From Death to Life

"And you He made alive who were dead in trespasses and sins, in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others." (Ephesians 2:1-3)

There's an important difference between being sick and being dead. When someone is sick, we call the doctor, administer medicine, provide encouragement, and hope for recovery. But when someone is dead, none of these remedies work. The deceased person needs something far more dramatic: they need resurrection.

John Piper once made a striking observation about the human condition apart from Christ. He said Paul wasn't saying we're in the doghouse. Paul was saying that we are in the morgue without Jesus Christ."[1] This isn't merely colorful language; it's the reality of our spiritual condition before we encounter the life-giving power of Jesus.

The apostle Paul doesn't mince words when describing humanity's lost condition. He doesn't say we were merely confused, misguided, or in need of moral improvement. He declares that we were "dead in trespasses and sins." This spiritual death is not a metaphor; it's a description of our complete inability to respond to God, to understand spiritual truth, or to save ourselves.

Think about what death means in the physical realm. A dead person cannot hear your voice, cannot respond to your touch, cannot make decisions, and cannot improve their condition. They are completely powerless and utterly dependent on outside intervention. This is precisely how Paul describes our spiritual condition before Christ entered our lives.

Imagine walking along a beach where seagulls soar gracefully overhead. Suddenly, you notice one seagull lying motionless on the sand, stiff and lifeless. You might think, "Maybe this little guy just needs encouragement." So you pick up the seagull and throw it into the air, shouting, "Fly, seagull, fly!"

For a moment, it might look like it's working. The bird appears to glide through the air, but then crash! It falls back to the ground. You try again with more enthusiasm, but the result is the same. No amount of pushing, shouting, or encouraging can make a dead bird fly. It needs something more than motivation; it needs life.

This is exactly our condition without Christ. We don't need encouragement, education, or moral improvement. We need resurrection. We need life breathed into our spiritual lungs by the One Who has power over death itself - Jesus Christ.

The passage tells us that in our natural state, we walked "according to the course of this world." We were like spiritual zombies, following the crowd, driven by the same appetites and desires that drive everyone else who is spiritually dead. We were under the influence of "the prince of the power of the air," which is Satan himself, and we didn't even realize it.

Paul describes this condition as being "by nature children of wrath." We weren't victims of bad circumstances or poor choices alone; we were born into this condition of spiritual death. Imagine you're skydiving, and as you fall toward earth, you pull the cord on your parachute. Nothing happens. You pull it again and again, but the parachute won't deploy. You're falling rapidly toward the ground with no way to save yourself. This is the human condition: we're falling toward spiritual destruction with no power to save ourselves.

The reason Jesus didn't come merely as a teacher or encourager is because we weren't merely ignorant or discouraged; we were dead. Teachers can educate the living, encouragers can motivate the living, but only Someone with resurrection power can raise the dead.

When people tell me they're going to try harder to be a better person, I understand their sincerity, but I also know they're missing the point. You can't try your way out of being dead. You can't make resolutions to improve your deadness. You need life: God's life breathed into your spiritual being.

This might seem like a depressing message, but it's actually the beginning of the most hopeful message in the universe. Because once we understand how desperately lost we are, we can appreciate how amazingly gracious God's salvation truly is.

When we truly grasp our complete inability to save ourselves, we stop trying to earn God's favor and start receiving His grace. We stop attempting to impress Him with our goodness and start marveling at His goodness toward us. We stop working for salvation and start walking in the salvation He freely provides.

The gospel isn't good advice for basically good people who need a little help. The gospel is good news for dead people who need a miracle. It's the announcement that God has power over death itself and is willing to use that power on our behalf.

This is why Jesus said to Nicodemus in John 3:3, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." Notice He didn't say, "Unless you try harder" or "Unless you become more religious." He said you must be born again; you need new life from above.

Just as you had nothing to do with your physical birth, you have nothing to do with your spiritual birth except to receive it as a gift from God. You were born physically through no effort of your own, and you can be born spiritually through no effort of your own, only through the life-giving power of God.

When someone comes to me asking for prayer during a medical crisis, I often say, "As long as there is breath in their lungs, there's hope for a miracle." I pray for miracles regularly. But once breath has left a person's body and they're dead, there's no hope. There's nothing else you can do.

Yet this is exactly where Jesus specializes. Remember Lazarus, who had been dead for four days when Jesus arrived at his tomb. People pleaded with Jesus not to open the grave, saying, "Surely by now there is a stench." But Jesus commanded, "Take away the stone," and then called out, "Lazarus, come forth!" Only Jesus has the power to raise the dead.

The beauty of understanding our spiritual deadness is that it makes us realize how magnificent God's grace really is. When we realize we contributed nothing to our salvation except the sin that made it necessary, all glory goes to God where it belongs.

If you've never experienced this spiritual resurrection, today can be the day. God is looking for spiritually dead people who are willing to admit their condition and cry out to Him for life. Romans 10:13 promises, "For whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved." It's that simple and that powerful. Go to: www.joshfranklin.org/gospel to find out more!

Reflection Question: What does it mean for you personally that you need resurrection, not just encouragement?

Dear Heavenly Father, thank You for opening my eyes to see the truth about my condition apart from You. I confess that I was dead in my trespasses and sins, completely unable to save myself. Thank You that while I was dead, You made provision for my salvation through Jesus Christ. Help me never to forget how lost I was so that I might never take Your grace for granted. In Jesus' Name, Amen.

[1] I heard this quote from a Daniel Akin sermon on Ephesians 2:1-10 entitled "The Four Spiritual Laws of Conversion" www.danielakin.com.