HE IS RISEN! Mark 16:6

The cherubs on their harps will play
To usher in this glorious day;
The angels sing in sweet accord
The wonder of our risen LORD--
While humble man kneels down to pray
And thank our God for Easter Day!

April 8

The Bible is a fantastic history book. It is replete with the exploits of kings and nations and simple individuals who trusted God and found Him to be faithful. We are not surprised when we read the accounts of Hebrew Kings like David and Solomon who extol the virtues of the Holy One, but even pagan monarchs praise Him.

In Daniel 2:47, for example, King Nebuchadnezzar says to Daniel, the prophet who endured the lions’ den rather than worship an image of a false god, “Of a truth, your God is God of gods and Lord of kings…” This is no small assertion for one who has been steeped in paganism the entirety of his life.

Of course, we who believe are encouraged in every generation by God’s faithfulness to His people, but there is encouragement as well in the incontrovertible message of the Word of God that He loves all mankind and desires all men to be saved. We see this truth over and over and we recognize that no matter how deep our plummet into depravity, Jesus’ hand of love can reach us there and draw us out. As Paul says in Romans 15:4, “Everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures, we might have hope.”

Our loving God and Savior has many avenues of reaching us with His love. His Spirit communes with ours, His provision grants our needs, and His Word informs us of His faithfulness in the past so we will be confident of it in the present. Yet nothing in all of the history of God’s dealings with His people speaks of His love so completely as does the birth, life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. The God-Man whose victory over death we celebrate today is most fully alive when we allow Him to be alive within our hearts.