How to bring someone back from the dead

Men, women, and children come back to life after being dead for decades. That’s the premise of the ABC show, "Resurrection."

But what if bringing a person back to life was really possible?

Would you do it? Would you do whatever it took to bring someone to life?

We Are All Walking Dead

The power to resurrect people isn’t in science. It isn’t in technology. It isn’t in magical religious rituals. You can help bring people to life by connecting them to Jesus.

We’ve all sinned, and because of our sin, we’re spiritually dead. We can’t bring ourselves to life. We can’t rescue ourselves. But because God is good and powerful, He makes us spiritually alive in Jesus (Colossians 2:13). We are moved from death to life when we believe in Jesus and follow Him (John 5:24).

The Gospel Is the Answer

The Gospel brings people to life. The word “gospel” means good news, and the good news is this: God loves us and Jesus came to rescue us from the destruction caused by our sins. It means we can experience an abundant life in Jesus, despite the wrongs we’ve committed.

When we commit to following Jesus, we get the chance to start over. The Bible says we become new creations, and here’s why:

• Jesus brings new life to our identity.

Apart from God, our mistakes marked who we were and separated us from God. But because of Jesus, people who were once far from God are able to draw near (Ephesians 2:12-13). We have a place to belong and people we’re connected to. Our new identity is that of a child of God. We have a good Father who looks out for us (Romans 8:16-17).

• Jesus brings new life to our desires.

Apart from Jesus, we live in selfishness, pride, rebellion, harmful actions and words, anger, greed, lust and more. Those desires eventually lead to death and destruction. When Jesus brings us to life, we experience peace, gratitude, fulfillment, and hope. We want what God wants, not what we think we deserve.

• Jesus brings new life to our relationships.

Too often, our examples of how to be successful teach us to do what’s good for us at the expense of what’s good for others. This is how dead people operate (1 John 3:14). Part of being alive in Jesus is the ability to love others fully. We can’t love well if we’ve never experienced it ourselves. Being loved by God teaches us how to love others.

• Jesus brings new life to our priorities.

When we live in spiritual deadness, the only people we look out for are ourselves. We may put our money, our jobs, our families, or something else before God. Even good things become bad things when we try to make them more important than God. But the Gospel means Jesus comes into our lives and rearranges our priorities to match His priorities.

Jesus alone can move us from death to life because He’s conquered death by His sacrifice on the cross (1 Timothy 1:10).

Want to talk to someone about moving from death to life? Come to the Care Room on Sunday or email us at hello@newspring.cc.