The Footprint of Man:
“You hear of the Carbon footprint, well there is another one”
By the Watchman Dana G Smith
keywords: God, earth, world, LORD God, Man, vanity, life, eternity
Words: 2245
Yes it was in the beginning that God, brought forth the earth, the heavens, and all that therein is. It was this sovereign, just, and true God, whom then was known yet unknown. For when man first came, out of the earth so God formed man, then woman afterwards. Thus the relationship began between God and man.
Genesis 2:7 And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.
Genesis 2:18 ¶And the LORD God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him.
Genesis 2:22 And the rib, which the LORD God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man.
Yet in this, man today does not rely on the veracity of it. Especially the bible and as the ‘naysayers’ hold to ‘Darwinism which opposes creationism.’ In this, for those who believe, that in the Lord God all things were created according to John 1, this is what matters most. The bible for many today is Gods record of what happened and this is our copy of that record. Today, however, man does not in mass see this as truth, nor what it details as the sin of man nor his start.
John 1:1 ¶In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
2 The same was in the beginning with God.
3 All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.
4 In him was life; and the life was the light of men.
But then this article is not about all that, nor is it a debate about creationism or Darwin’s theory called evolution, which I call pollution. At any rate, today if you are human, know this, out of the earth you came, and to the earth you shall return. We live daily in our lives, which pass by quickly, as the flower fades so goes our flesh and life. It is appointed by God, not just to live, by his providence, but also to die. After we die, before this God we will all stand. Before this Eternal God, whom Jesus said to call ‘Father’, so stand we before him. The flesh and all that it entails will be gone in a whirlwind that past by the earth as a vapor. For the most part no one noticing who you were nor caring. But for some, the famous one’s anyway, they are remembered by history, by their deeds and accomplishments, or by their fame.
Many of those in the world will never be mourned for nor pitied, nor helped. They live their lives meagerly trying to find morsel of food, a scrap of this or that just to survive one more hour or one day. For them just living is hell and being dead seems to be a method of deliverance. Yet for man, there is no deliverance beyond the grave, unless of course you received Gods ‘love of the truth’, if you do, then there is hope. Man fell, he and woman, along with their offspring can enjoy all the fruits of their labors here or experience misery and toil. The fact remains, God without man is still God and man without God is lost. There is no hope, no promise of that heavenly reward. This was the fruit of the loss of mans relationship with God in the beginning.
Psalms 39:5 Behold, thou hast made my days as an handbreadth; and mine age is as nothing before thee: verily every man at his best state is altogether vanity. Selah.
Psalms 39:6 Surely every man walketh in a vain shew: surely they are disquieted in vain: he heapeth up riches, and knoweth not who shall gather them.
Psalms 89:48 What man is he that liveth, and shall not see death? shall he deliver his soul from the hand of the grave? Selah
Man today tries through science and technology to find ways to live. The search for eternal life, for more of this living, for a longer world experience. We live in a time of unbridled lusts and vast scientific know how. No other generation has had as much knowledge, ability, and the technology to make heaven on earth as we do. Yet for all this, our society is breaking up, bloodshed is everywhere, war is rampant, starvation, famine, plagues, pestilence, disease, and more ravage the world. In all this, even with all we know today, man has days like the ‘flower of the fields’. A short time to be planted, a short time to grow, a short time to reproduce, and a time to bloom, then they die. For a short time the field is blooming, pretty, green, colored with vast flowers, yet they all die. Then a new season and a new crop comes in. So is man and his life.
Psalms 103:15 As for man, his days are as grass: as a flower of the field, so he flourisheth.
16 For the wind passeth over it, and it is gone; and the place thereof shall know it no more.
17 But the mercy of the LORD is from everlasting to everlasting upon them that fear him, and his righteousness unto children’s children;
18 To such as keep his covenant, and to those that remember his commandments to do them.
We hear so much about the carbon footprint. There are those trying to save ‘mother earth’ and telling man he must reduce his carbon footprint. For the earth is dying because of us. It seems that many of these ‘greenies’ would be happy if we who make the carbon footprints just die so ‘mother earth’ will survive. Scripture, however, tells us that the ‘earth is devoured with the curse’, that man ‘destroys the earth’. In all the cycles of life and mans know how, he has never found out how to stop or nullify that one thing which is killing us. That is sin. This one thing we call sin must be dealt with. Men and women today ignore this word, sin. They go on living their meager lives in vanity not understanding this life alone is only the beginning. Beyond this life is true life, eternal life, and redemption. A re-uniting with our God and LORD forever in a ‘new heaven and earth’. Also beyond life is ‘true death’, an eternal separation from God who is Holy. Without Him, his ‘love of the truth’, man is lost and without God or hope in this world and the next.
