June 9, 2022Do you ever wake up with a song in your mind? This morning, I woke up with the words of “Because He Lives” in my mind. When I trusted the Lord Jesus Christ as my personal Saviour in January 1973, this song quickly became one of my favourites:
God sent His son,
They called Him Jesus
He came to love
Heal and forgive
He bled and died
To buy my pardon
An empty grave
Is there to prove
My savior lives
And 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 the river
And 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 (He lives)
In looking up the lyrics to the above song on the Internet, I found an interesting article by Paul McCauley about how we can examine our life as we consider these lyrics: https://understandingthegospel.org/blogs/paul-mccauley/because-he-lives/. For those who don’t have access to the Internet, here is a brief summary of the article:
“Because He lives, I can face yesterday.
The death of Christ shows us we shouldn’t live in denial – sin is infinitely costly and must be dealt with. But His resurrection shows us we needn’t live in despair – His death was enough to pay the price, and so death couldn’t hold Him, and the grave couldn’t keep Him.
The resurrection of Christ is like the receipt of our salvation. When Satan accuses me, conscience condemns me and past sins haunt me, I can produce the receipt of my salvation that proves it is fully paid for, and legally acquired. So, I can now look at the sad, sorry history of my sin, and know it’s all forgiven, and put away – because He lives.
Because He lives, I can face today.
If the Lord Jesus were still dead, He wouldn’t be able to help anyone, but He lives, and, because of that, you don’t have to struggle through life in your own strength.
Because He lives, I can face tomorrow.
You might have dread in your heart as you think of tomorrow – fearing what might be. But ‘what might be’ may never be, and, even if it is, the Lord will be there with you if you know Him as Saviour. Your greatest fear may never come, but, if you are a Christian, your greatest hope will. While we don’t know what the future holds immediately, we do know what it holds ultimately.”
Scripture for the weekend: “And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in knowledge and all discernment, that you may approve the things that are excellent, that you may be sincere and without offense till the day of Christ, being filled with the fruits of righteousness which are by Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.” Philippians 1:9-11 (NKJV)
Thought for the weekend: “History … is a story written by the finger of God.” – C.S. Lewis