Dry bones (Wikimedia)
A few days ago I posted Butterfly dead or alive? I considered the difference between a dead butterfly and a living one. I thought about this in biological terms, suggesting I’d write again soon on the spiritual aspects for people following Jesus. This is that second article.
I’ll go through each of the main points from that earlier article to draw spiritual truth out for anyone who believes they are alive in Christ. So here goes…
Ability to move
If I’m spiritually dead, then like the dead butterfly I will be unable to move. But what is spiritually equivalent to the physical ability to move? There may be more than one way of looking at this. Read Acts 17:1-8. What does this mean, in real, practical terms? Try reading the entire chapter, Acts 17, and it will become clear. Paul was explaining to Greek philosophers in Athens that the ‘Lord of Heaven and Earth’ is not served by humans because there’s nothing we can provide that he doesn’t already have. Instead he’s the One who gives us life and breath and everything else we might need. You’re not spiritually alive until you start paying attention to Jesus and agree to let him work in you and through you. He will change you in so many ways, all of them good. But if you’ve never met him before and never spent time with him you will not become alive spiritually. When you allow him to touch you in this way you will become alive and aware and, like the living butterfly, you’ll be able to move with energy that is within you, the essential energy Jesus has placed in you. The dead butterfly would be dried up and provide food for the ants. The living butterfly can detect predators, move to safety, and gather energy from floral nectar.
When we’re spiritually dead we can do nothing to help ourselves, but when Jesus has made us alive we can move freely, and not just in this physical world for we can now move spiritually too. It’s difficult to describe this to someone who has not yet experienced it. But come on in! You will never regret it.
Appearance, colour, lustre
As you continue to learn from Jesus you will become a thing of beauty and fragrance, well maintained spiritually, colourful, clean and cared for. The body ages and deteriorates over the years, but the spiritual heart and life will never age or fade.
Ability to sense danger
There are forces of spiritual evil in the world, as well as the more obvious physical dangers we face from falling rocks, dangerous drivers, illnesses of many kinds, or the occasional thunderstorm, earthquake, or volcano. Jesus does not give us any guarantee of safety from the physical world, but he will alert us to and protect us from spiritual danger and damage – if we pay more attention to him and his Holy Spirit than we do to our own ideas and preferences. Often, sadly, we do not.
Reproduction
This is an important one.
Spiritual reproduction is not like biological reproduction, although both result in growing numbers. In the case of spiritual reproduction it’s mostly a matter of living lives that will make people ask themselves, What’s different about them? People tend to know a good thing when they see it. If I tell someone that I follow Jesus they will expect him to be like me. If I am mean, greedy, selfish and easily angered people will pick up the notion that Jesus might be like that too. So I’d better become kinder, more gentle and helpful and generous, more loving towards the people around me.
Metabolism
Living creatures of all kinds, including people, have an active metabolism, it begins in humans and other animals when a sperm fertilises an egg cell, generating the very beginning of a new organism. And that metabolism continues all day and all night, year in and year out, until that new organism dies through accident, illness, or old age. There is a spiritual analogue for metabolism too. There are complex actions and interactions going on in the life of the church. A church can be healthy or sick, it can be hungry or fat, it can be happy or truly miserable. There are spiritual gifts poured out over people who follow Jesus and gather as church. These gifts are crucial in forming and sustaining church growth in helpful and useful ways.
I’ll finish by mentioning two phrases that are sometimes used in church circles; they both come from Romans chapter 6 and verse 11.
- The first one is ‘Dead to sin’
- The second is ‘Alive in Christ’.
That, my friends, is the choice before us.
See also:
- APEST – Website
- Fruit of the Holy Spirit – Wikipedia
- Romans – Wikipedia
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