Mark 12: 26-27
The last of a generation of our family passed away last week. As I looked at this old photo, it was sad to realize that the pictured loved ones are all gone now.
Is this our fate? To be briefly in this world, to have our photos fall to the bottom of a stack or to be thrown away, to be forgotten? A somber thought.
But God doesn't see us this way. We have hope of life beyond the grave when reading Jesus's words from Mark 12: 26-27.
"Now about the dead rising—have you not read in the Book of Moses, in the account of the burning bush, how God said to him, ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? He is not the God of the dead, but of the living. You are badly mistaken!”
Jesus is saying that Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob are actually still alive. From a heavenly perspective, all of God's children - those who have passed this realm and those who remain - are alive!
God invites us into an eternal relationship (John 3:16) that starts now (John 17:3). God resides out of time but leans into time to be with us at every moment. We're promised an opportunity to live with God forever, and forever starts now!
Jesus talks, in the quote above and in other Gospel quotes, as if he knows Abraham personally. It's comforting to know that Jesus feels the same way about each of us.
Within my book and video study, "Live Like You're Loved," I have a section called "Live Like You're Eternal" that discusses this concept of eternal life beginning now. For more info and to purchase the material, please visit CecilTaylorMinistries.com/live-like-you-re-loved .