Though many in the end times stubbornly cling to their fables, even the most wicked know they will eventually depart this most temporary existence: this present life.
“Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.”
–James 4:14
“For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away”
–1PETER 1:24
“As for man, his days are as grass: as a flower of the field, so he flourisheth. For the wind passeth over it, and it is gone; and the place thereof shall know it no more. “
–Psalm 103:15-16
Because man is on this earth for such a short time, so many men are concerned with leaving behind something so that others who come after them will remember them.
A legacy.
In fact, a great many men–particularly the wealthy–are OBSESSED with creating a legacy so that they will not be forgotten.
“But the rich, in that he is made low: because as the flower of the grass he shall pass away. For the sun is no sooner risen with a burning heat, but it withereth the grass, and the flower thereof falleth, and the grace of the fashion of it perisheth: so also shall the rich man fade away in his ways.”
–James 1:10-11
The wealthy man imagines that if he lets go of some of his wealth which he has accumulated, he will be remembered. Bridges, highways, parks, streets, buildings, stadiums, mountains, arenas, lakes, foundations, programs: a great many things are named after influential and wealthy men.
That their name is emblazoned on something fires the imagination that this is a man who will be remembered.
But all legacies are a vanity.
NOTHING in this present world will be remembered.
“For, behold, I create new heavens and a new earth: and the former shall not be remembered, nor come into mind.”
–Isaiah 65:17
Within a few years of a man putting his name on a great bridge or highway, most will have forgotten who that man was. Within a generation or two, the man’s name will not mean anything to the casual observer: just another politically-connected name which was slapped on another government construction project.
Eventually, those names which are on structures which are still used frequently–such as an arena or football stadium–become little more than a sort of retro-GPS identifier: a way for the unfamiliar to locate that structure.
And if the name is used to label a mountain or other geographic feature?
Those names change fairly frequently.
But the reader need not think that it is only the wealthy who desire a legacy. Even the poorer non-believer wants to be remembered.
And so a great industry has sprung up to meet this desire: the business of the poorer man’s legacy.
Graveyards, markers, cemetery plots, engraved messages, crypts, pre-paid graveside services: all are part of the business of providing the less wealthy a chance at imagining they will be remembered.
A great selling point of graveyards and other burial plots is the fiction of “perpetual care“: that the cemetery will be maintained FOREVER–either by a church which is surrounded by such grave plots OR by an organization which is set up specifically to provide care for grave sites bought by the hopeful.
HOWEVER, churches fall into disrepair and the organizations of man fail: the number of abandoned cemeteries runs into the THOUSANDS. To find the latest figure, the reader only need a few minutes and an Internet connection.
So what is the answer to man’s hunger to be remembered?
There is ONLY one answer: eternal life through Jesus Christ.
MORE: Eternal Salvation Through Jesus Christ: Salvation Messages from End Times Prophecy Report
Most men who are not ultra wealthy settle for a hunk of stone.
That marble slab (and the words etched upon it) becomes the common legacy.
The tombstone is the legacy of the poor huddled masses.
The downfall of the common man–and ALL, no matter what their station in this present life–who desires something for the world to remember him by is this: the living imagine that when their cold bodies are in the ground (or their ashes scattered to the wind) that those who remain alive will visit them.
Something which likely did not happen when the deceased was alive.
MORE: LEGACY: Legacies Are a Vanity
HAS the reader spent an inordinate amount of time concerned about his final resting place and the arrangements surrounding it?
It is not YET too late: there is still time to change direction (repent), place your faith (hope) for the future entirely on Jesus Christ and enter the kingdom of heaven.
DOES the reader believe he is saved?
Make Your Calling and Election Sure: End Times Survival
DOES the reader believe he is NOT saved?
Time is Running Out: Today is the Day of Salvation
- Gospel of Jesus Christ: Making a Choice
- The Gospel of Jesus Christ
- Gospel of Jesus Christ: The Power of God Unto Salvation
- Gospel of Jesus Christ: The End Times Power of God Unleashed
THE GOSPEL OF JESUS CHRIST
“Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:
And that he was seen of Cephas, then of the twelve: After that, he was seen of above five hundred brethren at once; of whom the greater part remain unto this present, but some are fallen asleep. After that, he was seen of James; then of all the apostles. And last of all he was seen of me also, as of one born out of due time. ”
–1 Corinthians 15:1-8
“For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.”
-–Romans 1:16
MORE: Eternal Salvation Through Jesus Christ: Salvation Messages from End Times Prophecy Report
[Portions of this piece appeared originally in End Times Prophecy Headlines: September 16, 2019.]
MORE
- LEGACY: No Legacy of this World Will Endure
- Legacy: This World will Pass Away and Not be Remembered
- Life is Temporary: End Times Survival
- LEGACY: Legacies Are a Vanity
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- God is in Control
- The Nature of Spiritual Deception
- Tender Mercies of the Lord: Will Not Always Be Available
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by Jeremiah Jameson
–with Mondo Frazier
image: tiverylucky, FreeDigitalPhotos.net
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Filed under: END TIMES PREPARATION, LIFE, The tombstone: a common man's legacy