the Third Week after Easter
Click here to join the effort!
Daily Devotionals
John Gossner's Treasury
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you. 1 Peter 1:3-4. Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where 1s thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? 1 Corinthians 15:54-55.
The resurrection is the essential part of the Christian doctrine; on it depends our faith and our hope, as St. Paul explains (1 Cor. 15). If Christ were not risen, there would be no Christianity; our faith would be useless and our hope empty, the doctrine false, and the whole Gospel in vain; then we would not know how we stand in this life and in the life to come, which latter we could not believe nor hope for. But the resurrection establishes all that we as Christians believe, hope, and love. Above all, Christ’s resurrection is to us a regeneration unto "a lively hope" of eternal life in that it swallows up all fear of death and elucidates for us the life to come in our risen Savior. He is our Head if we as members of His body cling to Him in living faith and in ardent love. Seeing our Head conquer death, hell and Satan, and trample under foot these terrible enemies of mankind, we are so far from losing courage that we rather triumph together with our Head and rejoice in the victory. Not for Himself, but for us, has He conquered our enemies. The victory is ours; consequently the triumph is ours. When a hero defeats and destroys the enemies of the kingdom, the victory and triumph belong to the whole kingdom; the humblest inhabitant of the kingdom rejoices, for he also reaps the benefits as well as the conqueror himself. For this reason Christians rejoice with Christ in His glorious Resurrection.
Now let the heavens be joyful!
Let earth her song begin!
Let all the world keep triumph,
And all that is therein:
In grateful exultation
Their notes let all things blend.
For Christ the Lord hath risen,
Our joy that hath no end.
