Hallelujah! Christ Arose!

Robert Lowry penned the words to He Arose in 1874.  I don’t know why we only sing this beautiful hymn on Easter Sunday.

Mark 16:6 And he saith unto them, Be not affrighted: Ye seek Jesus of Nazareth, which was crucified: he is risen; he is not here: behold the place where they laid him.

“Low in the grave He lay, Jesus, my Savior
Waiting the coming day, Jesus, my Lord!

Refrain:
Up From the grave He arose, With a mighty triumph o’re His foes.
He arose a Victor from the dark domain,
And He lives forever with His saints to reign.
He arose! He arose! Hallelujah! Christ Arose!

Vainly they watch His bed, Jesus, my Savior;
Vainly they seal the dead, Jesus, my Lord!

Death cannot keep his Prey, Jesus, my Savior;
He tore the bars away, Jesus, my Lord!”

1 Corinthians 15:55 O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?

Because He Lives

When the Lamb of God suffered death on the cross and rose again three days later, He forever rendered death ineffective in the lives of born again believers..

1 Corinthians 15:55-57  O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Because He lives, there's no sting in death of the Saints -- just a passing from this world to Heaven.  Jesus  took the awful penalty of the sting of death in himself.  According to His abundant mercy, we have hope in the resurrection.

1 Peter 1:3-5 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you,  who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.

Because He lives I can face a victorious tomorrow.

He Is Risen Indeed

Jesus rose from the dead in victory, glory and power!  His resurrection should encourage believers because:

• Death was defeated for all who believe in Him (1 Cor. 15:53-57).
• Death is no longer our enemy, but our friend (Phil. 1:21; 2 Cor. 5:1, 8; 2 Tim. 4:6).
• Jesus lives and is seated at the right hand of God praying on our behalf (Heb. 13:5; Heb. 7:25).

Why were the cross and resurrection necessary?  (Rom. 5:1-10; 4:25).  Because the Lord Jesus died for you and your sins and rose again for you, giving you eternal life.

If you will come to Him as you are  -- by faith --  He will save you. (Eph. 2:8-9).  When He does, you can experience the power of His resurrection.

Philippians 3:10  That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death;

The Risen Savior

John 20:15  Jesus saith unto her, Woman, why weepest thou? whom seekest thou? She, supposing him to be the gardener, saith unto him, Sir, if thou have borne him hence, tell me where thou hast laid him, and I will take him away.

Jesus asks Mary two questions to expose her to the truth.

1. “Why weepest thou?”  Why do you weep when you could be rejoicing?

2. “Who are you seeking among the dead?”  Why do you look for He that is alive among those who are dead?

These questions were designed to remind Mary that Jesus is:
• The Resurrection and the Life - John 11:25
• The Prince of Life - Acts 3:15
• The One who would lay down His life and take it again - John 10:18
• The Way, the Truth and the Life - John 14:6

Jesus is the risen Savior and He’s always involved in lives of believers. If you will look, you will find Him during your time of need.

Eternal Life In Jesus

Because Jesus conquered death, whoever receives Him as their personal Savior becomes partakers of that same resurrection power.

It’s the very moment of salvation that His resurrection is imputed to us, and we become alive in Him.
With salvation comes the desire to die to sin and self by the help of God (Col. 3:1-17).

Romans 6:8  Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him:

John 10:10   The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.

When a person believes in Jesus, they die to the old life of sin, and are raised up to live a new life in Jesus.

They are given His life (1 John 5:12). They are given abundant life (John 10:10). They are given everlasting life (John 3:16).

The Sacrificial Lamb

The very morning of His death Jesus told Pontius Pilate that Calvary was the place He was going. “To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world…,” John 18:37.

Arrested and tried with false witnesses against him, a mock trial convicted Jesus to His death as Temple guards abused Him (Mark 14:65).

Luke 23:33 And when they were come to the place, which is called Calvary, there they crucified him, and the malefactors, one on the right hand, and the other on the left.

Seven inch long nails kept Jesus on the cross, causing massive spasms in the median nerve to wreck His body.

The phrase “they crucified Him” condenses over eighteen hours of suffering into four words. The prophet Isaiah tells us that following the torture, he was hardly recognized.

Jesus suffered this torture as a Sacrificial Lamb for your sins and mine so that all who believe on Him will receive salvation and eternal life.  What love for lost sinners.

The Workmanship Of God

Napoleon, the French military genius, was aboard ship in the Mediterranean one clear, starry night. While walking on deck he passed a small group of officers who were mocking the idea of a Supreme Being. “God of creation: what a joke.”

He stopped, stared at them, then, sweeping his hands towards the stars in the sky, he  said, “Gentlemen, you must get rid of those first.”

To discredit the God of  creation you discredit the God of salvation and His power to change lives, then you must rid the world of those He has changed.

You must silence every testimony of grace --  every shout from a redeemed child of God.

Ephesians 2:8-10  For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.

With loving care and infinite skill, the Lord shapes believers by His grace and writes His love in our lives. We are His workmanship.