Life in Christ

God is not the God of the dead, but of the living.– Matthew 22:32.

On Tuesday, in the temple, our Lord was tried and tempted a great deal by His enemies, the hardened Pharisees and Sadducees. The latter, who said that there is no resurrection, came and asked Him, saying: "Master, Moses said, If a man die, having no children, his brother shall marry his wife, and raise up seed unto his brother. Now there were with us seven brethren; and the first, when he had married a wife, deceased, and, having no issue, left his wife unto his brother; likewise the second also, and the third, unto the seventh. And last of all the woman died also. Therefore, in the resurrection, whose wife shall she be of the seven? for they all had her." Jesus answered and said unto them: "Ye do err, not knowing the Scriptures nor the power of God. For in the resurrection they neither marry, nor are given in marriage, but are as the angels of God in heaven. 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." (Matthew 22:23-32.)

If through faith in your Savior you are a child of God, so that God is your God and Father, then God will not leave you in death, but raise you from the dead; for He will not be the God and Father of the dead, but of the living. This is what Jesus Christ has taught, and His Word – also in many ways and places – teaches the resurrection of the dead. In the resurrection, however, there will be no marrying nor giving in marriage; we shall be no longer subject to the laws and regulations of this terrestrial life, for we shall have spiritual bodies. These the power of God, which is boundless, will give us. So let not the spiteful drivel of those who know neither the Scriptures nor the power of God confuse you.

PRAYER. – Grant, O faithful God, that I may be and remain Your child through faith in my Lord and Savior, depart this life in blessed peace, holding fast to Your grace, rest in my grave under Your protection, rise by Your power, and thus inherit the blessed hope – eternal life – for the sake of Your dear Son Jesus Christ, to whom, with You and the Holy Ghost, be praise, honor, and glory, now and evermore. Amen.

Hymn 534.

AND must this body die, This mortal frame decay?

And must these active limbs of mine Lie mouldering in the clay?

God my Redeemer lives, And ever from the skies

Looks down and watches all my dust, Till He shall bid it rise.

Arrayed in glorious grace Shall these vile bodies shine,

And every shape, and every face, Look heavenly and divine.

These lively hopes we owe To Jesus’ dying love:

We would adore His grace below And sing His power above.

These devotions are adapted from Crumbs by C. M. Zorn (1914).

The hymn stanzas are from Evangelical Lutheran Hymn-Book (1918).

The illustration is from The Doré Bible Gallery (circa 1885).

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