I am a new creature. 2 Corinthians 5:17 Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come. I learned while reading a post by Skip Moen that the word used for “new” in the Bible is most often meaning new as in renewed, not new as in unique or first time seen. In Christ I am renewed, and the old pieces of me are broken off and gone. I have learned this a lot lately as I’ve been dealing with junk that’s been part of my emotional and spiritual baggage for years. I’ve also learned a lot about spiritual warfare as I’ve gone through the process. But, the more stuff that gets broken off of me, the lighter I feel and the newer I become. I am new in Christ because of His shed blood, but the more old stuff that passes away, the newer the me that is revealed. Very cool!
Ezekiel 37:10 So I spoke as he commanded me, and … they all came to life and stood up on their feet – a great army of them. Who says Hollywood has the corner on creepy? Here, Ezekiel is taken to a valley full of old dried bones. First, God pulls the bones together. Then He puts muscle and skin back on them, and eventually breathes life back into them!!!! So now there’s a huge army of formerly dead people walking around this valley… The end. What? What happened then? What did all these formerly dead people do? Did they go back to the city and start life over? Did they go back to being dead? Were they angry at being alive again? I have so many questions!! They don’t get answered. The rest of the chapter goes straight into another symbol that God asks Ezekiel to create. But the dried bones are symbolic, too. In this illustration they’re symbolic of Israel who were old and dried up with no hope. Their second life represents their restoration and rescue from exile. But, they’re also a picture of us today. Each person is dead in our selfishness and sin. All hope is gone. But God breathes life back into us and gives us new bodies when we believe in Him. Then, all us formerly dead people are alive again. So, what do we do then? That’s the great question. What do we do? The best thing to do is ask the One who gave you new life. After all, we owe Him everything. He knows everything. So it’s a safe bet to say that He’s got something up His sleeve. But, probably, like with Ezekiel, it has to do with being a walking, talking symbol of God’s mercy and trying to get others to turn around and get life breathed back into them, too. We are not zombies.