Ramblings and Reflections

Professor Grimwell was locked in his garage, struggling to find a cure for the Zombies. His beloved wife was infected. During the many days of research, he heard her, moaning and shuffling around, outside. Finally, after many failed attempts– “Eureka! The cure!”

!!! Spoiler Alert. This is a series, which deals with Spiritual Zombies. To see earlier installments, go to the category tab on the right side of the blog page, select Zombies!!!

There is no greater issue that you will ever deal with than this. Please give serious thought to where you stand with God. It is the most important decision of your life.

The cure for Spiritual Zombie-ism is Jesus, the ONLY solution for spiritual death. “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.” (Acts  4:12)

Far from sounding narrow-minded, this fact speaks a wonderful truth– God Loves you. “God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16)

He showed His love by dying in our place. “God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). God looked to a world that was dead; a people that had walked away from Him and couldn’t find their way back. He reached down in love, and said, “Here I am! Follow me!”

Good News! The Cure is Offered to EVERYONE. In God’s word, Paul was asked the question. “What must I do to be saved?” (Acts 16:30). The answer– “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you shall be saved . . . .”

-Believe that He died for you.

-Confess your sins and Ask forgiveness.

-Ask Jesus Christ to be a part of your life.

He says He will be there for anyone who seeks Him. “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.” (Romans 10:13).

One of the toughest things to do in our nation today is to get someone to admit they are not a Christian, hence they are spiritually dead, or what we are calling Spiritual Zombies.

It’s hard to do because, we’ve been Christianized– We kind of believe there is a god, but he really doesn’t effect our lives. We go to church. We believe in God and Jesus. Yet the Bible says Satan does too, and trembles.

Let’s look beyond what the culture has taught us to what God says in His word.

1. There’s a Problem– Our sin. It separated us from God.

2. There’s a Solution– Jesus Christ. He paid the price for our sin and reestablished a relationship.

3. There’s an Offer– Receive Him.

What do You Think? The decision is yours. God is a gentleman. He will not force Himself on anyone. God offers you life, but the decision is yours. Look at what His word says. “For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.” (John 3:17)

Trying to keep my blogs to around five hundred words, there’s only so much I can say. I urge you, if you’d like to know more about the salvation Jesus offers, find a Bible-believing church and speak to someone there.

I may take a somewhat off-beat look at zombies, but your future is nothing to joke about. God has made you an offer. Have you accepted? “Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.’” (John 14:6)

Without Jesus, you are dead inside. Jesus offers you a gift. . . life. Go to Him in prayer. Accept that Gift!

Professor Grimwell stumbled down the front steps of his house, racing away from his wife. She lumbered after him, moaning in Zombie language, “Come back, darling. I only want to eat your brains.”

The professor, heartbroken, called over his shoulder, “I’ll find a cure, sweetheart. I’ll find a cure.”

That’s our subject for the day; THE CURE

!!! Spoiler Alert. This is a series, which deals with Spiritual Zombies. Go to the category tab on the right side of the blog page, select Zombies!!! to see earlier installments.

Last time, I ended by asking the question, “Are you a Spiritual Zombie?” We defined them as those who have sinned, therefore have died on the inside.

Quite frankly, if you answer “NO” to this question, I think you aren’t being honest with yourself. You’re like a woman I knew. Sadly, she was dying of cancer. Her husband was worried about where she’d spend eternity. He asked me to come talk to her. A little ways into the conversation, I turned the subject to the spiritual. “We’ve all sinned,” I told her.

“I haven’t sinned,” she answered, a confident smile on her face. A wall went up. The conversation was over.

It’s tough when you’ve blinded yourself to the truth. The Bible says, “All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.” Take an honest-to-goodness look at your life. You aren’t perfect. You sin. So you need to ask yourself, “If this sin has caused a separation between me and God, what are you doing about it?”

Your answer may be, “Now that I’ve been warned, I’ll stop sinning. That won’t work for a number of reasons. Let me point out two of them.

1. You Have to be God to not sin. Maybe we think we can stop sinning, because we classify sins; the nasty ones that get us kicked out of God’s presence and the little ones that He’ll overlook, like some overindulging grandfather. “Poor little Jr. He didn’t mean to be bad.”

Yet the Bible does not classify sin. Read what Jesus said- Matthew 5:21-22 “You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘You shall not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.’ But I tell you that anyone who is angry with a brother or sister will be subject to judgment…And anyone who says, ‘You fool!’ will be in danger of the fire of hell.”

Boy, am I in trouble. I mean, I’ve never killed anyone. That’s an all capital letters “SIN!!!” Yet Jesus talked of calling someone a fool, or getting angry with them, in the same light as murder. But aren’t those lower case letters, “sin”? Hardly even noticeable? Not in God’s eyes. Sin is sin.

2. To Stop Sinning Doesn’t take Care of the Original Problem. Let me illustrate. Two boys are out in the yard, playing catch. In order to keep with the zombie motif, we’ll make them Zombie boys. They’re playing catch with someone’s head . . .

Too much? Probably.

