Growing up I enjoyed watching horror movies. By horror movies I mean B flicks that are tame compared to the slice and dice slasher movies of today. I'm talking about Dracula, Frankenstein and other movies that shared a common theme. The theme was beating death by either creating a monster through man's arrogance that he can be like God or that one is immortal because of some misfortune as a bite on a neck or the commingling of human blood with wolf''s blood. After all, bats and dogs do remind us of our animal nature. Zombie movies do carry this theme though. A terrible virus has been released and humans have come into contact with them and they become walking dead. The regret of these catastrophes is followed by our heroes trying to kill these wayward monsters for they are dangerous.
Horror movies speak to an innate understanding of ourselves. It's just not that difficult to imagine the walking dead, soulless bodies that can do no good! After all, such is the human condition. We desire immortality because death is not desirable and yet death is already our condition as we carry the virus of sin. At least this is the biblical view of man! When Adam and Eve ate that forbidden fruit, they died spiritually. We became dead in our sins. We became the walking dead. So the only help for us is a Dr. Frankenstein like regeneration of our heart. But yet we are still monsters, only living out our desires of the flesh! The regeneration we need has to come from above as only God is perfect. Until then we go through life lying cheating and stealing all because we do not have a perfect life-giving spirit in us to move us to unselfish goodness.
Many of us can quote John 3:16 by heart. But can we quote the verses that follow? Read then carefully: 16"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. 17For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. 18Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. 19And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. 20For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. 21But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God."
We come into this world 'condemned already'. And our judgement is that people rather live in darkness. This may seem cynical but why do people lie, bear false witness, hurt others with words as well as their fists. Bullying has seen an increase leading some to take their life. Choosing life does not seem an option for many! Rape and murder still continue to this day. Even in the church slander and gossip is not rebuked. People of all stripes seek their own glory rather than the glory of God. Power is sought and abused! WE ARE MONSTERS. Yet Jesus chooses some, the elect, for salvation. This was foreordained. Judgement is not in the future. It is now. The question is who fulfills our death sentence? And the answer is Jesus! For those who understand our sinful nature and put their faith in Jesus, their death sentence has been lifted and they are brought to new life, hence, born again. Our zombie nature is destroyed. We are no longer sucking the life out of others as we have new life dwelling within us!
The real B rated horror movie is our lives. We are condemned to death. We fear this reality but do not trust the Cross of Christ enough to see the end of the flick is one of salvation. Ask yourself this question, what were those witnesses of the crucifixion really thinking when they saw the righteous walking out of the tombs that first Good Friday? "And behold,the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. And the earth shook, and the rocks were split. The tombs also were opened. And many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised, and coming out of the tombs after his resurrection they went into the holy city and appeared to many." (Mt. 27:51-53) For those dead in their sins, it had to be a horrorific sight!
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