Day 201 of 365
JESUS AND LIFE BEYOND DEATH
Solomon closes Ecclesiastes the same way he began: " 'Meaningless! Meaningless!' says the Teacher. 'Everything is meaningless!' " However, Solomon adds an important observation at the end of the book: he differentiates the mere human body, which returns to dust, and the human spirit, which returns to God. Solomon's claim that the body will return to the ground echoes the affirmation in Genesis that creatures are mortal; unlike the eternal, living God, humanity's life is a gift, granted and sustained by the breath of God (Ge 2:7). Every human life ends with the burial of a body, and that body returns to the dust from which it was made.
Life is meaningless if a decomposing body in the grave marks the end of the story. But Solomon asserted that in some sense God keeps and preserves human life beyond the grave. While the body of every human turns back into dust after death, "the spirit returns to God who gave it" (Ecc 12:7). There is more to the human body than flesh, blood and bones. . . .
The New Testament affirms and expands the insight that death is not the end. Jesus warned his disciples not to fear those who can only kill the body, but to fear the one who can kill both the body and the soul. God is the only one who has power over the human soul, and his final judgment will answer all the temporary injustices of this sinful world (Mt 10:28; Rev 21:1 - 8). Each soul is of infinite value (Mt 16:26), and believers should devote their souls fully to God (Mt 22:37). Ultimately, the hope found in Christ provides the decisive answer to the troubling questions Solomon raised in Ecclesiastes. Solomon found some solace in the knowledge that the spirit would return to God. But God's people today know that everything is transformed by the hope of heaven: "For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory" (Col 3:3 - 4).
Jesus, I am surrounded by people who believe that life is meaningless. Thank you for rescuing me from this hopelessness. Please give me strength and wisdom to help those who are still caught in this mentality. Amen.
Ecclesiastes 12:6-8 NASB
6 Remember Him before the silver cord is broken and the golden bowl is crushed, the pitcher by the well is shattered and the wheel at the cistern is crushed; 7 then the dust will return to the earth as it was, and the spirit will return to God who gave it. 8 "Vanity of vanities," says the Preacher, "all is vanity!"
Matthew 10:28 NASB
28 Do not fear those who kill the body but are unable to kill the soul; but rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.
Revelation 21:1-8 NASB
1 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth passed away, and there is no longer any sea. 2 And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, "Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be among them , 4 and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away."
5 And He who sits on the throne said, "Behold, I am making all things new." And He said, "Write, for these words are faithful and true." 6 Then He said to me, "It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give to the one who thirsts from the spring of the water of life without cost. 7 He who overcomes will inherit these things, and I will be his God and he will be My son. 8 But for the cowardly and unbelieving and abominable and murderers and immoral persons and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars, their part will be in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death."
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