1 Peter 1:3-4 (TPT)
Celebrate with praises the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has shown us his extravagant mercy. For his fountain of mercy has given us a new life-we are reborn to experience a living, energetic hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. We are reborn into a perfect inheritance that can never perish, never be defiled, and never diminish. It is promised and preserved forever in the heavenly realm for you!
As we get closer to Easter Sunday, it’s important that we take the time to truly consider what this sacred holiday is really all about. It’s easy to become so focused on our modern Easter traditions that we miss out on the true meaning of this day. We often become so caught up in putting together the perfect outfit that we forget that this is the celebration of our Savior’s triumph over death. We think about travel arrangements, family obligations, and everything else that comes with major holidays, routinely causing us to forget about the fact that if it were not for this day, everything that we believe in would be in vain.
Just a few years after Christ had resurrected from the dead and returned to Heaven, Peter encouraged believers to continue celebrating the fact that God had raised Jesus from the dead. Peter, one of the first people to arrive at the empty tomb, had a firsthand interaction with the risen Lord. However, he encouraged the New Testament Church who hadn’t seen the things that he had seen to “celebrate with praises” the God who had raised Jesus Christ from the dead. He admonished them to embrace the living, energetic hope that was made available through that resurrection. That living, energetic hope is available to us today, and Easter is the perfect opportunity to celebrate it.
While we know that Christ’s resurrection is the reason for the Easter holiday, let’s go a little deeper today. What does Easter really mean for us today? 2,000-plus years after Jesus miraculously rose from the dead, the stone was rolled away, and the women and the disciples found the empty tomb, what does this holiday really mean for us? Not only does it change our lives on this side of eternity, but it also changes what eternity looks like for us. Let’s learn mor about our living, energetic, Easter-inspired hope.
Easter Solidifies Our Faith
1 Corinthians 15:16-17 (TPT)
If the dead aren’t raised up, that would mean that Christ has not been raised up either. And if Christ is not alive, you are still lost in your sins and your faith is a fantasy.
Based on the Biblical timeline of his life, we know that Paul was not a believer in Christ when Jesus was arrested, crucified, and raised from the dead. Paul was likely training to be a Pharisaical leader during the period of Christ’s ministry. However, after interacting supernaturally with Christ in Acts 9, Paul had absolutely no doubt that Jesus was truly alive.
That is why he was able to declare that if it had not been for the resurrection of Christ, the Christian faith would be a “fantasy.” Isn’t that a staggering thought?
If Jesus had not raised from the dead, everything that we believe would be a pipedream. Without the resurrection of Christ, the promises that Jesus made would not be the foundational truths that we hold onto today. If Christ had not raised, we would have no hope of being healed by God. If Jesus had not resurrected, we would not have the promise of His divine provision. Without the resurrection of Christ, our faith would be a fantasy that means nothing at all.
Easter is the Promise of Eternal Life
1 Corinthians 15:18-19 (TPT)
It would also mean that those believers in Christ who have passed away have simply perished. If the only benefit of our hope in Christ is limited to this life on earth, we deserve to be pitied more than all others!
In the verses that follow the ones that we just read from Paul’s first letter to the Corinthian Church, Paul expounds on the importance of Christ’s resurrection. In these two verses, he explains that the resurrection of Christ on the first Easter not only ensures that our faith is built on a sure foundation, but it also provides us with the hope of eternal life.
Let’s look at the second half of what Paul said first. “If our hope in Christ is limited to this life on earth, we deserve to be pitied.” In that sentence, Paul was speaking about the fact that the only hope he had in this life was that God would continue to protect him while he preached the Gospel. However, there would always be more persecution. Our hope in God, which is based on the resurrection of Christ, does not only provide us with hope in this life. Instead, it is the basis of our hope for eternity.
With that in mind, we can embrace the fact that Christ’s resurrection of the dead means that we will also be raised from the dead. When we die, our lives are not really over. Instead, death is a transitional step that we must take in order to get to the place that God has for us. Additionally, this provides us with the hope that our loved ones who had their faith in Christ are not really gone forever. Instead, we will be reunited with them for eternity, all because Christ raised from the dead.
Sin Lost It’s Grip on Us
Romans 4:23-25 (TPT)
And this declaration was not just spoken over Abraham, but also over us. For when we believe and embrace the one who brought our Lord Jesus back to life, perfect righteousness will be credited to our account as well. Jesus was handed over to be crucified for the forgiveness of our sins and was raised back to life to prove that he had made us right with God.
Because of the sin of Adam and Eve, each of us enter this life with a debt that we could never pay on our own. The only way to pay that debt is through a perfect sacrifice. Unfortunately, none of us can ever be perfect enough to meet the requirements of that sacrifice. The only person who could ever pay that price was Christ, and He willingly did so.
The sin in our lives creates a chasm between us and God. We cannot be close to Him because the canyon of sin that stands between us is simply too wide for us to cross. That’s why Jesus came, died, and rose again.
In his letter to the Roman Church, Paul said that Jesus was handed over to be crucified for the forgiveness of our sins. That means that His death paid the price. However, when He raised again, it proved that we were justified with God. The sins of humanity that He bore on the cross and carried into the tomb could not hold Him down, and they cannot hold us down. We have been set free from the grip of sin because of the finished work of Christ.
A Closing Prayer:
Heavenly Father, thank You for the true meaning of the first Easter. Thank You for cementing my faith through the resurrection of Your Son. Thank You for the promise of eternal life that comes from my faith in His resurrection. Finally, thank You for the fact that sin has lost its grip on me, and I am not bound by the things I’ve done wrong. I am justified in Your sight because of His life. In Christ’s name, Amen.