Because He Lives | Introduction

Today’s devotion is the introduction to March’s Because He Lives devotional series.

For all the promises of God find their Yes in him. That is why it is through him that we utter our Amen to God for his glory.

2 Corinthians 1:20

Devotion for Today

The God who created the world came to earth to bridge the gap between Himself and His rebellious creation.

The thought is almost unfathomable.

God’s Word tells us in Romans 3:23 all have sinned and fall short the glory of God. And in Romans 6:23 it tells us that the wages of sin is death.

The truth is that we all deserve God’s wrath, but instead of sending His wrath, God sent His Son. Not just to live as we live, but to die the death we deserve.

Jesus was stripped and beaten—humiliated and tormented—not through of any fault of His own, but because of His great love for us. That’s what held Him on the cross.

In the garden the night before He died, Jesus knew. He knew what was about to happen, and He asked God for a way out. He pleaded that if there was any other way to bring us back to Him that He wouldn’t have to face what lie ahead.

But there wasn’t another way.

Jesus’ death on the cross, the blood He shed, covered all our sins. His life became a ransom for us (Mark 10:45). And it was something only His shed blood could do, because He was the only one who lived a life free of sin (2 Corinthians 5:21). He was the Lamb of God who took away the sin of the world (John 1:9).

But that’s not even the best part.

Because Jesus was without sin, the grave couldn’t hold Him. On the third day, He rose from the dead.  

He was resurrected and we were redeemed.

The resurrection is the center of our redemption.

It means we don’t worship a great man from history, but the living God.

While Jesus walked the earth, He told the Sadducees that God isn’t a God of the dead but the living (Matthew 22:32). Jesus is alive and because of that truth, we have eternal life with Him.

Paul tells us in 2 Corinthians that, “all the promises of God find their Yes in [Jesus] (1:20).

Because He lives, we can trust His Word.

Because He lives, our lives will never be the same.

Because He lives, we have hope.

Because He lives, we are forgiven. Because He lives, we can stand on the promises of God, because His resurrection changes everything.

---