Jer 10:7-10
I. Introduction
II. The Living God is Personable
III. The Living God is Sovereign
IV. The Living God is Intelligent
V. The Living God is the True God
Figure 1 ”...Because I live, you will live also...”
Table 1 The Living God in Scripture
Twenty-seven times, in the Old Testament and the New, Jehovah God through the pen of His inspired authors refers to Himself as the “living God” (the exact term; this includes two verses repeated, thus twenty-five unique references). It comes in various contexts, ranging from idolatry, to reproach of His Name, to declaration of His power, to His accompaniment with His own, to His “knowing”, to His (the Son's) resurrection (“living” understood here), and so forth (Tab. 1). What is our God communicating to us when He reveals Himself in this way? This study will prayerfully endeavor to put forth some possibilities. When referring to the “living God” below, we have in mind Jehovah God [1].
Premise: Only the living God, and none other (dead or inanimate “pretenders”), can be a personable God. A personable God engages persons. And persons in turn may engage a personable God (this is the function of prayer). In this way (sub-Premise): the living, personable God should be found to be a God of relationships. Thus one would expect that the living, personable God should be found to be a sensitive God, sensitive to His relationships with people, and uniquely so, relationally, on an individual basis, because relationships are individual, personable, and unique. And because relationships are best served by love (this is self-evident, but we may defer to the testimony of Scripture as well as individual and societal history here), one would expect that the living, personable God should be found to be a loving God. It follows that one would expect that the living, personable God should be found to draw people to Himself, so as to enter into loving relationships (consider Jhn 6:44-45, 12:32)—the general point that underscores this study in this context and the other contexts following is that only a living God can or would do this. Please watch for this point in those contexts as you go along. Moreover, one would expect that the living, personable God should be found to condescend to identify with people, again, in the interest of relationships (consider Phl 2:5-8, Hbr 2:17-18). The living, personable God should be found to be an available God, available to engage in relationships (“O, That Name!”, see and consider Hearer, Mindful, Near, Personable, et al.). And here Salvation, life eternal in the presence of the living God, is found to be the quintessential expression of Relationship, even with the living God (thus it is quintessential). Coming full circle, this Salvation Relationship only makes sense in the context of Life (living people+living God; consider Jhn 3:16 [this verse is much more than anti-Gnostic polemic...], Fig. 1). And because communication is characteristic of living beings, the living, personable God should be found to communicate His relational interests to people, who are an important object of His relationships, which are singularly meant to be Salvation relationships—here is the purpose of Scripture (or, the Communique), itself found to pivot on the living Jesus Christ, the Word of God (consider Jhn 12:49-50, 17:3).
Sovereign precisely because He is omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent (“O, That Name!”, see Omnipotent, Omniscient, Omnipresent for Scripture references). Cast in the negative, were the living, personable, sovereign God not sovereign, He would not be “living” for long so to speak (He would in nowise be found to be eternal). Put positively, Premise: the living, personable, sovereign God holds in His sovereign hand the great causal network of Life, and certainly (1) the space-time infrastructure upon which this network unfolds in the domain of the mundane; (2) the infinite-eternal infrastructure upon which this network unfolds in the domain of the spiritual. Sub-Premise: (1) and (2) are interleaved in His hand, the former serving the latter (in particular, serving the Salvation Relationship [some might term this service the Sovereign's “Divine Providence”]), (consider Exd 33:19, Isa 29:16, Jer 18:3-4, et al.).
Premise: Only the living, personable, sovereign, intelligent God can exercise His intelligence so as to create consummate Reality, which is singularly His Reality, which is absolute, universal Truth (“Ti Estin Alhqeia?”). And said consummate Reality one would in turn expect to be found to serve His relational interests. Thus the living, personable, sovereign, intelligent God should be found to communicate (with other intelligent living beings), to contemplate, plan, design, and (efficiently) create (consider Isa 1:18, Jer 29:11, Gen 1:1-7, 8-14, 15-21, 22-28); and as a relationally-motivated intelligent Being, should be found to interact with, and (efficiently) sustain the same where pertinent (consider Psa 145:16, Mar 4:39, Jhn 6:35, 51, 8:12, Hbr 1:3). One would expect the living, personable, sovereign, intelligent God to be found to be surpassing in His thoughts and ways (consider Isa 55:8-9), themselves aligned to serve His relational interests (consider (Isa 55:10-13, Jhn 8:12).
It is intuitively obvious that the true God must be the living God (the true God cannot be a dead God of course); is this sound in the other direction (the converse): the living God must be the true God? Yes, because the true God should be found to be eternal; that deity is necessarily eternal satisfies both propositions (no beginning, no ending; for corroborative arguments please see “The Alpha and the Omega”, “John Chapter One Commentary” passim).
