the Fourth Week after Easter
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Daily Devotionals
John Gossner's Treasury
I will ransom them from the power of the grave; I will redeem them from death: O death, I will be thy plague; grave, I will be thy destruction. Hosea 13:14. It shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel. Genesis 3:15. I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live. John 11:25.
Let him who fears death and the grave hasten to Christ, who stands so close at hand and cries, "Come, I will ransom thee from the power of the grave; I will redeem thee from death. " He who does not believe Him who fearlessly says to death, "I will be thy plague," and to the grave, ’I will be thy destruction;" who says, "Whosoever believeth in me shall never die; I am the life; he that believeth in me, unto him will I give eternal life;" who "through death destroyed him that had the power of death, that is the devil; and delivered them who through fear of death were all their life subject to bondage" (Hebrews 2:14-15); he who would rather be in fear of death and the grave and like a slave serve the miserable lusts of the flesh, his evil inclinations, and enjoy the short time of this corruptible life; he who does not believe Christ, I say, must desire his own destruction, his eternal ruin more than life and salvation; he must be terribly blinded by the god of this world, so that he does not see, and will not see, the clear light that shines forth in the Resurrection of Christ and invites us to the most blessed triumph over death and the grave, over sin and the devil. Even though the grave regard us as its own, even though death govern us as its slaves, yet they must let us pass free and untouched if we only will. We can find a "plague" and "destruction" for them by which they must perish. Why do you fear death? Because you love the sting of death which is sin. Rather take the medicine which is a plague to death and a destruction to the grave, which kills death in you; rather take Christ, and you shall live and be saved.
He lives to silence all my fears,
He lives to wipe away my tears.
He lives to calm my troubled heart.
He lives, all blessings to impart.
