CHRIST IS ALIVE!
(Does it make any difference?)

Physical life is a possession we all cling to, and yet we know we
must all sooner or later bow to death. It enters the home of the rich
as boldly as it enters the apartment in the ghetto. It brings down
the final curtain as swiftly on the famous as it does on the unknown.
Before this year will end many people reading this message will keep
their appointment with death.

ATTITUDES TOWARD LIFE AND DEATH

I have found that one can tell how a person values life by his
estimation of death. I talked with one man who had never given a
serious thought to death until it was discovered that he had cancer.
“Immediately my entire world changed,” he said. “The things I valued
most are worthless, and the things that I thought were of little value
are now the most important things in the world to me.” There are many
who say, “I believe in life after death, but I am not concerned about
crossing that bridge until I get to it.” How strange that people
should spend years preparing for retirement and not take so much as
five minutes to prepare to meet God.

Another attitude toward death is this: “I stand with Christ, the
Lord of life and death, and rest my case in His hands.” David said,
“Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will
fear no evil, for You are with me.” (Psalm 23:4) The Apostle Paul
said, “For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.” (Phillipians
1:21) Both men were looking ahead to death with calm assurance. They
knew that this life was only a dressing room for eternity. Jesus
said, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me will
live, even though he dies.” (John 11:25) Death need not be a bitter
end … it can be a bright dawning.

ASSURANCE IN LIFE AND DEATH

Christ is alive! And because He is alive, that makes all the
difference in the world. In His resurrection evil has been defeated,
love has conquered hate, death has lost it’s sting, and Satan has been
defeated. God has accepted the atoning work of Christ on the cross –
He declared that the full penalty for sin has been paid. And one day
all of creation will burst forth into a new song.

Christ is alive! The early Christians proclaimed that truth.
They believed that the same power that raised the Lord Jesus from the
dead will work in and through us to rescue us from our doubts, our
darkness, out failure, and even our death.

As we look at the world today, we cannot help but be disturbed by
what is happening. But the resurrection of Christ tells every
believer that we need not press the panic button. It is true that we
are concerned and burdened, and it is certain we are going to pray,
but we do not cry in terror as others do.

The day before John Huss, condemned for his faith in Christ, was
to be burned at the stake, he wrote, “I write this in prison and in
chains, expecting tomorrow to receive sentence of death – full of hope
in God that I shall not swerve from the truth.”

Is this hope and peace and joy yours? Can you face death with a
smile, with full confidence that you are going into the presence of
Christ? You can have this hope if you are willing to turn from sin
and trust Christ. You can do it now, “If you confess with your mouth,
‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised Him from
the dead, you will be saved.” (Romans 10:9)

Billy Graham

File provided by: Aslan’s Roar “Radical Truth In Telecommunications”