This study sought prayerfully to understand as best as humanly possible why in His Word Jehovah God repeatedly refers to Himself as the “living” God. The answer almost seems to be obvious; in short, He is the One who lives, over against so many pretenders, animate and inanimate, that lived, or flourished, or were popular for a while, but are now dead and gone—while He Jehovah lives on. This eternality and attendant staying power in the world, the latter by way of His Church—altogether through His enduring Spirit—attests to the fact that He alone always has been, and is, and certainly always will be the true God. The centuries-long pored over prophecies that myriad numbers of clergy and laity, and countless scholars and theologians have found to be fulfilled in Jesus Christ, particularly, for our purposes, the force and weight of His (primary-source attested) resurrection, put a solid foundation under the highlighted text. So Jehovah declaring His eternality and attendant deity is seemingly the obvious answer to the question why in His Word Jehovah God repeatedly refers to Himself as the “living” God. But it became apparent as we moved on from there that this aspect of our God (as deity He lives, continuous action if you will) has some beautiful, blessed, byways besides, precisely because He is a (the) living God (“dead gods” have nothing to offer in this respect is the point we asked the reader to watch for above; these blessed byways are a reality only with a living God behind them, and He wants people to know that He is “alive and well” if you will and is indeed the One behind them, thus repeatedly declaring His eternality as the “living” God). The study, as it matured, sought to better appreciate these byway (living) treasures, and sought to bring them to the fore, for further study and insight by others.
In that regard, we talked about the living God as a personable God, He championing the roles of Companion, Helper, Friend, Confidant, Savior, et al. It was said that only the living God and none other can be a personable God. That a personable God engages persons, and persons in turn may engage a personable God (the function of prayer). That in this way the living, personable God should to be found to be a God of relationships. That one would expect the living, personable God to be found to be a sensitive God, sensitive to His relationships with people, on an individual basis. That because relationships are best served by love, one would expect that the living, personable God should be found to be a loving God, and consequently one would expect that the living, personable God should be found to draw people to Himself, so as to enter into loving relationships—and that only a living God can or would do these things (a main point of the study). And further, that one would expect the living, personable God to be found to condescend to identify with people, again, in the interest of relationships. We thought that the living, personable God should be found to be an available God, available to engage in relationships, and that Salvation, life eternal in the presence of the living, personable God, is surely the quintessential expression of Relationship. Here we thought that this Salvation Relationship must find expression in the context of Life (living people+living God). Because communication is characteristic of living beings, it was said that the living, personable God should be found to communicate His relational interests to people, which interests were primarily understood to be Salvation relationships (companionship for eternity with the living God, Himself found to be keenly desirous of the same).
We said that the living God is sovereign, precisely because He is omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent. We proposed that the living, personable, sovereign God holds in His sovereign hand the great causal network of Life, itself comprised of the space-time infrastructure upon which this network unfolds in the domain of the mundane, and holds in His hand the infinite-eternal infrastructure upon which this network unfolds in the domain of the spiritual. It was thought that these two realities are interleaved in the living, personable, sovereign God's hand, the former serving the latter (in particular, serving the Salvation Relationship by design).
It was put forth that the living God is intelligent. That only the living, personable, sovereign, intelligent God can exercise His intelligence so as to create consummate Reality, which was said to be singularly His Reality, itself understood to be absolute, universal Truth. It was thought that this consummate Reality should be found to serve the living God's relational interests, and that toward that end the living, personable, sovereign, intelligent God should be found to communicate (with other intelligent living beings), and to contemplate, plan, design, and (efficiently) create, and that as a relationally-motivated intelligent Being, He should be found to interact with, and (efficiently) sustain the same where pertinent. That one would expect the living, personable, sovereign, intelligent God to be found to be surpassing in His thoughts and ways, which were themselves said to be aligned to serve His relational interests.
Finally, it was said that the living God is the true God, because the true God should be found to be eternal (deity is necessarily eternal by any measure of “time,” for deity must by definition persist).
We have found that it is Jehovah God, as evidenced by the ministry of Jesus Christ, now carried forward by His Church through His enduring Spirit, that satisfies the above inquiries concerning the living God (“...should be found to be thus and so...”). Both Testaments, the Old and the New, communicate clearly that Jehovah God is, and is focused on, Life. The Old Testament and the New—the written record of the living God's Communique—come together, intersect if you will, on this divine issue (both as a noun and a verb) of Life (Jhn 12:49-50). Death is an anomaly in the eternal design. Death entered because Sin (multifarious enmity toward the living God) entered through volitional, living creatures that chose death (Sin is death) rather than life (Jehovah God is Life).
