Perfectly Lost
“We
know the whole creation groaneth and travaileth
in pain together until now.”
–Romans
8:22, KJV
A Planet
Possessed
Take a deep breath. We are going to get one
more penetrating and unsettling look at the
demoniac’s deplorable situation before Jesus
delivered him, because he is the perfect picture
of the total spiritual bankruptcy:
The possessed man moves among decomposing
carcasses in the shadow of the surrounding hills,
snorting the cries of the foul swine. His ripped
and raw flesh drags remnants of mangled shackles
and chains. Screaming and moaning, his snaring
mouth foaming with saliva, he wanders aimlessly
among the silhouettes of caves and tombs, his
stinking, naked body followed by a cloud of
flies. He continually stabs at his scarred limbs
and flinty rocks, and his wild eyes glare
menacingly from his dirty, matted hair.
You’re probably thinking, “OK, Bob!
Enough!” I realize this is a loathsome
picture, but every component of the story, no
matter how sickening, is very important. Each one
tells us many crucial things about just how awful
the conditions of sin can be, and thus how
amazing the wonderful plan of salvation really
is.
Have you ever wondered about the contrast
unfallen angels must see when they leave their
pure, sinless glories of heaven to come to our
dark, possessed planet? For them, this nameless,
crazed man must represent exhibit “A”
of what it means to be lost.
This fallen, possessed child of Adam living in a
cemetery, surrounded by swine, also represents
our fallen, unclean world under the curse of
death and enslaved by the devil and his legions
of minions. Our planet is now the staging ground
from which Satan continues his slanderous
campaign against the Creator and His
government-so much so that Jesus even calls Satan
“the prince of this world” (John 14:30,
KJV).
Every aspect of this man’s desperate
condition that Scripture presents can help you
and me to appreciate more fully how heaven see
the lost. Before we can understand this better
and experience the healing God offers us, we must
recognize and diagnose the symptoms.
“Who
had his dwelling among the tombs….’
-Mark
5:3
Dwelling With
the Dead
I remember well the visit I made to the strangest
cemetery on earth while exploring the northern
parts of Cairo, Egypt. This cemetery is called
the “City of the Dead.” The place
hardly seems like a cemetery because it is
teeming with life and activity.
Over a span of centuries, the great Egyptian
rulers of ages past built acres and acres of huge
elaborate mausoleums and tombs. As tradition
dictated, each of these burial places had its own
“party room.” Around the fourteenth
century, thousands of poor people seeking shelter
began squatting in these tombs. Now, this area,
classified as a suburb of Cairo, has its own ZIP
code, post office, police station, shops,
electricity, running water, and sewage system.
Peering into the tombs, I could see how these
people conduct their everyday lives sleeping,
cooking, and eating. I was impressed with how
they have made use of the smaller gravestones,
turning them as needed into washing lines and
tables. And all through the area are stone
coffins filled with human remains-right in the
middle of the current inhabitants’ living
space.
Archaeologists say that some of the tombs around
Gadara, where our story takes place, were cut out
of the steep mountainside, creating deep caves.
The demoniac might have used one of these
cavernous tombs for shelter after he had been
driven out off town due to his deranged mind. And
just as the unsaved live in constant fear of
death, this poor man was daily surrounded with
reminders of his bleak future.
The Bible teaches that there are only two classes
of people in the world: the living and the dead.
You might think this is an obvious statement, but
according to God’s Word, not all of the
living are alive and not all of the dead are
really dead.
Let me explain. Those living lives without Christ
are spiritually dead. Jesus said, “’He
who has the Son has life, he who does not have
the Son of God does not have life’” (1
John 5:12). On another occasion, He said,
“’Let the dead bury their own dead, but
you go and preach the kingdom of God’”
(Luke 9:60).
Practically speaking, this means that all those
who have not had their sins forgiven are living
under the death penalty. Yet, when they accept
Christ’s forgiveness, they pass from death
to life. “You He made alive, who were dead
in trespasses and sins” (Ephesians 2:1).
Conversely, when a Christian dies, he or she
doesn’t really die-at least not the eternal
death. When Lazarus perished, Jesus explained,
“‘Our friend Lazarus sleeps, but I go
that I may wake him up’” (John 11:11).
