A God Of The Living
Jesus said, in Mark 12:26-27 “But regarding the fact that the dead rise again, have you not read in the book of Moses, in the passage about the burning bush, how God spoke to him, saying, ‘I AM THE GOD OF ABRAHAM, AND THE GOD OF ISAAC, AND THE GOD OF JACOB’? 27 “He is not the God of the dead, but of the living; you are greatly mistaken.”
A God of the living! How easy to say, but do we truly know what it means? In fact the statement “I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob” implies present tense like they are alive and He is still their God! Yet, we know from history books these three men had been dead for over a 1,000 years. This is important for us to understand for several reasons which are backed up in other Bible verses. First, this statement implies that those who are saved in Jesus Christ and die are alive again, Ephesians 2:4-5 “But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved)” Second, that He continues to be their God and there is nothing we can do to be ripped from His salvation, Romans 8:38-39 “For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Third, it implies that God is greater than time and the laws that govern us and can place us in whatever time continuum that He so desires. Hebrews 1:8-14 “But of the Son he says, “Your throne, O God, is forever and ever, the scepter of uprightness is the scepter of your kingdom. 9 You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness; therefore God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness beyond your companions.” 10 And, “You, Lord, laid the foundation of the earth in the beginning, and the heavens are the work of your hands; 11 they will perish, but you remain; they will all wear out like a garment, 12 like a robe you will roll them up, like a garment they will be changed. But you are the same, and your years will have no end.” 13 And to which of the angels has he ever said, “Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet”? 14 Are they not all ministering spirits sent out to serve for the sake of those who are to inherit salvation?”
For Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, they are very much alive right now with a very real and living God. It does not matter that their bodies have died, because they live and one day will have new bodies. For you and I, this means we have a practical application that is very much needed today! We have a living God who cares for us in this stage of eternity we are in, as well as the future. For those who are saved there is no difference right now in how He views us then in a million years well after the pre-written events of Revelation 22. We have a Heavenly Father who sees us as alive because of His actions and thus we can start today to take that seriously and be participants in a relationship with our Heavenly Father. I know there are some people out there that might need to hear this, I know I was one! Remember who we can trust, the God who is of the living.
Hold until relieved, our Blessed Hope is coming,
JL