What Easter Means to Me!

This is a most excellent week. I love Christmas for all of the hope that it brings in the form of the Christ child, 100% God, 100% man. But, my spirit is energized by Easter. For some reason the week leading into Easter and the day of Easter is wrought with so much excitement for me. It’s an unexplainable inner reaction for me, in that wherever I find myself in my walk with Christ, whether so close that I can feel His breath, or further away from Him that I’d like to admit, Easter holds such a promise for me. It’s a personal connection to Christ that I can not shake. There is something about His resurrection that inspires such confidence and power in my heart. It’s an overwhelming feeling to know that I serve a Christ who holds the power over death and the grave. I don’t know if many of you ever really stop to think about that. I mean, Jesus was a busy guy after He died. The Bible really says that he descended into hell and took the keys from Satan, the same keys and dominion that Adam handed over to him when he ate the forbidden fruit. He took those keys. The Bible says that He lead captivity captive, and that he also became a curse for us.

So much happened in this celebrated week for us. He was denied by us. He was convicted by us. We chose to release a murderer rather than a man who had done no wrong. We chanted and jeered him as He carried His cross up to Golgotha. We watched as he was beaten beyond recognition. We watched as the nails were forced where nails were not supposed to go- human flesh. We watched as he hung there, the force of his own body causing even more debilitating strain on himself. We watched as He forgave us, then died. How can I say we did this? Because we did. I say this all the time, but when all of this was happening to our Savior, you and I were both there taking part. Why? Because sin was not limited to the time leading into His death. Sin has stayed with us up to now. It endures after us until He comes back again. So yes, because we are the heirs of sin through our shared parenthood with Adam and Eve, we were in that crowd of nameless faces taking part in the “festivities.” He died for every sin that we would commit. I believe with all of my heart that we were reflected in his tired eyes as he surveyed the crowd, and as every cell in his body finally began to give out, He still expended His energy loving us until His final breath.

When He said, “It is finished”, He was declaring in His last breath that sin was finished having its destructive effect on our lives. The grave and death were finished claiming souls that belonged to Him. He called an end to the severed relationship between man and God. “It is finished” is not just a cute phrase. It’s not merely a combination of words. It is quite possibly the single biggest and most meaningful declaration over our lives from a Sovereign Savior. It is finished…the power of sin over our lives is finished. Our separation from God is finished. The ultimate power of Satan over our lives is finished! The war is over…it is finished! We win! Just as important as what was brought to an end is what was born at that moment. While the mourning of those in attendance overshadowed any promise that Jesus may have spoken prior, we have the benefit of the perspective and the infallible word of God to assure us that Jesus’ spirit was no longer in that body as they brought it the ground and wrapped it. That means that Jesus was freeing those who were dead before His sacrifice.  It means that our freedom and reconciliation with God began! Just as they were freed to new life, so have we been released into that same newness. If that doesn’t stir something inside of you, then I don’t know what will. Regardless of our circumstances, there is better by grace of God. There is LIFE for us! I know what it feels like to being a zombie, walking dead through life. Going through the motions, not feeling renewed. Wondering if the promise of being made a new creation in Christ was just gibberish. I understand the hurt of believing that your faith has not been realized, the pain of feeling that there is no place in the world for you. But Easter means to me that there is a place for me…in the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ is where my identity lies. When His spirit again inhabited His earthly body and the resurrection was completed, we were born, family! His first breath was our first breath! Life began again. Hope began again!

And the thing that I want to impress on you with this blog today is that we should all be giddy with excitement. This is our week. Just as we shared in the death of Jesus, when he rose from the dead, we arose with Him. We who believe and profess to be Christians, should rejoice with incessant joy that we have been redeemed and purchased by the most precious blood to ever walk the earth. For many, this week is called Passion Week, referring to Christ’s passionate love for us. I think this week, we should begin the process of reviving a passionate love for our God. What has he NOT done to deserve it? He has defined us. He redeemed us from a curse with horrific consequences and has declared us blessed with every spiritual blessing in heaven and on earth. He did what no one else could do. And in the end of days, He will do what no one can do…open up the sky and call us home.

Folks, all of this is why I love Easter. Even without the drama, when you strip away all of the trappings and celebrations, what it comes down to is this- LOVE!

“For God so loved the world that He gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believed on Him would not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. There is no condemnation for those who put their trust in him, but those who don’t are condemned already, for they have not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. John 3:16-18.”

God’s love is unfathomable, but I pray that this week and for the rest of our lives, His love will become a tangible stirring in our hearts. I pray that His love will move us out of being zombies, and will spur us towards life. God’s love is so that we might live to show that LOVE to everyone that we meet. It is not His will that any should be condemned, just that they will believe. And like it or not, they will not believe if they do not see us showing God’s LOVE. We sing this song in church:

“All for love the Father gave

For only Love could make a way

All for love the heaven’s cried

For love was crucified

And how many times have I broken Your heart

Still You forgive, if only I ask

And how many times have You heard me pray

Draw near to me”

I may have the words wrong, but this song chokes me up, even typing out the words. That was me….sometimes that IS me. And I suspect these words will find someone out there who is in that same spot, crying out to God to draw near to you, crying out for someone, or anyone to help you just make it one more second. You feel like death, the lack of love is overwhelming. You’re hurting. But, despite all of my rambling today, I need you to understand that God sent Jesus for you in this moment of crisis.

If you will cry out to Him, then He will come to you. All for LOVE! Easter is the ultimate lesson in LOVE. Be love, family. In doing so, we honor God for His sacrifice on our behalf. I love this week. I hope you do too.

Until next time, be blessed.