Jesus also proclaimed, “’Have you not
read what was spoken to you by God, saying,
“I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac,
and the God of Jacob?” God is not the God of
the dead, but of the living’” (Matthew
22: 31,32). Acts 7:60 affirms this truth, saying
that when Stephen was murdered by stoning, “he
fell asleep.” Those who die in a saved
condition, in Christ, are not eternally dead;
they are simply resting until the resurrection.
Comfortable
With a Corpse
I once read about a lady who died. That happens
every day, of course; but in this case, two
months passed before anyone knew about it. Her
neighbors started noticing that he porch was full
of mail and newspapers, and they realized that
they had not seen her in a while. They summoned
the police, who broke down the door and found her
dead. They found her husband in her bedroom. He
was dead too-and the medical examiner estimated
that he had been dead for at least four years!
His body was virtually mummified because his wife
had kept the heat turned up to about ninety
degrees. She had never reported his
demise-evidently; she was willing to live with
the corpse so that she could continue collecting
his Social Security checks!
The Bible tells us about the battle that rages
between the spirit and the flesh. Millions of
people want to serve God, but their carnal
natures-the lust of the flesh and the pride of
life-seem to chain them to their toxic lives. It
is like living with a dead person. In fact, in
Romans 7:24, Paul asks a penetrating question
that uses this image in echoing the pleading of
our hearts: “O wretched man that I am! Who
will deliver me from this body of death?”
It is very probable that the apostle was
referring to a frightening ancient Roman practice
reserved for the most wicked criminals.
Commentator Adam Clark writes, “After being
scourged, the wounded prisoner would be chained
to a dead body and obliged to carry it about till
the contagion from the putrid mass took away his
life!” An old English poem describes it this
way:
What
tongue can such barbarities record,
Or
count the slaughters of his ruthless sword?
‘Twas
not enough the good, the guiltless bled,
Still
worse, he bound the living to the dead:
These,
limb to limb, and face to face, he joined;
O!
monstrous crime, of unexampled kind!
Till
choked with stench, the lingering wretches lay,
And,
in the loathed embraces, died away!
-Pitt
With that disturbing picture in mind, can you
imagine the relief and freedom the condemned one
might experience if the corpse that he has been
dragging around for days were cut away? Well,
this is what the Lord does for us when we come to
him with our weak, burdensome, carnal natures.
For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ
Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and
death…that the righteous requirement of the
law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk
according to the flesh but according to the
Spirit….For to be carnally minded is death,
but to be spiritually minded is life and peace
(Romans 8:2,4,6).
Dumpster
Diving
You might be wondering how anyone could become
comfortable with living surrounded by dead
bodies. How could the demoniac live among the
dead, like the people who inhabit the City of the
Dead and the lady who lived for four years
alongside the corpse of her husband? It might be
hard to imagine, but I know it is possible,
because I’ve known different people that are
experienced becoming comfortable around some very
disturbing things. For instance, there was a man
about sixteen years old that lived on the streets
in Southern California for a few months. During
that time, he had some friends who “shopped”
for food in supermarket dumpsters with the same
delight that other people have exploring a
buffet. They called it ”dumpster diving.”
This one man in particular who had been raised in
a clean, middle-class home, was at first revolted
by the disgusting habit his street friends had of
fishing around for food in sticking,
grocery-store garbage containers. However, the
longer he hung around them, the less offensive
dumpster diving became. Gradually, he drew closer
to the dumpster-of course, only in an advisory
role! While holding his nose, he would point out
dented cans or day-old bread still in its
wrapper. Eventually, he began to reach over the
edge to inspect ripe bananas. And then-you
guessed it! -before long he was crawling into the
dumpster and rooting around for “treasure.”
He had become intimately comfortable with
garbage.
This same degrading dynamic also erodes the
spiritual health of many souls. The devil knows
that through constant exposure to sin-through
things like morally questionable movies,
magazines, and music-he can soften our
convictions regarding the deadly evil of sin. It
might have taken months for the lady to become
comfortable with her dead husband, but the checks
that kept coming made it palatable. If we
tolerate sin despite finding it offensive, we
will eventually endure it until we full embrace
it.
In order for us to repent genuinely, we must
recognize and appreciate the evil of sin. “Sin,
that it might appear sin, was producing death in
me through what is good, so that sin through the
commandment might become exceedingly sinful”
(Romans 7:13).
