Because He Lives

with RESURRECTION

I. Background

From late 1969 into 1970, songwriters Bill and Gloria Gaither were expecting their third child, Benjamin, but rather than feeling enthusiastic about their future, the mood in the house was bleak. Gloria summarized the context of what was happening in their world:

The drug culture was in full swing, existential thought had obviously saturated every area of our American thought, the cities were seething with racial tension, and the God-is-dead pronouncement had giggled its way all through our educational system. On the personal front, Bill and I were going through one of the most difficult times in our lives. Bill had been discouraged and physically exhausted by a bout with mononucleosis, and in that weakened condition had little reserve to fight the psychological battle brought on by some external family problems. Someone whom we had cared about a great deal had hurled some accusations at us and at the Fellowship of Believers and at the whole idea of the existence of God.

It was on New Year’s Eve that I sat alone in the darkness and quiet of our living room, thinking about the world and our country and Bill’s discouragement and the family problems—and about our baby yet unborn. Who in their right mind would bring a child into a world like this? I thought. The world is so evil. Influences beyond our control are so strong. What will happen to this child? I can’t quite explain what happened at that moment, but suddenly I felt released from it all.[1]

For Bill, the process to reclaim his spirit was more gradual. His mental and physical ailments had impeded his songwriting:

Except for our close friends, most people didn’t know anything was wrong. I could go out onstage for a few hours, do the concert, and then tumble back into my bunk on the bus until the next performance or until we got back home. The one thing I could not do was the thing I felt born to do: I couldn’t write any songs. Gloria continued to come up with great ideas, catchy phrases, new biblical insights or reminders, but they all washed over me like suds in a car wash. I sat at the piano, plunked around at a few melody lines, but nothing meshed. At times I wanted to bang on the keys with all my might, hoping there might be a song in there somewhere! Nothing came. . . .

Gloria prayed for me constantly, probably even more than I knew. Then one day, my good friend Dr. Sid Guillen, head of the language arts department at Anderson University, stopped by our house. . . . Sid prayed a simple, straightforward prayer, commanding the enemy to take his hands off God’s property. Then he said “Amen,” gave Gloria and me a big hug, and left. . . . It didn’t happen overnight, but in the weeks following Sid Guillen’s prayer I began to feel better. Physically I grew stronger, and emotionally I felt that I was finally coming out of the dark tunnel in which I’d been plodding for months. . . .

Gloria was nearing the end of her pregnancy, and more and more I felt my optimistic outlook returning. I began toying with a phrase for a song: “Because He lives, I can face tomorrow.” . . . I recalled part of one of my favorite old hymns—“He lives, He lives, Christ Jesus lives today”—and as usual, I wanted to find a way to ring that concept down to the street where people live today. . . . I went to Gloria and said, “This would be a great hook for a song: ‘Because He lives, I can face tomorrow; because He lives, all fear is gone.’” Gloria filled out the lyric: “Because I know He holds the future, life is worth living.” We began putting some of those ideas down on paper.

On July 19, Gloria gave birth to a precious baby boy. We named him Benjamin, “most beloved son.” Benjy’s birth yanked away the last vestiges of the depression in which I had languished for so long. . . . The chorus to the song rang true in my heart, echoing my own experience, even as Gloria and I put the finishing touches to the song:

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!

The song that came out of that abysmal period in my life became one of the best-known and best-loved songs that Gloria and I have ever written. We recorded it on a new album shortly after Benjamin was born, and before long, it seemed that we were hearing it everywhere.[2]

Even though Gloria had been steadfast through Bill’s struggles, she still considered the birth of Benjamin to be an important turning point, both for their spiritual outlook and for the song, which they considered to be more for their own family than for their audience:

But when Benjy was born and the nurse laid that little guy in our arms, it was an ‘a-ha moment’ of sorts. We came to realize that we don’t get married, make a home, have babies, and go about our lives because the world is stable. When has it ever been stable? We live our lives with confidence because the Resurrection is true. We held our son and said, “We can do this. We can raise this child in this unstable world because of the power of life. Life wins! And because our Lord is alive, we can trust Him with our future.” Honestly, it was a song we wrote for us.[3]

II. Recordings

The year after Benjamin’s birth, “Because He lives” appeared as the title track on an album of the same name by the Bill Gaither Trio (Bill, Gloria, and Danny Gaither), released on 18 October 1971 (Heart Warming Records HWS-3130). The back cover of the album expressed more of the sentiments behind their new song:

To me there was nothing quite so sweet as holding in my arms our newborn baby—to know this was our child, ours to love and care for, ours to clothe and feed, ours to teach and guide. But with the pride and joy also comes the realization that this child is going to face a world that is not very beautiful, and a baby is not a new toy but an immortal soul.