It is not hard to appreciate that the living God imparts life; that the idea (intelligence) and materials (mass<>energy) originated with Him. No surprise then, that the only rational record concerning the origin, and especially concerning the vast diversity in its maturation, of Life, that humankind holds, comes from the living God; comes from, is communicated by, His Word. We can be sure then, that life is not spontaneous, because (1) the living God claims responsibility here; moreover, in total agreement with the living God's claims, we can be sure that life is not spontaneous because (2) primordial energy did not appear spontaneously. It is sure that there is no rational, consistent, mundane theory for primordial energy. Any such theory that one looks at closely violates empirical laws at some point along the way. The living God does not contradict Himself in His account of the origin of Life and its great diversity. He goes further than that even, claiming to be the Creator also of the great stage upon which Life is actually played out (intelligence + mass<>energy, in the extreme), again, without contradicting Himself at any level of maturation in His outworkings here (be it physical proper, or physical+spiritual when humankind is in view). Notice by the way that the latter (physical+spiritual) would force tremendous unaccounted for complexity onto what is without it a relatively simple, and sloppy for want of comprehensiveness, notion of “life” that secular origins models espouse and (rather forcibly these days) teach. Well, left out here is the living God, the causal Agent, the Creator, responsible for both Life and primordial energy (in any age, God only ever has a remnant that espouses Him—nothing new here). So much for the creation of Life and energy. Please notice now the flip-side consistency in this—neither Life, nor the energy in the created order, can be destroyed by mundane, physical agency whatsoever. One knows that these may indeed change states—a living spirit undergoes change, as humankind has learned from God's Word, and energy undergoes change, as humankind has learned from experience—but they are never destroyed (God may destroy here of course; may destroy a soul in hell for example [note Jesus-Mat 10:28; but cf. Jesus-Jhn 12:49-50, 3:16; consider Ecc 12:7]). This inviolate non-destruction speaks volumes back over across to the other (creation/flip) side. So, mundane, physical agency can neither create—because primordial energy must be accounted for first—nor even destroy here. Isn't that interesting... To Jehovah the living God be the Glory!
Praised be Thy Name great Jehovah God, Thou Author and Sustainer of Life. Yea Thou, that ever livest; even Thou, the Great I AM, whom we exceedingly love and adore.
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Scripture Reference |
Found to Be Particular to the Living God |
|
Deu 5:26 |
He communicates; here He speaks (language, two-way intelligence), necessarily with veiled glory. |
|
Jos 3:10 |
He acts; here He displays His power (purposed, vectored, acting; planned, goal-oriented). |
|
1Sa 17:26 |
He is a Champion for His people. |
|
2Ki 19:4, Isa 37:4 |
Same as just above; also hearing-communication (hearing a prayer), and suggested acting. |
|
2Ki 19:16, Isa 37:17 |
He is cognizant per se; He may be offended (similarly Sin offends/insults Him). |
|
Psa 42:2 |
He engages persons (other intelligent living beings; companionship). |
|
Psa 84:2 |
He is available, for companionship. |
|
Jer 10:10 |
He is the true God, eternal (even an eternal King), He is sovereign; He wields control, power. |
|
Jer 23:36 |
He communicates His will via His Word; He communicates as a living Commander, a Commander of hosts, He is personable, “claimed” here (our God; ours because He is available to be claimed). |
|
Dan 6:20 |
He is cognizant of service, of His servants; He is a (the) living Master (controlling, directing the outworkings of His good plans for His servants). He acts on behalf of His servants as it pleases Him (a living Master) to do so. |
|
Dan 6:26 |
He is eternal, sovereign, definitely to be feared. For those unfamiliar with this term, please note that “fear” here is meant to mean awe and especially reverence; that is not to say that the living God is not to be feared in the literal sense (He is not a punishing bully though, not in that sense here); He is to be feared simply because of who He is, and what He is capable of; for example, no one within a given radius can survive a nuclear blast—nobody doubts that—much less can anyone “stand” before the living God but by His Grace—and the point is that nobody should doubt that either. Of course these days He is mocked, and made a whipping boy if you will for humor's sake—even this far, to this extent, has unbelief emboldened itself. But God is never mocked, not even a little bit. How so, in this context? In keeping with the theme of this study, every cemetery in the world testifies to that fact. For He is the living God, who lives on and on, while all His enemies have a “date” with the grave, and then a “date” to “stand” as just said above before Him and give an account for their transgressions directed at Him—except for repentance, and faith in the One (Jesus Christ), who engaged that “date” on their behalf (“...Father, the hour has come...” [please notice His incomprehensible mercy here—He took His enemies' “date,” and made it His “date,” Jhn 3:16, Jhn 17:1-3]—is this not a God of Relationship? Here is a God of Relationship, indeed, the living God, “A Letter of Invitation”). |
|
Hos 1:10 |
