Could zombies help us understand scripture?
Zombies are exactly what helped me understand a significant passage of scripture many years ago. I was participating in a Discovery Bible Study with a local group of business men here in Waco. One of the steps in this type of study is to take the passage you’re studying together and rewrite it in your own words.
The passage was Romans 5:20 – 6:11 and while meditating I began getting a fun picture of the scripture that had zombies, zombie viruses, and antidotes replacing key terms like sin and grace. As I put it all together, the scripture came alive in a way that I had not yet experienced. Who knew that all the movies, tv shows and hype out surrounding zombies had a redemptive quality as examples of sin, death, grace and resurrection! Enjoy this fresh perspective as we shine a revelatory light on scripture!
Here is a key to understanding the terms in the passage. Enjoy how the passage plays out!
Key terms –
- Sin = Poisonous Zombie Virus
- Death = Zombie life or Living dead
- Grace = Antidote
- Resurrection = Vaccination
Romans 5:20 – 6:11 – (David Harris Expository Commentary.)
5:20) The law was brought in so that the zombie virus might be revealed for what it was, but where the zombie virus was revealed, the antidote was revealed even more. 21) Just as the zombie virus causes living death, so also the antidote was provided by Christ to bring us back from the dead and into true life.
6:1) Shall I keep drinking zombie virus so that Christ will give me more antidote? That’s crazy! 2) Christ’s antidote killed the zombie nature, how can I live like that anymore? Don’t you know that when you take the antidote, the zombie in you dies? Just as the zombie virus infected Christ and he became fully a zombie, died and rose again providing us with the antidote, we also have died to the zombie’s living death and now have a new life fully vaccinated.
5) If we take the antidote Christ gives, then we get the full benefit of his death, now living the fully vaccinated life. 6) If we know we are no longer of the living dead and that we are immune to the zombie’s virus, then I should no longer act like a zombie, 7) because I am in fact alive.
8) If I’ve taken Christ’ antidote, then I’ve received the full benefit of Christ’s death and I now have every benefit of immunity and enjoy the vaccinated life. 9) It’s true that once you’ve taken the antidote you are fully vaccinated and can never contract the zombie virus again. 10) The death Christ died provides full immunity and full vaccination for all. This vaccinated life Christ has he lives with joy and excitement with his father.
11) In the same way, we no longer drink the zombie’s poisonous virus or act like zombies, but we live as fully vaccinated beings like Christ and enjoy relationship with the heavenly father.
How Does this Now Reveal God’s Character?
What does this passage now communicate about the nature and character of God? Christ totally, completely and willingly became sin/a zombie on our behalf and fully died. Out of this act, grace/the antidote was released that we might have resurrection life/be vaccinated.
Isn’t this a brilliant way of looking at scripture! Because I’m so familiar with church language, I was having a problem really grasping this scripture, but with these little tweaks, the doors of revelation have been thrown open and the work of God has become living and active in my life in a way that it was not before.
Love that we serve a God who meets us where we’re at!
Things to do this Week.
1. Take some time to process and recognize that the Kingdom of God is not a matter of words, but of power.
2. Ask God to open the doors of revelation in your life. Remember that revelation is not about having the right answers to a problem or situation. Revelation is about what brings life. Jesus came that we would have life and have it to the full.
3. If you receive something revelatory, thank God for that. If not, then go ahead and thank God for the revelation that you’re going to receive in the days ahead because God loves to satisfy our desires with good things.
Go with God.
David Sr.