2002-01-01
Good Morning Dear Ones,
The Lord leads me to write about a difficult subject, the “walking dead.” We never like to dwell on the negative aspects of our lives, but His wisdom in leading me to today’s subject can’t be missed. We all recently commemorated the last week of Christ’s life, Holy Week. The Good Friday (Tennebrae) service is the most somber of that week, because it recalls Christ’s crucifixion and the events leading up to it. In our church, the cross is draped in black, and the altar had been stripped at the Maundy Thursday service the night before. The music is also somber. People who lack faith and understanding given by God might ask: why go to such a somber, sad service? But, there is an important benefit from this in addition to the obvious lesson about the historical facts of Christ’s death that it gives us. That is the opportunity for us to see the spiritual contrast between the sadness of Christ’s death and the joy of the celebration of His resurrection the following Sunday. It also helps us to focus on the enormity of the sacrifice and suffering He went through on the cross out of His love for us and desire to provide us with a way to salvation. Just as that is the case, so it is with taking the time to examine what God has to say about the “walking dead,” those people who live a worldly lifestyle and reject Him. We need to look at both sides of the coin, so we can have a more profound understanding of the great blessing the faith God gave us really is.
RO 3: 10-18, “As the Scriptures say, ‘There is no one who is righteous, no one who is wise or who worships God. All have turned away from God; they have all gone wrong; no one dos what is right, not even one [PS 14: 1-3; IS 64: 6; RO 3: 23; PS 53: 1-3]. Their words are full of deadly deceit; wicked lies roll off their tongues, and dangerous threats, like snake’s poison, from their lips [PS 5: 9; PS 140: 3]; their speech is filled with bitter curses [PS 10: 7]. They are quick to hurt and kill; they leave ruin and destruction wherever they go. They have not known the path of peace [IS 59: 7-8], nor have they learned reverence for God [PS 36: 1].” This Romans passage is the words of Paul inspired by God. We can see from them that Paul never strayed from the spiritual lessons of his Jewish upbringing, as he relies heavily on Isaiah and the Psalms in his citations. What this should point out more than anything else is the consistency of God’s message about we He wants us to know about the “walking dead.” To place this “combat intelligence” in the context of what has already been discussed in this spiritual warfare series, we must look at EPH 2: 1-2, so we can see that before we came to faith in Christ, we were also “walking dead.” We also can see who is in charge of their spiritual existence. "In the past you were spiritually dead, because of your disobedience and sins. At that time you followed the world’s evil way; you obeyed the ruler of the spiritual powers in space, the spirit who now controls the people who disobey God.”
Now, we need to look at the alternative God gave us when He took action to thwart Satan’s plan to spread evil, misery, death, and destruction to all mankind. RO 5: 6-11, “For when we were still helpless, Christ died for the wicked at the time that God chose. It is a difficult thing for someone to die for a righteous person. It may even be that someone might dare to die for a good person. But God has shown us how much He loves us-it was while we were still sinners that Christ died for us! By His death we are now put right with God; how much more, then, will we be saved by Him from God’s anger! We were God’s enemies, but he made us His friends through the death of His Son. Now that we are God’s friends, how much more will we be saved by Christ’s life! But that is not all; we rejoice because of what God has done through our Lord Jesus Christ, Who has now made us God’s friends.” If the sweetness of that doesn’t take our breath away, we are automatons! The contrast that these Scriptures give us should not be lost on us. I find it to be more than enough motivation to want to reach out to that part of the group of “walking dead” on this planet that will still listen and carry the live-giving sweetness of the Gospel message to them. If it is His will, the Holy Spirit will do the rest. He alone can bring a person to faith. All we do is set up the conditions for that to happen. To be charged with this responsibility, as we are in MT 28: 19-20 by Christ Himself, is an honor! Think about it.
PRAYER: O Lord, You are the Potter, and we are the clay. You have posed a question upon which we should meditate in JER 18: 6. “Do I not have the right to do with you people of Israel what the potter did with the clay? You are in My hands just like the clay is in the potter’s hands.” We, the Body of Christ, are spiritual Israel, having been grafted in as wild olive branches on to the cultured olive tree [RO 11: 17]. That means that this question applies to Jewish and Gentile believers alike. It is clearly Your will that we should see the magnificence of the blessings You have given us through Christ’s death on the cross and our faith in it is significance to us. We should also feel motivated to accept the invitation that You have offered us to join You in Your work. Your will is that as many of the “walking dead” as possible should be saved. Your God for those who love You is surely not eternal destruction. Dearest Abba, we offer You praise this morning for honoring us with Your love, watching over us as we engage with the adversary in spiritual warfare, and guide us to victory in Your Son’s holy name. We join with David who said in PS 9: 1-2, “I will praise you, Lord, with all my heart; I will tell of all the wonderful things You have done. I will sing with joy because of You. I will sing praise to You, Almighty God.” You inspired Paul to remind us of an important fact in 1 COR 15: 58, “So then, my dear brothers, stand firm and steady. Keep busy always in your work for the Lord, since you know that nothing you do in the Lord’s service is ever useless.” We humbly offer You our confession, and we come to Your altar today to pledge You our eternal willingness to obey Your commands, to serve You with love and diligence, to trust in Your protection, guidance, and provision, to believe You when You tell us that our present suffering and loss is cannot be compared to the glory You will reveal to us later, to thank You profoundly for the love and sacrifice of Your Son on the cross for us, and to offer You praise, worship, and unending adoration. In Christ’s name, we pray. Amen.
Tomorrow, we will look at how we are freed from Satan’s dominion and adopted as God’s children. Nothing like that would even be possible were it not for the unparalleled love that our Creator has for us. As I gaze out of my window, snow is falling and a tiny rabbit is nibbling on blades of grass sticking up through the snow. This may seem like a strange scene to welcome since it is after Easter, but this is Minnesota. We can look around us wherever we are and can find beauty in it, because our God allows us to reach toward His perspective when we spend a portion of each day in His word. The little rabbit has finished his lunch now and is taking shelter under a bush. Our Lord gave the grass, the rabbit, and the bush life. Through the death of His Son, He gave us life too! Peter and I join God in sending our love to you.
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn