From Dust To Glory

Spirit & Life Devotional
Sunday, 5 June 2016
Chinaemerem Joshua Ibezim

From Dust To Glory

"In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for dust you are, and to dust you shall return.” Genesis 3:19 NKJV

The very first time God talked to Adam about death was after he disobeyed God and ate the forbidden fruit. That was the first time that God called Adam dust and announced to him that he would return to dust. Man was not meant to die physically when God created Adam, that's why the first men on earth lived for nearly a thousand years. They would have lived longer, but the effects of sin began to manifest in their physical bodies.

Should being born again make us live physically forever? No. 1 Corinthians 15 enlightens us on this: "For since by man came death, by man also came the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive. For He must reign till He has put all enemies under His feet. The last enemy that will be destroyed is death." Man continues to die physically because death has not been destroyed. What happens to the redeemed man is a resurrection. We die physically but God resurrects us; we die with mortal bodies, but we are raised with spiritual bodies. Even when the rapture happens, our bodies shall be changed! Hallelujah!

So, yes, we will die and our bodies will return to dust, but that's certainly not how the story ends! The Bible says that as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly Man. And 1 John 3:2 says, "Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is." While our bodies may return to dust, our inner man will be glorified! We will be like Him! This is our hope. Glory to God!

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