It was my observation, while reading Solomon in the Book of Ecclesiastes (chapter 12), that Solomon expresses an ardent desire for us to remember him and his life. I suspect that is true of most of us, we all want to leave things behind that stand the test of time, which are of some sort of value. It can be houses we built, children we taught, families we raised, records of achievement we set – it can be as varied as there are butterfly species, but we all wonder; did we have influence? Death brings a momentous change to us — are we remembered?
Solomon asks us in Ecclesiastes 12:6-7 to — remember him, before the silver cord is severed, and the golden bowl is broken; before the pitcher is shattered at the spring, and the wheel broken at the well, and the dust returns to the ground it came from, and the spirit returns to God who gave it [NIV].
Pepper told me a parable about a guy who tried to barter with God on the topic of creation. This guy seemed to think that any of us could do what God did. He talked about the marvels of technology, the things we do now that were not conceivable in the day of Moses. He mused that we had more thinking power in our hand (cell phone) that every person existent during the time Moses could muster in the aggregate. This guy bragged that our medical advancement had negated the need for healing. He accused God of being a foolish dated relic. The Man claimed we had moved far beyond God’s primitive sense of morality; our understanding of human relationships and genetics are far more enlightened than Gods. Then the man said to God – give me a few days – I will make a better human than you made. The man bent over and started to pick up a little dirt to build a new human. God, who was silent until now, said – You can’t use that dirt. The man asked, why? It’s just dirt. God replied, well, that is my dirt, I made it. Make your own dirt, and while you’re at it, make your own earth and your own air.
Psalms 49:10-14 — For all can see that the wise die, that the foolish and the senseless also perish, leaving their wealth to others. Their tombs will remain their houses forever, their dwellings for endless generations, though they had named lands after themselves. People, despite their wealth, do not endure; they are like the beasts that perish. This is the fate of those who trust in themselves, and of their followers, who approve of their sayings. They are like sheep and are destined to die; death will be their shepherd (but the upright will prevail over them in the morning). Their forms will decay in the grave, far from their princely mansions [NIV].
We are a strange sort of a creation, we are created in God’s image, yet we are made from dirt. With Jesus, our body may decay in the grave, but our soul communes with God on gold streets. We could live our entire life like the Frank Sinatra song – I did it my Way (see Genesis 3:19). But we all will eventually answer for our foolishness. Our mortal bodies are a mere transportation device.
But our soul, that is a different matter. We are like a beam of light that returns to God. He raised us from dust, breathed life into us, and placed the soul inside of us (Genesis 2:7). The soul does not perish with the body; it is redeemed by the blood of the Lamb from the darkness of the grave (Psalm 49:15). The soul can subsist without the body and will flourish in heaven (as a candle burns brighter in the open space rather than in a lantern). On Judgement Day, if we are among the redeemed, we do not endure death, we stand in front of the living God, the one who owns the dirt, the one who owns us. We are defended by the mediator (Jesus) and found not guilty – our debt paid. Are we remembered? Oh yes. In the most important event of our existence, the mediator remembers us forever. We live forever, our body and soul are reunited just after death.
I choose Jesus.