Easter is a great time of the year. Christ-followers around the globe gather to
celebrate the death and resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ! It’s
so true that Christ is alive, “…an empty grave is there to prove our Savior
lives…” !
Comparatively, Easter
is of more importance to us than Christmas; however, the two are inter-related.
Though the love (mercy) and justice of God are evident in these two historical
events, the birth of Jesus introduces them and we see their ultimate display on
the cross. In other words, Christmas shows how much God loved the whole world
by sending His one and only Son. Easter, on the other hand, demonstrates the
price Jesus willingly and lovingly paid to make eternal life possible. As a
result, if we believe in Him, we pass from death to life. John 3:16-18 captures the nature of the
relationship between Christmas and Easter so well:
"16God
loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son so that whoever
believes in him may not be lost, but have eternal life. 17 God did
not send his Son into the world to judge the world guilty, but to save the world
through him.18 People who believe in God's Son are not judged
guilty. Those who do not believe have already been judged guilty, because they
have not believed in God's one and only Son.” (New Century Version).
Additionally, the
testimony of John the Baptist further clarifies the relationship between
Christmas and Easter. In John 1:29, John had this to say about Jesus, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the
world!”
(NIV). When Jesus came, He came as the
Lamb of God. Mary, therefore, “had a
little lamb” that would later die for the sins of the whole world. The verse
reveals three essential features about Jesus, THE LAMB OF GOD, namely: 1) The SOURCE of the Lamb (He is from God,
cf. John 3:16); 2) The SIGNIFICANCE of the Lamb (He “takes away sin”); and 3)
The SCOPE of the Lamb’s ministry (Jesus atoned for “the sin of the world”).
Bruce Milne presents a full discussion of the three points in “The Message of John” (a 1993 book
published by Inter-Varsity Press, p. 53).
Thankfully,
God’s story of redemption does not stop at the Cross; it starts to become
crystal clear at the Resurrection of Jesus. In fact, Jesus is the only founder
of a major religion who claimed to be God and He could substantiate it. For example, in John 11:25, He said, “I am
the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he
dies.” After making this statement, He
demonstrated the truthfulness of His claim by raising Lazarus from the dead,
thus proving that He was God—the Life-Giver. {Taken from Kirui Kronicle, April 2012}
In response to the truths shared in the article,
above, take time to PTL for Christmas and Easter!
I came across a poem titled, "Every Day is Easter". It goes like this:
ReplyDelete“Easter comes once a year,”
So many people say,
But, to a person saved from sin,
It’s Easter every day!
A man, when saved or “born again”
His life, to Christ, will give,
And as a newborn babe in Christ,
He’s just begun to live.
“I am the resurrection, life,”
The Savior, one day, said;
“And he, believing in my word,
Shall live, though he be dead.”
And that well known apostle,
Paul, in Philippians made plain;
“For me to live is Jesus Christ,
For me to die is gain.”
So when the Blood of Christ,
Our Lord, Redeems a soul from sin;
Every day is Easter,
For Jesus lives within!
THE BEST NEWS THE WORLD EVER HAD
CAME FROM A GRAVEYARD NEAR JERUSALEM!
~ Author Unknown ~