Dead or Alive
Every new year brings new predictions of some new danger in one form or another. The past few years have of course brought pandemics, threats of giant asteroids, and who could forget 'murder hornets'..? I recently learned about a new threat - 'zombie fires'. You may remember the orange haze this past summer from Canadian wildfires...?
Carbon-rich 'peat lands' are common up North and these fires aren't just burning in trees and grasses, new research points to fires moving into the ground as well. Underground fires are significantly harder to extinguish, they release vast amounts of smoke and don't die easily. Arctic soil fires can smolder through the winter and reignite during early spring when temperatures rise, hence the name "zombie fires."
That's just great... As if worrying about the zombie apocalypse wasn't enough, now we have to deal with 'undead fires'... Honestly, I'm not really worried about 'the undead apocalypse' - I've got a plan...
But this morning I do want to talk about this idea of life after death – but in a little different way. We're going to look at a passage from the book of Ephesians ch. 2, verses 1-10. We're going to look at the whole passage, but let's start with the first three verses…
Ephesians 2:1-3 (NIV)
As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, (2) in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. (3) All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath.
So, I want us to think about living 'dead people' – but not the 'undead' variety, but more the…
I. Spiritually dead
When our spirit is separated from our body, we become physically dead. When our spirit is separated from God – we're spiritually dead. The Apostle Paul wrote that we were 'dead in our sins' and that, 'all of us, at one time, lived among those who were spiritually dead'. We all followed the ways of the world and 'the ruler of the kingdom of the air' – meaning the devil. Paul says that when we were in this condition, we were 'objects of wrath' – God's wrath.
And that's not something we really like to think a lot about – being objects of God's wrath – being enemies of God. But because of God's perfection and our imperfection – our sin – by our nature, when we were spiritually dead, that's exactly what we were. And Paul was serious when he says 'all of us'. He wrote this in Romans 3:22-24 (NIV)...
This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, (23) for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, (24) and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.
This condition of being 'spiritually dead' – being separated from God – is exactly where each of us was. The Bible says that we were slaves to sin. But most people in that kind of 'slavery' don't even realize it. They don't know that there is something better. - And they may even try to convince themselves that being 'spiritually dead' – it's not all that bad.
Sin is rebellion against God - whether we realize it or not. And sin is not always so easily recognized. Many have become really good at rationalizing sin. Some are almost convinced that their sins are not really big enough sins to worry about. We try to justify them by suggesting that they're not as bad as the bigger sins of others... We convince ourselves that physical death is a long way off for us, then - so is judgment - if there is any judgment at all. At least that's how the thinking goes…
And sometimes– because we don't want to be seen as judgmental or intolerant – even 'religious leaders' play down the whole 'sin' thing. In order to reach as many as possible – well intentioned or not - sometimes we quietly overlook the idea of sin. But when we do that – we also diminish the incredible power of grace!
God's grace is so amazing only in the light of the reality of our sin! If I'm not really that bad – if sin really isn't such a terrible thing - then God's grace doesn't appear all that essential, or merciful... If my sin really isn't a big deal - why did Jesus have to die for our sins..?
According to God's Word - if anyone has not accepted the forgiveness of sins that comes only through the blood of Jesus Christ – that person is still in slavery to sin and in danger of an eternity separated from God and His blessings! But fortunately there's more to the story…
Before we met Jesus we were spiritually dead. We were just like the rest of the world. We were lost without hope. We were spiritually dead – but through Jesus we are…
II. Made alive
Notice in the passage we read, Paul used the past tense here…"in which you used to live" - "lived among them at one time". Being spiritually dead is what we were when we were in our sins. But now everything has changed! As followers of Jesus – we can put all that 'garbage' - the cravings of our sinful nature – we can put all that behind us! And not because of our own personal inherent goodness - but because of Jesus!
Let's continue in our passage from Ephesians 2:4-9 (NIV)...
But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, (5) made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions - it is by grace you have been saved. (6) And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, (7) in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus.
(8) For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith - and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God - (9) not by works, so that no one can boast.
We were in slavery, but now we're set free! Jesus came to free us from the fate of being spiritually dead – being separated from God! It's not that we won't sin any more, but we don't have to live in sin any more. We don't have to stay buried in a spiritual graveyard.
I can't stop a bird from flying over my head - but I can stop it from making a nest in my hair! I can't stop temptation from coming, and it certainly doesn't appear that I can stop all sin in my life – but I can choose how I will deal with that sin! I can choose whether I embrace it, let it build a nest in my heart – or whether I will reject it and fight against it. It's now my choice!
We were bogged down with the chains of sin, but Jesus broke the chains and set us free! We were locked behind prison walls that blinded us to real life but Jesus tore down the walls and set us free! We were spiritually dead and He made us spiritually alive!
And just as Jesus physically conquered the grave – we have that same power through Jesus! The Bible says that when Jesus died and rose again, many 'saints' who had died 'rose from the dead' and were seen walking around Jerusalem! God's power couldn't be contained! His power spilled all over the place and physically brought other dead people back to life!
