You may have many great accomplishments on your resume—an outstanding athlete, a dazzling performer, an accomplished musician, a graduate of a highly respected educational institution, a leader of this or that, a native of Oklahoma (jealous, aren’t you)—but when it comes to your spiritual resume before Christ, forget the bullet points, italics, and pithy descriptions. One four-letter word is centered on the page— “DEAD!”

Ephesians 2:4-5
But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved….

In my calling, I have officiated quite a few funerals, and I have to say that I’ve never seen the loved one who has passed do anything. “Dead” is the absence of life, and a corpse plays that part well. We were in the same spiritual boat before Christ (I wanted to say “same spiritual coffin” to keep the analogy going, but it just didn’t sound right.)  We were dead in our trespasses. Then we were made alive with Christ!

Because of his great love, God sent his Son to do for us what we could not do for ourselves. By his death on the cross, Jesus paid the penalty for your sins and mine. And one day, the merciful God breathed spiritual life into our hearts while we were still “dead in our trespasses” and “made us alive” with the risen Savior. Now as believers, we can update our resumes with these three words—”SAVED BY GRACE!”

Merciful and loving Father, thank you for breathing eternal life into our spiritually dead hearts and making us alive with Christ. We are forever grateful! In Jesus’ name. Amen.