S5 E8 - Signs of Life

Spring has sprung. What once was lifeless brown and dead is now starting to team with the signs of life. Trees are blossoming, birds are singing, and my spirit could not be more thrilled about it. 

Nature teaches us about the nature of God. We serve a God with the power to take dead things and bring them to life. He demonstrated such power through creation. He demonstrated such power through the resurrection of the Messiah. He can bring you to life through that same power today. 

#SetYourMindAbovePodcast

Transcript

What if I told you that God could be seen in the most ordinary things every day? 

What if I told you that every day, ordinary events could teach us extraordinary eternal truths? Would you believe me? 

 Welcome back to season 5 of the Set Your Mind Above Podcast! My name is BJ Sipe, and I am a Christian, a preacher, a husband, and a father. And I’m excited to share a few moments together with you learning some important lessons from the simplest things. Let’s grow together! 

Well, it’s official: spring has sprung. As of yesterday, Thursday March 20th, we officially exited winter and celebrated our very first day of spring.  Being an Oregon native, I have to be honest, never really developed an appreciation for all 4 seasons – and especially spring. You see where I grew up on the West Coast, the majority of the trees and plants around us were evergreens. They never changed their color, they didn’t lose their leaves, etc. As a result, for the entire year-round about 80% of what you were surrounded by stayed and looked the same. But now having lived in Kentucky for the past six years, I can tell you that I have gained a whole new appreciation for all 4 seasons – especially spring. Winter around here can be beautiful when it snows, there is no question about that. A fresh blanket of white snow that quiets everything around you and covers the once bare limbs is beautiful. But for the majority of the winter, things can get a bit…well…bleh. Everything is brown and dead. There’s no color, no variation, and no signs of life. 

But then spring rolls around, and you start to notice things that you almost didn’t even realize were gone until you see and hear them again. I’ve missed the birds, oh how I’ve missed the birds. It’s not like they disappeared entirely, but ever since the weather started to warm up a bit, my mornings have been more loudly serenaded with the songs of little fluttering creatures in my backyard. The other animals are starting to come out too. As we pulled into our driveway last night, we were met with an all too familiar face staring back into our headlights – the first little brown bunny we’ve spotted this year. I’ve missed the blossoming of trees. As I drove through town today, I was met with bright and vibrant white cherry blossoms popping up all across Danville. Bright green buds have appeared on other trees to break up the monotonous brown that dominated the winter. I took a deep breath into my lungs and thought to myself…it really is here. Spring has come. Just look at the signs of life. 

I’m certain I have talked about this application at some point over the past five years of this podcast, but I cannot help but to pause and reflect on the life-giving nature of our Lord every time that spring rolls around. I don’t believe it is without intention that God designed the seasons the way that he did, not only for our benefit, but to teach us about him. In fact, this is exactly what nature is designed to do – to point us back to the glory of the creator. Paul would write in Romans 1:19-20 the following, “. . . what can be known about God is evident among them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, that is, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen since the creation of the world, being understood through what he has made.” The things which God has made, and in the way he designed them to function, frequently direct us back to Him and teach us about Him. So, what does this shift from winter to spring teach us about God? Well my friends, we serve a God with the power to bring things that are dead back to life. 

From the very beginning, we are introduced to this life-giving God, the one through whom all things were created. Genesis 1:1-3, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness covered the surface of the watery depths, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters. Then God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.” As we read the very first words recorded in Scripture, we see that there is nothing. No signs of life. The earth was formless and void and covered in utter darkness. Until God spoke – let there be light! Suddenly, light shone forth where there had been none before. As God continued his creative work, from nothing He continued to bring life to the scene – creating water, space, plants, animals, every kind of creature of the sky and sea, until finally we come to man. Genesis 2:7, “Then the LORD God formed the man out of the dust from the ground and breathed the breath of life into his nostrils, and the man became a living being.” And so began mankind – from the life-giving mind, work and breath of our great and powerful Creator. 

God would continue to reveal himself as the author & giver of life throughout Scripture. Time would fail us to read and cite each instance of the Lord demonstrating his ability to bring that which was dead back to life. But perhaps the only place one need look to is the resurrection of the Messiah, Jesus Christ, the Son of God. In Acts 3, Peter & John would use a man’s dead & lifeless legs as an object lesson to teach about God’s life-giving power, even over death. After healing a man who had been lame from birth and suddenly had life instantaneously restored to his legs, Peter & John would teach the following: “You denied the Holy and Righteous One and asked to have a murderer released to you. You killed the source of life, whom God raised from the dead; we are witnesses of this. By faith in his name, his name has made this man strong, whom you see and know. So the faith that comes through Jesus has given him this perfect health in front of all of you.” Peter & John’s point was simple, wasn’t it? Are you surprised that this man can now walk? You shouldn’t be. Because it was by the power of Jesus, the very one that conquered death and rose from the grave, that this man was healed. We serve a God with the power to bring dead things back to life. 

So, what about you? In what state are you currently in: alive or dead? That might seem like a very silly question to you, after all you’re reading or listening to this – doesn’t that clearly indicate that you are alive? I don’t mean at all to ask if you have breath in your lungs. I mean to ask spiritually – are you alive or are you dead? For some of you listening, perhaps the best season to describe your spiritual life would be winter. Your relationship with God is cold, dead, barren, and completely devoid of signs of life. And it is no wonder, if you have not come in repentance and obedience to Jesus than you can be sure of nothing else. Remember the words of Christ in John 15, “apart from me you can do nothing.” But my friends, we serve a God that has the power to bring dead things back to life – and that includes your soul. In perhaps one of the most powerful passages in all of Scripture, this is brought to light in Ephesians 2:1-5, “And you were dead in your trespasses and sins in which you previously walked according to the ways of this world, according to the ruler of the power of the air, the spirit now working in the disobedient. We too all previously lived among them in our fleshly desires, carrying out the inclinations of our flesh and thoughts, and we were by nature children under wrath as the others were also. But God, who is rich in mercy, because of his great love that he had for us, made us alive with Christ even though we were dead in trespasses. You are saved by grace!” 

Are you dead in sin? There is no other way to be made alive again except through Christ, the author of life. The very power that raised him from the dead can save you from sin and death can breathe life and light into your life. Just as God breathed life into man in the beginning of creation, God can breathe new life into you as you are recreated in the image of Christ. Come to Jesus in faith, repent and be baptized in his name so that you can be raised to walk in newness of life. It might just be your day to blossom before the Lord – are you willing to let him exercise his life-giving power once again on you today?  

This has been the Set Your Mind Above Podcast, season 5 episode 8 – and I’m so thankful that we had this time to grow together! A new episode is dropped every Friday, so be sure to tune in next week.  Also, if you’re able to, go ahead and like and subscribe to the podcast, give us a good rating or most importantly share it with someone else – it would help to reach others that I never could alone.  And more than anything, always remember the following: know that I love you, that God loves you, and may we all each and every day set our minds above.