Easter Every Day

We are accustomed to holidays and the marketing madness. I’m certain you’ve seen the Easter baskets, Cadbury eggs, and plethora of other candies available? The other evening strolling through Target the smell of the sweets was quite overwhelming to my senses and I like those tasty morsels, but it was too much! By the way, I used restraint and didn’t purchase any junk food.

Have holidays lost much of their meaning or at least their original intention? I’m afraid so and this concerns me as a follower of Jesus. Please understand I’m not an extremist or a “religious wacko” of any sort, our family celebrates many traditional holidays but we try to refrain from getting caught in all the unessential trappings. As Christians, we desire to celebrate occasions in which we remember all that God has done for us, Easter being of prominence.

I concur with Paul, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile. For in the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed—a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: ‘The righteous will live by faith,’” (Romans 1:16-17).

Belief for the Christian is far more than church attendance or accomplishing good works, we celebrate the birth, life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. There has been a long-established assault on Christianity, an effort to delegitimize the very existence of Jesus. History doesn’t lie, Jesus was and is one of the most influential persons that ever lived. Furthermore, we know Christ to be “God made flesh” who dwelt among us (John 1:14), this makes him quite extraordinary.

Christians should celebrate Easter every day for multiple reasons. One, the Gospel gives us hope in a world that lacks clarity and life purpose. We are not accidents of the cosmos, God created each of us uniquely. Two, we exist to have a relationship with God our creator. Three, our sin separates us from a holy and just God. Four, Jesus provides us atonement; he stands in our place before our holy God taking the punishment for our sin as we repent seeking him for salvation. These foundational faith essentials bring Christians together for the distinct purpose of worshiping our Savior, Jesus Christ. Together we celebrate the life-giving message of Jesus every day of the year, not just Easter Sunday.

As you contemplate Easter what’s your reason for celebrating? Is Jesus Christ your primary focus? Billy Graham wisely reminded us, “God proved His love on the Cross. When Christ hung, and bled, and died, it was God saying to the world, ‘I love you.’” The single greatest act of love in all history was when Christ died on that hillside; torn, battered, and bruised for our sin. Three days later Jesus rose from the dead fulfilling numerous messianic

prophecies. Peter Stoner, Chairman of the Departments of Mathematics and Astronomy at Pasadena College, calculated the probability that Christ fulfilled eight specific prophecies was 1 in 1017. That figure is nearly improbable to achieve but then again we are talking about the power of the Gospel, God’s love in action.

Let’s celebrate Easter because of Jesus!