Walking Zombies
To me, it’s very telling that people are fascinated with Zombies today, moves, books, video games, etc. They have no idea how close they are to resembling Zombies in their daily lives. The Bible describes non-believers in the following ways.
Eph. 2:1, Dead in their trespasses and sins in which you once walked… living in the passions of the flesh, Eph. 2:2-2, Are by nature children of Wrath like the rest of mankind, Isaiah 64:6, NLT, we are all infected and impure with sin. When we display our righteous deeds, they are nothing but filthy rags. Jer.17:9, NLT, our hearts are deceitful and desperately wicked. And Romans 3:13-17, Their throat is an open grave and the venom of asps is under their lips…their feet move to shed blood and in their paths are ruin and misery.
It’s like movie producers got the idea of a Zombie from Scripture! People without Christ my feel alive and beautiful, but in the eyes of God they are the walking dead, as Eph 2:1, states, dead in their sins… Jesus said in John 3:18, Whoever believes in Me is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, – non-Christians are living under condemnation, because they are dead, blind, filthy, wicked, and ruin is in their paths. There is only one hope for the non-Christian that is to be made alive by Christ. Look at Eph. 2:4-8, But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which He has loved us, even when we were dead…made us alive…for by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God.
But how do you get this faith to believe?
Romans 10:17, Faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the words of Christ. When a pastor preaches the gospel, or a friend shares the gospel, God unites the hearing of the gospel with faith and that person is born again. There are numerous stories from the Gideon Bible Society, who place Bibles in hotels and motels across this nation. One such story is a suicidal man who checks into a hotel to kill himself, feeling beyond despair and hopeless he tries to take a bottle of barbiturates, but for some reason he couldn’t. (Later he stated that he was afraid to die) He went looking through the drawers for something sharp, he sees a Bible, he picks it up and turns to a passage in 2 Cor. 1:3-4, …the God of all comfort who comforts us in all our afflictions…” Then reading further he see the second page which describes how to come to Christ. Years later, he is in Church with his family and thanks God for not allowing him to go through with his suicide. The gospel is the power of God to change us from being dead in sins to completely alive in Christ! Jesus said, “I have come to give life and give it abundantly.”
This will not happen if a person rejects the Gospel. Look again at Romans 10:16, …”Lord who has believed what they heard from us?” Verse 21, But of Israel He says, “All day long I have held out My hands to a disobedient and contrary people.”
Jude, the half-brother of the Lord writes in Jude 22-23, “Have mercy on those who doubt, save others by snatching them out of the fire; to others show mercy with fear, hating even the garments stained by the flesh.” What Jude is saying here is that people who are not believers in Christ are headed to hell and we should show compassion and share the gospel without sugar-coating it. For when you snatch someone you are yanking on their clothes or body! (Figure of speech, don’t yank on anyone please) We should tell them that God considers them as good as dead. All their good works are as filthy rags, and their future is eternal condemnation. Then share how God can change them from the inside out, that they will be made alive, and the Bible will start to make sense. Do not tell them first that God loves them and has a wonderful plan for their lives, without sharing the bad news of their being under-God’s wrath. Otherwise, the good news of the Gospel to be saved from hell, doesn’t seem that good, if they only hear how much God loves them. A non-believer once said, “oh good, if God loves me then I have nothing to worry about.” Do not be afraid to confront people with the truth, for if they reject it, they will remember one day how much you tried to warn them. Always speak the truth in love for a non-believer can tell if you care for him or not.
Once a person becomes a genuine believer and is born-again, he or she becomes the salt of the earth and light of the world. Our nature is changed, and God see us as righteous, and He calls us saints! We begin to realize how powerful are prayers are, because God is now our Father in heaven! We experience what that man did in his hotel room, we are comforted by the God of all comfort. Don’t stay as a Zombie, come to Christ, for if you do you will never regret it.
Now, That’s Good News!
John
