Willa had brought the subject up and had done alot of research and finished by reading the amazing Psalm 69.
We touched on Matthew 16:16
Whilst most Bibles tell us that Peter said 'Jesus was the son of the living God',
The verse actually says in Greek that 'Jesus is the son of the God of the living'.
Jehovah is the God of the living
This neatly ties in with Luke 20:38 where Jesus proves there is a resurrection, because he says 'Jehovah is the God of Abraham Isaac and Jacob, he is God, but not of the dead (dead ones Gr.), but of the living (living ones Gr.), for they are all living to him.'
I have just realised how although we are all at the moment dying, that we can step over from death to life as spoken of in John's letter.
1 John 3:14
We have stepped across out of the death into the life because we are loving the brothers.
1 John 4:8
God is love.
The Greek word translated death is thanatos.
Thanatos is actually a Greek god, he was the god of death.
(His brother hypnos was the god of sleep).
So if we show the love of God we are His children, he in turn is our God and we have stepped out from under Thanatos the god of death and under the wings of Jehovah, the God of the living.
He is God, but not of the dead (dead ones Gr.), like the god thanatos, but of the living (living ones Gr.), for they are all living to him.'
If we show the same love as Jehovah and Jesus, we display that our god is 'the God of the living', and in turn have stepped out from being under Thanatos to being under Jehovah (the God of the living), thus guaranteeing life.
PSALM 69 This is obviously about Jesus, but is worth pondering.
For the director of music. To the tune of "Lilies." Of David.
1 Save me, O God,
for the waters have come up to my neck.
2 I sink in the miry depths,
where there is no foothold.
I have come into the deep waters;
the floods engulf me.
3 I am worn out calling for help;
my throat is parched.
My eyes fail,
looking for my God.
4 Those who hate me without reason
outnumber the hairs of my head;
many are my enemies without cause,
those who seek to destroy me.
I am forced to restore
what I did not steal.
5 You know my folly, O God;
my guilt is not hidden from you.
6 May those who hope in you
not be disgraced because of me,
O Lord, the LORD Almighty;
may those who seek you
not be put to shame because of me,
O God of Israel.
7 For I endure scorn for your sake,
and shame covers my face.
8 I am a stranger to my brothers,
an alien to my own mother's sons;
9 for zeal for your house consumes me,
and the insults of those who insult you fall on me.
10 When I weep and fast,
I must endure scorn;
11 when I put on sackcloth,
people make sport of me.
12 Those who sit at the gate mock me,
and I am the song of the drunkards.
13 But I pray to you, O LORD,
in the time of your favor;
in your great love, O God,
answer me with your sure salvation.
14 Rescue me from the mire,
do not let me sink;
deliver me from those who hate me,
from the deep waters.
15 Do not let the floodwaters engulf me
or the depths swallow me up
or the pit close its mouth over me.
16 Answer me, O LORD, out of the goodness of your love;
in your great mercy turn to me.
17 Do not hide your face from your servant;
answer me quickly, for I am in trouble.
18 Come near and rescue me;
redeem me because of my foes.
19 You know how I am scorned, disgraced and shamed;
all my enemies are before you.
20 Scorn has broken my heart
and has left me helpless;
I looked for sympathy, but there was none,
for comforters, but I found none.
21 They put gall in my food
and gave me vinegar for my thirst.
22 May the table set before them become a snare;
may it become retribution and [a] a trap.
23 May their eyes be darkened so they cannot see,
and their backs be bent forever.
24 Pour out your wrath on them;
let your fierce anger overtake them.
25 May their place be deserted;
let there be no one to dwell in their tents.
26 For they persecute those you wound
and talk about the pain of those you hurt.
27 Charge them with crime upon crime;
do not let them share in your salvation.
28 May they be blotted out of the book of life
and not be listed with the righteous.
29 I am in pain and distress;
may your salvation, O God, protect me.
30 I will praise God's name in song
and glorify him with thanksgiving.
31 This will please the LORD more than an ox,
more than a bull with its horns and hoofs.
32 The poor will see and be glad—
you who seek God, may your hearts live!
33 The LORD hears the needy
and does not despise his captive people.
NIV