He Did It for Me: Christ Died and Rose from the Grave

April 19, 2023
He Did It for Me

The month of April brings back my childhood days and having to remember a speech for our church’s annual Easter Program. Our family regularly attended two churches and often I had to participate in two Programs.

Those stressful days have faded into a childhood memory just like the church Easter Program. But one of the best-known scriptures in the Bible and one of the first I memorized as a child was John 3:16.

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. ESV.

I was an adult before I realize its importance and power. As a child I memorized the verse to satisfy the program director. But now as an adult, I remember it because of what He did for me.

That simple and easy to remember bible verse encompasses the entire biblical message.

God Loves Us!

You don’t have to be a theologian or the sharpest pencil in the box to understand that “love is what love does.” True love extends far beyond the reaches of verbal expression. True love is expressed, validated, recognized, and demonstrated by action.

But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. John 5:8 NIV.

After God opened my eyes to the fact that I am a sinner in need of redemption, I began to relate to John 3:16 personally.… for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus,
… Rom 3:23-24 NIV

The most important date on the Christian calendar is the celebration of the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ – Easter Sunday. On that Resurrection Sunday, sinners like me were permanently redeemed from the captivity of sin.

His sacrifice and love are captured in the lyrics of the song, Why Did He Do It:

God sent his son
His son gave His life
He died on the cross
So my soul would not be lost
Stretched His hands wide
They pierced Him in His side
Blood came streaming down
On His head He wore a crown
Why did He do it
He didn’t have to go thru it
Why did He do it
He did it to save, save my soul

The Bible is filled with historical events but should not be reduced to a book of history. It contains a path for successful living but cannot be categorized as a guide or manuscript for self-help or positive thinking.

The Bible is the true account of how our Omnipotent, Omnipresent, Omniscience, Creator has, and continues to express His unconditional love to and for us – His creation. The Bible is God’s Love Letter to Us.

Christ suffered a horrible death by crucification, was buried and arose on the third day. And He Did it for Me!

 

By: Henry L. Hopson, Jr.

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