The saying is trustworthy, for:
If we have died with Him, we will also live with Him;
if we endure, we will also reign with Him;
if we deny Him, he also will deny us…
– 2 Timothy 2:11-12
The expression, dead man walking was coined for a condemned prisoner being led to the executioner. Judgment had been pronounced and at this point, death was inevitable. It is a saying that is also used to describe a person in a doomed or desperate situation. This obviously pertains to a physical death or wordly hardship. But could this be expanded to a greater spiritual truth?
The reality, in a spiritual sense is that we are all a dead man walking. But it is the kind of death we choose that makes the distinction of the death we are facing.
Because of our sin, the just penalty can only result in both our physical as well as our spiritual death. In a physical understanding, because of the fall of creation, the moment we are born we our bodies begin to die. (Genesis 3:19 – By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return.) From a spiritual aspect, because of our choice to pursue sin, we are already dead by God’s standards. (Romans 6:23a – For the wages of sin is death.)
What a dismal thought. What a blatant reality. Condemned. Every step we take on this earth is one of a dead man walking. Even worse, there is nothing we can do in our feeble attempts to rectify this situation.
But there is hope.
While our sin and this world presses us on in our march to eternity, an eternity separated and devoid of all of God’s attributes, Jesus offers something no one else can offer.
Jesus offers us death.
But it is a much different death. It is His death. It is death to this world, to sin, to ourselves. It is a death that must occur before we can receive a new life. Resurrection life. Life in and through our Savior. Life that causes us to die and to continually die, every single day. Life that allows us to see the sin and darkness of this world for the tragedy it is. Life that shows us that though we are in this world, we are no longer of this world. Only through Christ, can we make the choice to be a dead man walking. Walking all the way into the arms of our loving Lord and Saviour Jesus.
There’s no escape from being a dead man walking. However the distinction is what’s important. Be careful, because it is where you will eventually and eternally wind up.
For one who has died has been set free from sin. Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with Him.
– Romans 6:7-8
Jason Metz, lead Pastor
