The Living Dead
Horror films have been made about the living dead for sheer entertainment and excitement. Dead bodies coming out their graves to scare and kill people - zombies we call them. They have animation, but are technically dead. They do not have feeling or any vitality. The flesh is rotting and they lose limbs easily. They do not communicate - they only moan.
The Bible describes people devoid of God's Spirit as dead. Both Ephesians 2:1 and Colossians 2:13 describes us as being dead in trespasses and sins before God made us alive. What type of death is this? It is spiritual death. Jesus when rebuking the Pharisees described them as beautiful whitewashed tombs on the outside, but inwardly are full of dead men's bones (Matthew 23:27). So, the word of God reveals to us that there are spiritual zombies - those that are alive physically but dead spiritually.
How did man become the living dead? We were born this way unfortunately. We have to travel all the way to the beginning of time; when Adam and Eve disobeyed the Lord in the Garden of Eden. Their sin plunged the entire human race into this living-dead state. When God pronounced death upon them, it included all of their descendants since we were all in the loins of Adam when the sin was committed (Gen 2:17;Rom 5:12).
How can one remain dead while they are still living? Definitely appears to be an oxymoron right? It all has to do with what a person is doing and their relationship to Christ. If you are reading this and you are not in Christ, you are a dead person walking. Every work you do is dead works and is rejected by God. How do I know this? Romans 6:20-21 says, "For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. What fruit did you have then in the things of which are now ashamed of? For the end of those things is death."
The twenty third verse of the same chapter tells us the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Jesus Christ our Lord.
Proverbs 21:27 tells us, the sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the Lord. How much more when he brings with wicked intent or ulterior motives. Proverbs 15:8 says, the sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the Lord, but the prayer of the upright is His delight.
God hates the pretentious "good deeds" of wicked people. Why? Because although the deeds may appear benevolent to the naked eye, God knows every heart, and the wicked's deeds are evil because that is what they love (John 3:19). No one can fool the Lord (Galatians 6:7).
These aforementioned passages amplify my point of what the living dead do versus what the spiritually alive do. Your deeds on the outside prove your inner spiritual condition.
What is the solution to the living dead curse? One MUST be born again or be born from above. All of us have physical birth, but in order to be truly in God's family one has to be reborn or have rebirth. Who causes this to happen, man or God? Jesus told Nicodemus in John 3:3 that he had to be born again to see the kingdom of God. In other words Nicodemus and all of us have to be regenerated by the Spirit of God. The Holy Spirit has to raise us from spiritual death just like Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead by His power (John 11:43-44).
God is the one that causes rebirth. Just like you and I could not cause our physical birth which is of the flesh, neither can we bring about our rebirth which is of the Spirit (John 3:6). And just like the wind that we cannot see but we feel it's power, the Spirit of the Lord is the same. We cannot see Him, but we see the effects He has on our lives which clearly indicates He dwells on the inside.
In summation here is the reality of all people who will ever live: The living dead live once and die twice. those in Christ live twice and may die once. Let me explain. The living dead will die physically and spiritually. Spiritual death is also called the second death in the book of Revelation 2:11; 20:14; 21:8. Those of us who are in Christ will never taste the second death and many will never taste physical death if they are alive when the rapture comes. They will simply be caught up to meet the Lord in air to be with Him forever (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18).
How can one remain dead while they are still living? Definitely appears to be an oxymoron right? It all has to do with what a person is doing and their relationship to Christ. If you are reading this and you are not in Christ, you are a dead person walking. Every work you do is dead works and is rejected by God. How do I know this? Romans 6:20-21 says, "For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. What fruit did you have then in the things of which are now ashamed of? For the end of those things is death."
The twenty third verse of the same chapter tells us the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Jesus Christ our Lord.
Proverbs 21:27 tells us, the sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the Lord. How much more when he brings with wicked intent or ulterior motives. Proverbs 15:8 says, the sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the Lord, but the prayer of the upright is His delight.
God hates the pretentious "good deeds" of wicked people. Why? Because although the deeds may appear benevolent to the naked eye, God knows every heart, and the wicked's deeds are evil because that is what they love (John 3:19). No one can fool the Lord (Galatians 6:7).
These aforementioned passages amplify my point of what the living dead do versus what the spiritually alive do. Your deeds on the outside prove your inner spiritual condition.
What is the solution to the living dead curse? One MUST be born again or be born from above. All of us have physical birth, but in order to be truly in God's family one has to be reborn or have rebirth. Who causes this to happen, man or God? Jesus told Nicodemus in John 3:3 that he had to be born again to see the kingdom of God. In other words Nicodemus and all of us have to be regenerated by the Spirit of God. The Holy Spirit has to raise us from spiritual death just like Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead by His power (John 11:43-44).
God is the one that causes rebirth. Just like you and I could not cause our physical birth which is of the flesh, neither can we bring about our rebirth which is of the Spirit (John 3:6). And just like the wind that we cannot see but we feel it's power, the Spirit of the Lord is the same. We cannot see Him, but we see the effects He has on our lives which clearly indicates He dwells on the inside.
In summation here is the reality of all people who will ever live: The living dead live once and die twice. those in Christ live twice and may die once. Let me explain. The living dead will die physically and spiritually. Spiritual death is also called the second death in the book of Revelation 2:11; 20:14; 21:8. Those of us who are in Christ will never taste the second death and many will never taste physical death if they are alive when the rapture comes. They will simply be caught up to meet the Lord in air to be with Him forever (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18).
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