Go! And Live Again – From Dry Bones To Abundant Life In Christ Series

Go! And Live Again – From Dry Bones to Abundant Life in Christ

Ezekiel 37:5 (NLT) – “This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Look! I am going to put breath into you and make you live again!”

Introduction: A Valley of Dry Bones and a World in Despair

Imagine walking through a vast valley, the ground littered with dry, lifeless bones. No movement. No heartbeat. No hope. That is the scene Ezekiel was shown in his vision—a nation spiritually dead, cut off, and hopeless.

Friends, is that not the condition of our world today? We see moral decay, spiritual apathy, wars, corruption, families torn apart, and people chasing pleasure but finding emptiness. Many live as though God were absent, their lives like those bones—dry, scattered, lifeless.

Yet into that hopeless valley, God spoke: “I am going to put breath into you and make you live again!”

This is the Gospel message! God takes what is dead and makes it alive through the breath of His Spirit and the power of Jesus Christ.

1. The Context of the Valley – Hopelessness Without God

Ezekiel prophesied during Israel’s exile in Babylon. Their temple was destroyed, their land lost, their identity shattered. They cried, “Our hope is gone; our nation is finished.” (Ezekiel 37:11, NLT).

The Hebrew word for “breath” in Ezekiel 37:5 is “ruach”, which also means “spirit” or “wind.” It’s the same word used in Genesis 2:7: “Then the Lord God formed the man from the dust of the ground. He breathed the breath of life into the man’s nostrils, and the man became a living person.”

Just as Adam became a living being through God’s breath, Israel needed God’s Spirit to revive them.

Charles Stanley once said: “When you stop relying on God, your spiritual life starts to dry out like a desert.”

This is so true. Without God’s Spirit, our souls are barren. The same is true for a nation, a church, or a person.

Today, many live spiritually exiled—far from God. We see churches closing, truth redefined, and hope fading. Yet, God still asks, “Son of man, can these bones become living people again?” (Ezekiel 37:3, NLT). The answer: Yes, if the breath of God comes upon them.

2. The Power of the Word – Prophesy to the Bones

God told Ezekiel to “speak a prophetic message” (Ezekiel 37:4, NLT). The bones didn’t move until the Word of God was proclaimed.

Romans 10:17 (NLT): “So faith comes from hearing, that is, hearing the Good News about Christ.”

The Gospel is the Word that awakens dead hearts. In Hebrew thought, the Word of God is not empty speech—it is active, creative, life-giving.

John Piper said: “The Word of God does what God Himself does because it carries His power.”

When we share the Gospel, we unleash God’s power into dead situations.

A Defibrillator for the Soul

Think of a defibrillator. A lifeless heart is shocked into rhythm by a jolt of electricity. In the same way, God’s Word is the defibrillator that jolts a dead soul to life.

Christian, do you speak life into the spiritually dead around you? Do you share the Word boldly, or keep silent while the valley remains full of bones?

3. The Breath of God – The Holy Spirit Gives Life

After the Word was proclaimed, the bones came together, but they were still lifeless until the breath entered them (Ezekiel 37:8–10).

John 20:22 (NLT): “Then he breathed on them and said, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit.’”

The same breath that hovered over the waters in Genesis (ruach) is the Spirit Jesus gives to His followers. The Spirit is not an optional extra—He is life itself.

R.T. Kendall wrote: “The Holy Spirit is not given to make us better people; He is given to make us alive people.”

The Old Organ

Imagine an old church organ sitting silent for decades. The pipes are there, the structure is intact, but without air blown through it, there is no sound. Many lives look like that—structured but silent. When the Spirit breathes, the song of salvation begins.

Have you received the breath of life? Have you asked the Holy Spirit to fill you daily? Without Him, Christianity becomes mere religion; with Him, it becomes resurrection.

4. The Greater Fulfilment – Jesus Christ Our Life

Ezekiel’s vision pointed to national restoration, but it also foreshadowed a greater resurrection—the one Jesus offers.

John 11:25–26 (NLT): “Jesus told her, ‘I am the resurrection and the life. Anyone who believes in me will live, even after dying. Everyone who lives in me and believes in me will never ever die.’”

The valley of dry bones is the story of every sinner before salvation. Ephesians 2:1 (NLT) says, “Once you were dead because of your disobedience and your many sins.” But Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection mean the grave does not have the final word.