Zombies No More

But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved.

Ephesians 2:1-5

If you spend any time in pop culture today, you'll be sure to run into zombies. I'm not referring to the animated corpses of Haitian folklore, but to the fictional beings originally popularized in George Romero's film, The Night of the Living Dead. Now, you can find zombies in movies, comic books, video games, television, and music. They are the "undead," beings that were once human but are now in a trance-like state as they stalk their prey. They are driven by desires they cannot control and that will never be fulfilled.

As you will recall, the Apostle Paul begins Ephesians 2 by saying that we were dead, trapped by sin, under the power of Satan and this fallen world, with desires that drive us to live far less than the human lives God had intended for us. If Paul were writing the letter we call Ephesians today, he might have begun this chapter by saying "You were zombies." Our existence was not unlike that of zombies in popular culture: dead and undead, alive but far less than fully alive.

Yet, the terrible news of our zombie-like state is a preface to the wonderful news of God's salvation. Because God is rich in mercy and full of love, he "made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions." God made us alive, truly alive, fully alive. In a phrase, the good news could be paraphrased as "You are zombies no more!"

This is news we need to hear. And it is news desperately needed in our culture today. I suspect that the popularity of zombies reveals that many people feel the deadness of their lives. Though they appear to be alive, they feel driven and despairing. They are yearning for real life, the life God intended for them from the beginning, the life that can be found because God "made us alive … even when we were dead."

FOR FURTHER REFLECTION:

In your life, do you ever feel like a zombie? Do you ever feel as if you're just going through the motions? How do you respond to the good news that God has made you alive? How do you experience this reality in your daily life?

PRAYER:

Gracious God, thank you for the fact that you have made me alive in Christ. Thank you for not abandoning me in my state of living death. Thank you that I am a "zombie no more."

Help me, dear Lord, not only to believe the good news that you have made me alive, but also to experience it each day. May I be fully alive in you today! Amen.

READ THE PASSAGE IN CONTEXT:

As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, 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. All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath. But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved.

Ephesians 2:1-5