Death comes seeking whom it may devour. Death is the ultimate violence perpetrated against mankind. This is precisely why in God’s world death does not have the final world. In and through Christ, death needs to bow down in submission.
In the days of ancient Israel the prophet Ezekiel spoke of death in terms of dry bones in the middle of the valley. Silence was over the valley. No one spoke, because death reigned supreme. All is hopeless. All is darkness. Ezekiel paints this morbid picture to express the marvelous painting of the resurrection. The darker the situation is the greater the light needed.
As the image of death silently hovers the valley another image begins to take its place; the image of wind and life; the image of bones coming together; the image of flesh taking its place and forming something new.
This is the corporate picture of the gospel. “When God raises Jesus from the dead, it isn’t simply the raising of one human body. It represents the resurrection, the creation out of nothing, of a new foundation for human community.” This is the community that God is forming out of nothing; out of death. Our lives are no longer lived in the valley of affliction, but in the restored Eden where God’s presence dwells and Who calls us today into His presence.
Prayer: Merciful God, You raised us to new life that we might transform the dead gardens of this world into the likeness of Your Beloved Son who is our King and who rules and reigns over death. It for the sake of His Name, Jesus, we pray, Amen!
