"Because He Lives" ~ The Story Behind The Song - Revisited

This past week our Pastor, Sergio Nolasco, his wife, Marjorie, and their son, Philip, attended The Gaither Homecoming Concert here in Southern California.  And they had a glowing report of the pure Christian excitement of that evening.  One song which really struck a chord with them was "Because He Lives."  And, that has long been one of my favorite Gospel songs. 

In our worship service today pastor shared about the concert and especially that song.  After our worship service, a group gathered at the piano to sing this beautiful song.   And, in our service today, I shared with them a bit about the story behind "Because He Lives."  

The first time I heard the song was about 1989.  A Christian brother in our Fil-Am Church of Irvine (CA), Zenon Samson, was nearing the end of his battle with cancer.  He was already in a coma but our fellowship wanted to be there for the family.  We had a prayer and share fellowship with singing that evening in their home.  His wife, Linda, told us that his favorite song was "Because He Lives" - and one of our elders, Ruben Abesamis, a talented singer, knew the words.  Ruben led us in singing this for Zenon that evening - and I believe that Zenon went home to be with the Lord a day later. 

Let me share more on how this inspiring song came to be written.   Below is a blog I shared several years ago:

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

THE BEAUTIFUL CHRISTIAN SONG "BECAUSE HE LIVES" HAS LONG BEEN ONE OF MY FAVORITES.   But, I will bet that most folks mistakenly assume this second stanza of the song is referring to the birth of Christ.  When, in fact, it is referring to the birth of Bill and Gloria Gaither's only son, Benjamin.  As you will see in both the article excerpt below and in the video - they wrote this song as the decadent 1960s turned into the turbulent 1970s.  They had financial and health worries, the country was in a turmoil, and here they were, about to bring another child into such a world. 

But, once Benjamin came and they were able to hold him - God put the words of this stanza on their hearts.  This was the first part of the song "Because He Lives" which they wrote.  And, then the rest followed later.

How sweet to hold a newborn baby,
And feel the pride and joy he gives;
But greater still the calm assurance:
This child can face uncertain days because He Lives!

This is a video of the Gaithers being interviewed by Mark Lowry about the writing of this song and it features an early concert of the Gaither Trio which included Danny Gaither, Gloria Gaither, and Bill Gaither.  Danny, Bill's brother, was promoted to heaven in 2001:

"Because He Lives" By The Gaither Trio 1972 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XJgzd__SSBY

And this article excerpt will fill in some of the blanks:

The story behind “Because He Lives” .  .  .  In the words of Bill & Gloria Gaither, the story behind the song:

We wrote “Because He Lives” after a period of time when we had had a kind of dry spell and hadn’t written any songs for a while.  .  .  Also at the end of the 1960’s when our country was going through some great turmoil with the height of the drug culture and the whole “God Is Dead”  theory which was running wild in our country, and also at the peak of the Vietnam War, our little son was born - Benjy (Benjamin).   At least Gloria was expecting him. 

And I can remember at the time we thought, “Brother, this is really a poor time to bring a child into the world.”  At times we were even quite discouraged by the whole thing.  And then Benjy did come.  We had two little girls whom we love very much, but this was our first son, and so that lyric came to us, “How sweet to hold our new-born baby and feel the pride and joy he gives, but better still the calm assurance that this child can face uncertain days because Christ lives.”

And it gave us the courage to say “Because Christ lives we can face tomorrow” and keep our heads high - and hopefully that could be of meaning to other people.

It’s rather interesting now that, although we don’t consider ourselves as “old” writers, we’ve had many people tell us they have used that song at a funeral of a loved one; and it has been very encouraging to them, at a time when they were very discouraged.  So evidently a lot of people have shared the same kind of experience of being discouraged.

In the video above, Gloria shares how personal the third verse of this song became to her - when she, Bill, and Danny had to perform at a concert in Chicago the day after her dad passed into heaven.  With these words:  "And then one day, I'll cross the river, I'll fight life's final war with pain; And then, as death gives way to vict'ry, I'll see the lights of glory and I'll know He lives!" you can see how this song is truly a living testimony for Bill and Gloria Gaither:

Because He Lives

God sent His son, they called Him, Jesus;
He came to love, heal and forgive;
He lived and died to buy my pardon,
An empty grave is there to prove my Savior lives!

Chorus
Because He lives, I can face tomorrow,
Because He lives, all fear is gone;
Because I know He holds the future,
And life is worth the living,
Just because He lives!

How sweet to hold a newborn baby,
And feel the pride and joy he gives;
But greater still the calm assurance:
This child can face uncertain days because He Lives!

And then one day, I'll cross the river,
I'll fight life's final war with pain;
And then, as death gives way to vict'ry,
I'll see the lights of glory and I'll know He lives!

In a more recent concert, Bill introduces Benjy, whose birth inspired the song 31 years earlier.

Bill & Gloria Gaither - Because He Lives - Gaither Vocal Band https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=spa7WkwjwGw

This is an article which appeared in the Winter 1998 issue of Servant Magazine, A Ministry Of Prairie Institute:

Gloria Gaither - Because He Lives Story.pdf https://files.acrobat.com/a/preview/71057162-1f95-4dc2-8493-3d9ad4085e78

I pray that this gives you a better understanding of the personal love which went into the writing of this timeless Gospel song, "Because He Lives."  And that, if it is not already one of your favorites, it will become a favorite as you listen to it being sung in a 1972 concert by the Gaither Trio, featuring Danny Gaither's beautiful tenor voice - and then again in a later Gaither Homecoming Concert.

God bless, have a wonderful, blessed day,

Bill