Just as the extreme power of God's wrath against sin brought death to Jesus on the cross, so the extreme power of God's grace brought life to Jesus in the grave! And our sin – if it had not been taken to the cross by Jesus – our sin would have put us eternally in our graves – spiritually separated from God. But by the grace of God, when Jesus rose from the dead He gave us power over sin and death so that we could have the promise of eternal life!
The resurrection power of Jesus is incredible! It's the power over sin. It's the power over death! But here's the problem... We were spiritually dead. We have been made alive through Jesus. We are free from sin – however, many have a problem…
III. Letting go of the grave
We've come back from 'among the dead' to live in the fullness of life - and yet many are still trying to live 'among the dead'. In zombie movies or shows - a character may dress like the undead and walk like them in order to fit in and go unnoticed. Do we do that to fit in with the 'spiritually undead'? Do we talk like them and live like them and value what they do - do we just go along with the herd?
In order to share in the resurrection it demands repentance - a rejection of our previous slavery. Repentance literally means 'to turn around'. It's a change of direction, a change of will. Letting go of the grave requires repentance. But that's a step that many aren't willing to take.
Now they probably wouldn't say that they 'want to hold onto their sin' while trying to follow Jesus – but that's what many try to do. And if anyone even mentions repentance from sin – the accusations of hypocrite, legalist, judgmental, mean spirited – the accusations fly. But that is part of the calling. And it is asked of all of us.
2 Peter 3:9 (NIV)
The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.
God's plan for salvation is that everyone be saved. And it's God's desire that everyone come to repentance. Until a person repents - until they're willing to let Jesus help them let go of their sin - they can't be in a position to accept the gift of salvation that God offers. They'll never end up with God if they're walking away from God.
Some try to be 'halfway Christians' with one foot in Heaven and one foot in the world. Not denying they have sin in their life, but still not ready to let go of the grave. They don't want to completely 'give up' control – not even realizing their own slavery to sin.
Jesus offers us the power to live victorious, meaningful lives by sharing in His resurrection. That's something that we can't do for ourselves - only God can do it for us! It's not a matter of us trying harder - 'just try harder and you'll be a better Christian'... No! It's about surrendering our whole selves to Jesus and letting God do the heavy lifting in our lives!
There are many people just hoping to find a good enough deed to win God's favor and maybe a reduction of His wrath and punishment. Doing anything to be good enough for Heaven is impossible. We can never do enough 'good' to make up for our sins. Besides - we don't have to - Jesus did it for us! Letting go of the grave requires help. If we could do it on our own - Jesus' death was in vain...
Some of us think that God should save us because we're relatively good - we really aren't 'bad people'. But God isn't interested in just saving those people who somehow consider themselves worthy - or those who've tried hard to do enough good to balance out the bad. God is interested in giving salvation to everyone! - Everyone! God wants to save anyone who will choose Him! The Bible says...
Romans 5:8 (NIV)
But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
God has already done everything that needs to be done in order to make us holy; to make us acceptable in His sight. He has paid the price for our sins! He has given us victory over sin and death! He has redeemed us and rescued us from eternal death to bring us into His eternal presence!
And once free from the spiritual graveyard – in order to give us a little direction - let's look at the last verse of our passage out of Ephesians…
Ephesians 2:10 (NIV)
For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
We were freed from sin; we were made alive in Christ for a purpose - to do good!
So What?
Dead or alive - it's our choice. Whether or not we believe it, or fully understand it - we were each made alive for a purpose – for God's purposes on this earth! We are each a part of God's Church - you are God's unique possession! We're not a collection of the sinless, but rather a collection of forgiven sinners – a collection of the redeemed! And God wants everyone to be a part of His Church!
The purpose of the Church is not just to sit around and enjoy the fact that we have salvation, but rather to proclaim the Gospel of Christ to the world so that all may come to salvation! God wants His Church to grow. If the church isn't growing, people aren't getting saved! The larger and healthier the body of believers gets, the more people there are to bring more people to Jesus!
It's easy to just sit back and enjoy the fact that we're blessed with a great Church family here. But a healthy Church, by its very nature, must grow. I don't expect that God's dream for Deep River is to become a 'mega church' – but God does want His Church grow. The Church is God's instrument in the world to reach the lost! I pray that God blesses it and that it grows as large as He desires!
We can either walk through that spiritual graveyard and just celebrate the fact that we aren't there anymore - or we can do our best to make sure that others in our world don't stay in the graveyard! We can do our best to make sure those in our families don't stay in the graveyard!
We were made alive for a purpose! And again, I'm very aware it sounds a little crazy telling people about Jesus rising from dead! But someone, at some point, told you – and you are here... Who do you know who needs to hear the truth that will set them free? Jesus is coming back and the final resurrection of the dead is just around the corner!