I was once a Zombie...and maybe you still are??

The Zombies have taken over! With the current movie "World War Z", the most expensive zombie movie ever made, the popular culture is over-run with zombie images from popular films (Zombieland, 28 Days Later, Shaun of the Dead, Night of the Living Dead) to the AMC TV hit, "Walking Dead" where police officer, Rick Grimes, leads a group of survivors in a world overrun by zombies.

The typical zombie is a dead person who has come back to life. They are also known to feed on human flesh to sustain their life, which is part of their "creepiness". You don't want to get too close to a zombie.

You may be surprised to learn that long before any books or movies on "zombies", the Bible referenced zombies. Paul writes in Ephesians 2 that all of us are dead men because of our disobedience to God and our many sins. He goes on to say that you and I like everyone else, and they are enslaved to our master, the Devil. We are subject to following our passionate desires and doing whatever our sinful nature wants. While we are in this state, we are "walking dead men (and women)".

In Romans 1:21-32, Paul describes the lifestyle and behavior of the "walking dead" (all of mankind). He writes that those who are dead have no desire to worship God or give him thanks. Their minds are dark and confused. They claim to be wise but in reality, they are utter fools. They have abandoned God to do whatever shameful things their hearts desire. They have traded the truth for a lie, and instead of worshiping their Creator, they worship and serve created things including each other's bodies, men with men and women with women.

Paul goes on to describe these "zombies" as full of every kind of wickedness, greed, hate, envy, murder, quarreling, deception, malicious behavior, gossip, etc. They will stab you in the back when you're not around, they HATE God. They are proud, boastful and totally disobedient to their parents. They think nothing of breaking their promises. Their word means nothing. These "walking dead" are heartless and show no mercy, and they are always on the lookout to convert others to their way of thinking and behavior

Paul informs us in Ephesians 2 that because of our being dead in our sins (Walking Dead), we were subject to God's wrath (his righteous anger). Roman 1 says that because of our behavior and hard hearts, we are daily storing up God's wrath (against each one of us) which will be unleashed on the day of judgment (Revelation 20:11-12). 

But here's the Good News. Paul writes in Ephesians 2:4-7 that because God is rich in mercy and because of his love for us, that even though we were zombies, walking dead men--he gave us new life when he raised the Messiah Yeshua (Jesus) from the dead. He raised us from the dead along with Yeshua (Jesus), and it is because of God's grace (His un-merited favor) that we have been saved (from being "walking dead men and women." By God's grace, we have been rescued from the domain of darkness where we were held captive, under the spell of Satan. Yeshua (Jesus) is our Deliverer! He has given us new life and adopted us into his family so that we could have a relationship with God, our Heavenly Father.

So I am thankful that I no longer live as a Zombie, seeking to please my own flesh as well as consuming the flesh of others. I am also thankful that I no longer living as a "walking dead man" with an appetite for wickedness, and a hatred toward God (maybe I never said I hated God, but my actions spoke louder than words). With the life of God flowing through me, I now want to worship God and give Him the glory and honor he so rightly deserves. My mind has been renewed and is no longer consumed with twisted thinking, deception, lies and unbelief.

You too can be set free from the world of the "walking dead." Start reading the Bible (begin with the Gospel of John, and ask God to reveal himself to you (He will), and then begin to talk to God and ask Him to change you and give you a new life (that He would begin to live in and through you) and deliver you from being a "zombie" and the "walking dead."