“He is not the God of the dead,
but of the living,
for to Him all are alive.”

“Now then,
at the resurrection whose wife will she be,
since the seven were married to her?”
(NIV)

At first glance it would seem that the Sadducees were asking a legitimate theological question about the nature of the life to come. Until you remember Luke stated,

“Some Sadducees came up.
This is the party that denies
any possibility of the resurrection.”

If they deny the resurrection why would they want to know the answer to the question they ask? The Sadducees came to Jesus with a trick question. It would be like me asking you, Is it legal for a man to marry his widow's sister?

Of course it’s not legal for a man to marry his widow’s sister. If my wife is a widow it means that I am dead. It is illegal for my wife’s sister to marry a dead man.

The Sadducees didn’t care about the truth they simply were laying a trap for Jesus. They were more concerned about discrediting Jesus than they were about learning the details of the afterlife.

Sometimes our theological questions are attempts to divert others or ourselves from the deeper, real, significant questions. Our study of the book of Revelations have prompted more questions about will the Jews be saved? Will the church be raptured before the great tribulation? Who will make up the 144,000 saved? What about the Good Samaritan who doesn’t believe in God but is always helping people?

Like the Sadducees who were preoccupied with the question, “Whose wife will she be?” We too have become preoccupied with questions about what life in heaven will be like that we deflect our attention away from the most important question we should be asking. This question was asked of the participants in last weekends Dare 2 Share Youth Conference, “If you were to die today do you know where you are going? Why?”

The question reminded me of a rich young man who professed to obey all the commandments and asked Jesus, “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” Jesus answered, “Go, sell everything you have and follow me.”

Does that mean if you didn’t put all your money into the offering plate this morning you won’t inherit eternal life? Yes, IF you view your money as the rich young man. When he said he had obeyed every commandment he was mistaken. He broke the commandment, “Thou shall have no other God’s before me.” Money and wealth was the rich man’s god.

So what must you and I do to inherit eternal life? “If you were to die today are you sure you are going to heaven? Why?”

Scripture states, “If you confess with your mouth, Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved.”(Romans 10:9-10)

Confessing with you mouth that Jesus is Lord and believing in your heart that God raised Him from the dead is all you need to do to guarantee you are going to heaven. BUT that’s what culture says. That not what the Jews believe, or the Muslims, or the atheists.

You are right we live in our world of competing faiths, of conflicting theories, of antagonistic politics. We have become confused in our search for truth, and sometimes we have just stopped searching. Our culture is not very conducive to Godly living.

Culture teaches us that there are many gray areas that there is absolute right and wrong. Each answer raises several new questions. We question things that we were once sure about. Some of the things our parents taught us have been discredited. Some really good people hold convictions different from our own, and some folks with impeccable spiritual credentials have disillusioned us with their lives. All in all, we are less sure of things than we once were.

Unfortunately the church has too often been tempted to adopt the sinful norms of her surrounding culture. The old covenant church embraced pagan ways, violating the Lord’s holy standards which lead to their demise. We cannot get too cozy with pagan teachings and practices. We must not get caught up in the teachings of the world. Jesus said,

“Christians must be in the world but not of the world.”
(Paraphrase of John 17:15-16)

We are obligated to live in a manner different from non-believers. Our ministry, beliefs or ethics are not to be defined by the world around us. Our ministry and faith are not to be defined by our God based religion. NO, our ministry and our lives must be defined by our relationship with God. It must be based on the Word of God which is the final, authoritative standard for our conduct. It must be lived out by

“confessing with your mouth, Jesus is Lord,
and believing in your heart
that God raised Him from the dead,
you will be saved.
For it is with your heart
that you believe and are justified,
and it is with your mouth
that you confess and are saved.”
(Romans 10:9-10)

Having a relationship with God through our Lord Jesus Christ and empowered by the Holy Spirit enables us not to be disheartened, for we know that God walks alongside us. We are not discouraged, for we find excitement and satisfaction in the journey. We do not despair, because we know that you accept us even in our weakness. We can live this way because

“He is not the God of the dead,
but of the living,
for to Him all are alive.”