Dead

READ: EPHESIANS 2:1-10 My skin is cold. Though I can’t know for sure how cold—since corpses can’t feel anything. They can’t do anything at all, really. If I had the ability to touch, I’d feel the icy, rough dirt that holds my stiff body in place. I’d feel the maggots wriggling their muculent bodies around the tips of my fingers, inside my ears, around my mouth, at the corners of my eyes. If my sense of smell were working, I’d smell the aroma of rotting things decomposing beneath the earth’s surface. If my tear ducts worked, I might wail as I thought on the fact that I am among them, my body food for the creatures that never see sunlight. But I can do none of those things. Because I am dead. And when a person is dead, that is all they can do. Nothing. This is my fate. To do nothing. To be nothing. To know nothing. To love nothing. Until the moment that it isn’t my fate anymore. Suddenly, the dirt is being pushed away from my body. Gentle hands are brushing the soil from my face, and I feel the warmth of them as they grasp my hands. I feel them. As I have never been able to feel anything before! These warm hands that send a blaze of warmth and life flowing up my arms and throughout my body now pull me upward until I’m above the ground. I squint in the sunlight with eyes that can see! When my eyes finally adjust to the bright light, I look into the face of the one who pulled me out. The one who has breathed life into my dead body and saved me from a fate of death and nothing. The Man who smiles back at me wears white robes, free of blemish or spot. On His head is a crown made of the finest metals and precious stones. This Man is the King. He cares for me. And He has made me alive. • Emily Tenter • Today’s allegorical story is inspired by Ephesians 2:1-10. Consider taking some time to read this passage slowly. What do you notice? Why do you think dead is the word used to describe us before we know Jesus? • Our sin leads to death (Romans 6:23). But God wants to rescue us from sin and death. What lengths would He go to to save us? He loves us so much that He gave up His own life for us. Jesus died and was buried—His body dwelt in a grave. But not for long. Jesus rose from the dead, defeating sin and death forever, and guaranteeing that everyone who knows Him will have eternal life! When someone becomes a Christian, they pass “from death to life” (John 5:24), and they have the sure hope of Jesus’s return. On that day, He will raise us from our graves, and our bodies will be fully healed and whole! What questions do you have about death and life? Who are trusted Christians you could talk to about these things? (If you want to dig deeper, read John 11:1-44; Romans 8:10-11; 1 Thessalonians 4:14-17.) • Have you experienced being made alive by Jesus? For more about what this means, see our "Know Jesus" page.  But God, who is rich in mercy, because of his great love that he had for us, made us alive with Christ even though we were dead in trespasses. You are saved by grace! Ephesians 2:4-5 (CSB)