“He
wore no clothes.” –Luke 8:27
The Naked
Truth
Most of us never feel much gratitude for our
clothing, but some people actually owe their
lives to what they wear! For instance, to survive
in the extreme temperatures and vacuum of space,
astronauts need special spacesuits. These thick
outfits supply oxygen, maintain pressure, keep
body temperature controlled, and monitor blood
pressure and heart rhythm.
When Neil Armstrong sealed his place in history
as the first man to walk on the moon during the
Apollo 11 mission, his suit was specially
designed to provide a life-sustaining environment
during periods of extravehicular activity and
unpressurized spacecraft operations. The
custom-fitted suit permitted comfort for up to
115 hours outside the spacecraft or for 14 days
in an unpressurized mode.
Astronauts must put an enormous amount of trust
in their spacesuits. One described the eerie
feeling he got when he realized that while
outside the space capsule, just one-quarter in of
material lay between him and eternity. Now that
important clothing!
Back in Gadara, however, the frost of winter
mornings made the demoniacs naked frame shiver.
And through the scorching summer, his leathery
skin would burn. But neither heat of cold nor
even shame would lead him to cover his naked
limbs.
When it comes to clothing, human beings differ
from every other creature. All the other
creatures in God’s kingdom are “born
with their clothes on,” so to speak. The
covering they need grows from the inside out.
Some animals even shed their old clothes
periodically and develop new ones. Human beings
are the only creatures whose clothes must come
from the outside.
The Bible tells us that Adam and Eve first wore
artificial clothing after they ate the forbidden
fruit in the Garden of Eden. Genesis 3:7 (KJV)
says, “The eyes of them both were opened,
and they knew that they were naked; and they
sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves
aprons.”
Our first parents had the sense and modesty to
recognize when they were naked and to seek a
remedy. Not everybody feels that natural yearning
to be covered.
There once was this young man about seventeen, he
lived as a hermit in a mountain cave above Palm
Springs. During that time, He never wore clothes
while in the vicinity of his mountain “home.”
At first, he was painfully aware that something
was missing, but after going naked for several
weeks, he rarely thought about it. Like dumpster
diving, you can get used to almost anything if
you do it long enough.
Once or twice a week, he would hike down to the
city to panhandle for money in front of the local
supermarket. He always carried his clothes in a
little bundle at the bottom of the backpack. When
he approached the outskirts of civilization, he
would stop and dress before venturing into the
city limits.
On one occasion, he felt particularly
enthusiastic about going to town because he had
some money and an exciting list of small things
to purchase. When he reached the top of the
ridge, he felt exhilarated! It was a spring
morning in the desert, the sun was just rising,
and everything was glowing with a brazen,
beautiful color-all the hills, the cactus, and
even his skin looked golden.
Playing his flute, he be bopped down the mountain
and walked right past the big rock where he
usually stopped to put on his clothes. Still
enthralled, he didn’t notice that he was
venturing into the city limits wearing nothing
but a backpack, some hiking boots, an a friendly
smile.
As he came around the bend in the trail screened
by a large bush, he saw a nicely dressed family-a
father, mother, and two daughters taking a Sunday
stroll and enjoying the dessert flowers. This
young man felt so good that he even offered them
a wave and a grin.
They all froze!
As shock ripped through the family, the mother
closed her eyes and hid her face against the
father’s chest, the two girls each grabbed
one of their father’s legs and turned away,
and even the father closed his eyes!
He instinctively assumed that some terrifying
hideous monster was looming behind him, and he
snapped around. But he could not see anything. He
wondered, what did they see that made them
react with such horror? Then it dawned on
this young man. They were looking at him-and he
was naked! Overwhelmed with shame, he slipped
behind the closest bush and quickly dressed.
What had happened to him? He felt perfectly fine
the moment before he saw this family. They had
not touched him, and they said nothing to him.
Yet, after that encounter, he felt awful. What
made the difference? He saw himself through their
eyes, and he saw that he was naked.
All of us would rather be much healthier if we
would get a fresh look at ourselves through God’s
eyes. We might discover that we are naked too!
The Bible says that one of the most serious
problems His own people face in the last days is
that they are naked. Actually, the problem is not
just that they’re naked, but that they’re
naked and don’t know it. God says, “[You]
do not know that you are wretched, miserable,
poor, blind, and naked” (Revelation 3:17).
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