No More Zombies

Ez 18:21,22 "But if a wicked person turns away from all his sins that he has committed and keeps all my statutes and does what is just and right, he shall surely live; he shall not die. None of the transgressions that he has committed shall be remembered against him; for the righteousness that he has done he shall live." ESV

 

Here is the backdrop for these verses: "The soul who sins shall die.". v 4,20 We are all in trouble because we all sin. We all screw up and at some time in our life we tell a lie, take something that isn't ours, have a rotten thought…whatever. We all sin. The conclusion…we all die. Paul said it: "For the wages of sin is death…". Pretty clear. But of course, this should not come as a shock. Everyone dies. I think there is more to it than that, though. "The SOUL who sins shall die.". This is more than just the death of our physical body. It is the death of who we are inside. It is the death of our inner man. It is the death of what makes us tick.

 

The weird thing is, this death can be three-fold. First, a person who sins will die before they physically die. That is their conscience is killed. There is no sense of right and wrong. There is no desire for what is true. They have become zombies. Mindless walking dead. We see it all around us, people just existing and not living. Why? Because of sin. And, they don't even know it. Second comes physical death. This is the thing that we are all familiar with because we have experienced it in our family, see it in the news, whatever. Finally comes spiritual death…eternal death. Going back to what Paul said: "For the wages of sin is death, BUT the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." Rom 6:23 Paul is comparing eternal life with eternal death. This death is eternal separation from God. Eternal punishment…forever. That is a long time and no getting out. That is death. That is final death.

 

This is what puzzles me: People who think that real life means depravity. Those who think that to live it up in this life means to do all the dumb stuff that they can think of. Unfortunately, these are the zombies. They are walking around empty headed and empty hearted with an empty life. I see this right now in the live of several people that I know. The end result…death.

 

Yet there is this word: "But". "But the gift of God…". "But if the wicked person turns…" what do you get? "He shall surely live, he shall not die." "Eternal life." Physical death? Yes. Spiritual death? No…never. And in this life, no more zombiness. With repentance comes life. With turning away from sins and turning toward what is right by faith in Jesus what do we get? Forgiveness and life. Totally clean and totally alive…forever, with purpose, and hope, and meaning and freedom. How can this happen? "None of the transgressions that he has committed shall be remembered against him". Totally gone, forgiven, wiped clean….and alive…now and forever.