Easter (Part 2 of 2)

"Bursting forth in glorious day, up from the grave he rose again!And as he stands in victory, sins curse has lost its grip on me;For I am his, and he is mine, bought with the precious blood of Christ." (In Christ Alone)

Easter isn't about death. It's about life!

Jesus died on that cross, was buried, and then, miraculously, three days later, he rose from the dead. There are witnesses to prove it.

But the question is, why?

To give us life!

When Jesus died on the cross, he acted as a perfect sacrifice. In the Old Testament, people sacrificed animals to gain God's forgiveness. Jesus was the ultimate sacrifice (hence why we now don't need to sacrifice animals or anything like that!). He took all of our mess with him, even the mess we had yet to make. Our sins died with him. Which is amazing in itself.

In rising from the dead, Jesus left our sins behind. Those sins, that lead to death, are gone. In returning to life, Jesus gives US new life - a life in which we are no longer tethered to our rubbish, and the punishment in brings. Jesus stand in front of us before God and says "yep, his sins are paid for, I've done it. He doesn't have to". The result? The possibility of a close, eternal, exciting and loving relationship with God.

Without Jesus, and even with him dying, we are what the bible calls "slaves to sin". They destroy us, and ultimately, break our connection with God, because it breaks his heart to see us wallowing in them.

In coming back, Jesus offers a way to life at its fullest, as shown in the entirety of Romans 6 (it's a bit amazing - I'd recommend it).

"The wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life, through Christ Jesus our Lord." (Romans 6:23)

I think this year has probably been the first that I have grasped the full extent of what this actually means - and to be honest, it has just blown my mind. But one thing I can be sure of is that it brings me so, so much joy. I can have an intimate relationship with my creator, wider and for longer than I can fathom, because of what one man did.  Today, everywhere I looked there seemed to be so much excitement and hope, and I'm not the only one who noticed this.

Joy. Life.
This is why Easter is kind of a big deal.