“When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive with Christ.” Colossians 3:13

(We pray you’ll be refreshed and maybe even challenged as you read this week’s devotionals, originally published in March of 2020.)

There are no zombies in the family of God.

You’ve all seen your fair share of zombie flicks, right? Zombies are those half-dead creatures, formerly human, who now teeter somewhere between the realm of the living and the dead. They aren’t fully conscious, though they certainly function in their own unique way. Their sole objective is to turn people who are fully alive into zombies like themselves.

Sin made zombies out of all of us. The Bible says that apart from Jesus’ work on the cross, all of us were dead in trespasses and sins. Not living, dead. 

How could we have been dead before we died? 

Like zombies, we were alive enough to function but totally without purpose. We were nothing like we were created to be. It’s like we were alive, but with one foot already in the grave. We were teetering somewhere between the realm of the living and the dead.

Through Jesus’ work on the cross, all who belong to Him have been declared forgiven, redeemed, and reconciled to God. You’re no longer living with one foot in the grave. God says you’re alive, and your new life is innately tied to Jesus Christ.  

The best news of all is that, once you belong to Jesus, His sacrifice prevents you from ever relapsing into zombieland. When you accepted Christ, God did more than just speak nice words over you or change your standing in the heavenly record book (although He did do that). He made you something new. He de-zombified you forever. He made you fully human for the first time.

What about when we make mistakes? Don’t worry. God knew that would happen, and Christ’s blood covers even the sins we commit after we’ve been de-zombified. Through the simple process of acknowledgement, confession, and forgiveness, we’re kept securely in the grace of God. The key is not thinking we’re still zombies just because we make mistakes. 

Resist at every turn the temptation to identify with the old you. There are no zombies in the family of God, only sons and daughters who have been made righteous and alive by their King. And if you belong to Jesus, that’s you. 

God has declared all who belong to Jesus “alive together with Christ.” Are you still living with some “zombie habits”?  Can you name one or two of them? What might “alive with Christ” look like in these areas of your life?