BECAUSE HE LIVES
God sent His son, they called Him Jesus
He came to love, heal, and forgive.
He lived and died to buy my pardon,
An empty grave is there to prove my Savior lives.
Because He lives, I can face tomorrow.
Because He lives, All fear is gone.
Because I know He holds the future,
And life is worth the living just because He lives.
How sweet to hold a newborn baby,
And feel the pride and joy he gives.
But greater still the calm assurance,
This child can face uncertain days because He lives.
Because He lives, I can face tomorrow.
Because He lives, All fear is gone.
Because I know He holds the future,
And life is worth the living just because He lives.
And then one day I'll cross that river,
I'll fight life's final war with pain.
And then as death gives way to victory,
I'll see the lights of glory and I'll know He reigns.
Because He lives, I can face tomorrow.
Because He lives, All fear is gone!
Because I know He holds the future
And life is worth the living just because He lives!
Lyrics: William and Gloria Gaither
TEXT: (1 Cor 15:1-8 NIV) "Now, brothers, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand. {2} By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain. {3} For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, {4} that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, {5} and that he appeared to Peter, and then to the Twelve. {6} After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. {7} Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, {8} and last of all he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born."
(1 Cor 15:12-22 NIV) "But if it is preached that Christ has been raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? {13} If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. {14} And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith. {15} More than that, we are then found to be false witnesses about God, for we have testified about God that he raised Christ from the dead. But he did not raise him if in fact the dead are not raised. {16} For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised either. {17} And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins. {18} Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost. {19} If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men. {20} But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. {21} For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. {22} For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive."
Mankind was hopelessly, helplessly and eternally LOST. We were all, at death, headed straight for an eternity in a devil's hell.
So horrible was that thought that Jesus was willing to leave paradise in Heaven, come down and live for 33 years in this old wicked world where He would fail to be either loved or appreciated just to make a way for us to be saved from our sins and make it possible for us to go to Heaven when we die. As the Apostle Paul put it:
(Phil 2:5-8 NRSV) "Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus, {6} who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited, {7} but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness. And being found in human form, {8} he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death-- even death on a cross."
Just think what a sacrifice this was for Jesus. We are used to this old world. We have never had a chance to live in Heaven where angels are there to minister to your every need, there is no discomfort or inconvenience, and everything is always just right. We don't know what it is like. But I am sure that if we ever went there and experienced it, we would not want to come back to live again in this old wicked world.
Jesus had been there from the very beginning. He knew what it was all about. And still, it was so bad for us to be lost with no way of salvation that He was willing to leave His home in Paradise, come and spend this miserable time on earth that we might have a way to be saved. Isn't Jesus wonderful!
And another thing: Look how much more He did than most of us would do. If we had been in His place, and had looked down on a lost and dying world, what would we have done?
Had we considered the cost and personal loss involved in making a way of salvation for fallen man, I am sure most of us would have quickly ruled it out. We would have said, "I don't owe it to them. They got themselves into the mess they are in. I am sorry it happened, but what can I do?"
Maybe we would have SENT A SYMPATHY CARD. Maybe we would have written a letter, expressing our love and regret for mankind's lost state. --But Jesus did so much more!
(Rom 5:6-9 NRSV) "For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. {7} Indeed, rarely will anyone die for a righteous person--though perhaps for a good person someone might actually dare to die. {8} But God proves his love for us in that while we still were sinners Christ died for us. {9} Much more surely then, now that we have been justified by his blood, will we be saved through him from the wrath of God."
BUT SUPPOSE WITH ME NOW, FOR A MOMENT, THAT JESUS HAD CARED ENOUGH TO COME TO EARTH, SUFFERED ALONGSIDE US FOR 33 YEARS, THEN DIED AS MAN DIES, BUT HAD NOT BEEN RESURRECTED. "How much He cared!" we would say. "He cared so much that He came and shared in our agony."
That would have been sweet, and remarkable. But without the Resurrection, what good would it have done us?
If Jesus had suffered amongst us, died with us, and had not been resurrected, we could say "Just look how much He cared!" But in His Resurrection we can see that our problem is cured! We could could say, "He loved us enough to share in our misery." But in His Resurrection, He gave us a Remedy for our misery!
Without the Resurrection, we could say, "O How He Tried!." But with the Resurrection, we can say, "O How He triumphed!
Without the Resurrection we could say "He truly sympathized with us!" But with the Resurrection, we can say, "Praise God, He SAVED us!"
(Rom 5:10 NRSV) "For if while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son, much more surely, having been reconciled, will we be saved by his life." Much more will we be saved by His life!
So, the Love of Jesus was a love that acted, a love in deed. A love that not only said, "I'm sorry that you are lost," but "I am going to to something about it; I am going to die to give you life."
(1 John 3:18 KJV) "My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth."
(1 John 4:9 KJV) "In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him."
(1 John 3:16 KJV) "Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren."
(1 John 4:10-11 KJV) "Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. {11} Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another."
And after all this, how can some people be so unconcerned about their own souls? How can they be so disinterested in living for the Lord and preparing for the life to come? Our predicament was so important to Jesus that He gave His ALL to make us a way to Heaven. How can it mean so little to us, when it is our souls at stake? How can we be so inappreciative as to reject Jesus?
WHAT DOES THE RESURRECTION MEAN TO YOU?
God sent His son, they called Him Jesus
He came to love, heal, and forgive.
He lived and died to buy my pardon,
An empty grave is there to prove my Savior lives.
Because He lives, I can face tomorrow.
Because He lives, All fear is gone.
Because I know He holds the future,
And life is worth the living just because He lives.
The song says, "Because He lives, I can face tomorrow." As the apostle Paul put it, (Phil 4:13 KJV) "I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me."
And, again: (2 Cor. 4:16--5:1 JKV) "For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day. . . For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens."
How could you face tomorrow with no hope-- no hope of redemption, no hope of salvation, no hope of Heaven?
(Eph 2:12-13 KJV) Remember "That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world: {13} But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ."
(1 Pet 1:3-4 NRSV) "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! By his great mercy he has given us a new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, {4} and into an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you..."
The song also says, "Because He lives, all fear is gone." Imagine the fear of death and the unknown we would have, had Jesus not paved the way for us!
(Heb 2:14-15 KJV) "Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil; {15} And deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage."
(John 14:1-3 NRSV) ""Do not let your hearts be troubled. Believe in God, believe also in me. {2} In my Father's house there are many dwelling places. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? {3} And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, so that where I am, there you may be also." (Verse27:) "Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid."
Then the song concludes: "And life is worth the living just because He lives."
Life would just not be worth living without Jesus!
Again, as the apostle Paul put it, (1 Cor 15:19 KJV) "If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable."
We should thank God every day for Jesus, who lived... and died... and then lived again, that we might have life and redemption. It is all made possible, Just Because He Lives!"
But the sad thing about it is that after all these provisions Jesus so sacrificially and selflessly made, many people are still without Him because they have never received the salvation He came to provide! And how true it is, that "They who live as if Jesus had never died will die as if Jesus had never lived!"
If you are not a Christian, Jesus did it all for nought, so far as you are concerned! He said, (Mat 23:37 KJV) "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!"
He pleads, (Mat 11:28-30 KJV) "Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. {29} Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. {30} For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light."
Place your faith and trust In Jesus. Accept the fact that He bore your sins, and died in your place. Repent of sin in your life. Confess Jesus before men. Become a Christian by being baptized into Christ. (Gal 3:26-27 KJV) "For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. {27} For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ."
If, as a Christian, you have lost sight of Jesus, or let other things come between, you need to repent, and rededicate your life to the Lord.
--Emerson Blythe