Your Life – April 16, 2020

When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.
Colossians 3:4

Your Life

“He lives all glory to his name. He lives, my Jesus, still the same.” These lines are from one of Christianity’s most beloved hymns entitled: “I Know That My Redeemer Lives.” You can often see tears welling up in people’s eyes as they sing these words.

I’m not sure why these lines, in particular, tug at heartstrings and cause lumps in throats. But I think it’s probably because of the personal pronoun. In that line of the hymn, he’s not just “Jesus.” He is “my Jesus.” And that one little word—those two little letters—take the Almighty God, the Savior of mankind, the most famous person in the history of the world and they make him…mine. They tie him to me.

Insignificant me, barely keeping it together me, screw up me. I see abundant proof everyday of how I’ve done everything to deserve God’s hatred and nothing to deserve God’s love. And every day, I pile on more. All of that is true. And yet, Jesus is mine.

He is mine as I remember the water of baptism where I became his. He is mine in the Lord’s Supper, where he gives me his true body and blood. He is mine on the pages of the Bible, where he promises time and again that nothing will be able to separate me from him.

Do you see the personal pronoun in Paul’s words from Colossians 3? “When Christ, who is your life, appears…”

Here Jesus is not just “life.” Jesus is your life! A “still in the tomb” Jesus would still be a wonderful role model and teacher for you. He’d provide a wonderful voice from the past. But a living Jesus, a “no longer in the tomb” Jesus is infinitely better. A living Jesus can keep his promise that you too will conquer death. A living Jesus can keep his promise to be with you always, till the very end of the age. A living Jesus can bless you today with his power and presence. Because by faith, he’s your Jesus, still the same. He’s your life.

Prayer:
Risen Savior, in the midst of sadness and death in this world, you remain my life. Calm my fears and anxieties by ever reminding me that you live and you are mine. Amen.