But the Lord is the true God; he is the living God and the everlasting King. At his wrath the earth quakes, and the nations cannot endure his indignation.
Jeremiah 10:10, ESV
What does it mean exactly when we say that the God we worship is the living God, or when the Bible describes Yahweh as the living God? What sort of implications are wrapped up in this, seemingly redundant, title? Isn’t it assumed that God is alive? Or is that all it means? Let’s explore a little bit into what we mean when we say that we worship the only living and true God.
Oftentimes it seems in the Scriptures when anyone invokes this particular title of God, it is to stress a contrast between the lifeless, useless, idolatrous, false gods of the pagan nations and the one true God.
David invokes this title when he challenges Goliath and rebukes him for defying the armies of the living God.
1 Samuel 17:26, ESV
After Daniel is delivered from the mouths of lions, King Darius uses this title in his decree that all people are to tremble and fear this God who shuts the mouths of lions. (Daniel 6:26) Joshua uses this title of God in his admonition to Israel that the Lord would drive out all the gentile nations before them, and then cuts off the waters of the Jordan River as a sign of this promise. (Joshua 3:10) This God is the one who commands the waters and strikes fear into the hearts of the nations. The living God who condescends to our level and makes covenants with us, from no other motivation than His good pleasure.
Hezekiah’s prayer (recorded in both 2 Kings 19:16 and Isaiah 37:17) is begun with a beautiful address to God.
O Lord, the God of Israel, enthroned above the cherubim, you are the God, you alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth; you have made heaven and earth.
Setting up the framework in which he uses the title “the living God” admonishing the Lord to not let the mockery of Sennacherib go unpunished.
Incline your ear, O Lord, and hear; open your eyes, O Lord, and see; and hear the words of Sennacherib, which he has sent to mock the living God.
In the New Testament, it seems the same meaning is carried over from the Old. The title is largely used to contrast the living God of Israel against the false gods or to stress Christ’s divinity.
In the Gospels, it is used most often in Matthew (the Gospel to the Jews) where it occurs three times as compared to the other Gospels’ one. Peter calls Christ the Son of the living God, (Matthew 16:16) Jesus explains the resurrection to the Sadducees, (Matthew 22:32) and, lastly, the high priest ironically adjures Christ to provide testimony by invoking the title He claims as God alone. (Matthew 26:63)
In Acts, we see Paul rebuking the Lycaonian crowd for praising Paul and Barnabas as gods after Paul healed a man crippled from birth.
Men, why are you doing these things? We also are men, of like nature with you, and we bring you good news, that you should turn from these vain things to a living God, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and all that is in them.
Acts 14:15, ESV
All through the Epistles, we see beautiful expressions of the true width and breadth of this title. As believers, we are described as sons of the living God, (Romans 9:26) we have the Spirit of the living God written on our hearts, (2 Corinthians 3:3) we are temples of the living God, (2 Corinthians 6:16) our consciences are purified from dead works to serve the living God, (Hebrews 9:14) we are born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and abiding Word of God, (1 Peter 1:23) so not only do we worship the living God, but we have His living, abiding Word. Finally, we see in Revelation that the seal given the servants God is the seal of the living God (Revelation 7:2-3)
In closing, what should come to mind when we see the title “the living God” is the fact that the God we worship, the God of Israel, the God who is I Am, the God of the Bible, the God who created the Heavens and the Earth is the one only living and true God, who is utterly infinite in His being and utterly infinite in His perfection. It may sound redundant to say that God is “utterly infinite,” but when describing God, words often fail us. Would God be worth worshipping we could capture Him with our feeble words?
Vain and useless idols are dead, useless, inert, mute, blind, and dumb. The Lord our God is alive.