Ephesians 1-2: A Guide To Walkers Becoming Rich

I love the Walking Dead show on AMC. It's an incredibly popular show and is one of the highest rated cable TV shows that has ever aired. The show is appealing for many reasons but the #1 reason I watch the show is because I find the human behavior within the show to be really interesting.

For those of you who aren't Walking Dead fans or don't even know what I'm talking about let me set the scene: the world experienced something that is unexplained except one thing, when people die they come back as zombies (they are called Walkers in the show) or if they are bitten by a Walker they will eventually turn into a Walker and the show is all about how people survive in a world where everything we've known in society is ripped away by this apocalyptic event.

Now these Walkers are an interesting lot. They have an insatiable appetite and driven by their appetite for human flesh. They definitely have a one track mind. In fact, you can say they are controlled by their appetite. In the show, as of now, there is no known cure.

You might be thinking, Harold, what in the world does this have to do with Ephesians 1-2.

Here's the thing, in churches and among Christians I always hear about how our world is broken and that people apart from Christ are lost. It is true that our world is broken but I think lost is putting it kindly. It's really pulling a punch. Here is how Paul describes it in Ephesians 2:1-3:

"And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience - among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind."

Paul isn't pulling any punches, he tells the people in Ephesus, you were DEAD. Not lost, DEAD. Dead men and women walking and really when I think about it, we have a lot common with the Walkers from the Walking Dead. We too are driven by our appetites and we too are controlled. You could say we are enslaved to sin. We, like the Walkers, lived a life indulging our urges and our motives were turned inward, focused on self.

In the Walking Dead, there hasn't been much hope, it's been all about surviving. All about "your people" and really in a world where self is exalted isn't that what we will care about, ourselves and our people. There is yet to be any cure and in the show sin is often on full display in the way that the people interact with one another.

But not so with us. Check out what comes next in Ephesians 2:4-10:

"BUT God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ - by grace you have been saved - and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Chris Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them."

BUT God, what a glorious but! I know that sounds funny...

But it's true! God himself steps in and though we were dead, enslaved by our rebellion and by sin, rescues us. Why? Because of his great love. In his great love the Father gave his Son Jesus who gave his life away for us so that we can now give away our lives for the good works that God has prepared for us to walk in.

No longer are we the Walking Dead but we are the Walking Light! Beacons of light pointing to a greater Light that came to rescue this broken world and make all things new.

And check out what Jesus has done, by grace you are saved. By grace, immeasurable riches of his grace! That is why it is said that Jesus became poor so that we may become rich. We were dead, brought nothing to the table, focused on self, and in that state, knowing exactly how much it would cost, brings about the rescue of this world through his death and resurrection. This rescue is a gift from God that we could never earn. A Walker in the Walking Dead world is focused on their appetite for flesh and cannot themselves find a cure. We too are unable to rescue ourselves

So, how does the rescue of the world, the restoration of what is broken, happen through the death and resurrection of Jesus? The resurrection doesn't bring hope of one day leaving this place. It's not about going to heaven. By the rebellion of people sin entered this world and through people sin and death have reigned. We all die. We all face consequences of sin and a broken world. Jesus in his resurrection deals a death blow to death. And the same power that raised Jesus from the dead is at work within us through the Holy Spirit!

This is the hope of the follower of Jesus and it's not just a future hope but a hope that is at work in us and through us in the world today. That is why we spend our lives bringing a glimpse of heaven to earth everyday, a glimpse of the day when all things will be made new.

And this is the sign to people that God is at work in this world, that those who were once the walking dead have been transformed, been made alive because of the richness of God's love for us