Sunday: Alive in Christ
The grace of God that brings revival to those who are dead in transgression and sin is graphically revealed in Ezekiel 37. In vision, the prophet Ezekiel is transported by the Spirit to a valley full of dead, dry, and scattered bones. These bones represent the whole house of Israel. God asks, “Son of man, can these bones live?” (Ezek. 37:3).
The answer to this question unfolds as the prophet prophesies to the bones.
Read Ezekiel 37:1-14. What was God going to do for His people?
Image © Providence Collection from GoodSalt.com
The results of the message delivered to the dry bones are that (1) they “came to life and stood up on their feet-a vast army” (Ezek. 37:10, NIV); (2) God will settle His people in their own land (Ezek. 37:14); (3) and they will know that it was God who did it (Ezek. 37:14).
But being revived is not enough. God’s people are revived for a mission, for a purpose. Israel was to be a light to the nations.
Read Ephesians 2:10. Why are we made alive-spiritually re-created-in Christ?
“Our acceptance with God is sure only through His beloved Son, and good works are but the result of the working of His sin-pardoning love. They are no credit to us, and we have nothing accorded to us for our good works by which we may claim a part in the salvation of our souls. Salvation is God’s free gift to the believer, given to him for Christ’s sake alone. The troubled soul may find peace through faith in Christ, and his peace will be in proportion to his faith and trust. He cannot present his good works as a plea for the salvation of his soul.
“But are good works of no real value? Is the sinner who commits sin every day with impunity, regarded of God with the same favor as the one who through faith in
Christ tries to work in his integrity? The Scripture answers, ‘We are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.’
“In His divine arrangement, through His unmerited favor, the Lord has ordained that good works shall be rewarded. We are accepted through Christ’s merit alone; and the acts of mercy, the deeds of charity, which we perform, are the fruits of faith.” – Ellen G. White, Selected Messages, book 3, pp. 199, 200.
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Is the sinner who commits sins with impunity,regarded the same favour as the one who through faith in Christ works on his/her integrity?
Thoughts? I'd love to hear what my brothers & sisters think on this matter.
The christian who have accepted Christ is in a journey of cleansing of sin which is progresive but those who have not accepted the son of God are stuck in their sin becoming worse every day.
Imagine you and your 3 yrs old twin boys are vacationing in Hawaii, hiking up the mountain one day to see the beautiful valley below when one of your twin boys who is usually strong willed child, decided to follow his own path and is running towards a cliff and sure death. Wouldn't you as a parent run after that child calling, commanding, persuading, scolding or even begging that child to stop? You would do anything to save that child, wouldn't you? That's how I see, God is running after those who are choosing to go down the path of destruction, maybe you can even say He shows more love towards that wayward child. He aches for that child and is willing to do anything to win him back.
I have two grandsons. One is obedient and compliant, does his homework willingly, makes his bed and is generally neat and tidy. The other one is, in a word, naughty. He disobeys, makes a big untidy mess in his room and his bed does not get made until his mother stands over him and supervises every detail. Does one grandchild get preferential treatment over the other? Do I go bike riding with one and make the other stay home? I love them both equally and I want my "naughty" grandson to know that both his parents and I will never give up on him.
And if we are like that with our children and grandchildren, how much more is Christ going to love those who are "naughty" and disobedient? Jesus is more patient and persistent than we are.
Lisa, We are all of a different temperament and so the situations that result in some answers are not what we might hope for. The demand from a parent or other responsible person, to leave and never come back is too often heard, due to frustration or other reasons. God is unhappy at times but He is always loving and forgiving. For which we are eternally thankful. The parable of the Lost Son in Luke15:11-32, seems to fit here.
I have always wondered what direction the eldest son's life might have taken after the Father tried to reason with him!
It is indeed beyond sad that our earthly parents can give up on us so easily.
I can never begin to thank God enough for His extraordinary patience and love.
The lesson asks (in connection with the parable of the dry bones), "What was God going to do for His people?"
