God's Death Promise

 At the end of Genesis, Joseph dies. His last request is a testament to his unwavering faith and his awareness of a storyline that is larger than one lifetime: “I am about to die, but God will visit you and bring you up out of this land to the land that he swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.” Then Joseph makes the sons of Israel swear, saying, “God will surely visit you, and you shall carry up my bones from here” (Gen. 50:24–25). 

Like Joseph, we can consider our death and go to our graves in the certainty that God will do exactly as he has promised. The worker of God goes into the dust, and the work of God continues without faltering.1

Knowing this with perfect clarity, our Saviour laid down his life willingly. Will we do the same? When we know our days are short, will we be grateful for what we’ve been given or greedy for what we have not? 

Yes, you may say, but Jesus knew he would be raised. He knew he could go into the grave and come back out again. Friend, so do you. If this meditation on the brevity of life has left you feeling as good as dead, remember that you are as good as raised.

The first man [Adam] was from the earth, a man of dust; the second man [Jesus] is from heaven. As was the man of dust, so also are those who are of the dust, and as is the man of heaven, so also are those who are of heaven. Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the man of heaven. (1 Cor. 15:47–49) 

We can allow our bodies to follow the downward curve free from fear. Not free from suffering and loss, no, but with the certainty that even this decline will shape our souls. Even this decline will prepare us for the next life. This outward wasting away is our proof that trust in the man of heaven is the most basic of all wise acts. To gain a heart of wisdom is to see that trust grow luminous with the passage of years. One of my favourite hymns reminds us to sing this truth:

   Frail children of dust, and feeble as frail, in you do we trust, nor find you to fail. Your mercies, how tender, how firm to the end, our Maker, Defender, Redeemer, and Friend!

Firm from the beginning, firm to the end. Mercies for every day in between. Hear the words of Isaiah 46:9–10: 

     I am God, and there is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done, saying, “My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purpose.” 

What is that purpose as it relates to body and soul? Our Maker built us for interdependence with one another and for total dependence on him. Our bodies are made to remind us we are children of dust. Our souls are made to remind us we are children of heaven. Both together, from beginning to end, are for his glory alone.