This is the account of the heavens and the earth when they were created, when the Lord God made the earth and the heavens. Now no shrub had yet appeared on the earth and no plant had yet sprung up, for the Lord God had not sent rain on the earth and there was no one to work the ground, but streams came up from the earth and watered the whole surface of the ground. Then the Lord God formed a man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.
Now the Lord God had planted a garden in the east, in Eden; and there he put the man he had formed. (Genesis 2:4-8 NIV)
From the dust you were created once. From the dust God can raise you from the dead. Whenever a death occurs I usually get to hear questions about cremation. There is a fear that if we are cremated that we cannot be risen from the dead. My response (with a smile) is usually something like: "What did God do after He pulled back the waters from the land? Did he not form us from the dust of the ground? If he could create us from dirt once; He can surely do it again whether it is from ashes or from the dust of the earth. No matter what; if it is His will we will rise from the dead. And... what about the faith-filled who have died in fires or other catastrophes where their earthly bodies no longer exist in human form? Do you suppose that He would not give them the eternal life that He has promised to all who believe?"
Do not fear; but, believe. All who believe, though they die will live. Jesus told Martha when she was grieving the death of her brother, Lazarus: "... I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?" (John 11:25)
Do not fear; but, believe. "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." (John 3:16) That is the promise to you."
Now the Lord God had planted a garden in the east, in Eden; and there he put the man he had formed. (Genesis 2:4-8 NIV)
From the dust you were created once. From the dust God can raise you from the dead. Whenever a death occurs I usually get to hear questions about cremation. There is a fear that if we are cremated that we cannot be risen from the dead. My response (with a smile) is usually something like: "What did God do after He pulled back the waters from the land? Did he not form us from the dust of the ground? If he could create us from dirt once; He can surely do it again whether it is from ashes or from the dust of the earth. No matter what; if it is His will we will rise from the dead. And... what about the faith-filled who have died in fires or other catastrophes where their earthly bodies no longer exist in human form? Do you suppose that He would not give them the eternal life that He has promised to all who believe?"
Do not fear; but, believe. All who believe, though they die will live. Jesus told Martha when she was grieving the death of her brother, Lazarus: "... I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?" (John 11:25)
Do not fear; but, believe. "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." (John 3:16) That is the promise to you."
God's Peace - Pr. J
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