The first, and most immediate application related to the captivity. Ezekiel was then living in the country of Babylon, among the captives. The Jewish nation was scattered. It was quite dead. A spirit of despair had taken hold of the people, and their feelings were being expressed in the following terms -- "Our bones are dried, and our hope is lost: we are [completely] cut off" (Eze 37:11 KJV).
God took the prevailing attitude of the people and employed it in the parable of the dry bones. He effectively promised them a national restoration, a national resurrection from the dead.
But in the parable God shows them that the restoration of a physical nation was never going to be enough. Yes, the scattered bones would all come together. Sinews would connect them, flesh would come upon them, and skin would clothe them again... all the 'connective tissues' would be added. But the final, most important thing, was the "breath". Without the Spirit, the complete physical restoration would, ultimately, be in vain. (Eze 37:6-8)
Great analogy Maurice.
Praise God for His unconditional love for us.
My name is suzie, i have always been a shy person but i want to do something meaningful like bring souls to Jesus Christ.i dont know how to do it because i am so shy.
Hi Suzie. I too am shy and an introvert. I am an academic, and through my lifetime I have spent hours doing research, thinking and reasoning, and writing academic papers, mostly alone. I find social situations challenging and prefer to sit quietly in a corner. If people start talking to me, I can happily engage with them but I am not going to go out there and start up conversations with other people.
Two things have helped me. (1) I married a very social wife who drags me into social situations. I protest, but I know that she is the best thing that ever happened to me. (2) I don't mind writing down ideas and I have found that I can talk to people through email and on blogs etc.
You do not have to have an extrovert personality and a huge circle of influence to work for Christ. You just need to understand yourself and put yourself in God's hands and he will find opportunities for you.
Thank you so much for sharing your experience with me. I will keep on praying God for guidance so i can do his work.
I think that most Christians truly want to assist Christ as well, and we may be shy or fearful of others responses. There are so many ways to reach others, in volunteering within ones own church, community, schools, etc. And prayer! Our first, middle and final step and very powerful tool, not only in preparing our own hearts and opening our ears to what God has planned for us, but to intercede for others. Rather than think, all we can do is pray, we should rejoice how wonderful it is that we can pray and God hears us! Pray Suzie, and I am praying for you, that God will lead and bless you!
Thank you so much for your advice and your prayer.I will keep on praying and ask God to put me on the right path.
Susie; evangelism is always and only can be one on one so being a social person may actually be a handicap... Royce
Thank you so much Royce.
Suzie, evangelism teams are always in need of volunteers to help them to \"plant and water God\'s vineyards\" before and after they have done the work of soul winning. \"Planting and watering\" can be simple tasks such as passing out tracts and posters in the community that will be evangelized, or post-evangelism tasks such as helping to feed the New Coverts on Sabbath (showing them how to keep the Sabbath holy), or forming a Bible Study/Prayer Group with the New Coverts. I could list over a dozen tasks and ideas that you could do that anyone can do, whether they are introvert or extrovert. Many extrovert in our churches are not doing the work that God has been given them to do; what they are doing is wasting a lot of time. I always believed that it takes all types of personalities to achieve the work of soul winning (i.e., the twelve disciples, some of them may have been introverts too). God will lead you to the opportunities He need you to do, or in the direction that He wishes you to go. Remember this, many of our Pastors are introverts as well, and it hasn\'t stopped them from doing the work that God called them to do. Pray and ask God to show (or lead) you in the right direction.
Also, a good start for you could be to join the Personal Ministries department at your church, they are always in need of volunteers to help spread God\'s message. If you are still not quite ready to go out into the vineyard, then maybe you can be the Personal Ministries secretary, i.e., take the notes for the meeting, help organize and plan the evangelism projects - work behind the scenes, until you are ready to take a more active role in evangelism.
Royce, there are different types of evangelism. Sometimes evangelism is one on one soul winning; sometimes it\'s to an entire community, to several hundreds of people at once, in a large church or arena.
Find a soup kitchen and serve. Pray for direction. Most people think they can just donate money to God, money belongs to God. Give your time to God, that's what he wants.
