If you’re a Christian many profound things have happened to you. You’ve been forgiven of all your sins, transformed into a new creation, adopted by God, and you’re heaven-bound. Most significantly, you’re alive! That’s a miracle in itself because you were figuratively dead before the Holy Spirit regenerated your stony heart and gifted you with faith.
Death has been a “way of life” since Eden. God warned Adam, “You mustn’t eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you’ll surely die” (Genesis 2:17). It’s common knowledge Adam didn’t take God seriously because he ate the alluring fruit, anyway. Sadly, the consequences of his disobedience changed everything.
Ian Hamilton wrote, “Physically, the process of death began to take over Adam’s life, but spiritually, at that moment he died. Death’s the state of alienation from God. Death’s the lifestyle of separation from God, the lifestyle of rebellion against the sovereign lordship of God. More than this, death’s a dominion; a kingdom ruled by Satan.”
Like it or not, Adam was the representative head of all humanity. Thus, his fall from grace affected everybody who came after because “…in Adam we all die.” Yet that same verse ends with the greatest news ever: “…in Christ all will be made alive” (1 Corinthians 15:22). That’s due to Jesus’ defeating death on the cross. Our Savior is life itself! The life we have in Christ is a new existence in which we’re no longer estranged from God. Instead, we relate to Him as our loving Father. We’ve gained the comforting peace of mind only His children can know.
What you must ask yourself is: “Have I put all my trust in the Creator who ‘…delivered us from the power of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of the Son He loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins‘ (Colossians 1:13-14)?” Have you acknowledged that, without Christ, you “can accomplish nothing” (John 15:5) because you’d still be spiritually inert?
If you answer both in the affirmative the next question is, “Are you living life like someone who’s been resurrected from the grave and has gotten born again?” It should be obvious to everyone. But too often Christ-followers (me included) are indistinguishable from the “walking dead” who stumble along aimlessly. We should actively shine like lighthouses.
One of the misguided notions many believe is that most folks are “good people.” Wrong. Dead people can’t be “good.” Paul informs Christians, “…you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you formerly lived according to this world’s present path, according to the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the ruler of the spirit now energizing the sons of disobedience, among whom all of us also formerly lived out our lives in the cravings of the flesh and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath even as the rest…”
That statement definitely puts everybody in their place. And we’d all be headed for hell if it wasn’t for the glorious truth Paul conveyed next: “But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even though we were dead in transgressions, made us alive together with Christ – by grace you’re saved! – and He raised us up with Him and seated us with Him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus…” (Ephesians 2:1-6). Hallelujah!
The first tenet of Reformed Theology avers every human being is totally depraved from the get-go, possessing no love for God due to our conviction our life’s all about us and our needs. Skeptical? What’s the first thing a newborn does after exiting the womb? They scream bloody murder! And it doesn’t stop there. They’ll loudly express unrestrained anger immediately every time they feel their will isn’t being done.
Voddie Baucham has, tongue-firmly-in-cheek, called babies “vipers in diapers.” He humorously adds that God makes them tiny and weak so they won’t kill us and that God makes them cute so we won’t kill them. I’m confident every parent knows what he’s joking about. (Bear in mind, he and his wife have nine children.)
Paul borrowed from Isaiah when he wrote, “There’s no one righteous, not even one, there’s no one who understands, there’s no one who seeks God. All have turned away, together they’ve become worthless; there’s no one who shows kindness, not even one” (Romans 3:10-12).
Some argue that native peoples, untainted by the vices of civilization, are naturally gentle, non-violent, and compassionate. That’s a fairy tale. History reveals the tribes that populated America’s prairies for eons did horrible, unspeakably cruel things to anyone they felt superior to or just didn’t like. The same atrocious behavior applies to the primitive clans found in the densest jungles of Africa and Indonesia. The curse of Cain is global.
But I digress. Jesus taught, “Whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it” (Luke 9:24). Spurgeon expanded upon that verse, preaching, “…Salvation is by death and burial. You must be dead to the world. The flesh must be dead with Christ, buried with Christ; not improved, not made better, but utterly put aside as unimprovable, as worthless, dead, a thing to be buried and to be forgotten.”
Non-believers may wonder why anyone would want to lose their life in order to save it. Well, here’s why. The Scriptures explain that those resurrected in Jesus strive to exhibit “…love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. …Those who belong to Christ have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also behave in accordance with the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, being jealous of one another” (Galatians 5:22-26).
Dane Ortlund wrote, “Christ wasn’t sent to mend wounded people, wake sleepy people, advise confused people, inspire bored people, spur on lazy people or educate ignorant people, but to raise dead people.” Jesus is our only hope for life.
Even Christians Get the Blues 