An Indestructible Life
By David Faust
“How long will it last?” That’s a good question to ask if you’re buying a car or a kitchen appliance. Most things don’t last forever. Junkyards are filled with cast-off treasures, and history is littered with the rubble of proud and once-powerful nations. The Babylonians tore apart God’s beautiful temple and destroyed the Holy City of Jerusalem, and centuries later—when the city and the temple had been rebuilt—Jesus foretold that the Romans would tear them down again.
Despite all the benefits of modern medicine, we can’t prevent the destruction of another kind of temple. Someday our bodies will succumb to the grave. Nature tends toward disorder, disintegration, and death—it’s the second law of thermodynamics at work. Clothes wear out. Land erodes. Metal rusts. Wood weathers. Homes and gardens require constant upkeep. Fortunes can be destroyed (and so can careers and reputations). Twenty years ago, terrorist attacks brought massive buildings crumbling to the ground on 9/11. Someday the stars, including our mighty sun, will burn out. Nothing seems indestructible except fictional movie superheroes. Our hearts long for eternity, but death appears to rule the day.
Yet, according to the Bible, indestructible things do in fact exist; just don’t expect to find them among worldly treasures that are aging like an outdated wardrobe. The psalmist compares temporary things with the eternal God and tells the Lord, “They will perish, but you remain; they will all wear out like a garment. Like clothing you will change them and they will be discarded. But you remain the same, and your years will never end” (Psalm 102:26-27). Another psalm describes the Messiah in forever terms. “The Lord has sworn and will not change his mind: ‘You are a priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek’” (Psalm 110:4).
MYSTERY MAN
Melchizedek is a mysterious figure in Scripture. He stepped into the pages of Genesis as the righteous king of Salem (“peace”), foreshadowing the Prince of peace and King of kings. Long before priests and Levites served in the temple, Melchizedek was a priest of God Most High, foreshadowing Christ, our true High Priest. Melchizedek brought bread and wine to bless Abraham centuries before Jesus blessed the bread and the cup at the Last Supper. Abraham showed respect for Scripture’s mystery man by presenting Melchizedek a tenth of his wealth (Genesis 14:18-20).
Jesus Christ didn’t come from the bloodline of the priestly tribe of Levi, but like Melchizedek, he derived his priestly credentials from a higher source. Hebrews 7:16 says Christ “has become a priest not on the basis of a regulation as to his ancestry but on the basis of the power of an indestructible life.”
An indestructible life? That’s what we all want, but where can we find it? Not in philosophies spawned in the minds of ordinary men and women. Not even in the laws and traditions surrounding the Old Testament priesthood. Christ himself owns “the power of an indestructible life.” Crucifixion could kill his body, but it couldn’t destroy his life. His resurrection proves he can bring us indestructible hope and “an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade” (1 Peter 1:4).
When choosing a worldview and deciding what we’ll trust when facing death, here is a good question to ask: “How long will it last?” If the answer isn’t “forever,” we’re aiming too low.
Personal Challenge: In an average day, how much time do you spend thinking about things that last forever compared to things that are temporary? What steps could you take to fix your mind “on things above, not on earthly things” (Colossians 3:2)?
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