The God of the Living by Max Hill

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Mountain View, California · Aug 21, 1907

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 33, No. 34.

The God of the Living.

By Max Hill

THAT men go to their final reward at the moment of death, the righteous to the joys of eternal life, the wicked to the endless eternity of agony, is widely taught and almost universally believed. Notwithstanding the fact that there is no Scriptural foundation for it, men still believe the lie that Satan told our first parents in the garden, "Ye shall not surely die."

One statement from the Saviour Himself will make the matter clear. The Sadducees propounded to Jesus the question concerning the woman who had been the wife of seven brothers in turn. "In the resurrection therefore whose wife shall she be of the seven?" they asked, thinking to prove that there is no resurrection. Answering their question, He showed that they themselves did not understand the Scriptures, and to show their wrong position He continued: "But as touching the resurrection of the dead, have ye not read that which was spoken unto you by God, saying, I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob? God is not the God of the dead, but of the living."

They knew that these patriarchs were all dead. Further, they did not believe they would ever be raised from the dead; but Jesus reminded them of the statement God Himself had made, that He is the God of the living and not of the dead; and in order to make the other statement true, that He is the God of the patriarchs, He will raise them from the dead in the resurrection and be their God.

Jesus taught, and His followers believed, that the resurrection is not at death. When Martha reproached Jesus for not coming to heal Lazarus, Jesus said, "Thy brother shall rise again." Martha's reply indicated the definite time of the resurrection, "I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day." Then God will truly be the God of the living. MAX HILL.