Of Earth and Heaven

In the book of Genesis, we read that "the Lord God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature." (Genesis 2:7, ESV here and throughout) Also, after Adam sinned, we are informed that God told him that he would "return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return." (Genesis 3:19) Likewise, in the book of Ecclesiastes, we read that "the dust returns to the earth as it was, and the spirit returns to God who gave it." (Ecclesiastes 12:7) Interestingly, we see that humans are closely associated with the earth - that which provided the building blocks of the physical organism that we currently are.

Nevertheless, the Apostle Paul told the saints at Corinth that we (humans) also have the potential to be remade of better stuff. He wrote about the resurrection of dead humans on this wise: "So is it with the resurrection of the dead. What is sown is perishable; what is raised is imperishable. It is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness; it is raised in power. It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. Thus it is written, 'The first man Adam became a living being'; the last Adam became a life-giving spirit. But it is not the spiritual that is first but the natural, and then the spiritual. 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, 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." (I Corinthians 15:42-49) In other words, that which was formerly of the earth will someday be of heaven!