Word of the Month– Attributes of God: LIVING

 

See the first post in this series to see what we’re doing here.

Attribute n. - a quality or feature regarded as a characteristic or inherent part of someone or something.

Since this month starts with the remembrance of the resurrection of Jesus Christ, it seemed like it would be appropriate to think on the fact that God is the living God.  As I said at the beginning of this series, these are not going to be in depth doctrinal studies.  This one is somewhat simplistic, but hopefully it will help us get a better grasp of what it really means to serve the living God!

The phrase “the living God” shows up numerous times in scripture.  Perhaps it is best remembered because of its appearance in two well known Bible stories – David and Goliath and Daniel in the lion’s den.

1 Samuel 17:26  And David spake to the men that stood by him, saying, What shall be done to the man that killeth this Philistine, and taketh away the reproach from Israel? for who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the living God?

Daniel 6:20  And when he came to the den, he cried with a lamentable voice unto Daniel: and the king spake and said to Daniel, O Daniel, servant of the living God, is thy God, whom thou servest continually, able to deliver thee from the lions?

God is the living God because, unlike any other god, He has the power to create life; not just animal life, but a living soul.

Genesis 2:7  And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.

He is the living God as opposed to the idols of the heathen.  He is able to do what He wills, and He is able to satisfy and to respond.

Psalms 115:3-8  But our God is in the heavens: he hath done whatsoever he hath pleased. Their idols are silver and gold, the work of men's hands. They have mouths, but they speak not: eyes have they, but they see not: They have ears, but they hear not: noses have they, but they smell not: They have hands, but they handle not: feet have they, but they walk not: neither speak they through their throat. They that make them are like unto them; so is every one that trusteth in them.

Psalms 42:2  My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God: when shall I come and appear before God?

Psalms 107:8-9  Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men! For he satisfieth the longing soul, and filleth the hungry soul with goodness.

As the living God, He is able to exercise His authority upon earth and upon the nations.  He is able to judge, and He will!

Jeremiah 10:10  But the LORD is the true God, he is the living God, and an everlasting king: at his wrath the earth shall tremble, and the nations shall not be able to abide his indignation.

Genesis 18:25  …Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?

Hebrews 10:31  It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

He is the living God and because of that, He is able to give us eternal life through His Son.

Matthew 16:15-16  He [Jesus] saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am? And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.

John 17:3  And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.

Romans 6:23  For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Because He is the living God, His word is living, eternal and it gives eternal life.

John 6:66-69  From that time many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him. Then said Jesus unto the twelve, Will ye also go away? Then Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life. And we believe and are sure that thou art that Christ, the Son of the living God.

Philippians 2:15-16  That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world;  Holding forth the word of life…

Hebrews 4:12  For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.  [The word “quick” here indicating alive, as in “the quick and the dead”.]

As the living God who has given us eternal life in His Son, He has the reasonable right to make certain demands upon our lives.

Romans 12:1  I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.

2 Corinthians 6:16-17  And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.  Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you,

1 Thessalonians 1:9-10  For they themselves shew of us what manner of entering in we had unto you, and how ye turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God; And to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come.

Ephesians 4:17-18  This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that ye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk, in the vanity of their mind, Having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart:

He is not only the living God, He is the God of the living.  He is the God of those who have received life from Him spiritually.  Those who have died without salvation in Christ are eternally dead.  Those who are alive on this earth and have not believed on the Lord Jesus are spiritually dead and He is not their God.  Those who are physically alive or dead in Christ have His eternal life and He is their God because they are “the living”.  Is He your God?  Are you alive by faith in Jesus Christ?

Matthew 22:31-32  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.

The Lord Jesus, as the Son of the living God, has that eternal life in Him, but He willingly laid down His life to bring us eternal salvation.  Because His life was supernatural, He had to power to not only lay it down – die on the cross – but to take it up again – to rise from the dead.  That He would choose to do this for poor sinners such as us is mind-boggling.  Yet, it is true!

John 10:17-18  Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again. No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of my Father.

Revelation 1:18   I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death.

Luke 24:1-7  Now upon the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they came unto the sepulchre, bringing the spices which they had prepared, and certain others with them. And they found the stone rolled away from the sepulchre. And they entered in, and found not the body of the Lord Jesus. And it came to pass, as they were much perplexed thereabout, behold, two men stood by them in shining garments: And as they were afraid, and bowed down their faces to the earth, they said unto them, Why seek ye the living among the dead?  He is not here, but is risen: remember how he spake unto you when he was yet in Galilee, Saying, The Son of man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again.

In conclusion, I want to focus just a little on that phrase “Why seek ye the living among the dead?”  There are so many that are seeking God in dead places:

in dead works (both keeping of the Law and following “standards” and rules of mankind);
in dead religions that do not have the truth;
in the dead world with its sin-sick cultures;
in a dying creation that is groaning for redemption (Romans 8:21-22);
in health plans and diets that are meant only to sustain the dying physical body.

Where are you seeking God?  Are you seeking the living God?  There is only one way to find Him, and that is through His living Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.

John 14:6  Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.

If you are a child of the living God already, are you living daily like someone who has a direct connection with the source of true life, or are you still looking for satisfaction in the deadness of this present world?  We need to think on the fact that He is the living God, the Only living God.  We need to keep the wonderful fact of our relationship to the living God in our minds – to remember that it is through the death of Christ that we have this amazing LIFE.  This will cause us to strive to show forth that life of the living God in our own lives, it will remind us of what it means to die to this world and live unto Him. 

Romans 6:9-13  Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him. For in that he died, he died unto sin once: but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God. Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord. Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof. Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God.

Galatians 2:20  I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.