was watching an episode of the History Channel program Life Without People in which was discussed the durability of various works of man such as the Statue of Liberty, the Houston Astrodome, and Boston’s John Hancock building. The program assumed that all living people suddenly disappear and then looks at what happens afterwards to the “world we leave behind.” In this particular episode, the Statue of Liberty was said to exist for up to an additional three hundred years before succumbing to decay and deterioration due to the lack of human maintenance. It was thought possible that the force of a piece falling (the example given was the torch) might be enough to make an impression mold in the sea floor, which over the years could produce fossilized remains. This then led to the statement at the end of the show that the most persistent human remains would in fact be our bones (such as with the dinosaurs). The ending comment was “this is the final fate of human bodies.”
There are many who believe this statement, that our final fate is to decay and become bones. And they do have the full facts supporting them, don’t they? After all, we have the bones of many dead people available for us to examine. And if this is true, then what is the point of life but to leave the world a better place than when we were here?
But this is not true. Our final fate is not as bones interred in fossilized remains, but instead to be raised up, reinvigorated and made alive. This is an important point, for there are many who claim to believe in God who do not accept the bodily resurrection. They believe that we become ethereal spirits on a higher plane of existence. But that is as false as those who believe in no spirit at all.
But someone may ask, “How are the dead raised? With what kind of body will they come?” How foolish! What you sow does not come to life unless it dies. When you sow, you do not plant the body that will be, but just a seed, perhaps of wheat or of something else. But God gives it a body as he has determined, and to each kind of seed he gives its own body. All flesh is not the same: Men have one kind of flesh, animals have another, birds another and fish another. There are also heavenly bodies and there are earthly bodies; but the splendor of the heavenly bodies is one kind, and the splendor of the earthly bodies is another. The sun has one kind of splendor, the moon another and the stars another; and star differs from star in splendor. So will it be with the resurrection of the dead. 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 Corinthians 15:35-43 NIV)
There is a time appointed when all men, from all times, will be raised and judged. And the judgment will not be “did you make the world a better place?” It will be “how well did you follow God’s laws?” It is not a graduated scale, but rather a “pass/fail” sort of test. And make no mistake, we will all fail that test. Do not delude yourself by thinking that you can live your life as you please, “making the world a better place,” and can therefore rest easy apart from God’s law. But do not despair, either! Although none of us can pass that test, Jesus Christ did! And in doing so, he opened the way for those who put their trust in him to live. Our proof of that will come on the day of the resurrection.
The hand of the LORD was upon me, and he brought me out by the Spirit of the LORD and set me in the middle of a valley; it was full of bones. He led me back and forth among them, and I saw a great many bones on the floor of the valley, bones that were very dry. He asked me, “Son of man, can these bones live?” I said, “O Sovereign LORD, you alone know.” Then he said to me, “Prophesy to these bones and say to them, ‘Dry bones, hear the word of the LORD! This is what the Sovereign LORD says to these bones: I will make breath enter you, and you will come to life. I will attach tendons to you and make flesh come upon you and cover you with skin; I will put breath in you, and you will come to life. Then you will know that I am the LORD.’ “ (Ezekiel 37:1-6 NIV)
God is faithful, and so we can be assured of the fact that the resurrection will happen. Our final fate is not the grave, but rather being raised to stand before God. So with this in mind, do you want to stand there alone? Or would you rather stand with Jesus? That is a choice that must be made now. Your final fate depends on that choice.
-Charles Peterson