The Regression of Humanity

    "You are dust, and to dust you shall return."  These words from God recorded in Genesis 3:19 are a stark reminder of our terminal condition.  The consequence of rebellion is a regression of our humanity.  We were constructed out of dust and divine breath.  "To dust you shall return" is the regression of all that God intended for us.  Extract the water that hydrates.  Take away the very breath of God that separates us from inanimate objects and the animal world.  And then we return to our base ingredient, the dust of the earth. 

    If death is regression, the gospel is a progression.  Resurrection puts back together the dust, the water, the breath.  It's a progression, not simply to our present state, but to a state beyond.  A new man and a new woman.  The image of all that God dreamed for us to be.  With the the ashes rubbed into the creases of your forehead, remember the regressive consequences of your condition.  And trust in the progressive hope of a life we have yet to see.  All because One Man returned from the dust.