I don’t think that I would have the courage to look our little babies in the face in light of today’s headlines if it were not for the fact of an empty tomb, a risen Lord—and a philosophy of life that makes sense in a world that doesn’t, a philosophy of life that brings life into focus, gives beauty for ashes, and puts hope in the heart. When the days are uncertain, the future is sure. Because of a man called Jesus, I can look our little children in the face and say, “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.”

Because He Lives was reissued in 1974 with different cover art (R-3130 / WSB-8826).

The Bill Gaither Trio recorded the song additionally on the albums Live (Heart Warming Records R3178, 1972), Something Beautiful: An Evening with the Bill Gaither Trio (Impact 2R-3337, 1974), Let’s Just Praise the Lord, Vol. 2 (Impact 2R-3428, 1976), Moments for Forever (Word/Impact WSX-8817/R2-3457, 1977), We Are Persuaded (Word WSB-8829, 1979), Live Across America (Word WSX-8847, 1980), Then He Said “Sing!” (Word WSB-8980, 1985), and Hymn Classics (Word 7019186602, 1990).

It was part of their first musical, Alleluia! A Praise Gathering for Believers (Impact R-3171, 1973), sung by Suzanne Johnson; a revised version, Alleluia: The Praise Continues (Star Song SSD8801, 1993) includes “Because He Lives” with Chuck Colson and Yolanda Adams.

The Gaither Vocal Band recorded it on Reunited (Gaither Music SHD6044, 2010), Because He Lives: Favorite Easter Songs (Gaither Music SHD8932, 2014; also 2019), and Reunion Live (Gaither Music SHD9424, 2019). The 2010 and 2019 albums were released on video. They performed the song for a memorial tribute to Billy Graham in 2018, which was released on video.

On their Homecoming albums, which are typically released in audio and video formats, it was included on Sing Your Blues Away (Spring House CMD5385, 1996), Because He Lives (Spring House SHD0802, 1998; DVD in 2000), Billy Graham Music Homecoming, Vol. 2 (Spring House SHD2351, 2001), London Homecoming (Spring House SHD2317, 2001), Australian Homecoming (Spring House, 2003), Israel Homecoming (Gaither Music SHD2609, 2005), Canadian Homecoming (Gaither Music SHD2644, 2006), and Homecoming Artists Sing the Songs of Bill & Gloria Gaither (Gaither Music, 2013).

The song was featured on a special anniversary video, Because He Lives 50th Anniversary Easter Special (released 26 March 2021), and on a recording of the Getty Sing! Conference at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, September 2021 (released 8 Apr. 2022), with Keith Getty and Buddy Greene.

This list does not include compilations of previously released material.

III. Publication

The song was first published as sheet music in SATB format, in shape notes, in 1971 (Fig. 1), published through their own company in Alexandria, Indiana.

In the next few years, the song was quickly arranged and licensed in several formats, including an SATB choral arrangement by Harold Lane in Bill Gaither Choir Series, No. 4 (Grand Rapids: Singspiration, 1972), an SATB choral arrangement by Rick Powell in Something Beautiful Choral Series No. 1 (Grand Rapids: Singspiration, 1973), an arrangement for solo voice and piano by Donna Huff (Alexandria, IN: Gaither Music, 1973), an arrangement for vocal trio and piano by Harold DeCou in The King is Coming and Other Songs (Grand Rapids: Singspiration, 1973), an arrangement for solo voice and piano (low, medium, and high voice), by W. Elmo Mercer in Get All Excited (Nashville: John T. Benson, 1973), and an arrangement of the refrain for SATB choir and piano in their first official musical, Alleluia! A Praise Gathering for Believers (Nashville: John T. Benson, 1973), arranged by Ronn Huff. An SAB version of the musical was issued in 1979, arranged by Don Hart.

The song’s first appearance in a songbook intended for congregational singing was in the Gaithers’ Let’s Just Praise the Lord: A Praise-Book of Choruses for Believers of All Ages (Alexandria, IN: Gaither Music, 1974 | Fig. 2), using an arrangement by W. Elmo Mercer, but only consisting of the refrain (no verses/stanzas).

The song’s first appearance as a congregational hymn was in the Baptist Hymnal (Nashville: Broadman Press, 1975 | Fig. 3). At the Gaithers’ request, the tune was dubbed RESURRECTION.

In their popular Homecoming Souvenir Songbook series, “Because He Lives” was included in the first volume (Alexandria, IN: Gaither Music, 1993), engraved and edited by Harold Lane, who had scored the first choral arrangement in 1972.

IV. Analysis

The first stanza is creedal, a statement of faith covering the incarnation, crucifixion, and resurrection of Jesus. The second stanza is a personal testimony relating the birth of their son Benjamin in 1971. The third stanza points to an eternal hope, the everlasting tomorrow. The refrain, which carries the main message of the song, is the songwriters’ testament of faith and hope in the midst of trouble, enabled by a living God who defeated death.

