God’s Image Study • God of the Living—Christ as Lord of the Dead and the Living
We began this study with two statements: God is the God of the living, and Jesus is Lord of both the dead and the living.
Following the passages has required us to examine what life means, how it is received, and the distinct roles of the Father and the Son, with the Spirit central to being made alive.
God is the God of the living
When answering the Sadducees about resurrection, Jesus points to God’s identification with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He explains:
“Now He is not the God of the dead but of the living; for all live to Him.”
— Luke 20:38, LSB
The resurrection setting matters. Their physical deaths do not overturn God’s relationship with them or His power to raise the dead. Jesus directs his hearers beyond what bodily death appears to settle. Read Luke 20:34–38.
Jesus is Lord of both
Paul connects Christ’s death and return to life with his lordship over both the dead and the living. Those who belong to him remain accountable for how they live and treat one another. Read Romans 14:7–12.
John 5 explains the authority involved. The Father grants the Son life in himself and authority to judge. The Son gives life, and those in the tombs will hear his voice.
The Father gives; the Son exercises the authority received. Honoring the Son includes recognizing the Father who sent him. Read John 5:19–29.
Physical existence and spiritual life are distinguishable
Ephesians 2 describes people as dead in their trespasses while still walking according to desires and influences. It then describes God making them alive with Christ. Read Ephesians 2:1–10.
This brings us back to our Born Again Study. Jesus’s instruction concerning birth from the Spirit addresses a life that physical birth alone does not supply. Read John 3:3–8.
The Father draws people to Jesus, and those who hear and learn from the Father come to him. Jesus also identifies himself as the one who reveals the Father to those he chooses. These roles work together in bringing people into knowledge of God. Read John 6:44–45 and Matthew 11:27.
Life through the Spirit and conformity to the Son’s image
Romans 8 distinguishes those who have Christ’s Spirit from those who do not belong to him. It connects being led by God’s Spirit with being His children, receiving adoption, and being conformed to His Son’s image. Read Romans 8:9–16, 29.
This is essential to our God’s Image Study: physical birth does not automatically confer the indwelling Spirit, adoption, or conformity to the Son’s image.
Christ is identified as God’s image, and believers undergo renewal according to their Creator’s image. This formation involves the life and transformation God supplies. Read Colossians 1:15 and Colossians 3:9–10.
Life received now, fulfillment still awaited
The Spirit can dwell within while the body remains mortal. Paul describes believers who already possess the Spirit’s firstfruits while awaiting their bodies’ redemption. Read Romans 8:10–11, 23.
We must therefore preserve the sequence: receiving life, continuing in that life, and awaiting the promised transformation.
Faith belongs within that process. Thomas required sight before belief; Jesus blessed those who believed without seeing. Paul likewise describes walking by faith while awaiting what God has prepared. Read John 20:24–29 and 2 Corinthians 5:1–9.
The life received must shape the life lived
John connects passing from death into life with love for others. He makes that examination practical through our response to another’s need. Jesus likewise describes abiding in him, bearing fruit, and keeping his commandments. Read 1 John 3:14–18 and John 15:1–13.
Claims about the Spirit must also be tested. Scripture directs us to discern truth from error rather than accept every spiritual influence as coming from God. Read 1 John 4:1–6.
This returns us to Jesus’s teaching that love for God and love for our neighbor hold the Law and the Prophets together. Read Matthew 22:37–40.
The outcome: death defeated, the kingdom delivered
Christ reigns until his enemies are subjected, with death identified as the last enemy to be abolished. He hands the kingdom to the God and Father, and the Son himself is subjected to the One who placed all things under him. Read 1 Corinthians 15:20–28.
Our central distinction remains: the Father is the God of the living; Jesus is Lord of both the dead and the living, entrusted with authority to give life and judge. Through the Spirit, people are made alive and formed into the likeness of the Son.
The question for us is therefore personal: Have we received that life, and are we allowing it to govern how we believe, obey, and love?
Threads to Follow
Sabbath Study: Begin with Genesis 2:1–3 before returning to Commandment 4, examining rest, holiness, and sequence.
Glory and recognition: Carry forward the comparisons involving appearing, seeing, faith, and the eighth day without separating them from their contexts.
Bridegroom and Bride: Develop this study before Commandment 5, preserving the male-and-female wording and the relationships already under examination.
The books were opened…
🌿 By Maria Emilia
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