Friday, October 29, 2010

Zombies

Zombies. They are gaining attention in the popular culture. There are zombie walks. There are movies about zombies. They are characters in video games. There are talks given about how to survive a zombie apocalypse. There are web sites with zombies as their sole topic. They are all around in our entertainment and thought of as mythical. No one takes them seriously. But I'm here to say they are real and they are all around us. You see them every day. You may in fact be one.

To begin, let's start with a definition. There are many around the web but the one I like best is found at The Zombie Nation:

A living being stripped of it’s will, humanity, and normal behavior by outside forces either supernatural and mundane.
This definition has three elements to it:
  1. dead people,
  2. these people walk around doing things and
  3. they are controlled by an external supernatural force.

Next, let's look at a section of scripture that Paul wrote to the Ephesians:
And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience. Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest.--Ephesians 2:1-3
This passage also includes the same three elements as the definition above.
  1. Anyone living in their sins, anyone not following Jesus, anyone disobedient to God, is dead.
  2. They are walking around following their lusts.
  3. They are controlled by a spiritual force in rebellion to God.
Therefore, they fit perfectly the definition first given. That person is a zombie.

In Adam, everyone inherits a sin nature. From the moment of conception, even though we are alive physically, we are dead spiritually. God knows us, but we don't know Him. We are separated from Him. Cut off. We live according to our lusts, slaves to sin. By ourselves, we have no hope of life. We don't have a chance of lifting ourselves out of the hole we're born in to. It would be like a single individual trying to pay off the debt of the United States. It is impossible.

If this were the end of the story, we'd be in very sad shape. However, it is not. There is some great news.

In Christ, we can be made alive. Jesus revealed God to us. He was a sinless man doing only what the Father told Him. He was the only human who didn't inherit Adam's sinful nature. Although He was all this, He was so much more. Jesus showed us God's heart and character because He was in His very nature God. And because of all this, by His death He paid that debt that was impossible for us to pay. When we accept this gift and put all our trust in becoming alive only in what He's done for us, we are united with Him and receive life from the very author of life. We no longer are slaves to sin but become alive to righteousness.

Everyone was born a zombie.

We don't have to stay that way.

But many still are.

Are you?

Further reading

Romans 5
1st Corinthians 15
Ephesians 2

2 comments:

  1. Cool thoughts Harley. I used them yesterday for my church lesson and again today for the spiritual thought at work :) Thanks

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thanks for the feedback Ryan. Glad you found it helpful.

    ReplyDelete

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