The second stanza includes two instances of the pronoun “he”: “pride and joy he gives,” and “because he lives.” The latter clearly refers to Jesus, but the former has sometimes been interpreted in different ways, either referring to the child or to Jesus. In the shape-note score of 1971, the 1973 arrangements for solo voice by W. Elmo Mercer and Donna Huff, and elsewhere, the pronoun referring to pride is capitalized (“He”), thus referring to Jesus, and this was repeated in other later printings. But in 1993, Methodist hymnal editor Carlton Young wrote, “the authors now state that the former refers to their newborn son and the latter to Jesus.”[4] When the song was printed in their Homecoming Souvenir Songbook (1993), all of the divine pronouns were capitalized, but the pronoun referring to the child was not, and the ending of that stanza was given as “because Christ lives,” reflecting Young’s statement.

Kerchal Armstrong, a music minister, described the hymn this way:

This highly-singable gospel song is for many people their favorite of all the music written by Bill and Gloria Gaither. That may be due in part to its spirit-lifting climax underscoring the assurance which boldly affirms the believer’s secure faith. . . . In addition to its obvious use during Easter season, the song may be used in evangelistic outreach to express personal witness and in memorial or funeral services. It is fitting as a climax in a service or immediately prior to departure.[5]

Pastor Robert Cottrill, in his devotional assessment of the hymn, focused on the word “because” and how it undergirds many important scriptural truths related to the resurrection of Jesus:

Before He went to Calvary, the Lord Jesus declared to His followers, “Because I live, you will live also” (Jn. 14:19). This theme is pursued relentlessly in the resurrection chapter, First Corinthians 15, where the Christian’s future resurrection is tied to that of the Lord Jesus. Says Paul, “If Christ is not risen, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins!” (vs. 17), “But now Christ is risen from the dead” (vs. 20). And “since [or because] by man [Adam] came death, by Man [Christ] also came the resurrection of the dead” (vs. 21). “God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that [because, since] while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Rom. 5:8).[6]

V. Legacy

In reflecting on the song’s 50th anniversary and the way it has been translated and transmitted all over the world, Bill Gaither offered these thoughts:

People have asked me, “Did you know right away that it was going to be a song that was going to be translated in other languages?” When you create a new song—and you write as many as we have–you really don’t know. Many times you write one and you think it is going to be the next “Amazing Grace,” and it just dies a natural death. When we wrote “Because He Lives” I felt like it was a good song, but you only find out how good a song is when people start responding to it, and the more we sang it the more people responded. I’m humbled it has been translated into so many languages and did not foresee that.[7]

by CHRIS FENNER
for Hymnology Archive
9 April 2021
rev. 19 April 2021

Footnotes:

1. Gloria Gaither, Because He Lives (Old Tappan, NJ: Fleming H. Revell, 1977), pp. 173–174.

2. Bill Gaither, It’s More Than the Music (Warner, 2003), pp. 143–147.

3. “Bill and Gloria Gaither’s gospel classic ‘Because He Lives’ celebrates its 50th anniversary,” Gaither Music (18 March 2021): https://gaither.com/bill-and-gloria-gaithers-gospel-classic-because-he-lives-celebrates-its-50th-anniversary/

4. Carlton R. Young, “Because He Lives,” Companion to the United Methodist Hymnal (Nashville: Abindgon, 1993), p. 231.

5. Kerchal Armstrong, “Because He Lives,” The Worshiping Church: Worship Leaders’ Edition (Carol Stream, IL: Hope, 1990), no. 238.

6. Robert Cottrill, “Because He Lives,” Wordwise Hymns (25 June 2012): https://wordwisehymns.com/2012/06/25/because-he-lives/

7. “Bill and Gloria Gaither’s gospel classic ‘Because He Lives’ celebrates its 50th anniversary,” Gaither Music (18 March 2021): https://gaither.com/bill-and-gloria-gaithers-gospel-classic-because-he-lives-celebrates-its-50th-anniversary/

Related Resources:

William J. Reynolds, “Because He Lives,” Companion to Baptist Hymnal (Nashville: Broadman Press, 1976), pp. 78–79.

Joseph F. Green, “Because He Lives,” Church Musician, vol. 30 (Apr. 1979), pp. 8–9.

Lindsay Terry, “A sudden calm and peaceful rest,” Stories Behind Popular Songs and Hymns (Grand Rapids, Baker Book House, 1990), pp. 52–54.

Edward Darling & Donald Davison, “God sent his Son, they called him Jesus,” Companion to Church Hymnal (Dublin: Columba, 2005), pp. 864–865.

C. Michael Hawn, “God sent his Son (Because He Lives),” Sing with Understanding, 3rd ed. (Chicago: GIA, 2022), pp. 237–239.

Timothy Cockes, “‘‘Because He Lives’ still resonates 50 years later,” Baptist Press (20 May 2021): BP