There is more truth that meets the eyes and ears with movies like WALKING DEAD and DEAD MAN WALKING. In the latter movie, a guilty prisoner would walk from his cell to his place of execution and the prison guard would shout the words “DEAD MAN WALKING”….But there is hope.
For that person in the ultimate sense could be viewed as Jesus, who walked the path on His way to His execution on the Cross. The difference is Jesus never sinned but took all the sins of the world upon Himself for us willingly. He rose from the dead and upon peoples’ repentance of their sins, He makes them spiritually ALIVE to Him. “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation, the old has gone, the new has come.” ( 2 Corinthians 5:17 )
Why do we need a new creation? We were dead in our sins. ( see Ephesians 2:1 ). But upon confession of our sins “It is by Grace you have been saved”. ( see Ephesians 2:5 ).
Where do we go from here? Now every person who has done this is United with Christ. In what way? “For if we have been United with Him (Jesus) in a death like His, we will also certainly be United with Him in a resurrection like His.” ( Romans 6:5 New Living Translation ).
What follows from this? Being “In Christ” now you abide in the Vine who Christ is. He is the Vine and we are the branches. We draw our strength and our nourishment, which in turn helps us to walk with God daily. This union with Christ, this abiding in Christ leads to communion with the Father, Son and Spirit.
You cannot WALK with God if you have not repented of your sins. Nor can you ABIDE or have Communion with Him. What does it mean to walk with God? Who were the first people to walk with God? Adam and Eve. Genesis 3:8 tells us that Adam and Eve walked with God in the garden in the cool of the day.
Can we walk with God in the same manner today? No, walking with God entails spiritual fellowship. It means that you and God are in agreement about your life. “Can two walk together except they be agreed?” ( Amos 3:3 ) It means to follow Jesus as His follower or His disciple daily. This all goes back to the first word that Jesus and John The Baptist preached – “Repent for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand.” ( Matthew 4:17 )
Do it now, as we can all see life is so very uncertain and we live in uncertain times. If you do this with sincerity and honesty you will be alive with God forever.
DEAD OR ALIVE !
Pastor Gary Tomiuck
Wainfleet Congregational Christian Church