He has spiritual kin (companionship). |
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Mat 16:16 |
Here He is referenced as a living Messiah, and Son—a Father, Father God, thus implied/understood. |
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Mat 26:63 |
Here He is the consummate living Witness (ever aware, knowing). |
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Act 14:15 |
He is the living Creator of some of the dead, false gods many people mistakenly engage and worship instead of engaging and worshiping their Relationship-hungry, living Creator (self, sex, money, praise of men, power, technology-gods, on it goes); He is the true God, eternal. |
|
Rom 9:26 |
He has spiritual kin (companionship; same as above). |
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2Cr 3:3 |
He is a blessed living Spirit. |
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2Cr 6:16 |
He engages persons (companionship). |
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1Th 1:9 (an extra verse, pretty close; updated 03/03/2015, A.s.) |
The living God is the true God. |
|
1Ti 3:15 |
He has a Church (believer-persons He engages, even a Bride—that intimately). |
|
1Ti 4:10 |
He is Hope, He is a living Savior. |
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Hbr 3:12 |
He has standards—He demands a holy, believing heart for fellowship (engagement, companionship). |
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Hbr 9:14 |
His servants worship Him unencumbered by sin-guilt owing to their Redemption as made lucid in their hearts by His living, engaging Spirit (communication, engagement, companionship). |
|
Hbr 10:31 |
He is a (the) living Judge, with immutable standards married to His sovereignty; if ever to be feared (amen), it is in this context. Friend, won't you put your faith in the living One (Jesus Christ) who bore this Judgment on your (more aptly said, on our, yours and mine) behalf (“A Letter of Invitation”)? |
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Hbr 12:22 |
His Bride and the holy angels abide with Him (companionship). |
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Rev 7:2 |
He has if you will a signet ring by which He authorizes per se (according to His will, as a living Sovereign). |
Table 1 sources: A.s.
“A Letter of Invitation.”
Jesus, amen.
< http://jesusamen.org/aletterofinvitation.html >
Wiktionary.
< http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/anthropomorphism >
“John Chapter One Commentary.”
Jesus, Amen.
< http://jesusamen.org/commentaryjohn1.html >
“O, That Name!”
Jesus, Amen.
< http://jesusamen.org/othatname.html >
Redpath, Alan.
Sermon Preparation, Lecture 03.
< http://www.sermonindex.net/modules/mydownloads/viewcat.php?cid=26 >
“The Alpha and the Omega.”
Jesus, Amen.
< http://jesusamen.org/thealphaandtheomega.html >
“Ti Estin Alhqeia (What Is Truth?).”
Jesus, Amen.
< http://jesusamen.org/whatistruth.html >
1. A word about anthropomorphism. In theology, it is the attribution of human characteristics to deity (“Anthropomorphism”). This study uses human-like descriptors such as “available,” “intelligent, ” ”living,” “personable,” and so forth to describe the “living” God. These terms are understood from Scripture and make sense in our (human) domain, and there is no loss of integrity by resorting to them to describe God. But—some argue that there is artificiality in that, because nothing new and original is gained when resorting to anthropomorphisms; so goes the skeptic's argument. The much-loved skeptic stumbles over two foundation stones here: (1) God actually became human in the person of Jesus Christ, the Son of God (Jhn 1:14). The skeptic dismisses (1) altogether of course. (2) In keeping with (1), God in His Word oftentimes actually describes Himself—quite apart from human input—with human-like descriptors. How so (apart from human input that is)? It is so because God's Word has come to humankind under inspiration of God Himself. In general then, why does the skeptic stumble here? Because the skeptic does not devote themselves to intimate, prayerful, prolonged Scripture (Word) study. Thus God cannot reveal Himself to the skeptic (this is very sad), though He longs so much to reveal Himself here and engage the skeptic in a Salvation Relationship (“A Letter of Invitation”). One must prayerfully meditate on Scripture on a routine basis (and not just for a few seconds or minutes) in order to come to know the living God. And this knowledge comes by His Grace—we mean to say, it is birthed and cultivated by God through His very Scripture inspiration just mentioned—an elegant, highly tight feedback loop that has God's signature all over it, as expected for excellent revelatory integrity (please see note two).
2. For the interested skeptic and unbeliever, we recommend the entire Gospel of John (Jhn 1:1ff) and Paul's entire epistle to the Ephesians (Eph 1:1ff), in that order, as starting points for dedicated Scripture study (coming to know the living God by His Grace indeed...Take your time, set a comfortable pace, and plumb the depths here friend; please take care to listen to your heart as you go along). For the believer, especially those called to Christian ministry, be that as it may, to stay sharp for the living God, as His representative, the following (the whole chapter in each case) are must reads (and/or by audio/hearing) very regularly, even repeatedly in one sitting: 1Cr 12:1ff, Eph 4:1ff, and Rom 12:1ff. Lord, please help us to make time for it; to make time for you, the awesome, great living God whom we so love and adore, amen.