Alive but dead? Dead but alive?

Death is separation of the person from all else that is living. No communication. No sight. No understanding. No hugs. No anger. It means the end of everything loved, enjoyed, felt, sorrow, pain and laughter. Why am I being so morbid? Because knowing what life is includes knowing what death is.

My doctor says as soon as we are born we start to die. She is talking about physical death and as much as we try to avoid the thought, we all are terminal. However, this is not the death that I am thinking about. It is spiritual death, not the separation of myself from all else in this world, but the separation of my spirit from the Spirit of God, a separation caused by sin. Another morbid thought.

Most people avoid the word sin the same way we try to avoid thoughts of death. Maybe that is because these terms are cousins, even siblings. They signify an ending, a brokenness, a ruin. Spiritual death is separation from God — but it has good news attached. It can be fixed, reversed, changed. John wrote:

Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name. (John 20:30–31)

Some might read this and say, “No thanks. I already have a good life. I don’t need life in Christ.” They don’t realize they are physically alive but dead to God, dead in sin. Jesus is not talking about new physical life. He is talking about having the innermost part, our spirits, made alive so that we are in relationship with our Creator, so we have His life, a life that is eternal, one that lasts after these bodies die.

Life is how the Bible expresses what happens to those who believe in Christ. Jesus expressed it this way to the Pharisee, Nicodemus: “Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God” (John 3:3).

This life is described as eternal in quality and is, therefore, the opposite of the state of spiritual death, which means to perish. “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16)

Life in Christ means having His divine nature imparted to my heart. I try to let that sink in. Somedays it is an incredible reality. Somedays so unreal, those days when I feel very human, very far from being a child of God. But faith or believing is not about feelings. God says, “But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God” (John 1:12) and faith believes it, regardless of my feelings.

The same goes for actions. Today I am experiencing a lot of pain and can hardly think about the rest of the world that suffers too, and that needs prayer and compassion. Other days, I can weep for them, pray and call and care. Yet whether my actions are selfish or selfless, Jesus gave me His life to me and He does not take it back every time I act as if He is not here. This new life is eternal, not come-and-go or temporary.

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Jesus, I’m not feeling too lively or eternal today, but that does not change You or Your promises, nor does it change the reality that You will never leave me or forsake me. As for those who do not understand spiritual death because they refuse to think about that word sin, or do not want spiritual life because they do not understand what they are refusing, I pray Your Spirit would shed light into their hearts and minds and by grace and mercy, they would seek and grab hold of all that You promise.