THE GOD OF THE LIVING

Mark 12:18-27
Key Verse 12:27 He is not the God of the dead, but of the living. You are badly mistaken!"

Heavenly Father, thank you for you are the only true and living God. Please teach me
your living truth as I meditate your word through this testimony writing. Help me be ready to
obey whatever you teach me today. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.
The Pharisees and Herodians were defeated in their politically motivated question of
paying taxes to Caesar through Jesus’ word, “Give to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God
what is God’s.” The Sadducees were happy that their opponents were defeated. What is more,
they wanted demonstrate their superiority by defeating Jesus. The Sadducees were from the
rich and aristocratic society and occupied priesthood. They claimed to believe only in the
Torah ie the Pentateuch written by Moses as the only authentic word of God. They denied
resurrection and they also denied the existence of spirits and angels. So obviously they chose
resurrection as the topic to debate with Jesus and defeat him. Why did the Sadducees deny
resurrection? We can find many reasons for their not believing in the resurrection. We can
think of their high social position and high intellectualism preventing them from believing in
an uncommon phenomena like resurrection. We can think of the absence of any resurrection
event in the OT as the reason for their denial. But basically, Satan was behind their stubborn
refusal of the truth of God. Why does Scientist fail to believe in God? Why does campus
intellectual fail to believe in God? The real problem is Satan’s stronghold over their life and
beliefs. God has guided me to serve some real intellectual future scientists from School of
Physics. But I am not afraid of their refusal. The more I see Satan at work, the more I have
the desire to fight Satan to unveil the spiritual blindness from them. When I have such view
point toward the deception of Satan in general among all campus students in some way or the
other, my shepherding life is interesting and challenging and I have the desire to fight with
Satan.
What was the Sadducees’ question to Jesus? "Teacher," they said, "Moses wrote for us
that if a man's brother dies and leaves a wife but no children, the man must marry the widow
and have children for his brother. [20] Now there were seven brothers. The first one married
and died without leaving any children. [21] The second one married the widow, but he also
died, leaving no child. It was the same with the third. [22] In fact, none of the seven left any
children. Last of all, the woman died too. [23] At the resurrection whose wife will she be,
since the seven were married to her?" They first presented a hypothetical sad story of the
woman marrying seven brothers of whom all died without giving her a child and finally the
woman died too childless. Moses’ law concerning this matter was inheritance of God’s
blessing through preserving the family line. It was God’s effort that no one who took part in
God’s battle and entered the Promised land may lose his inheritance in the promised land
because not having a child to inherit the land. But the Sadducees were ready to use this
providence of God to ridicule resurrection. They questioned, “At the resurrection who wife
will she be.” In questioning this, they said, “Isn’t it ridiculous if the seven brothers rise again
and fight among themselves to claim her as their wife? Isn’t resurrection dangerous and
chaotic in this kind of cases? You too are teaching about resurrection. But please don’t talk
about it any more.”
In reply Jesus said, "Are you not in error because you do not know the Scriptures or the
power of God?” Jesus boldly declared that they did not know the Scriptures or the power of
God and so therefore they were in error. What does it mean to know the Scriptures? To know
the Scripture is to know God himself. The Scriptures or the Bible is God’s revelation through
His Spirits. So if one tries to make an intellectual effort by treating it as some story or some
document regarding Dos and Do Nots he cannot know God’s mind. Unless we have a humble
heart and dependence on the Holy Spirit we cannot know God even if we study the Bible.
And if we fail to receive the word of God we cannot experience the power of God as God
works through His words that have creation power and power to break the chains Satan from
our lives. On the other hand the word of God is always new and fresh and comes with power
to those who humbly seek. It was amazing to study Mark 13 from a totally new perspective
during our Foundation Day celebration as the power of God moved our hearts and gave us
new Spirit and vision for our ministry and lives. I personally found God’s will for me to love
his word. I must love to meditate the word and come before God’s word every time with a
humble and fresh heart. I thank God for blessing me to eat daily bread and find new truth and
new strength through the word of God.
