Guest Blog Post:
As the Lenten season comes to an end, Christians worldwide prepare to celebrate one of the most sacred events of our faith: Easter. Beyond the colorful decorations and joyful gatherings, Easter holds unequaled significance as a time to reflect on and celebrate our central Christian belief.
At the heart of Easter lies the miracle of the resurrection, Jesus’ victory over sin and death. All four Gospels record Jesus Christ being crucified and laid to rest in a tomb. They also record that three days later, that grave was empty, revealing the greatest miracle of all time, fulfilling the prophetic promises of scripture. Psalm 118:22 says it beautifully and best, “The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. The Lord has done this and it is marvelous in our eyes.”
This history changing, world changing event forms the cornerstone of our faith, but what led us to this point?
You know the story: in the beginning, man walked with God in the garden (Genesis 3.8). However, eventually Adam and Eve hid themselves from the Lord, knowing they had sinned, because they ate from the tree of knowledge, good and evil (Genesis 3.9). This established our permanent condition: separation from God, our iniquities separated us from God (Isaiah 59.2).
The result of this separation had three outcomes; all have sinned and fall short the glory of God (Romans 3.23), the wages of sin is death (Romans 6.23), and just as we are destined to die, we will face judgement (Hebrews 9.27). From the chasm we created by sinning against God, these were the outcomes.
Christ came to change all that (John 1.14). We know that salvation is found in no one else, and that there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved (Acts 4.12). There was nothing we could do to save ourselves because we are flawed beings who deserve the consequences of our sin. God sent his only Son and made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant (Philippians 2.7), a suffering servant (Isaiah 53.5). So, Christ suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring us to God (1 Peter 3.18). Here you have Jesus, who suffered and was put to death by the savage means of crucifixion, becoming the bridge to cross over the chasm that we caused by our sin, for those who believe. The purpose of this for believers is so when God looks at the cross, he sees us as having been crucified, and when he sees us, he sees Christ living within us (Galatians 2.20). And it didn’t end there: he rose from the dead on the third day according to scripture, and appeared to over 500 people at that time (1 Corinthians 15.6). And he was really, fully alive, after his resurrection he ate and drank with his disciples (Acts 10.41) and spent 40 days teaching and ministering to them (Acts 1.4).
We celebrate Easter because our Lord conquered sin and death, because he loved us so much, becoming the cornerstone of our faith and life, and giving us the promise of salvation and eternal life.
Definitely something worth celebrating.
- Henry White, Assistant to the Pastor.
