Can these bones live?

Ezekiel 37:1-5, The hand of the Lord was upon me, and he brought me out in the Spirit of the Lord and set me down in the middle of the valley; it was full of bones. And he led me around among them, and behold, there were very many on the surface of the valley, and behold, they were very dry. And he said to me, “Son of man, can these bones live?” And I answered, “O Lord God, you know.” Then he said to me, “Prophesy over these bones, and say to them, O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. Thus says the Lord God to these bones: Behold, I will cause breath to enter you, and you shall live.

Ezekiel has a startling prophecy from God about raising up a nation from a valley of dry bones. In fact those who do not know Christ are “dead in their sin and trespasses.” The problem with a valley of dry bones is that they are inanimate, far beyond being dead, stripped of any vestige of life. The warning to Adam was that to eat of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, he would surely die. Dead people can’t do anything for themselves! Yet by the great mercy of God, He has sent His only Son who died and rose from the dead and He is the one who can raise us from the dead spiritually! Jesus said “For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, even so the Son also gives life to whom He wishes.”

We thank You that You have given us life in the spirit by Your great mercy and grace; and that You empower us to obey You, Lord Jesus!