Because He Lives

The first time I heard the song Because He Lives written and sung by Bill Gaither, something about the melody and the lyrics grabbed my attention—and held it. I was mesmerized by the words. They filled the room with a sense of power and promise. Why?

“God sent his son, they called him, Jesus; He came to love, heal and forgive.”

If you’ve believed up to now that’s sheer nonsense, or if you’ve thought God was against you, think again.

You are so deeply loved by God that he went to great lengths to prove it.

What Exactly Does It Mean: Because He Lives, I Can Face Tomorrow?  

The one who enables us to experience the presence of love and forgiveness is the person Jesus Christ. That’s the miracle of Easter—a risen life that enables us to be related to God. He longs for us to embrace his presence. It’s called a personal relationship with Christ.

“He lived and died to buy my pardon. An empty grave is there to prove my Savior lives.”

Seriously? Why? Is that just church talk?

I grew up hearing phrases I didn’t understand. Three of them were these: “be born again, surrender your life, accept Christ.” I called it church talk. I’d rather have had help with my high school homework.

For someone apart from us—separate from us—to possess the power that enables us to live a life worth living is an astounding claim! The point is this: he is not apart. Jesus Christ is not dead but alive, desiring a relationship: “Because he lives all fear is gone, because I know he holds the future, and life is worth the living just because he lives.”

What Exactly Does It Mean To Have Hope For The Future?

I recently found this online: “Leave any of your tasks to our professionals! Submit your instructions and forget about looming deadlines—you will receive your neatly written work just in time.”

I particularly liked the “just in time” aspect of the promise. It would have done for me what I could not do for myself. I think most of us appreciate having a burden removed.

So where was that offer when I needed it?

That’s A Savior

He takes the burden, pays the price. A relationship with a living, loving Savior is not an easy fix. No. But being connected to the One who not only knows the future but holds the future is a powerful assurance!

Easter morning was always a significant time in my home as a young girl. It was unique because my mother implied its specialness. There was an imperative to arrive at a specific hilltop in the wee, dark hours of the morning—whether cold, or damp, or dry—and my family along with others awaited the sunrise. 

The sun came up like a ball of fire in the distance and lit the day. It’s light filled the sky, and I was like, “shazam”!

We didn’t “say blown away” in those days, but if people back then had— I would’ve! Whatever I might have said or thought about actually witnessing the sunrise left an impression on me.

Maybe it was somehow similar to what Jesus Christ’s followers experienced when they went to his tomb on that first Easter morning to put spices on his body. Maybe they went out of a sense of obligation, but they went, and they found him gone. Not dead or lost in darkness but alive, in the brilliant light of a new day, giving them hope for the future

Sometimes hope looks like a magical resolution to burdensome homework. Sometimes hope looks like a quick fix—and fizzles just the same. Sometimes it looks like a Savior, willing to do for us what we cannot do for ourselves.

“And life is worth the living just because he lives.” Stop, take a couple of minutes, and listen to Bill Gaither’s song on YouTube.

And may God’s Son rise in your life this Easter morning!