Isaiah 24:6 Therefore hath the curse devoured the earth, and they that dwell therein are desolate: therefore the inhabitants of the earth are burned, and few men left.
Revelation 11:18 And the nations were angry, and thy wrath is come, and the time of the dead, that they should be judged, and that thou shouldest give reward unto thy servants the prophets, and to the saints, and them that fear thy name, small and great; and shouldest destroy them which destroy the earth.
For now men leave their footprints on the earth. God see’s those prints, which consist of the things men and women do daily. Footprints that are the result of the way they have walked, lived, and then died. Men honor men when they die if they have left a footprint honorable in their sight. We have in the earth monuments, books, streets, cities, and much more to honor the past footprints of men and women. Yet in the end of it all, from eternity, these will all pass by. For this God in the very end will destroy and bring an end to this life, its vanity, and all that is in it. Why? Because it is all vanity, in sin and in rebellion against God! This is his earth and he will prepare a place for himself and all those who love him.
Ecclesiastes 7:15 All things have I seen in the days of my vanity: there is a just man that perisheth in his righteousness, and there is a wicked man that prolongeth his life in his wickedness.
In this, as believers and being saved from the death that results from being separated from our God, we have life. This life is in Christ, it was he who offered up his life as an atonement for our sins. He bore our sins, therefore by our hope in him and his work, we shall enter into eternity in his course and offerings. This means, as we stand before the throne of God, we do so in the ‘mercy of God’ through ‘Christ’ who offered himself up for us. His blood shed, covers our sins, therefore, our sins are covered by this offering up of Christ, the Lamb of God.
Hebrews 9:27 And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:
28 So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation.
As I write this, I remember my own Grandfather. He was a good man, a man of good character and was on the pages of the L.A. Times during World war II. He was many things, a father, husband, mariner, a City manager, a game warden, a fire chief, and my grandfather. I see the picture of him on my desktop. He was a man’s man, a golden gloves boxing champion. But in all this, one whom I knew from a distance, was in fact an atheist. I know his footprints, what he did, but I do not really know him. I knew my other grandfather, but even though I worked with him, ate at his table, and slept under his roof, his life ended without me really getting to know him. I knew him briefly but really did not come to know him, yet he also did not actively speak about God. I know his footprints, his ability as a farmer, husband, grandfather, but little else. He died and today, he with my other grandfather are only memories, on a desktop, from a picture, and in those brief moments I spent with each of them before they died.
2 Peter 3:10 But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.
11 ¶Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness,
12 Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat?
13 Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness.
I remember my mother who died during Christmas. I also know of the heartbreak, the sickness, the terrible times she went through. I know the last time she recognized me, I also know of the former times when we would talk on the phone to each other discussing so much. I also remember the time that she wanted to go be with the LORD, she had enough. This was indeed one of the last times she recognized me and was coherent. She said that the LORD Jesus told her it was not her time yet. All of it vanished in a moment. Now my dad who is in his mid eighties faces life as a bachelor. I visit with him, know him, and what he is like, but he also will come to a time when life will end. What then?
It is to this end, we who have hope, must work and make our footprints count. They must be for the LORD and for those things he loves. There will be a time when in heaven, living in that eternal portal with the LORD that we shall know even as we are also known. We will know our past loved ones who are with the LORD. Christ died for us, but if we just had Christ to get us through this life alone, then all is lost. For Christ came to save the ungodly and the sinner. He came to deliver us into the Fathers eternal kingdom forever. Our Hope is in Christ, which is with him and the Father in Eternity. With us there will be all those who are saved, including our loved ones. Therefore, let us sorrow not, as others who have no hope. Let us know that this Footprint is in the world through Christ and through Christ we will be in eternity.
1 Thessalonians 4:13 ¶But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope.
14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him.
