More Than Dust

This week I finished reading the book of Job after about a month of slowly walking through this story marked by pain and difficulty. Outside of the larger take away from Job’s story that God is supremely greater in wisdom, power and glory than any other part of His creation, there was another point that stuck out to me from the text. 

Man is more than dust. Contrary to what the Materialist would believe, man is more than matter. You and I are more than a lump of cells that were formed spontaneously, or even by chance over the course of several million or billion years. Job’s so-called friend, Elihu acknowledges this truth as he states, “The Spirit of God has made me, and the breath of the Almighty gives me life” (Job 33:4).

This one verse captivated me. It reminded me that every living thing that exists in all of creation is by nature alive if and ONLY if it has been given breath of life by the almighty God, maker of the universe. This is true for every living creature that exists on earth. Life comes from life as God breathes His life into all of creation.

We see this in Genesis as the Biblical author gives an account of man’s formation. The author writes, “Then the LORD God formed man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being” (Gen. 2:7). The reality is that man may have been formed from the dust of the earth, but we are so much more than dust. We are dust that has been uniquely fashioned and brought to life for the purpose of knowing God and reflecting His glory through creation. 

The very fact that I am conscious in this moment, able to think, process, and contemplate life is due to the fact that God has breathed His life into me. He has given me a spirit, or soul that will one day return to Him, when my body is gone and decaying. This thought alone encourages me greatly and it ought to encourage you as well. All that we see, feel, and experience in this life is but a shadow of what is to come. What happens here is not final. When we die, we do not simply return to the dust, something else takes place. Our spirit returns to the one who made it. 

In Ecclesiastes, Solomon speaks of this reality. He says, “And the dust returns to the earth as it was, and the spirit returns to God who gave it” (Ecclesiastes 12:7). If I were to end my thoughts here, you may walk away thinking I am some kind of Universalist who believes that every living being will one day be saved from death and live eternally with God. This is not my view. 

While I believe every spirit or soul, will one day depart the body, and return to God, I do not believe every spirit will be accepted by Him. Many will stand in judgement before God, not in their physical body while on earth, but in some way spiritually when their physical body has passed away. The burning question that should exist in all of our hearts, especially yours if you are reading this right now, is "will God accept my spirit when I die? Will He accept me and grant me access to live with Him for all eternity"? 

The answer to that question depends on one thing, whether you belong to Christ or to Adam. Writing in 1 Corinthians 15, Paul says, “The first man was from the earth, a man of dust; the second man is from heaven. As was the man of dust, so also are those who are of the dust. Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the man of heaven”. From the one man, Adam, came death through sin and disobedience. Naturally we are like Adam, but our need is to be transformed by the second man, Jesus through faith and surrender so we can instead belong to him. 

When we have been transformed by the Man of Heaven, we can be sure that our spirit will return to God to live with Him for eternity. We can be like the martyr Stephen who looked unto heaven as he was being stoned and said, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit” (Acts 7:5). You and I are more than dust. We may be frail, oftentimes broken, confused, and disappointed, but that doesn’t alter the fact that we have “this treasure in jars of clay” (2 Corinthians 4:7). 

If you are a follower of Jesus, you may feel feeble at times, but that does not change the fact that when you die, your spirit will rest with God for all eternity because in the words of Paul, you have been “sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory” (Ephesians 1:13). 

Your body absolutely will return to the dust one day, but remember you are more than dust. You along with everyone you interact with on a daily basis are immortal. C.S Lewis makes this point in his book The Weight of Glory by saying, “There are no ordinary people. You have never talked to a mere mortal." This thought alone ought to produce a certain weight of responsibility in our lives to stop and consider whether we have taken the time to tell our neighbor that they are more than dust. 

Remember, you are more than dust. You are breathing right now because God has breathed on you. Resolve today to use the breath God has given you to tell someone this great news.