The old Christian hymn, ‘He Lives,’ written by Alfred H. Ackley, is one of my favorites. It’s a celebratory song that when sung all together by the church congregation, sounds as if all of heaven is singing along as well.
The first line, “I serve a risen Savior, He’s in the world today; I know that He is living, whatever men may say,” is a truth upon which the Christian walk hangs, His Lordship over our lives, and the absolute preeminence of the name above all names in this world, Jesus. Our hope is in Him.
The second stanza begins, “In all the world around me, I see His loving care; and though my heart grows weary, I never will despair.” When we think of God’s goodness and mercy, when we consider the scripture, ‘For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life’ [John 3:16 NIV], we as Christians know the promises of God are true and His mercy endures forever.
God’s omnipotence gave mankind freewill to choose right or wrong, good or evil, which is best demonstrated in the book of Job where God allowed Satan to cause calamity in Job’s life as a test to see if Job would remain faithful.
There is hope in the world as long as there are the faithful who refuse to give in to the powers of darkness. ‘Light (Jesus) has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil.’ [John 3:19 NIV]
The third stanza is “Rejoice, rejoice, O Christian, lift up your voice and sing eternal hallelujahs to Jesus Christ, the King. The hope of all who seek Him, the help of all who find, none other is so loving, so good and kind.”
Rejoice, Christians, for the indwelling spirit of Jesus in your heart, He in you and you in Him who is seated at the right hand of God Almighty in heaven. So, doesn’t it make sense that if we are indeed in Him and He is in heaven, our true residence is heaven, not earth? We’re just sojourners passing through this temporal life.
The Gregorian calendar calls it Easter, but Christians know it as Resurrection Day. Christians know that for every problem, every heartache, every tragedy, there comes a resurrection. Jesus showed us the way. Be of good cheer because every challenge we encounter in this life as believers can be overcome as we place our faith and trust in the Overcomer.
So, on this Resurrection Sunday, let every Christian lift their voice and sing the refrain: “He lives, He lives! Christ Jesus lives today. He walks with me and talks with me along life’s narrow way. He lives, He lives! Salvation to impart. You ask me how I know He lives? He lives within my heart!”
