The exact opposite of life is death. Death is inevitable. It’s the nature of us as humans (because of our sin), and will continue to be that way [Romans 6:23].
Death wasn’t supposed to exist, because Life was never supposed to end. Unfortunately, our sin messed this up, and so now death is our wages; it’s the punishment for sin. God intended for us to not only live with Him, but in Him. When Romans 6:23 says, “for the wages of sin is death…” it doesn’t just mean physical death, but also spiritual. Death is the loss of life. It’s everything apart from life. And so when the Bible talks about us being “dead in our sins,” that means that we are separated from the life that is found in believing and following Jesus [Ephesians 2:1].
Spiritual death is not that different from what we feel when there's an actual death. We are in constant denial of our sin and constant denial of God’s judgment. Next, we are in constant doubt if we’re the cause of how we feel (guilt/shame), and we doubt our purpose. We sense it but look everywhere else but Jesus to find it, (leaving ourselves still empty and dissatisfied). Maybe we have curiosity about what it actually means to live. Then, we may face depression because we have not experienced the Joy that comes with a life in Jesus. After depression, comes anger (at God, the world, and everything above). Just when we thought being dead, spiritually couldn’t get any worse, we just end up accepting that we are indeed hopeless and wear it as a badge, instead of reaching out to God (to receive the hope that He gives).
So, there you go. Spiritual death doesn’t sound fun–simply, because it isn’t. But, that’s part of the reason why Jesus came to earth, to die in our place. Jesus not only died for our sins, but defeated death once and for all (for those who repent and put their trust in Him), they can live forever. He did this by resurrecting after His death (Mark 16:6, 1 Corinthians 15:3-4, 1 Thessalonians 4:14). Jesus says in John 11:25, “I am the Resurrection and the Life. Anyone who believes in me will live, even after dying.” So, our belief and faith in Jesus Christ can bring us from death to life. Jesus is the One who has the power to raise us up from our spiritual death (our purposeless, lifeless state), and bring us to life (our purposeful, reconciled, vibrant state). Spiritual Death yields no results because in it, we do not have a relationship with God. But Life yields more life (Proverbs 8:35, John 3:16, 1 John 2:17). John 5:11 says, “And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son.”
The only way we can have life is through Jesus! Jesus died for our sins, so that we wouldn’t have to, but what makes Him even more powerful is that He rose! Without Jesus overcoming the grave, we cannot overcome our sin, and therefore, our faith would be pointless. We hold in our minds the symbol of the empty cross, because He’s no longer on it, still. We have faith in Jesus because He is ALIVE, not dead. He is alive and active, and ready to work in YOUR life (Hebrews 4:12)! Jesus’ resurrection symbolizes that death is defeated. So, because He rose, we can now rise above our sin (with His power and strength). He died for our sins, so we now can die to our sins.
Put your sin away today and receive the LIFE that Jesus has for you!
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