Mommy zombie tells them to be careful that they don’t break the house’s big bay window. “Don’t stand in front of it,” she warns. Then she goes shopping. The two boys ignore mom’s advice and continue playing in front of the window. It isn’t long before the ball sails passed them and smashes the window to tiny pieces. Seeing the damage they’ve done, they immediately move. “We’d better do what mommy said.”

When mommy zombie comes home, they holler, “Look, mommy. We’re standing just like you told us to.”

It doesn’t take mommy long to spot the shattered glass. “But you broke the window! Who’s going to pay for that?”

“But we’ve moved. We’re listening to you.”

As much as the two boys were doing what they were told right then, the damage was already done. The window was broken and the cost for repairing it would be much more than they could afford.

That’s how we are. We may say that we are presently following God’s way, but truth be known, the damage is already done. We have sinned. The relationship with God is broken. Being good now, doesn’t pay for past sins.

On top of that, the Bible says, “The wages of sin is death.” (Romans 6:23) In other words, what we’ve earned is death. The price for our sin is too much for us to pay.

So how have you dealt with the price for your sin?

Be of good cheer! God has the cure!

To be continued

!! Spoiler Alert. This is a part of a series entitled Zombies!!!. For earlier blogs in the series, go to the categories tab (at the right of the page), and select Zombies!!!

What do we learn about Spiritual Zombies from the Fall of Mankind?

2. It was a Willing Disobedience                                                                                    That’s a major difference between fictitious Zombies and Spiritual Zombies. We assume with the fictitious, becoming a zombie isn’t their fault. Poor Professor Grimwell’s wife was out picking daisies when some “living dead” person snuck up behind her and began munching on her arm. She became infected! Didn’t ask for it. Didn’t send away for it in the mail. It happened without her consent.

But, when Adam and Eve sinned, it was their own fault. They knew what God had said. No one pulled their strings like they were puppets. No one snuck up behind them and did a “GOTCHA!”.

And yet, like good little Spiritual Zombies (or humans, depending on how you look at it), they tried to blame others. After they’d sinned, when they heard God walking in the garden, they hid.                                                                                                                          When God asked Adam what happened, Adam pointed at the woman. “It was her fault!”         Eve pointed at the serpent. “It was his fault!”                                                                          The serpent couldn’t point to anyone. Serpents don’t have fingers. Hahaha . . . Sorry. Bad joke.

But seriously, both Adam and Eve tried to blame someone else. Typical human response. “It’s my upbringing.” “It’s my genes.” “I had a lousy teacher.” “My friends made me do it.” “The dog ate my homework.” From the time we are little children to when we supposedly mature, we try to blame others for our sin.

I am a tad on the heavy side. It’s not my fault. My wife cooks fattening food. Fast food places serve humungus drinks. The lunches in the school cafeteria are so delicious. I can’t help myself. It’s the way God made me. STOP THE EXCUSES!!! I am fat and it is my fault. I choose. I eat. I am wrong.

Let’s get down to where the rubber meets the road. We are all sinners! What excuse do you use for your sin?

3. The Result of Sin is Death                                                                                                       The day Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit was the day they died. No, they didn’t grasp at their throats and topple over, like some scene from a murder mystery; bits of apple spilling from their mouths.

a. They Died Spiritually. A separation from God. Lostness- God banished the two from paradise. Isaiah 59: “But your iniquities have separated you from your God;
your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear.”

Some may say, “Ha! See it was God’s fault. He threw them out of paradise. He didn’t have to! He could have let them be.” Again, like small children, we stomp our feet on the ground and cry, “It’s not fair!”

Adam and Eve did wrong. There are always consequences for wrong actions; for sin. Please remember, God didn’t kill them. They killed themselves.

b. They Died Physically. They didn’t drop dead on the spot. But it was the day their physical death began. Their bodies began to decay. The curse of sin brought corruption, decay, and death on all of creation.

Therefore- Spiritual Zombies came into being by an act of disobedience, a walking away from God.                                                                                                                                       God said, “Walk with me”.                                                                                                           We said, “We can do it on our own.” And people have been trying to do it on their own since the Fall of Adam and Eve, and failing miserably.

Here’s a sobering question- Are you a Spiritual Zombie?

Look at the facts-                                                                                                                         1. Everyone Sins. Romans 3:23 “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,” Frankly, the person who says they haven’t sinned is such an egotist. They haven’t truly examined themselves.                                                                                                                         2. Sin Brings Death. Romans 6:23a  “the wages of sin is death, . . .” Death is what sin earns.                                                                                                                                                   3. Therefore, since we are all sinners, We are All Dead. We are all Zombies- Dead on the inside. That’s how Jesus described the religious leaders.

Before we move on to more pressing Zombie issues, you need to ask yourself the question- “Am I a Spiritual Zombie?”

I know that part of this series is done, tongue in cheek, but this is an important question. Probably the most important one you will ever ask yourself. If we truly look at ourselves, all of us have to admit we are sinners. Sin brings death!

Perhaps another way of asking the question is, how are you dealing with your sin?

Next time, we will talk about God’s cure for Spiritual Zombies