Christ is Risen, He is Risen Indeed by Keith and Kristyn Getty and Ed Cash, 2012.
How can it be, the One who died,
Has borne our sin through sacrifice
To conquer every sting of death?
Sing, sing hallelujah.
For joy awakes as dawning light
When Christ’s disciples lift their eyes.
Alive He stands, their Friend and King;
Christ, Christ He is risen.
Christ is risen, He is risen indeed!
Oh, sing hallelujah.
Join the chorus, sing with the redeemed;
Christ is risen, He is risen indeed.
Observe: “Christ is risen,” with the response, “He is risen indeed” is called the Paschal greeting and has been used by Christians since the earliest days of the church. The paschal lamb was the redemptive lamb sacrificed at the Passover Feast, and Christian rightly identify Jesus as the final paschal lamb that truly took away sin. So when Christians met or gathered, the Paschal greeting was common.
But the paschal lamb of the Passover was only a shadow. The fulfillment of that shadow was Jesus, the paschal lamb who lived although he died, and his resurrection points to our resurrection. In verse 2, when the disciples lift their eyes and, “Alive He stands, their friend and king,” joy immediately filled their hearts.
Verse 3 tells the reason. Doubt and darkness overwhelmed the disciples at the end of Good Friday’s events. But seeing him over forty days assured them of his saving grace. And, as Jesus told Thomas, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” (John 20:29).
Verse 4:
Once bound by fear now bold in faith,
They preached the truth and power of grace.
And pouring out their lives they gained
Life, life everlasting.
How did eleven dispirited working men proclaim a message about a man God raised from the dead that can give eternal life with such power that it turned the world upside-down? By boldness in faith, power, and grace, by pouring out their lives, giving up what they could not keep to gain what they could not lose, “Life, life everlasting.”
That boldness and power are available to every Christian today by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.
Verse 5:
The power that raised Him from the grave
Now works in us to powerfully save.
He frees our hearts to live His grace;
Go tell of His goodness.
With this song in your heart and head, go with glove and mask to tell others of his goodness!
Blessings, Pastor Don.
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