About a Cure for Zombies

There has been a growing cultural fascination with the concept of Zombies.  Many movies, television shows, and popular books have focused on the actions of these living-but-dead creatures.  Michael Jackson’s “Thriller,” current TV shows like “The Walking Dead,” and successful movies like “World War Z” all expose a seemingly insatiable interest in the subject.  You can even go to the internet and purchase real weapons at addresses like, zombie-defense.com, or zombietools.net.      

But, I’ve been thinking that Zombies are not fiction… they are REAL!  The Bible tells us that we actually do live in a world of Zombies… our co-workers, neighbors, family members, and the cashier down at the convenience store all could be Zombies.   

Two thousand years ago the condition was described by the Apostle Paul when he wrote a letter to a church in a town called Ephesus… he describes the Zombie predicament to a tee.  In fact, he told the members of this church that they all used to be Zombies.  He said, “You were dead… in which you formerly walked”.  How’s that for cultural relevance!  The walking dead, described perfectly… in the Bible. 

If you think I’m lying look it up.  Ephesians 2:1,2.   

The amazing thing about what Paul writes however is not that there were Zombies in the first century but that there was and still is a cure!  This is exactly what every hero in every Zombie show is looking for… a Zombie cure.  And it’s been right there in the Bible all this time. 

In Ephesians 2:4-7 lays out the cure every one of the living dead need…

But God is so rich in mercy, and he loved us so much, that even though we were dead because of our sins, he gave us life when he raised Christ from the dead. (It is only by God’s grace that you have been saved!) For he raised us from the dead along with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ Jesus. So God can point to us in all future ages as examples of the incredible wealth of his grace and kindness toward us, as shown in all he has done for us who are united with Christ Jesus.  (New Living Translation)  

It’s amazing that the cure for walking around dead is not a thing but a person.  Jesus Christ was sent by God for the purpose of dying on the cross to pay the penalty I deserved so that I could be “born again” to a new life.  I’m no longer dead in my sins, but living life to its fullest – all because I found the “Jesus Christ Cure” for my problem. 

A cure that fantastic and powerful raises a question.  How can a Zombie acquire it?   

Paul goes on in his letter to explain that the cure cannot be purchased, or earned, or inherited, or accidently stumbled over… and Zombies do a lot of stumbling… NO.  The
“Jesus Cure” has been offered as an absolutely free gift from God Himself. 

Paul’s letter explains it this way,

God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it.   Ephesians 2:8,9 (NLT)  

So it’s clear that when Jesus was talking about being “born again” He was talking about the ability to stop walking around dead in our sins and beginning to live a new life of actual living.  “… I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.” John 10:10  

Paul talked about the Zombie cure again in Colossians 2:13 when he wrote,

 

You were dead because of your sins and because your sinful nature was not yet cut away. Then God made you alive with Christ, for he forgave all our sins.  (NLT)  

Notice that Paul used the past tense, “you were dead” but the Colossian Christians (and all Christians) were then made alive through Jesus Christ.  They were no longer going through their lives as the walking, waking dead!  All born-again Christians were once walking-dead Zombies… but now, cured in Christ, we are alive, alive! 

If you are already a Christian, look with new eyes at all the people you encounter during the day.  How many of them are going through their lives as living yet dead, Zombies?  You have the cure.  It’s wonderful news… good news in fact.  Jesus will take them from their scary circumstance of walking deadness to a new life… and the cure is FREE!  Tell them all about it. 

If you’re a Zombie who happens to be reading this, ask yourself, “Don’t I want the cure?”  Aren’t you tired of walking through life dead on your feet?  No purpose, no direction, just getting by – just going through the motions of living, but knowing you’re really dead inside?  Don’t you want real life?   

It doesn’t take any fancy ritual.  If you’re interested in a new life, check out http://www.cru.org/how-to-know-god/index.htm for a great explanation of how to live. 

And if you’re a Christian, it’s important to never forget that we were all Zombies once.  Don’t forget to see the spiritually dead Zombies all around you and know that you can be the hero who tells them of the fabulous cure you’ve found in the person of Christ. 

Think about it…. all you Zombies and former Zombies.