Further what did Jesus teach the Sadducees about resurrection? V. 25 When the dead
rise, they will neither marry nor be given in marriage; they will be like the angels in heaven.
First Jesus defined what is resurrection. Resurrection is rising of the dead. Jesus clearly
proclaimed that resurrection is real. And resurrection is not extension of the earthly life as
they had assumed but it will be a totally new life and new situation. Human beings will
neither marry nor be given in marriage in this new life as marriage will not be required in
heaven. Furthermore we will be clothed with immortality and be like angels and in the
likeness of Jesus. This new life will be free from temptation, free from sin, and freed from
struggle to live and survive. Even after Jesus crushing Satan’s head at the foot of the cross,
we still have to struggle for our mortal body and mortal desires. But Satan will be hurled to
punishment and He and his power of sin and death will cease to exist. What glorious life and
future is waiting for us in heaven who believe in God and His power to raise us from our own
dead. A temporal suffering in this world is worth not comparable to the life of resurrection in
heaven in God’s presence with eternity, glory and full restoration of God’s image in us. I
thank God for having given me faith on my resurrection and hope of my life in heaven.
Now about the dead rising--have you not read in the book of Moses, in the account of
the bush, how God said to him, `I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of
Jacob'? Jesus challenged the Sadducees who claimed to be believing Moses’ Pentateuch as
authentic and yet rejecting resurrection and existence of heavenly beings. The account of
bush is Moses encounter with God. There God showed Moses a bush in fire without being
consumed and introduces himself to Moses as the God of the Patriarchs. The bush in fire
without burning reveals that God exists and he is not consumed as human beings get
consumed day by day. It means that God does not die and God is self existent. At that time
God said to Moses, “I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.”
What does it mean that God is the God of Ab, Is and Ja? God spoke to these ordinary people,
established a relationship with them, gave them his promise and walked with them until each
of these ordinary man could be changed as servant of the Holy God whose faith God could
bless to carry out His soul saving ministry and save all peoples on earth. By saying I am the
God of Abra, Is, Ja God also proclaimed that although their physical existence ceased with
death, they were still living with God with their immortal existence with God. This is the
truth of the resurrection. Someday we should die and our physical existence will cease to
exist but our immortal existence in God will never cease to exist. This is totally opposite to
the thinking of let us eat and drink for tomorrow we will die. In God’s great mercy and
purpose I am called and saved and given God’s promise to be used by him. When grow in my
relationship with God and learn to walk with him and serve him through this life God says, I
am the God of Abraham Nial. After serving God for the appointed time span, if I die God is
still the God of Abraham Nial.
Finally Jesus proclaimed, “He is not the God of the dead, but of the living. You are
badly mistaken!" dead are those who are cut off from God and do not have relationship with
God. All men in sin are dead. But God in Jesus makes us alive. I am living in Jesus. And my
God is not an idol made of stone and dead, but He is living too. Then where is God. The
Hymn writer says, that he lives within my heart. Meeting with the living God changed my
whole life and life direction. I am so thankful that the living God visited and revealed himself
to me as my God. I can testify that meeting the living God is the most joyful event in my life.
Even if I would have achieved the whole world dying without meeting my living God would
have been totally meaningless and absolutely disastrous. God lives in my heart. For sometime
I lived a lukewarm life. But through our Foundation day celebration God became alive in my
heart. When I meet him again through his words I can again have the tears of joy and praise
in me for this living God. These days I do not waste my time in watching TV or wasting time
in some other way. God who lives in me gives me desire and strength to serve God even his
sheep in the campuses and helps me fight a spiritual battle. The living God helps me celebrate
his living word when I come to him seeking his word daily. I am sure that God’s life and
strength in me will use my life preciously and help me do what please him even raising
disciples and completing my PhD.
God is living and he lives in me