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.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

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.

Alive through the spirit . . .

In my understanding, a person could be diagramed with small circle in the center, a second one around it, and a third one around both. The small circles represent the human spirit, the next one is the soul, the third is the body. In an unsaved person, the spirit is separated or ‘dead’ to God and almost useless. The soul includes emotions, volition and intellect. It operates entirely on input from the outer circle which includes physical desires and anything perceived by the senses.

In this diagram, when the spirit is given new life from God, the input changes. We begin to live by faith — which is a function of our spirit. We learn to walk by faith we walk rather than by sight or emotions, reasonings, or personal desires. This visual has its flaws, but it helps me understand verses like:

"But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh." (Galatians 5:16)

"Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ." (1 Thessalonians 5:23)

It also helps me understand why the disciples on the road to Emmaus did not recognize Jesus. Could it be that they had not yet learned to perceive and understand Him through the spirit? Could that be the only way to ‘see’ Jesus? Is this why the religious leaders missed the reality of who Jesus is? Whatever was going on in them, this encounter with Jesus opened their hearts so they understood who He was.

“So they drew near to the village to which they were going. He acted as if he were going farther, but they urged him strongly, saying, ‘Stay with us, for it is toward evening and the day is now far spent.’ So he went in to stay with them. When he was at table with them, he took the bread and blessed and broke it and gave it to them. And their eyes were opened, and they recognized him. And he vanished from their sight. They said to each other, ‘Did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the road, while he opened to us the Scriptures?’ And they rose that same hour and returned to Jerusalem. And they found the eleven and those who were with them gathered together, saying, “The Lord has risen indeed, and has appeared to Simon!” Then they told what had happened on the road, and how he was known to them in the breaking of the bread. (Luke 24:28–35)

This diagram also helps me understand what Tozer writes in today’s devotional. He says, “God does not play on our emotions to bring us to the point of spiritual decision” but he also writes, “When in our Christian experience our emotions are raised, it must be the result of what God’s truth is doing for us” and “Whatever else it embraces, true Christian experience must always include a genuine encounter with God.”

When the human spirit is made alive through faith in Jesus Christ, then God begins to use our souls to govern our bodies rather than the other way around. He informs my spirit by His Word and His Spirit. My enlightened spirit then governs my thinking, emotions, and decisions. I can disregard input from my body and the outside world unless God is using some of that to reinforce what He is telling me through my spirit.

This is why joy does not depend on circumstances; it is a fruit of the Spirit through my inner spirit and cannot be taken away from me. The same is true for love and all other spiritual fruit.

This is why I can decide to serve the Lord even when circumstances seem against it. He is informing me in the deepest part of my being and I just ‘know’ what He wants me to do.

This is why God tells me to be renewed in my mind. It isn’t about education or reading other books. It is about listening to the Holy Spirit as I read God’s Word. He feeds my mind with godly thoughts and ideas and instead of thinking by outer evidence, a renewed mind sees life and the world through God’s eyes.

This also explains the following verses:

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation.” (2 Corinthians 5:17–18)

God changes sinners (who operate soulishly because their spirit is dead) to live in a new way. He makes the inner person come to life and enables us to hear and communicate with Him. Simple, yet incredible.

^^^^^^^^^^

Lord Jesus, thank You for giving new life, for making my spirit alive to You. I’ve done a lot of stumbling and made many mistakes as I try to live this new way, but You are saving and keeping me. I am so grateful!

From dead in sin to alive in Christ

We easily use ‘dead’ as a euphemism for sleep — “Last night I slept like a dead person” — but the Bible uses it as a description for all people because we are by nature dead in sin. Death means separation from life, and in the case of sin, separation from God.

In the divine legal system, every person is born legally dead. Some are less corrupt than others in the sense of expressing their sinfulness, yet all have no spiritual life. Sin does that. Sin is the expression or evidence of death and sooner or later produces corruption. Being dead, we are unable to help ourselves and have no power to make ourselves alive.

When Lazarus died, his sisters were utterly dismayed that Jesus had not come to heal him. When He did show up, they told Him exactly how they felt, but He had something to say also:

Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But even now I know that whatever you ask from God, God will give you.” Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.” Martha said to him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.” Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?” She said to him, “Yes, Lord; I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who is coming into the world.” (John 11:21–27)

This narrative is a test. It asks me the same questions. I’ve people in my family who are growing close to the end. Some know that Jesus is the Christ and are not fearful. Others do not and are afraid. What about me? Will the knowledge of Jesus Christ ease the dismay of death? Or will I be utterly dismayed by it and by the loss of someone I love?

Some questions cannot be answered until the challenge is actual and the issue must be addressed. Herein is the value of the Gospel. Before I knew Jesus, that question would swirl unanswered until the crisis came, but because of what He has done, I already know at least how I will react at the dying of those who know Jesus also. This Word from God is for them and for me:

“And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.” (Ephesians 2:1–7)

We who believe have already been given life from death! It starts with the new birth, not a decision we made, nor a group effort between us and God. It is a resurrection to life from being dead in sin, and incredible gift from God. This new life goes beyond physical life too. That is, when my body dies, I live on, and like Lazarus, I will hear the voice of Jesus calling me out from the grave. The difference is that unlike Lazarus, I will not die again, but from that point on will walk into eternity with Jesus, forever alive with a life that began when He caused me to be born again.

In other words, we who believe in Jesus already are alive from the dead. Physical death is simply that life moving from our bodies to another place that He has prepared for us, a place with no more tears, no more sorrow, a place where we will be together with Him forever.

^^^^^^^^^

Jesus, I’m aware today more than ever of the fleeting nature of this life, but this life is not all that I have! You have given me new life, Your life and because of that, there is more beyond the end of things here. Without this promise and this hope, some will say that “the best is yet to come” — little do they realize how true that is for those who know You!

This post is dedicated to my cousin, Norman who passed from this life to the next early this morning. He was my buddy when we were young and leaves many who will miss him very much.