DEAD IS DEAD

“And you were DEAD!”

Dead is DEAD. Without breath. Lifeless. Departed. Deceased. A corpse. Kaput!

And… that just echoed in my ears. But that’s how Paul starts Ephesians 2.

Last time I checked there is no hierarchy of dead – a little bit dead, a lot dead, lightly dead, heavily dead. A person is either dead or alive.

Dead puts everyone in the same category. Rich, poor, middle-class, genius, ignorant, wise, foolish, famous, obscure, old, young, strong, weak, good, evil – status, position, age, creed, or race – it makes no difference. The dead are dead.

“And you were dead in trespasses and sins…” ~ Ephesians 2:1

This is an inescapable and poignant truth. We must let its awfulness penetrate deeply. We were illegally in a territory outside of God’s righteousness. It’s called trespass. And sin means our condition before God falls short of God’s acceptability. We missed the mark of righteousness excluding us from His family and alienating us from communion with Him. DEAD.

We all receive Jesus in breathtaking affection and gratitude when we realize we are DEAD.

“…in which [trespasses and sin] you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others.” ~ Ephesians 2:2-3

To be DEAD in trespass and sin is to be confined to its jurisdiction. It is to live under the government and tyranny of the prince of the power of the air. Satan worked evil in our forefathers, and we became children of disobedience and unbelief. We did not choose it, though over time we may have tolerated or embraced it. We were born into this captivity, genetically contaminated with sin, enslaved to demonic authority, and commissioned to live according to our own self-preservation and happiness. Inherently, we were bent to live according to what satisfied us and what we thought was the way that seemed right.

Our destiny? Separation from God. Characterized as a child of God’s wrath. A heart-wrenching plight for the pinnacle of God’s creation that was made in His very image.

DEAD.

The lifestyle you lived prior to knowing Jesus did not make this reality more true or less true. A person is either DEAD or ALIVE. But here’s the thing. Just as there are no degrees of DEAD in SIN, there are no degrees of ALIVE in RIGHTEOUSNESS.

You were just as dead in sin as the most treacherously evil person you can imagine. Comparison gives no advantage in righteousness before God. Self-righteousness is a lethal deception. Self-righteousness understands sin in degrees because it relies on comparison. More sin = worse sinner (or more dead) and vice versa. Self-righteousness will tell a DEAD person, they are alive, keeping them imprisoned to the deception.

Jesus was invited to dinner by Simon the [self-righteous] Pharisee. When Jesus sat down to eat, a prostitute showed up and began weeping, washing Jesus’ feet with her tears, wiping them with her hair, and anointing His feet with oil. Simon was appalled by the fact Jesus allowed her to touch Him. Jesus had a little talk with Simon and in the end, made this statement,

“Therefore I say to you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven, for she loved much. But to whom little is forgiven, the same loves little.” ~ Luke 7:47

Jesus’ statement was directed at Simon who claimed his own righteousness sufficient for God’s favor, especially compared to the prostitute. He had little affinity for loving Jesus because, he thought, there was not much God needed to forgive in his life.

We all receive Jesus in breathtaking affection and gratitude when we realize we are DEAD. Self-righteousness prohibits it.

Dead is Dead. No degrees.

Salvation requires believing in the Lord Jesus Christ AND salvation requires confessing that I am DEAD in sin without Him. DEAD – not because of what I have done, but because of who I am as a child of wrath.

Jesus kneeled before Peter with a basin and towel to wash his feet. Peter with an attitude of self-righteous pride, objected, “You shall never wash my feet.” Jesus answered him, “If I do not wash you, you have no part with Me.” John 13:8

Jesus came to cleanse us from that which we could not clean ourselves. We require His washing. Our efforts are not enough.

A horrible stench wafted into our yard. Something died. I followed my nose as I began exploring our property in search of the source.

The closer I got, the more nauseating the odor. Finally, I arrived to see a dead deer, bloated and baking in the hot autumn sun. The large buck had been shot by an archer who had lost the trail. The deer seemed to be moving, but upon closer inspection, it heaved with the maggots that were consuming its rotting flesh. Batting away swarms of flies and holding my nose my senses were on overload.

Spiritually, without Jesus, I was not unlike this dead deer. DEAD. Stinky. Rotting. Consumed by sin. Preyed upon by demons.

“BUT GOD…” It’s the next statement in Ephesians 2:4. It’s where hope for the DEAD dawns.

Unlike the self-righteousness who shun the DEAD, stick up their nose, and turn away, Jesus went after it. The DEAD do not scare Jesus. They do not disgust Him. Look at this!

Lazarus, Jesus’ best friend, was DEAD. He had died four days before Jesus got there. When Jesus arrived at the tomb, He commanded it be opened by removing the stone door. The first objection came from Martha who said, “by this time there is a stench…”

Jesus, it’s disgusting. Lazarus is DEAD. He stinks. Let’s honor him for who he was, not the rotting corpse you’re about to expose. This reality did not prevent Jesus from commanding in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come forth!”

DEATH did not deter Jesus. He touched the lepers, the unclean, the DEAD. He reached into the corpse of humanity and chose to redeem us from the DEAD.

“…I [Jesus] lay down My life that I may take it again. No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again.” ~ John 10:17-18

It literally takes my breath away when I understand my plight and realize Jesus was not averted or disgusted by my DEADNESS. Instead, He commanded my tomb be opened! The nauseating odor being of no consequence, He commanded, “Come forth!”

And then He lovingly, powerfully set me free of my grave clothes so I could LIVE with Him!

“What Once Was”