Luke 12:4-7

Luke 12:4-7 “I tell you, my friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body and after that can do no more. But I will show you whom you should fear: Fear him who, after the killing of the body, has power to throw you into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him. Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet not one of them is forgotten by God. Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.

Mark 12:26-27 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’? He is not the God of the dead, but of the living.

Luke 13:28 “There will be weeping there, and gnashing of teeth, when you see Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, but you yourselves thrown out.

Yes, God knows the number of our very hairs, and we are worth more than many sparrows, but God is still the determiner of where we will spend eternity. Jesus warns the people that they should fear God, for He alone has that power. He will determine our eternal future. My mom and dad who have been dead for a long time are still alive, alive IN CHRIST. He brought eternal life to them, not damnation, for as their Savior, Jesus Christ is altogether acceptable to God because He is the Son of God. Jesus said, He is not the God of the dead, but of the living. All who are truly alive are alive IN CHRIST. John 1 says, IN HIM IS LIFE. That is why it was so important for the Jewish people to hear Christ's message. He did not bring condemnation to them, He brought life. Jesus knew there was no other door to the kingdom of heaven, no other way to eternal life.

Yes, God loves humanity, but sin is a deadly, eroding, terminal cancer to life--there is no life in sin. Therefore, God must deal with it. People cannot be in sin and have life. What does that mean? It means we must have something that will deal with the sin in our lives. We must have a cleansing agent, a truth that goes beyond the finiteness of our lives: the blood of Christ. His work on the cross conquered sin; no longer would it bring death to humans, for God dealt with it through the eternal work of the cross. But, if we don't place our complete trust in that work, we are without a propitiation for our sins, without a cleansing agent. We are without the life-giving, constant transfusion of the cleansing blood of Jesus.

If we are to fear anything or anyone, we should fear God, fear standing alone before him without our sins covered. If we choose to live in sin, He will not let us in the kingdom to dwell with him. Sin cannot abide in the presence of God. My friends who are eating this breakfast, will we stand before God uncovered, naked, lost in sin? No, we will cling to the cross; we will confess our sins; we will seek to do the will of the One who loves us. Yes, we are more precious than a flock of sparrows; every hair on our heads is known for we are Jesus' adopted brothers and sisters, purchased by his blood. We are family. We can look into the loving and righteous eyes of our Father and say, Abba Father. For you (my friends) did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship. And by him we cry, "Abba, Father.” (Romans 8:15)