We once had a preacher who told us pray about the situation then go to Walmart, Kmart, Rite Aid, wherever, and just sit and wait on God. See who he puts in your direction.
Doing good works is the result of being changed to be like Jesus. If I don't want to be changed, then I don't actually want to be saved.
Praise the LORD for His life giving power of the Holy Spirit.
But let's be realistic. Do you treat your children the same? What I mean is,one kid is stubborn and naughty as Said by one member. The other is obedient and responsible. Doesn't it require loving more the obedient kid than the naughty one. Let's turn to Christian lifestyle. Does't God love an obedient Christian who keeps his garments clean every day than one who is on and off? Do we get the same blessings?
No you do not treat them the same. They are very different personalities, and what works with one does not work with the other. But you love them both just the same. That is the responsibility of good parenting.
Jesus does not give up on sinners.
Jesus said God sends the rain on the good and the wicked.
The vision of the "valley of dry bones" is rich with vivid imagery, endowed with amazing narrative and full of symbolism. It is a poetic and prophetic response to a situation of hopelessness and helplessness. The message given was one of promise that God's spirit would bring the peopke back from exile. At this time the ten tribes of Israel had been so widely scattered among hostile nations. The tribes of Judah, Levi and Benjamin had been completely decimated and carried to Babylon. Hope was gone. This vision speaks to us today that God can infuse life the church with life so that its fizzing with energy for the gospel. God is always prepared to to revive His remnant church so that she becomes an invincible force for good. Applied to each member of the church this means that no one is so worthless that God cannot revive. No matter what you and I may have done in life. No matter whether people look at you and me and see only the debauchery of sin in us, God can still bring about life through His Spirit and Word. Jesus transform lives: sinners are forgiven and become vessels used by God!!! This vision also paints a picture of what it will be life just after our Master and Lord Jesus Christ has returned. He will take His faithful ones leaving satan alone surrounded by dead corpses of lost , strewn all over the earth. (Jeremiah 25:33). The earth will revert to a valley of dead bones that will only come to life for judgement.
The hope in this story is that God can revive dry bones. Ephesians 2:1 says, "And yo
Another application of the vision to us is that when we preach the gospel our message will cause a reaction from our audience. Sometimes it will bring about strong revival among the people. At other times it will arouse strong opposition. On Wednesday last week we preached at a prayer vigil where a member's had died. The deceased was a Catholic believer. When the priest was told that Seventh-day Adventists were preaching at the home of his member, he arrived suddenly. He came forward to ostensibly announce funeral arrangements but once finished he started attacking the message of the Sevenrh-day Adventist Church. The people were very confused.
Here if apply the dead and dried bones, we talk of being dead and dry spiritually, and god send his son Jesus to prophesy in our lives so that we stand on our feet again. God love his people and promises to serve us by grace through Jesus his beloved son.
As we grew up we sang: Jesus loves me this I know ....... Another stanza went:
Jesus loves me when I'm good;
When I do the things I should.
Jesus loves me when I'm bad;
Even though it makes Him sad.
Jesus left the 99 sheep which obeyed (so to speak) and went out in search of the naughty one that disobeyed. In giving light punishment to a child who apparently disregards instructions, you are saying, 'my child, I love you and I don't want you to be lost or hurt.'
If it were not for the grace and the merits of our Lord Jesus Christ, no one would live! Jesus will always accept those who repent of their sins genuinely.
THE Question is why are we made alive?
After Adam was created from the dust of the earth he was a perfect physical specimen but was unable to walk, talk, reason and totally oblivious to what was happening around him. In Genesis we are told that God breathed in Adam's nostril, the breath of life, and he became a living soul. He was now empowered by God, the source of life, to do things. He named all the other creatures and was given the task to take care of the Garden of Eden. Once we have accepted Christ and are alive in Him, like Adam, God himself, will give us our assignment through the power of the Holy Spirit. It is for us to identify our gift and set to work in advancing God's kingdom through good works (not of ourselves lest any man should boast).