Risen Today

Aaron Shust's “Risen Today” is an Easter song that sets the first verses of Charles Wesley's hymn “Christ the Lord Is Risen Today” in a modern worship arrangement. It opens with the announcement that Christ the Lord is risen, followed by a hallelujah, and calls both sons of men and angels to say it.

The hymn verses call people to raise their joys and triumphs high and ask the heavens and earth to reply. They state that love's redeeming work is done, the fight is fought, the battle is won, and death tried in vain to keep him in the grave, since Christ has opened paradise. Another verse asks the question of Paul's letter, where is death's sting and where is the grave's victory, after Christ has died once to save our souls. Shust adds a new chorus that shouts hallelujah, he is risen, our sins have been forgiven, and says that believers now have power over the grave. All creation sings, and the glory goes to the name of the risen Lord forevermore. The blend of the old text with a new chorus lets a congregation sing words their grandparents knew in a form that feels current. It is a natural choice for Easter morning, funerals and any service that reflects on what the resurrection means.

Death swallowed up in victory is 1 Corinthians 15:55-57. The empty tomb is Matthew 28:6, and Christ no longer dying is Romans 6:9.