Jesus Has Overcome

Happy Birthday, Kate

Today is my friend Katelynn’s third birthday in the Presence of her Savior. She went Home to be with Jesus after a car accident on February 7, 2009, when she was only 23. There is so much I could tell you about Kate, about the amazing life she lived for the Lord. And there is much that God taught me through Kate’s life and death, and through the way her family deals with her absence from this earth. But all of that only has meaning because of Kate’s relationship with Jesus first. I was listening to the song “I Will Rise” by Chris Tomlin this morning…the lyrics so powerfully speak of the hope we have in Christ. Hope that one day we will be with Him forever. I know I’ve written about longing for that Day a few times now. But this song also tells us why we have this hope: it’s only through the finished work of Jesus Christ on the Cross. 

It is Well

The opening lyrics of the song say:  

There’s a peace I’ve come to know/ Though my heart and flesh may fail, 

There’s an anchor for my soul, /I can say “It is well.”  

It’s a pretty big statement to say you have joy and peace no matter what the triumph or the trial... to say “It is well with my soul.” I know Kate had this joy and peace. She understood and believed that God, perfect and holy, loved her so much that He gave His Only Son Jesus to die on the Cross, as the ultimate sacrifice for her sin. And because she placed her faith in Him, she was reconciled to God and could have assurance that when she left this world, she would go to be with the Lord for all eternity. Do you have peace anchored in the Cross? Do you have a steadfast joy, a wellness of your soul, even in the midst of sorrow?

The Victory is Won

In the song’s hook, Tomlin sings: 

Jesus has overcome / and the grave is overwhelmed

The victory is won / He is risen from the dead

The victory is won. Jesus is alive! He has overcome the grave, overcome sin, overcome death. He has offered wellness for your soul. He has offered life. In Christ, there is peace that surpasses all understanding (John 14:27, Philippians 4:7). There is joy that will be your strength (Nehemiah 8:10). There is perfect love that you will never be separated from (Romans 8:38-39). And there is no place left for fear, for that same perfect love drives out fear (1 John 4:18).

Brothers and sisters, how great a God we serve.

Blessings,

Joanne Michelle

“Jesus said to her, ‘I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?’”

 – John 11:25-26 (ESV)