Dead and Dry Bones

Today’s Reading: Ezekiel 37:1–14

We can get so accustomed to hearing about life—new life, abundant life, eternal life—that we lose our perspective.
* If so, then the image of Ezekiel 37 is a strong corrective.
* This is what death looks like; this is what new life looks like.

When we think about ourselves apart from Christ, what do we see?
* Ephesians 2 comes to my mind: “And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked” (2:1–2a).
* Is that how you see yourself apart from Christ? Dead, dry bones.

If we think of ourselves as merely weak, lost, even foolish, without God’s grace, we don’t get it.
* Yes, we are all those things, but many who are weak can at least walk.
* Someone who is lost may stumble upon the right path.
* And the most senseless fools will make some sound choices.
* But the dead?

The more we understand our dead-ness apart from Christ, the more we rejoice in the life we’ve found only in Christ.
* “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” (Eph 2:4–5).

Note: in Hebrew, the word for “breath” is the same word as “spirit.”
* Consider how the Holy Spirit is the equivalent to spiritual breath?
* Without the Spirit, even bones covered in flesh are lifeless.