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Why Easter?
from the Phil and Pam Morgan Newsletter
This past Easter Sunday we were honored to minister at two churches in southern Missouri. What a triumphant day for a celebration! To share our personal story of Pam's "rising up" from paralysis at the same time as Jesus "rising up" from the grave was powerful indeed. As I was contemplating the events of Jesus's last week here before His resurrection, I had a curious thought. Was Easter really necessary?
Now before you start throwing colored eggs at me, think about it for a minute. Why did Jesus come to earth in the first place? Let's look at the book.
- For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. - Romans 3:23
- For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. - Romans 6:23
- But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. - Romans 5:8
OK, this spells it out very clearly. We have a sin problem. This is nothing new, it goes clear back to the garden of eden with Eve and the apple. God is very serious about sin, but He loved us so much He established a way for us to cancel out our sin. Moses recorded that we could offer an animal (for example, a spotless lamb without any defects) and by sacrificing it on the altar, God would accept that as a substitute for the death that we deserve because of our sin. The lamb could die in our place and God's perfect justice would be satisfied.
Jesus came to earth to be the perfect and ultimate sacrifice for the sins of all people for all time. Jesus was the only person who never sinned, yet "God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God." - 2 Corinthians 5:21 Jesus died in our place so that God's perfect justice would be satisfied, once and for all time. AMEN!!! This was Jesus's purpose, the reason it was necessary for Him to become human. Jesus accomplished his mission on the cross of Calvary. Do you remember his final words? "When he had received the drink, Jesus said, 'It is finished.' With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit." - John 19:30
The question is this, if Jesus did what He came to do with His death on the cross, why did He choose to come back to life again by His resurrection on Easter morning? I believe this is another example of God's abundant love for us. God loves us so much, He often goes far beyond what is necessary. God didn't just love us enough to die for us, He loves us so much He came back again to live with us. Jesus's death brought us the promise of eternal life with Him in heaven. Jesus's resurrection brings us the promise of life with Him here on earth. By walking out of the tomb, he walked into our daily lives. Now no matter what challenges we face as we walk through this life, we don't have to face them by ourselves. Jesus is right beside us to guide, help and sometimes carry us through. Our Savior isn't dead, He's alive! With immense love, 2000 years ago Jesus stretched out His arms to die for us on a cruel wooden cross. With an even greater love, today He stretches out his arms to wrap around us and hold us close. You see, God's love is so great that nails and wood couldn't hold it. A cavern of solid rock couldn't hold it. God knew we couldn't make it to Him, so He came back to us. That's love. That's why we have Easter.
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