The Zombie Apocalypse

When God warned Adam, "Of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die" (Gen 2:17), we can easily get a sense of ... well, error. I mean, God said they would die when they ate it. They ate it. They didn't die. Genesis goes on to say that Adam lived 930 years (Gen 5:5). I mean, seriously, in what sense is that "In the day that you eat of it you shall surely die"? Looks like the serpent was right (Gen 3:4).

I think what we have here is a failure to communicate. Okay, kind of. You see, we have the small definition of "live" which means basically "continue to breathe" and God ... does not.

Jesus said, "This is eternal life, that they know You the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent." (John 17:3) I cannot tell you how many of us miss that. He is not saying "Eternal life is found in God." He is saying that this life is defined as knowing God. John understood this and repeated it in his first epistle.

This is the testimony, that God gave us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life. (1 John 5:11-12)

Life is in His Son. Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son does not have life. Life in God's terms is defined as knowing God.

Jesus told the false prophets who claimed to do work for Him, "I never knew you; depart from Me, you workers of lawlessness." (Matt 7:23) Paul said that the secret to a right relationship with God was "you have come to know God, or rather to be known by God." (Gal 4:9) So knowing God requires being known (in biblical terms, an intimate acquaintance with) by God and God's consequent willingness to be known, and life by God's definition requires knowing God. In sin, then, all die (Rom 5:12).

God tells us, "My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways." (Isa 55:8) We see that over and over again. His "love" and our version (closer to "lust" or "warm feelings") are not the same. His "right" and our version (closer to "whatever I want") are not the same thing. And here we have another definition problem. His "life" and our version are not the same thing. Adam cut off his relationship with God ... and died. On the spot. It took over 900 years for his body to catch up. And so it continues. "And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked." (Eph 2:1-2) It's a human condition thanks to sin. Our sin. So "alive" is much more than "breathing". And "dead" is much worse than "not breathing". And we live in a strangely zombie world of the living dead where Jesus is the only cure. Why it is that so many of those who have been made alive keep trying to imitate the dead is a mystery to me ... including my propensity to do the same.