Velma Thomas holds the record…for being dead. In May 2008, the 59-year-old from Nitro, West Virginia, went into cardiac arrest. Medics were able to get a faint pulse after CPR. Upon arriving at the hospital, her heart stopped twice, and she was placed on life support. She was declared clinically dead for seventeen hours after the doctors failed to detect brain activity. Funeral arrangements were in progress. But then…ten minutes after being taken off life support, she revived and recovered.[1]

All of us have something in common with Velma Thomas. We were dead. We were dead in our sins. There was no sign of spiritual brain activity. We were helpless, hopeless. But then God came to our spiritual bedside. Here’s how Paul describes it.

Colossians 2:13-14
And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross.

This passage explains three important truths about God’s work in our lives. Check these out.

1. God was at work in our lives long before we individually said, “I believe.” He was preparing the way when we were still dead in our sins. Take a moment to reflect on the time in your life when you were not a believer. Note all the ways God was at work.
2. We are alive! We were spiritually dead, but God made each of us new creations in Jesus. Our identity is in him. We are accepted, significant, and secure all because of Jesus.
3. We are forgiven. All our sins have been canceled…erased from our records. God has nailed them to the cross, and there, Jesus paid for all our sins—past, present, and future.

With Jesus, there is always a fresh start.

Father, thank you for always being at work in our lives, even before we knew to trust in Jesus. Thank you for making us alive, even when we were spiritually dead. Thank you for forgiving us, not because of anything we did, but all because of the work of Jesus on the cross. Help us respond to such love with grateful obedience. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lazarus_syndrome#:~:text=not%20be%20saved.-,Record,after%20eight%20minutes%20of%20CPR.