[blindchristian] Back from the Dead, February 15, 2015
- From: "Victoria E Gilkerson" <vegilkerson@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: <blindchristian@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Wed, 11 Feb 2015 09:26:38 -0600
Victoria
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Back From The Dead
February 11, 2015
Even when we were dead . . . [God] made us alive together with Christ.
-Ephesians 2:5
Read: Ephesians 2:1-10
Bible in a Year: Leviticus 11-12; Matthew 26:1-25
Can a man be officially alive after being declared legally dead? That
question became international news when a man from Ohio showed up in good
health after being reported missing more than 25 years earlier. At the time
of his disappearance he had been unemployed, addicted, and hopelessly behind
in child support payments. So he decided to go into hiding. On his return,
however, he discovered how hard it is to come back from the dead. When the
man went to court to reverse the ruling that had declared him legally dead,
the judge turned down his request, citing a 3-year time limit for changing a
death ruling.
That unusual request of a human court turns out to be a common experience
for God. Paul's letter to the Ephesians tells us that though we were
spiritually dead, God "made us alive together with Christ" (Eph. 2:1,5). Yet
declaring and making us spiritually alive was a deeply painful matter for
God. Our sin and its consequent spiritual death required the suffering,
death, and resurrection of God's Son (vv.4-7).
It's one thing to show evidence of physical life. Our challenge is to show
evidence of spiritual life. Having been declared alive in Christ, we are
called to live in gratitude for the immeasurable mercy and life given to
us.-Mart De Haan
Father in heaven, our hearts are full of gratitude for the way You reached
out to us when we were dead in our sins. May we live joyfully and with
unending appreciation for what You did to give us life.
Jesus died that we might live.
INSIGHT: Here Paul twice says "by grace you have been saved" (vv.5,8).
Salvation is God's gift to us. While we are not saved by good works, they
are the result of God's redemptive work in us (v.10; Col. 1:10; Titus 2:14;
3:14).
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Scripture taken from the New King James Version. Copyright C 1982 by Thomas
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Victoria E Gilkerson
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