Graveyard of Sin

"The hand of the LORD was upon me, and carried me out in the spirit of the LORD, and set me down in the midst of the valley which was full of bones, And caused me to pass by them round about: and, behold, there were very many in the open valley; and, lo, they were very dry. And he said unto me, Son of man, can these bones live? And I answered, O Lord GOD, thou knowest. Again he said unto me, Prophesy upon these bones, and say unto them, O ye dry bones, hear the word of the LORD. Thus saith the Lord GOD unto these bones; Behold, I will cause breath to enter into you, and ye shall live: And I will lay sinews upon you, and will bring up flesh upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and ye shall live; and ye shall know that I am the LORD. So I prophesied as I was commanded: and as I prophesied, there was a noise, and behold a shaking, and the bones came together, bone to his bone. And when I beheld, lo, the sinews and the flesh came up upon them, and the skin covered them above: but there was no breath in them. Then said he unto me, Prophesy unto the wind, prophesy, son of man, and say to the wind, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live. So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood up upon their feet, an exceeding great army. Then he said unto me, Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel: behold, they say, Our bones are dried, and our hope is lost: we are cut off for our parts. Therefore prophesy and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, O my people, I will open your graves, and cause you to come up out of your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel. And ye shall know that I am the LORD, when I have opened your graves, O my people, and brought you up out of your graves, And shall put my spirit in you, and ye shall live, and I shall place you in your own land: then shall ye know that I the LORD have spoken it, and performed it, saith the LORD." (Ezekiel 37: 1-14)

"Can these bones live?" Is that not the question of questions? Is it not similar to the question of Job - "If a man die, shall he live again?" (Job 14: 14) What is the answer? What says Lord God?

Ezekiel's answer to the question was - "Lord, you (only) know." Certainly nothing is impossible with Omnipotent Deity. (Matthew 19: 26) Certainly this is one of those things that "with men, is impossible." Yes, men today are working on being able to raise the dead, either by cloning, or by some other means, but it will all prove a failure.

Man is dead. He is dead in spirit, in his relation to Lord God, his Maker. He is very much alive to sin, but he is dead to God, righteousness, and to everything spiritually good. He is also infected with a disease that will absolutely bring him to physical death in earthly grave.

This death in spirit is described by our Lord.

"Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men's bones, and of all uncleanness." (Matthew 23: 27)

"Their throats are open graves" (Romans 3: 13 NIV).

The spiritual condition of fallen man is one where his heart is viewed as a spiritual graveyard of sin.

The Lord, through the gospel, as through the instrumentality of Ezekiel and his prophesying, is still raising from spiritual death those who are in heart and soul dead to God and dead to righteousness.

God says to men, in the gospel - "Wherefore he saith, Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light." (Ephesians 5: 14)

Those who are without God, and without Christ, are "dead in tresspasses" and "dead in sins." (Ephesians 2: 1) Salvation is in being resurrected in heart, and in mind, and coming into new inward spiritual life.

"Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life. Verily, verily, I say unto you, The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God: and they that hear shall live. For as the Father hath life in himself; so hath he given to the Son to have life in himself; And hath given him authority to execute judgment also, because he is the Son of man. Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation." (John 5: 24-29)

Thus, those who will receive eternal life and immortality are those who first experience a new birth of life and resurrection in their inner beings, in their hearts and minds, while on earth. Those who are spiritually resurrected in heart are the same who will also be resurrected in body so that eternal life may be fully realized and enjoyed.

The initial resurrection in the salvation experience is illustrated in the words corcerning the Prodigal Son upon his repentance and return to his father's house.

"For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found. And they began to be merry...It was meet that we should make merry, and be glad: for this thy brother was dead, and is alive again; and was lost, and is found." (Luke 15: 24, 32)

And the words of scripture to all those who have come back to God through Christ and by the gifts of his grace, by faith and repentance, is -

"Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord. Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof. Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God. For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace." (Romans 6: 11-14)

Friend, is your heart dead to God? Is it dead to true peace and joy? Do you realize that you are helpless and that only omnipotence can raise you from your spiritual death?