Things to Come: Death

 

Zombies are everywhere!  In movies, video games, TV shows, and more!  Why is this?

Zombies used to be live humans who were "under a spell."  But now, they're the living dead, products and residents of a post apocalyptic world.  They're usually created by some sort of global catastrophe, like a nuclear war, a deadly disease outbreak, or a scientific experiment gone wrong!

Before World War I, people were basically optimistic about the future.  They thought humanity was on a steady upward climb, and life was going to get better and better.  But after two world wars, our outlook changed.  Add to those wars the nuclear bomb, and things look bleak.  For the first time in our history, it was possible for us to destroy ourselves.

Zombies represent our attempt to deal with global destruction and death.

The Bible has nothing good to say about death.  Even Jesus anguished over it in the Garden of Gethsemane.  In 1 Cor. 15, the apostle Paul calls it Christ's "enemy," the last he will destroy!

The scriptures teach that death came into life because of human sin (Gen. 3:1ff.).  Death reigns over humanity.  

But the Big Story of the scriptures tell how God went on a mission to reverse the effects of human sin, overcome death, and save the world!  The Lord Jesus overcame death by dying himself.  

In Genesis 3, God expels Adam and Eve from the Garden and bars their access to the Tree of Life.  This guaranteed their death.  But through his work in history culminating in the coming of Christ, God overcame death.  In Revelation 22:1-2, we come full circle from Genesis, as the Tree of Life appears in the new Jerusalem, the eternal home of God's people.  Human communion with God is restored, and humans enjoy what God created them for to begin with: eternal life.

Death is still a horror.  But we can overcome it through faith in Christ.  Then we can spread the message of life! 

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