At times, it’s easy to forget what we are. We know how we look. We know what we have done and what we hope to do. We are not some plant. We are not some animal. We are at the top of the food chain. We are human!

Yet, we are just dust.

But we are the designers of skyscrapers; the makers of atomic weapons; and builders of civilizations.

Yet, we are just dust.

Sometimes we act like we will live forever. Even then, in the back of our mind we know better.

We are just dust.

It’s a fact we must face. To ignore it will doom us. If we do not face our frailty, we will never find our strength.

Meaning to life, joy in life, and peace is not found inside of us.

We are just dust.

Ideas and plans, hopes and dreams may swirl within, but finally, they will come to nothing.

Rich or poor, wise or foolish, weak or strong, at the end, the caption over our life reads, “For dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.”

Those may be old words, but they are true words. Good thing they are not the last words.

The final words for the planned outcome of the human race were spoken under dark clouds on a hill far away. They were recorded for the generations ahead. We treasure them.

“It is finished!” he said.

The one who spoke those words was the same one who told us that dust would return to dust. Now he was shouting we need not fear that return. He had just finished his rescue mission. He had just told a dying human, “Today shalt thou be with me in paradise.”

How can this be? How can frail children of dust enter into never-dying glory?

Only their Creator can allow this to happen. Only their Judge can ordain it. Only their Redeemer can make it so.

“I am the resurrection and the life…” the Redeemer proclaimed. “The one who believes in me will live, even though they die” (John 11:25) he explained.

The dust can return to life. The curse of Eden has been broken. Compassion washed over guilt.

“God so loved the world…”

God the Father knew we could not measure up to the standard that holiness demanded. So, he sent Jesus. He turned the curse upon his own Son. We went free. He knew it had to happen that way.

He knew, and he still knows, the ones he loves are just dust.