Gods Sabbath

C HAPTER 3

Dependent Receivers T he Bible not only defines God as the almighty Source, and Christ as the essential connecting Link, but also shows the frailty, weakness, and helplessness of humanity as the receiver. In the beginning man was created from the dust of the earth, and this is where he returns. “The L ORD God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man be came a living being.” Genesis 2:7. “Man’s fate is like that of the animals; the same fate awaits them both: As one dies, so dies the other. All have the same breath; man has no advantage over the animal. Everything is meaningless. All go to the same place; all come from dust, and to dust all return.” Ecclesiastes 3:19–20. If we would keep this fact in mind, we would be less inclined towards pride. It was this realization that inspired David’s prayer: “Show me, O L ORD , my life’s end and the number of my days; let me know how fleeting is my life.” Psalm 39:4. “For he knows how we are formed, he remembers that we are dust. As for man, his days are like grass, he flourishes like a flower of the field; the wind blows over it and it is gone, and its place remembers it no more.” Psalm 103:14–16.

(47)