Whether in TV shows or movies, displayed on street corners by flash mobs or frightful headlines in the newspaper, zombies gain our attention – by the sheer horrifying thought of the dead coming forth to eat the living. But I present to you the reality of this truth.
There are zombies and they are eating
the living flesh of citizens, today!
Where I see this in reality is in local churches. The Body of Christ is comprised of many individual members together making evident the heart and mind of the Head, which is Christ. We members of this Body are to be dead to our old nature and alive in His new nature. Foolishness to some and reality to others, this is the order of Christ’s Body.
It is horrific to see dismembered parts performing either in the dead-self severed from the Body – or worse, claiming to be united while functioning independently and quite apart from the Head. Both of these scenarios occur when the dead literally eat the flesh off of the living. Who are these unfortunate, ingested souls? You and I and any passerby…
We, in our new nature, display the living Christ to a dying world –
not by law and doctrine… but in grace, Spirit, and truth.
We are those who have left our will in the grave of Christ’s death and now function by the will of Another. Our movements and choices are dictated from Another’s mind. His Life is now the source of my life. This is not a doctrinal reaching but a living reality. Outside of His Life, I will only evidence my old dead self, the one from whom I was saved.
So how do the dead-in-flesh eat living beings? Well, the nature of fallen humanity is to consume – to devour in a chewing, munching, eating frenzy. Self is always FOR self, and the goal of saving self. Each and every action feeds the existence of self.
All else is expendable for the will of self’s existence. All is subject to the gorging. “What’s yours is mine and I will only share what is mine in order to get more of yours!”
Any time you or I are not yielded to the Head, regardless of how noble our deeds appear, we are functioning in zombie madness. By nature I cannot do otherwise. Death seeks life… to consume it!
Only truly born-again believers have a nature counter to this horrific mode of being. Their existence springs from the fullness of Another.
By grace, I have the very life of the Son of God,
and only when I have that precious Life
brought forth from my body
as my only life,
will I have any real life at all.
The zombie apocalypse is real! It is Christians letting their old nature live! But Christ has solved this terrifying dilemma by CHRIST’s LIFE dwelling in us as our only reality: His mind as my mind, His will as my will, His LIFE as my life.
Christ’s Life is not acquired as a possession to hold onto
because He’s the One holding us.
This Life is obtained through receiving Him by faith.
Jesus knows our voracious nature; He created it. But only as He lives through us will we find safety and the hope of satisfaction. When we consent to His Indwelling, we receive and experience the Life of the Creator lived through us. It is amazing to observe His Life in my own body, seeing firsthand all that He will do through a life that’s simply open to receiving Him.
“My old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.” Galatians 2:20 New Living Translation
