Great I AMSample

Yes He Lives

If you’ve ever been to or witnessed a major sporting event with a large crowd of spectators, you’ve probably heard the sound of an anthem: a favourite in-house song by which the fans identify with their team, keeping spirits and hopes high. It’s usually a song of victory and is not reserved until the end of the match but is sung throughout it, by fans who are confident in their team and hopeful for a good outcome, often regardless of how the match—or even the season—is going!

Oftentimes, the songs we sing as God’s people are anthems, too. Declarations–full of hope and triumphal expectation. Rather than wishful thinking, with no guarantees, they are based on the truths of the Gospel message: that Jesus Christ—God incarnate—came into the world to announce God’s Kingdom, bringing His victorious, eternal reign with Him. He stepped in and took on the entirety of the human experience, and although He himself was without sin, on the Cross of Calvary, he took into his broken body the entirety of the world’s sin and its consequences, dying in God-forsakenness. It looked as though death had had the final word. It looked as though it was “game over.” But then—in His Resurrection—Christ not only triumphed over sin and death, but also the Eternal, life-giving God “changed the game.” Death was no longer the final verdict over our lives. In fact, death died that day. Whilst in his death Christ’s blood cleansed us, covered us and secured our forgiveness, in His Resurrection He made it possible for us to be again who we were created to be–children of God, liberated from sin’s enslavement, partakers of the everlasting Divine nature, with an eternal anthem to declare to all generations and all nations; not only reminding ourselves that He lives–but that because He lives, so can we!

Reflection & Application

Are there areas of your life—or a friend’s or family member’s life—that seem “over” right now? Write down these names and situations and speak the anthem “Yes, He Lives!” over them. Allow this eternal “Yes” to fill your thoughts and shape your outlook.

Prayer

Lord Jesus Christ, thank you for stepping into our situation and for bringing hope, where it seems there is no hope. I praise you for your life-giving, resurrection power and the eternal promise we have of being made alive in You! Holy Spirit, I ask that the same power that raised Christ Jesus from the dead would bring life to our very real situations: would you impart healing where there is sickness, hope where there is despair, peace where there is conflict, and life where it seems there is no life. Amen.

Written by Tracy Barrell (MTh)

Senior Lecturer, Hillsong College