The Cross Made a Difference

I was listening to an old Gaither video today. One of the songs was in memory of Rex Nelon, a bass singer who died about 10 years ago. I confess I hadn’t heard the song before. Oh, well, I may have heard it, but if I did, I didn’t pay much attention to the words. I believe, although I’m not sure, that the song was composed by Jay Rouse. Forgive me for not being sure.
The words that strike me the most in this song, and the words that prompted me to look up the lyrics on the web are the last words of the last verse…”For life can’t be sealed in a tomb.” Think about that for a moment, and I think you’ll find more than the obvious in that statement.
If what Jesus said about himself is true (I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life), then it would be only natural and logical for the resurrection to have occurred. Life indeed cannot be sealed in a tomb. And if Jesus is the Life, he could no more be sealed in a tomb than a duck can be kept from water.
Many things can change a person for the better. Philosophy, religion, meditation, and even events and other people can cause good and permanent change. However, the foundation of the change wrought by Jesus Christ is the empty tomb. Nothing can compare; nothing can compete; nothing can equate. The empty tomb stands alone as the defining reality for the human condition and the hope of the creation.

The Cross Made a Difference in Me

'Twas a life filled with aimless desperation
Without hope walked the shell of a man;
Then a hand with a nailprint stretched downward,
Just one touch then a new life began.

Barren walls echoed harshness and anger
Little faces ran in terror to hide;
Now those walls ring with love, warmth and laughter,
Since the giver of life moved inside.

There's a room filled with sad, ashen faces
Without hope death has wrapped them in gloom;
But at the side of a saint there's rejoicing,
For life can't be sealed in a tomb.

Chorus: And the old rugged cross made the difference
In a life bound for heartache and defeat;
I will praise Him forever and ever
For the cross made the difference for me.