I Used to be Dead

I wasn't born with a terminal condition. I wasn't diagnosed later in life. I didn't suffer from an accident or someone else's wrongdoing. I was born dead.

If it weren't for the grace of Jesus, I would have stayed that way. I would still be dead. I would be a 28-year-old zombie.

But Jesus didn't want me to stay that way. He didn't want me dead in sin. He wanted me to be alive in Him. So He drew me unto Himself. He rescued me from sin. He gave me new life. In a sense, He resurrected me.

I thought about that today as we celebrated Resurrection Sunday. The focus, of course, was on Christ's resurrection - the fact that He died on a cross on Friday, laid dead in a tomb over the weekend, and arose from the dead on Sunday.

That's unheard of. People just don't come back from the dead. I'm very fortunate, because I haven't experienced a lot of death in my lifetime. I know something about death, though. Once the people I knew died, they didn't come back. Only Jesus did that.

The only other "resurrection" experiences I know of are the believers in my life. You see, I'm not the only one who was born dead. We all were. Every last one of us. No one escaped that.

As I was watching everyone worship in church this morning, I really thought about the fact that I was in a room filled with people who used to be dead. I was in a room filled with people who know the power of sin and death but who also are very familiar with the resurrection power of Christ. They worshipped so freely and joyously. They worshipped the fact that we serve a risen Savior, and they worshipped the fact that just as He arose from the dead, conquered death, and is alive, Jesus raised them from the dead into life with Him.

I love moments like that, when I look around and observe people worshipping. I love them because I know they're glimpses of what heaven will be like. I look forward to being in heaven with millions of believers rejoicing over the fact that they used to be dead, but Christ gave them new life, eternal life. Now that's going to be an awesome worship experience!