We all, in Adam, ate of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and are dead to God from birth. Yet we all walked around thinking we were alive and God was just fooling. Now all are dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus but we still think God is just fooling. Every time God declares truth we go out of our way to declare Him a liar.
Consider this. The very day Adam and Eve ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil they died to what had been uninterrupted and unmarred fellowship with God. They went from having God to having things, like shame of nakedness. In Christ Jesus we all were put to a second death, a death to the first death. We are born anew and live in eternal union with God.
We are either dead to God or dead to sin. Or another way, we are either alive to sin or alive to God. When we are alive to sin our identity is bound to our flesh. When we are alive to God we are bound to Love loving. The flesh self looks out for itself and the Spirit of Love is a self for others.
So whether alive to God or alive to sin we first have to be dead. These are different deaths, but real deaths nonetheless. Yet I’ll bet, before you accepted Christ’s act of Love you thought you were alive and now, hearing you are alive in Christ Jesus, you sense flesh stuff and think yourself dead to God. That is a paradox.
Did Christ die for you? Doubt it and continue in doubt or believe His Life is your very life and continue in belief. Watch the flesh and die to the truth or keep your eyes on Jesus and live.
