HE LIVES

During the labor of one of my daughters, I gently swayed back and forth and sang, ” My Redeemer Lives” by Nicole C. Mullen.

Who taught the sun where to stand in the morning?
And who told the ocean, you can only come this far?
And who showed the moon where to hide ’til evening?
Whose words alone can catch a falling star?

The same God who created the sun, the ocean, the moon, and the stars was the same God who created me and was blessing me with a healthy newborn daughter and I didn’t want to miss my chance to say thank you, singing these lyrics through my labor pains.

The very same God that spins things in orbit
Runs to the weary, the worn, and the weak
And the same gentle hands that hold me when I’m broken
They conquered death to bring me victory.

My labor pains would end. I knew this. But imagine the heart sick pain that Jesus’ followers felt for the three days while He lay in his grave, while God’s plans for the salvation of the world were unfolding just as they should. All of humanity joined in agonizing labor pains that they did not know would end. His disciples collectively held their breath, asking – “Will He keep His promise? Will he return? Will he conquer death? IS HE TRULY THE SAVIOR?”

For Jesus had told them……

“The Son of man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again.” Luke 24:7

You, reader, have a savior who kept His promise. That labor pains would end, that He would return, that you are HIS. He paid a blood price to ransom you. He would lay in the tomb, lifeless one second – and in the next second, he would breathe.

You, reader, have a risen savior who was beaten, whipped, crucified, and died to ransom you from the wages of your sins. Death. Eternity separated from the love of God.

Here… Here are the twenty-three words in the book of Luke that changed the course of humanity forever. An empty grave, a Risen King. Twenty-three words of glorious hope. Twenty-three words that take away the sting of death and promise those who call upon His name an eternity in heaven, spent with the most loving God.

“And they found the stone rolled away from the sepulchre. And they entered in, and found not the body of the Lord Jesus.”

Labor pains are over. HE LIVES. Sing with me?

He lives to take away my shame
And He lives forever, I’ll proclaim
That the payment for my sin
Was the precious life He gave
But now He’s alive and
There’s an empty grave…