THE GREATEST MIRACLE -- Devotional for April 8, from "Good Seeds"

Son of man, can these bones live again? Behold, I will open your graves and bring you out, My people. Then you will know that I am the Lord. And I will put My Spirit within you, and you will come to life. (Ezekiel 37:3,12-14)

When God created the universe, it was a great miracle. When He breathed His own life into the first man, it was a greater miracle yet. But when God connected the dry bones of men long dead and placed on those bones sinews and flesh and skin – and finally the breath of life, to bring “an exceeding great army of men” (verse 10) back to life, that had to be the greatest miracle of all! It pictures the miracle of the new birth, which Jesus spoke of to Nicodemus: “I’m not talking about when you were born from your mother. That’s how you came to be. That’s a natural thing. But I’m talking about a supernatural thing: a rebirth” (see John 3). To make a man out of the dust of the earth – it would take a POWERFUL God to do it. But to remake a man out of the crust and rust of sin, it would take a LOVING of God to do it! God so loved the world of sinful, dying men, that He came to the earth, in the person of His Son, and bore the effects of that sin on His own body. He took the pain, took the punishment, suffering death for all men, the death they were dealt by their sin, the death they deserved, the death that doomed them – He took that death away from them and placed it upon Himself. Men were redeemed from the pit of hell and promised a place in heaven. That’s got to be the absolute greatest miracle of all time! It was not just a miracle of power, but of grace and love and forgiveness. Easter is the time when we ponder anew the question God posed to Ezekiel, “Son of man, can these bones live again?” The prophet knew well the logical answer: “Of course not! These bones are the last vestiges of men whose memory may soon be as cloudy as the dust they are just about to become!” But he was talking to God, and God had a reputation for surprises, so the answer he gave was as evasive as the question was illusive: “O Lord God, Thou knowest!” But God’s not a philosopher, content to sit around all day and contemplate. He’s a God of action – and He expects us to get into the act, too. So He commanded Ezekiel to start preaching to those dry bones. What about you and me today? Will we just pick our way through this sinful world – an ugly graveyard of dead men’s bones – on our way to glory? Or will we speak out the Word of Life, the Gospel of the Risen Christ (for that is our part), and then wait for another manifestation of the greatest miracle (for that is God’s part), when the dead bones of our unsaved friends come to life!