Sermon Snippet – Death and Life
INTRODUCTION – We sometimes speak of life-or-death situations or life-and-death struggles, both of which are sadly real. A particularly Christian concept, though, is death and life: “It is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment” (Hebrews 9:27). “But after” – this is a distinctive teaching. Other religions promise, sometimes vaguely, eternal life. The Christian faith is precise. Death is real – “the last enemy” (I Corinthians 15:26). What follows this death is life eternal in heaven or judgment eternal, separated from the tender mercies of God (Matthew 25:46). Believers in Christ Jesus have certainty, for He has demonstrated in His Resurrection that He has defeated death and can and does offer us His salvation. Ezekiel 37:1-14 predicts the restoration of Israel and provides powerful principles for Christians today.
1. THE HAND OF THE LORD IS RAISED – AND THE CHRISTIAN IS CRADLED IN THAT HAND
“The hand of the LORD was upon me” (verse 1a). Ezekiel’s experience is ours as well, for “underneath are the everlasting arms” (Deuteronomy 33:27b). God says in Isaiah 49:16a, “Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of My hands.” The hands of Jesus, God the Son, stretched out and spiked to the Cross, call to all to welcome us. Cradled there, we are “safe and secure from all alarms.”
2. DRY BONES ARE IN THE HAND OF THE LORD
Verses 1-6 present a picture of desert desiccation. If Ezekiel had responded no to God’s question in verse 3a, no one could find fault, for the bones “were very dry” – a representation of man’s fragility and frailty and spiritual failure, and of the seeming finality of death. However, Ezekiel, a man of God, left this humanly impossible matter in the hand of his kind and capable God (verse 3b).
3. ETERNAL LIFE IS IN THE HAND OF THE LORD
The current physical existence of the nation of Israel prefigures its future spiritual restoration (verses 7-14). “Breath” (verse 10) is a symbol of life, both physical (Genesis 2:7) and spiritual (Psalm 119:25). It is our Savior God Who can do the impossible, Who can transform death into life, eternal life. How can dry bones live again? They cannot gather themselves together, find some muscle that’s just kicking about and some skin that’s just hanging around, and come to life. That reality is exactly the lesson for us: we can do nothing to give ourselves spiritual life.
CONCLUSION – A New Testament parallel to this passage is Ephesians 2:1-7. We are spiritually “dead” (verses 1, 5) but made eternally alive (“quickened” – verses 1, 5) through faith in Jesus and in His finished work of salvation. Eternal life is in the hand of the Lord. Receive it from His hand; in fact, climb right into His hand. The Savior will never let go of us and will lift us up to “sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus” (verse 6).