Dead...but God

Dead: 1) no longer alive; deceased; expired; no more; passed away; 2) complete and absolute; total; entire

Something that is dead has no use. Cut flowers die and you toss them out. Batteries die, causing something not to work, and you replace them so the item will work. Electronics, leaves, trees…it all dies, is no longer of any use, and somehow we toss it aside and move on to the next thing.

Someone who is dead also has no use. They can no longer move or think, work or play, talk or feel. The physical body the spirit and soul have left behind is no longer of any use. We cremate it or bury it. As Christians, we have the hope of Heaven for our soul which will one day indwell a new body. But the earthly body is just a corpse. And while there is a short window when some of our internal organs may be of use, all in all, the body is now of no worth to us or anyone else.

And what is dead, we cannot bring to back to life. Death is absolute. It’s complete. Which is why dead things are tossed aside and dead bodies are buried. They’re useless. Worthless. Totally and completely void of any value.

At a small group a couple of weeks ago, the word “dead” struck me. We were talking about Ephesians 2, reviewing the recent sermon on verses 1 through 9. Twice in those verses the apostle Paul calls us “dead”. And while those verses are very familiar, it caught me like it never had before. Dead. I was dead. Worthless. Without merit. Of absolutely no use whatsoever to the God who created me. Completely and absolutely dead.

Ed and I often have circular conversations about his dad. His dad is devotedly Catholic – often hilariously so for he talks of nothing else but his religion and how good and devoted he is to it. Which can cause me to roll my eyes, but it also pains my heart. He pushes aside his sons, his grandchildren, his brother and just about everyone and everything else in pursuing this cult called Catholicism. And he really, sincerely believes that all his devoted good works are going to pave his way to Heaven. It is truly heart wrenching to watch. And, yet, am I any better?

For there is a piece of me (and a larger piece than I care to admit) that often thinks I bring some sort of merit to my salvation. That I did something wonderful or was somehow passively good, so God looked into eternity future and chose me. Which is not at all true. Because I was dead. And a dead person contributes absolutely nothing to anything. God has no need of me – no need at all.

But God.

In verse four God, who is rich in mercy and loves His people, steps in. He looks upon my dead body and tells it to rise. Tells it to live. Tells it to walk in His grace, and do good works, and glorify Him. Not because it contains some inkling of life. No. It’s as dead as those dry bones wasting away in Ezekiel. But because God is God. Because God is life. Because God is love. And He – and only He – can take what is dead, make it alive, and use it to His glory. How awesome is that?

And how humbling.

I’ve thought of this often over the last couple of weeks, almost every time I imagine I’ve done some good thing. It checks me. Reminds me that, except through the power of my God, I’m just a worthless dead thing. So if I did happen to choose that which was good, it was by God’s grace alone. And, so, to God be the glory! I am alive!