The Only Thing Humans Create That Lasts Forever
Posted on February 10, 2019
Several years ago, I led a discussion about creativity with a group of students. After listening to some of their ideas about the greatest things that humans ever created, I asked them a more difficult question:
“Have humans ever created anything that lasts forever?”
I knew they took the question seriously because there was a brief period of silence from this normally boisterous group. As they began trying to process through an answer together, they mentioned things like cave paintings, ziggurats and pyramids. However, as the conversation wound down, they ran out of possibilities and finally came to an agreement on “No”, humans did not create anything that lasts forever.
And then I asked the question every student probably hates hearing: “Are you sure?”.
They responded the way most students do when asked that question: they asked me the original question: “Well, CAN humans ever create anything that lasts forever?”. My response was simple: “Yes, I believe we can.” One of my bolder students shot back: “Oh yeah…what DO humans create that lasts forever?”. I smiled and replied:
“The only thing humans ever create that lasts forever is more humans.”
I went on to explain that, as a Christian, I believe each human has an eternal soul/spirit (1 Corinthians 15). We are more than just these physical bodies. I shared with them a quote from C.S. Lewis in The Weight of Glory:
“There are no ordinary people. You have never talked to a mere mortal. Nations, cultures, arts, civilization—these are mortal, and their life is to ours as the life of a gnat. But it is immortals whom we joke with, work with, marry, snub, and exploit—immortal horrors or everlasting splendors.”
Our bodies may die but our souls/spirits will live forever. Every other thing that humans create will eventually pass away (Rev. 21:1). But not us. In a trillion years, we will still exist. Therefore, every time we make a new human we are actually participating in the creation of something that lasts forever.
In following this line of thinking then, sex is the most powerful creative act in the universe. When a man and a woman come together in a sexual relationship, the possibility of creating an eternal soul/spirit arises. At the moment of conception, a new immortal soul/spirit has entered into eternity. As I watched my three children being born into this world, I can only describe the experience as a holy moment, a transcendent experience that nearly defies explanation.
However, we are not the only ones who understand the power of sex. The Scriptures reveal within the first three chapters of Genesis that we have enemies of our souls: the devil and all of the demonic forces that side with him. Our enemy’s ultimate goal is to isolate us from one another until we lose all hope. The devil can’t kill us but he can lie to us until we are surrounded by darkness in despair.
Having existed for millennia, the devil and his fallen angels know the powerful creative connection that healthy sexual relationships establish. Consequently, our enemy has strategically engaged in an all-out attack on sex for thousands of years. Appealing to our broken and selfish natures, the enemy has encouraged sexually infidelity, exploitation, abuse, confusion and perversion. He knows that if he can ruin human sexuality he can isolate us from one another, undermine the foundations of the family and sows the seeds of discord in the community all at once (which, by the way, is a brilliant strategy if you’re trying to destroy a group of people).
Our enemy hates healthy sexuality for at least three reasons. First, a healthy sexual relationship between a committed husband and wife brings joy and intimacy to both partners. Next, as married couples enjoy sex, the opportunity arises to create more humans, people that God has explicitly said that He loves (John 3:16). Why would the enemies of God want to give Him more of what He loves? Finally, babies and young children are signs of hope and their future potential undermines our enemy’s desire to see humanity in despair.
As I wrapped up the discussion with my students, I reminded them that the creative God of the universe had made us in His image and designed us to create like Him. We have been given the gift to create and design beautiful expressions of our imaginations, minds and hearts. But the ultimate creative act remains the procreation of new immortal souls/spirits through sex. And our enemy will stop at nothing to rob or ruin it for all of humanity. In the end, the creative power of a healthy sexual relationship between a committed husband and wife can not be underestimated and should not be squandered.