He is the God of the Living

It is an interesting experience to read the last few chapters of Matthew followed by Psalm 22. How could David write these things so many years prior to them happening to Christ?

I wonder if it was because David was so close to God… He sought after God, worshipped God, struggled with God, repented and came back to God for healing over and over. God gave him the song that became what we know as Psalm 22. It was a glimpse of what was to come.

And Jesus obviously knew the Scriptures and knew this Psalm. So much of it became his experience… “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?... He trusts the Lord; let the Lord rescue him… they have pierced my hands and my feet… they divide my garments among them and cast lots for my clothing… the poor will eat and be satisfied; they who seek the Lord will praise him… all the ends of the earth will remember and turn to the Lord, and all the families of the nations will bow down before him, for dominion belongs to the Lord and he rules over the nations… they will proclaim his righteousness to the people yet unborn – for he has done it.” Psalm 22:1, 8, 16, 18, 26-28, 31

Jesus’ death on the cross was no accident of fate. It was a carefully planned out event on God’s kingdom calendar. It was the ultimate Passover and he was the Passover lamb. It was his victory over death – part of his eternal plan rescuing us from sin and death. “He is not the God of the dead, but of the living.” Matthew 22:32 When he rose from the dead, he took away Satan’s power of fear of death. Because I know I will live in eternity, I don’t have to fear what happens to this mortal body. It is simply a vehicle to get around in this world and can be used to praise God while I’m here as I will praise God in heaven.

I have a really hard time saying the words, “My son is dead.” I think it is because I don’t believe it. I’m not in denial that his physical body as I have known it will not walk through my door with his big smile or wrap me in his big hug. But death has been conquered. I can now see it for what it really is – a passage from life on the timeline of this world to life in eternity. God is the God of the living – whether they are living in this world in the mortal body or whether they are living in eternity with him. Jesus showed us with his resurrection that life continues. In fact, life in eternity is more life than life in this world can ever be!

So I’m waiting – with hope and full of his promises – until I cross over into eternity where real life begins. In the meantime, I’m living in my mortal body as a disciple of Jesus Christ and trying to keep learning what it means to be God’s servant, to honor him with my life on this side of eternity, and to be part of his body here on this earth by reaching out to others and loving them. “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” John 3:16

Jesus asked those who follow him to get this message out to the world. This is our job description: “Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” Matthew 28:19-20

What is it we are commanded to do? While we have many more teachings of Jesus, he summed it up with, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” Matthew 22:37-40 Spurred on by our son’s great faith, I will continue to grapple with what this looks like in daily life and interactions with others – as long as God gives me breath on this earth.