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 ESV)
Before Christ, we may have looked alive on the outside but inwardly, we were dead and rotting. We were zombies!
But Paul reminds us that because Jesus died and resurrected for our sins, we were actually raised up with him. Paul writes that we were “made alive together with Christ” and we get to experience the glory of the resurrection. We are constantly in the process of resurrecting!
But many of us unwittingly revert back to our “zombie” nature, our old selves, because resurrection life isn’t necessarily automatic — it takes the daily intervention from the Holy Spirit!
So we either end up a ravenous zombie or a religious one.
If you are a ravenous zombie, you live out the desires of the flesh. Not simply sins of lust, but sins that exhibit control over our conduct or self-indulgence.
You know you’re a ravenous zombie if you’re: Jealous, Boastful, Lying, Angry, Greedy or Ruthless. You become hardened to God’s voice and to His presence.
“And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done. They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless.” (Romans 1:28-31)
A religious zombie is one who lacks gratitude and doesn’t remember their own resurrection story. They try to live out their holy lives with their own human efforts.
You know you’re a religious zombie if you’re: Bitter, Judgmental, Burnt Out, Competitive, Comparing and Frustrated. You begin to see the commandments of God as burdensome and a way to compare yourself with others.
“The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses’ seat, so do and observe whatever they tell you, but not the works they do. For they preach, but do not practice. They tie up heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on people’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to move them with their finger. They do all their deeds to be seen by others. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within are full of dead people’s bones and all uncleanness… So you also outwardly appear righteous to others, but within you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.” (Matthew 23:2-4, 27-28)
So how do we stop living as ravenous or religious zombies? How do we live as Resurrection People?
“… to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.”
— Ephesians 4:22-24
We have to first, put off our old self. We must make a conscious effort to deconstruct the lives we used to live. Ask God to give you eyes to see what is still part of your old nature.
We must be renewed in the spirit of our minds. We must ask for ears to hear what the Spirit is saying to us, to become attentive to His voice and intentions. Listen for His voice. What is He speaking to you about?
We have to put on the new self, by practicing the ways of Jesus and obeying His commands. What are His commands? Read the Word to get to know our Savior.
And as we practice being resurrection people, we’ll find the disciplines of God to be life-giving, We will become people who drink from streams of living water. We will resemble Jesus more and more in moments of stress or frustration.
Pray with us this week:
You lifted me from the grave.
You traded my heart of stone for a heart of flesh.
So I’ll keep taking off the old layers that run deep,
and I’ll keep putting on the new self that You have given me.
Each morning, renew my mind.
Restore me. I want to look more and more like You.
Amen.
You can listen to the sermon Resurrection People from the Ephesians series that inspired this post here.