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7/30 Reading Portions: Judges 13; Acts 17; Jeremiah 26; Mark 12
Mark 12:27
“He is not God of the dead, but of the living.”
ALIVE
The incarnate Word of God, Jesus Christ, speaks a multitude of truth when He opens His mouth, just as His written Word has a multitude of dimensions for our spiritual growth, for Christ’s great exaltation, and for the Father’s ultimate glory. From this short sentence, the Lord Jesus identifies several things, but we will only focus upon three today. First, He presents to them the error of their understanding. “You are quite wrong,” says our Lord to the Sadducees, who did not believe in the resurrection to come (Mark 12:18). The truth of the resurrection, as well as the eternal existence of God and man’s soul, is apparent by God’s declaration, as Jesus explained:
“I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” Mark 12:26
Second, the Lord’s statement is an indictment of the condition of their souls. By their opposition to Christ, they were dead in trespasses and sins, and thus, all their works and deeds were dead, for they did not glorify God, even if their works eased suffering for mankind on earth. Third, Christ’s statement blesses us because He has saved us by His amazing grace. We are alive forever more. He is your God and my God personally. Because we are alive, our deeds done in Christ are truly good works, for Jesus alone is good. They are good by virtue of His being good, because He is very God. There are only two kinds of works accomplished by man on earth: good works and dead works. The deceased, and those dead in sins and trespasses, cannot produce good works. The living, by God’s grace through faith, produce good, gospel works inasmuch as we are submissive to God in Christ through the leading of the Holy Spirit. The corruptions of our mortal flesh oppose good works, so there are times when we can produce dead works— works that attempt to justify us before God or vindicate us before men. Be alive! Jesus died, rose, and is alive forever more. Therefore, we are alive forever more in Him. May good works flow from our lives while we are living on earth, for the Father’s eternal glory, through Christ’s eternal exaltation. Hallelujah! What a Savior!
