Christ Is Risen

“Christ is risen from the dead, trampling over death by death.  Come awake.  Come awake!  Come and rise up from the grave”.  These powerful lyrics are from one of my favorite songs by Matt Maher that shares the title of this blog.  Christ is most certainly risen, and that fact is never more apparent than during the Passover and Easter holidays as we celebrate His death and resurrection.  Matt goes onto deliver what I believe to be some of the most empowering words within the Bible as proclaimed in Hosea 13:14 and then reiterated and redefined by Paul in 1 Corinthians 15:55:  

“Oh Death, where is your sting?”

      In Hosea, God’s prophet is delivering His message to Israel and Judah as a warning for the coming judgement and ultimate fall of the Samarian kingdom due to their turning away and worship of pagan gods.  In this case, God is bringing the sting of death as He has removed His compassion from the people of Israel due to their unfaithfulness.  Now you might be wondering how I find this to be an empowering statement, it is empowering in how Paul uses it in 1 Corinthians.  When Paul quotes the passage, he is in the process of defending the resurrection as there were some in the church of Corinth who believed in Christ’s resurrection, but not the resurrection of the believers.  Paul reassures us that not only was Christ’s resurrection valid, but our resurrection, without question, is certain.  The song then proclaims:

“Oh Hell, where is your victory?”

      One day, whether we are raptured or raised from the dead, we will be changed from corruptible mortals and will be clothed with incorruptible immortality.  We will awaken and we will rise up from our graves and obtain the victory that has been promised throughout scripture.  “Oh Church, come stand in the light.  Our God is not dead, He’s alive!  He’s alive!”  Yes, Christ died on the cross.  Yes, Christ was placed in the grave.  Yes, Christ descended into Hell.  However, after 3 days He trampled death and He arose from the grave victoriously, just as He had promised. 

      This Easter, I pray that you will be encouraged by our risen Savior.  And just as the song states, “no burden great can hold you down”.  We have the hope and power of Christ in us to persevere and endure anything that we face in this world.  On top of that, He has taken the sting out of death so that those who believe in Him will be able to claim the same victory.  Also, if you haven’t already heard this song, I urge you to check it out and listen to the lyrics as I am sure that the Spirit will empower you with them.

Scott