Could there be a real threat of Zombie retaliation? Man
has been fascinated with zombies for a long time, not only in horror movies and
TV shows, but in third world countries, like Africa and Jamaica, where the
belief in zombies is quite real. Practitioners of Voodoo and other mystical
religions believe they can bring the dead back to life to accomplish evil
deeds.
But are there really such beings as Zombies? It’s my
thought that zombies do exist here among us right now. There might be at least
two or three different types of zombies out there in the world already. One
kind might be those people who do not believe in Christ as the Son of God or
that God even exists at all and they wander around in a fog, not having any
purpose or faith in anything but themselves, like walking dead. They are
essentially dead to God.
Another kind could be those of us who believe that
Christ died for our sins, rose again and is returning for us. We have died to
self and now live in Christ. We are simply taking up space here on earth until He
calls us home or He returns, we are dead to the world of sin, but alive through
Christ and what He has done for us.
The Bible is full of “zombies” or those who have risen
from the dead. In the Old Testament Elijah raised the widow of Zarephath’s son
in 1 Kings 17:22 and in 2 Kings 4 Elisha raises a Shunammite woman’s son. Then
again, a man was raised when his dead body came into contact with
Elisha's bones in 2 Kings 13. These to me sound like zombies; they came back to
life, got up, walked around and interacted with others, but no reports of them
attacking and eating their fellow man! All though later on in the New Testament
is the account of the demon possessed men and how Christ drove their demons
into the pigs in Luke 8:26-39, which comes pretty close!
The New Testament gives some examples that are very well known; probably the most famous of all was when Jesus raised Lazarus after he had been buried for four days in John 11:38-44. He raised a widow’s son during a funeral in Luke 7:11-17 and Jairus daughter in Mark 5:21-43. But the ultimate rise from the dead was by Jesus Christ himself, when he was crucified, buried and then rose on the third day! Again He was alive, walking and talking with people! Now if you really want “zombies” this was the real deal, during Christ’s crucifixion many of the dead came out of the tombs, Matt. 27:52. Talk about zombies!
But wait, we aren’t done yet, there are still more examples
to come! Paul raises Eutychus after he falls from a 2nd
story window in Acts 20:7-12 and Peter raises Dorcas in Acts 9:36-42. Although
all of these certainly sound like zombies to me, I am of the opinion that the real
Zombie Apocalypse isn’t scheduled until Christ returns.
We read this account of our final victory in
1Corinthians 15:50-58:“Now this I say,
brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does
corruption inherit incorruption. Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all
sleep, but we shall all be changed— in a moment, in the
twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the
dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible
must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So
when this corruptible has put on incorruption, and this mortal has put on
immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written: “Death
is swallowed up in victory.” “O Death, where is your
sting? O Hades, where is your victory? The sting of death is sin,
and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who
gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved
brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord,
knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.”
That
to me sounds like a Zombie Apocalypse if ever there was one! In 1 Thessalonians
4:16-17 we get another image, “For the Lord himself will come down from heaven,
with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call
of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still
alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet
the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever.” Philippians
3:20-21 tells us “But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a
Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who by the power that enables him to
bring everything under his control; will transform our lowly bodies so that
they will be like his glorious body.”
The
thing that gets me the most, is all these TV shows about preparing for the
Apocalypse and Zombies, basically only show people hording supplies and things
or building fortresses, but they offer no real solutions. There is but one way
to prepare for such events and that is to prepare our hearts to accept Jesus as
Christ and as Our Savior, because He is the only one who can save us from such
things. If you have not prepared yourself by accepting Christ as your Savior,
then you will have no hope of surviving an Apocalypse of any kind and all the
supplies and preparations will be for nothing!
Instead
of storing up useless things here on earth, we should be preparing to share the
love of Christ with others while we are here. So take the time now, while you
still have it, to put your Spiritual house in order, get your life back on the
right track and be assured of where you will go when the Zombie Apocalypse
hits! There are only two places a person could end up in when it’s all over,
Heaven with God and Christ or Hell with the Devil! So prepare wisely!
