Title: Is Your God Alive?
“Jesus answered and said to them, “You have misunderstood because you do not know the Scriptures or the power of God. In the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like the angels in heaven. “I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob,” he said.” (Matthew 22:29-32) )
The Sadducees, who did not believe in the resurrection, asked Jesus who the woman who married the seven brothers would become his wife in the resurrection. Successive marriage is a system in which a brother-in-law marries his brother-in-law and inherits the family.
They were going to question whether Jesus is a strange God who recognizes polygamy if the system is valid even at the time of the resurrection, or if it is not, if he does not have to follow that law. That is why Jesus answered with the first word that you did not know the Bible (the law) nor the power of God (resurrection) well. In the resurrection, the marriage system on this earth is no longer applied because they all become spiritual beings like angels and work together with God to rule the earth for ever and ever.
However, the final conclusion is not well understood at first glance. “God is not the God of the dead, but the God of the living.” Does this mean that when a person dies, he has nothing to do with God at all? It's not like that. If so, there is no reason to say that Jesus is the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. They were already dead, didn't Jesus say that God is still their God?
Now, the Sadducees are asking tough questions to use as an excuse to deny the resurrection if Jesus doesn't answer them properly. Jesus saw through their intentions and answered that when a believer dies and goes to heaven, even though the body of this earth may pass away, to God, he is still alive.
What do non-believers in evolution think? With death, human existence is completely annihilated, both spiritually and physically. Since we are human beings who came to live on this earth by chance by chance, we think that when we die, of course, everything will rot.
If it is assumed that the physical life on this earth is everything and there is nothing after that, the wisest person is to live a prosperous life by any means possible. And that becomes the supreme goal and virtue of life. However, in a world like Lamech, where people who take women and property by mobilizing their strength are agitated (Genesis 4:19-24), there is no value in living. Furthermore, there is no point in worshiping a God who created such a world or neglected it to the end. “If in this life our hope is only in Christ, then we are of all men the poorer place” (1 Corinthians 15:19).
If there is no resurrection, either God makes this earth completely like a utopia, or the universe must be made up of material only without God. If neither is the case, then the resurrection must be inevitable. Resurrection is the greatest hope and value for believers to earnestly follow God and live on this earth.
Jesus also said to them that they did not even know the Bible. It is not that we do not know the detailed provisions of the Bible, but that we do not know its fundamental meaning. Except for the revelations of the end times, including the book of Revelation, the Bible is about man's life on earth. So, the fundamental meaning of the law is that believers are to love God with all their heart, soul, and strength while they breathe. And that love must be shown in the form of loving your neighbor.
The successive marriage system also requires believers to preserve the inheritance God has given on this earth according to His will, but to serve the poor widowed sister-in-law. The Sadducees misused and quoted such a divine law to prove their false religious belief that there was no resurrection and to put Jesus at a corner.
When human beings die, their eternal destiny is determined by salvation and judgment, and it is only God's responsibility to do so. The only thing humans can do for the dead is to pay tribute. In other words, the believer can not only love for the living, but can also have a great influence depending on the power of God. You cannot even directly determine your eternal destiny, but you can have a decisive influence on it.
Why did Jesus emphasize “the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob”? Abraham's faith was passed down to Isaac and Jacob, and his parents' faith had a decisive influence on his son's life. God's will regarding successive marriage is that we should continue the line of faith without interruption while we are alive. That is why he is the God of the living.
The Sadducees pretended to be interested in the life of a woman in heaven, but it was a meaningless question for those who did not believe in the resurrection itself. Resurrection has meaning only to those who believe in it. God's laws and powers are valid only to those who properly understand their meaning. They judged the law and the power of God at their own discretion. He took the place of God. If man becomes God himself, can he have no choice but to believe that there is no resurrection?
As the God of the living, His primary concern is the believer's life on earth. It is not meant to make believers prosper in reality. It means that you do everything you can for each believer so that your life does not deviate from the divine plan for each of you. God's holy plan is ultimately to invite believers to the eternal throne of heaven, and that is the resurrection. Therefore, only when a believer has the hope of resurrection and lives according to the true will of the law, it allows us to taste your great power.
Even among believers, there are those who believe in God but do not believe in the resurrection. It is proof that you are only interested in life on this earth. Keep the commandments and live a little better than others, and then God will take good care of you so that you will prosper on this earth. What good is it to say that you follow God when you have no intention of participating in God's ultimate plan, the resurrection? He has no intention of becoming a judge and is just like a person who tells him to die for the exam.
To such a person, God is not a living being at all. There is no way that God, who exists for eternity, will die and disappear. Because they first became dead before God, God also became a dead God before them. They cannot taste the power and grace of God at all. God becomes a living being only to those who are spiritually alive. And the most fundamental meaning of being spiritually alive is believing in the resurrection and living in that hope.
God is truly the God of the living. Is your God alive now? No, are you sure you are alive before God? It is not simply asking whether you are praying and reading the Word. Because there is the hope of the resurrection, no matter how poor and persecuted on this earth, are you living holy in Christ and revealing only His glory? Do you love God with all your heart, soul, and strength while you are alive, and do you love your neighbor as well?
“Jesus said to me, I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live even if he dies, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?” (John 11:25,26)
9/29/2006