This coming weekend will be the highest attended weekend of the year. Why is Easter the event that rocked the world? It’s from this historical fact (that Jesus Christ was crucified and got up from the dead) that we’ve gained much of our understanding of what God is like.
Easter reminds us that God’s intentionality for His created world will not be thwarted or defeated by anyone or anything; not even death.
As we celebrate the Resurrection of Jesus Christ, contemplate the ten reasons why Easter, even today, 2000 years after the fact, still rocks the world and brings people flooding into churches all over this country and every continent on earth to worship the person Jesus.
1. Easter proves God will not abandon us. No matter how bad the world gets, no matter how far humanity slips into sin and self-destruction, God will never abandon us. He has a plan and that plan is to redeem us, not throw us away.
2. Easter proves that God is a promise keeper. To understand the nature of the Bible you must understand the nature of covenants. God is a covenant-making and a covenant-keeping God. The Resurrection of Jesus was the culmination of both the old and new covenants, providing their fulfillment and the Resurrected Messiah. God makes His promises and He always keeps them.
3. Easter proves that Jesus alone is the One Who fulfills prophecy. The prophecy of a suffering Savior, Who would be beaten, Who would submit to death, and raise from the dead is only fulfilled in the person of Jesus. That’s why we haven’t been able to get over Him and we never will.
4. Easter proves, once and for all, that sin is defeated. Jesus was born of a virgin, lived a sinless life and died a vicarious death. His Resurrection ratified all those important events for one purpose; that the bonds and bondage of sin would be broken.
5. Easter proves that God’s purpose will prevail. Easter was not an event that simply happened in history. It is a culmination of history. It is what history flowed toward and what it flows from. We’re living on this side of the cross and God is fulfilling His purposes, even as we go about our daily lives. Though you may think your life is chaotic and that culture is in a crisis, the world is on God’s timetable.
6. Easter proves that justice is a foundational principle, not only of this life but the next. Justice is why Jesus hung on the cross and was crucified. He paid our sin debt and His resurrection proved the acceptance from God of what He paid.
7. Easter proves that the mercy of God is always available and that the forgiveness of God is real and radical. We often toss these words around glibly, but remember, they’re wondrous, majestic, the awesome nature of God revealed in His mercy and grace.
8. Easter shows, once and for all that our greatest enemy is defeated. Death is a one-time appointment. Because of the Resurrection of Jesus, we too will live in eternity with Him. We will be reunited with all the believers from all generations and live in the glory of His love.
9. Easter defines love as sacrifice. In our culture, love is easily dismissed as an emotional idea to be tossed aside when the going gets tough. In God’s economy, love is sacrifice. It is His love that brought Him to earth to live among us, to die and be resurrected so He could earn the right to love us, so that His justice and holiness would be satisfied in the expression of His love.
10. Easter assures me I need never doubt that there are better days ahead. God is the God of new beginnings.