Because He Lives!

Read: 1 Corinthians 15:12-34

Today we start a new theme in our March month-long Lenten Season devotionals. We started with Christ’s suffering, then we moved on to His death, and for the next five days our devotionals will revolve around His resurrection.

The resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ is the second component of the twin events upon which Christianity is founded. The resurrection of the Lord is of extreme importance, it cannot be emphasized enough. Without Him being resurrected, His death would have been rendered useless. If Christ did not come back from the dead, our faith would be futile, our service would be sterile, and our life would be lost forever. 

But He indeed rose from the dead! The empty tomb, the left-behind grave clothes, His post-resurrection appearances, the radically transformed lives of the disciples, the impetus the early church had in spreading the good news – all these and more are strong evidences of Christ’s resurrection.

One of my favorite classic hymns is Because He Lives. I particularly love the line, “Because He lives, I can face tomorrow.” I love singing it especially during Resurrection Sunday. Because He lives, we can face tomorrow! We don’t know what tomorrow may bring, we can only predict what will happen in the future. Our feelings of uncertainty make us anxious. But Christ lives and so we have hope, a hope that is not dead, a hope that is alive!

At the writing of this devotional, I am in the middle of a fast. I, together with the rest of the Toronto Pastoral Staff, are fasting for the issuance of the occupancy permit of the newly built Edmonton House of Worship. We have pledged ourselves not to eat until the permit is issued. This is our way of expressing our trust and reliance in God, our way of acknowledging that only by His power and grace we can do anything.

Just imagine if our Lord Jesus Christ did not resurrect. Our praying and fasting and pleading and everything we do in the church would be useless, pointless, and meaningless. All our prayers unheard, all our labouring for the Lord wasted, all our sacrifices for the work of God unrewarded. 

But Christ, indeed, rose from the dead! He is very much alive, and He is in heaven interceding for us (Romans 8:34). The grave was not able to hold Him back because the Father raised Him up.

This resurrection power is the power that is at work in us, and that’s why we have a different perspective from the world. The hope we have brought about by the resurrection is alive in our hearts. We are looking forward for His return, and when He does, His reward is with Him.

I want to encourage you today to live out the hope you have in Christ. Life is full of hardships and difficulties, but the risen Lord is with us until the end. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever. He is a faithful God! Because He lives, we can face tomorrow!

Reflect: 

How does the resurrection impact your life and your service to God?