Celebrating the Resurrection of Jesus

I realize I’m a day late for an Easter wish, but it’s never the wrong time to celebrate Resurrection Day. When you think about Easter, it’s really easy to get caught up in what society has made it – day to celebrate the Easter Bunny and candy eggs and egg hunts and lots of fun. It’s easy to get caught up in the fun and not the real meaning for which the day was set aside. 

Jesus, the Messiah, who had healed and taught and freed people, had been crucified. He had been beaten beyond recognition and hung from a tree. He had taken on the sin of the whole world. He had endured pain beyond belief, as a man. He, the second part of the Trinity, had sacrificed Himself for His enemies – those of us who were unsaved and rejected Him – so that we would have a path to redemption (Isa 53)…so we would not have to pay for our own sins with death (Rom 6:23). He loved us when we hated Him. The very people He’d walked among planned His demise and manipulated a world system to kill an innocent man and He allowed it to happen so that He could save us (John 19:11). 

Then on the third morning after His death, He rose from the dead with all power (Matt 28:18). He took the power from death and the grave (Rev 1:18) and provided us a way to be adopted by God into His family. He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life – the only way to the Father. He gave the free gift of salvation to all of us, but many don’t want to accept the salvation or a life surrendered to His will and way. We can’t be the Lord over our lives and expect Him to take second seat, not after He paid the price for us (Col 1:14). 

It’s pretty arrogant to think we can have our cake and eat it, too. In many cases, we are exactly like the Israelites coming out of the land of Egypt. We want what we want and we want God to line up with us as if he is a Fairy Godfather. We were bought with a price, so we belong to Him, not the other way around (1 Cor 6:20). In our desire to be in control, we sometimes forget that we’re not in control of much. The only thing we can learn to control is our reaction to situations (and that only turns out well with the help of the Holy Spirit). 

We are blessed beyond measure by a Father who continues to provide us chance after chance to be transformed into His image (Rom 12:2). Yes, it is a process made available to us through the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus. Why wouldn’t we worship a living, caring, gracious God, who loves us in ways we can’t even comprehend? I challenge you to keep the real celebration alive in your heart and your life. It can only point you and others to Jesus.