"And when I passed by you and saw you wallowing in your blood, I said to you in your blood, 'Live!'"
Ezekiel 16:6

God's prophet to Israel, Ezekiel, is painting a picture for Israel of Israel. The picture is very detailed, very graphic, and very long. You can read it in its entirety by reading the whole of chapter 16, or the whole book really. But, this first imagery is portraying what is now equivalent to a person coming to salvation. The picture is that of a child that was born and then abandoned by its parents. Left helpless. Left to die. But then God passed by. And thank God he did! Had he not, we would have had no hope whatsoever.

This is the simplest form of the Gospel. Scripture uses similar images throughout to portray the salvation process. Paul says in Ephesians 2 that we were once "dead in our trespasses." Salvation is not the process of a a person being sick spiritually, getting a little spiritual meds from Dr. Jesus, and then being good to go until their next (ir)regular check up, whether that be each Sunday morning, or only on the holidays. That is NOT salvation. That is a poor, cheap copy of grace. It is the American consumerism model of salvation and faith. It is not the real thing, however. The real Gospel, that produces and represents real salvation, teaches us that we have no hope. That we were a child left by our parents, "wallowing in [our] blood." That we were "dead in trespasses." We are helpless, hopeless, in utter despair, weak, powerless, incapable, incompetent, and ultimately dead. To the degree that you see this, you will be capable of seeing the Savior as who he really is and see what he has really done.

Those who think that they are ok people, that they are pretty good, that they are alright, will only have an ok, pretty good, alright Savior. But those who realize they are filthy, that they are totally in need of help, totally consumed with their own sin in every single thing they do, whether it be rape and murder or building a children's hospital, and utterly lifeless, they will see a Savior who is pure and clean, capable of washing those who are filthy; they will see a Savior who is totally able to help those in need; they will see a Savior who was totally consumed by their sin at the cross, but, through his resurrection power, totally consumed sin and will one day totally deliver us from its consummation; a Savior who enables every thing they do to be an act of worship; they will see a Savior that is life and gives life, that died to conquer death on our behalf.

It is this type of Savior that can pass by and say to us "Live!" His utterances created the entire universe. His words made life where there was not even death, but, rather, absolutely no existence whatsoever. Are we so arrogant to think that he cannot overcome our death, our wallowing, our spiritual state with a single word? He can, and he will. And when he does, we are like Lazarus when Jesus called to him, "Lazarus, come forth!" Dead men don't argue. They obey. They obey the One who holds the keys to life and death, the one who is the firstborn from the dead, the one that creates life with his words.

If he has called you out, let this be a reminder of where you have come from. The verses go on to explain that God then cleansed Israel, after speaking life to them; he washed them and clothed them and made a covenant with them likened unto marriage. Then Israel is said to "play the whore." Read Ezekiel 16 and run from the mistakes that Israel made. When Christ has called you to life and cleansed you, stay clean. If you are dead, then my prayer is that you hear "Live!" from the Master's mouth soon.

Grace and peace-