Mere Mortals?

We are mere mortals. Or are we?

From a biological point of view, we are indeed mere mortals. We are involved in a cycle of life and death. We can take no credit for our lives, and we are not able to evade death. The biology and the chemistry is determinative for the beginning and the end, and some people say for all that happens in the middle, even our passions and decisions.

But from a theological point of view, we are immortal. We are more than mortal. Yes, we stand under humanity’s sentence of death, but our soul, and our bodies, due to resurrection, will live forever. We deal with death, but we are not defined by death.

If we are not defined by death, then what defines us? I believe the Biblical answer, though hugely profound, is quite simple. What is our standing with regard to God? Are we with Him, or apart from Him? After all, He is the Creator and the final Arbiter, the Beginning and the End. When the drama of Creation, Redemption and Consummation are finally completed, it will be a reflection of who He is much more than who we are.

So the largest issue for each baby, teen and adult is this: what is your standing with regard to God? This issue is more critical than health and nutrition; than education and life/social skills; than money and property. On that day when we make the amazing transition from this world as we know it to an eternal future lived either in God’s eternal favor or God’s eternal approbation, all these other issues will be insignificant. The life lived for a few years in this arena will be only a speck compared with the times of our eternal destiny.

So why do we often choose to live as though we were are mortals? Why do we live as though biology and chemistry are determinative? Why do we invest so heavily in a passing world, and so little in an eternal one? Is it because we do not believe in God’s future, but only in our present? Is it because we take the gods of this world seriously, but not the God who made heaven and earth?

There is a stupid saying that goes, “If you have your health, you have everything.” No, if you have God, then you have everything. And if you do not have God, then everything you have will not be nearly enough.