The God Of The Living (Contd) - Mark 12:18-27 Series

Mark 12:18 Then the Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, came to him with a question. 19 "Teacher," they said, "Moses wrote for us that if a man's brother dies and leaves a wife but no children, the man must marry the widow and have children for his brother. 20 Now there were seven brothers. The first one married and died without leaving any children. 21 The second one married the widow, but he also died, leaving no child. It was the same with the third. 22 In fact, none of the seven left any children. Last of all, the woman died too. 23 At the resurrection whose wife will she be, since the seven were married to her?" 24 Jesus replied, "Are you not in error because you do not know the Scriptures or the power of God? 25 When the dead rise, they will neither marry nor be given in marriage; they will be like the angels in heaven. 26 Now about the dead rising-- have you not read in the book of Moses, in the account of the bush, how God said to him, 'I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob'? 27 He is not the God of the dead, but of the living. You are badly mistaken!"

Introduction

Jesus tried and convicted the Sadducees on two counts of ignorance:

1) Ignorance of the Scriptures, and

2) Ignorance of the power of God

I mentioned both briefly in the last message, but I think there are some more lessons for us on both topics. First, the power of God.

The Power of God

One quick point I want to make about this because many people today have a similar reaction to the idea of resurrection as the Sadducees, and for the same reason. The don’t understand God’s power.

The objection I’ve heard people bring up has to do with bodies that are destroyed. People ask, “What about bodies that were burned or blown up or eaten by animals? How could they be raised?” Sometimes people don’t want to be cremated because they are afraid it will foul up the resurrection.

First of all, I don’t even understand that argument because all bodies are destroyed eventually. No matter how much embalming they do, and how tightly they seal your coffin, eventually, your body will disintegrate.

But still, people don’t have as much problem with God somehow resurrecting a pile of dust, as long as the dust is still gathered in the same spot. But if your body gets eaten by an animal, so the cells that were your body now become part of that animal, and then someone eats the animal, so now it’s part of their body—how will God ever sort all that out?

Anyone who raises an objection to resurrection or any other miracle on the ground that it would be impossible doesn’t understand the first thing about God. What is the first thing about God? What’s the first thing the Bible tells us about God on p.1 of the Bible? He created everything out of nothing. He didn’t have any trouble creating you out of nothing the first time; you don’t think he has the power to re-create you?

In order for God to raise your body from the dead—that same body you have now, does he require those cells you had when you died? No. The cells in your body are not what make your body you. Did you know your body replaces all its cells every 7 to 10 years? Your body right now—did you know there isn’t a single bit of you that existed 10 years ago? And there’s not one cell of that body you had 10 years ago that’s still in existence? And yet, it’s the same body. You weren’t any more or less you back then than you are now. It’s not your cells that make you you. It’s God who makes you you. He did it once from scratch; he’ll do it again. If you believe in the power of God, resurrection is no problem.

What Will Happen to Our Relationships?

And if you’re worried about the fact that there will be no marriage in heaven, don’t. When you first read this, if you’re like me and you love being married, this might sound a little distressing. Tracy and I aren’t going to be married anymore? Can we at least go on dates in heaven? What will relationships be like?

I don’t know what they will be like, but I do know our current love relationships will still exist. 1 Thessalonians 4:13 says when our believing loved ones die, we don’t grieve like the rest of men who have no hope of resurrection. The implication is, we don’t grieve like them because we know we’ll see each other again. That wouldn’t make sense if when we get to heaven, all our past love relationships were wiped out.