“And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins" (Eph 2:1).

Early yesterday morning, I stepped outside to our rabbitry and found one of our usually lively little bunnies curled up in a basket. At first, I thought she was asleep. But as I looked more closely, I realized she was not breathing. Sometime during the night, she had died.

Her little white body lay still and lifeless, and I felt genuinely sad. We were all beginning to bond with her. For the past few days, she had been snuggling close to her mother and hopping in and out of the nesting box. My heart also went to the mother. That little bunny would no longer hop around her or feed from her. I found myself wondering what that loss meant to her.

As I stood there, my mind went to a deeper truth. In a spiritual sense, this is what sin did to all of us. We were alive physically but dead toward God, unresponsive, separated, and powerless to restore ourselves. Sin did not merely wound man; it cut him off from the life of God.

When the Lord God placed Adam and Eve in the garden, He gave them everything they needed and only one clear command: not to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. But they chose to listen to another voice. They believed the serpent over God and reached for what God had forbidden.

That moment revealed something profound: God created man with the ability to choose. He did not force love, obedience, or relationship. He allowed choice. Why? Because love does not control. Love gives room for response. God’s love was fearless enough to give humanity the dignity of choice, knowing the risk.

And the result was devastating. Man chose rebellion, and spiritual death entered. Fellowship with God was broken. The ones He created for fellowship became distant from Him.

But God did not leave man in that condition.

In His mercy, He moved toward us again. He gave His Son, Jesus Christ, as the sacrifice for our sin. The One we had offended became the One who made a way back. What man could never repair, God redeemed through love. This is the wonder of the gospel: when we were dead in sin, God did not turn away from us. He came for us.

That is how great His love is.

And this same love is now at work in everyone who believes. He not only forgives us; He makes us alive. He restores our capacity to know Him, walk with Him, and reflect His heart. He teaches us to love others, to care deeply, to nurture well, and to live with hope. His love reaches into our present lives and even into eternity, where He is preparing a place for those who belong to Him.

What love this is: steady, sacrificial, undeserved, and life-giving. You were dead, but in Christ, you have been made alive.

Prayer:
Father, thank You for loving me when I was lost in sin and separated from You. Thank You for sending Jesus to redeem me and make me alive again. Help me to live with gratitude, humility, and love. Teach me to respond to Your love more fully and to share that same love with those around me. In Jesus’ name, amen.

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