There has been a lot of talk about Jesus and Christianity lately, often accompanied by some form or another of controversy. There is nothing more controversial or radical, however, than what we as Christians believe about Jesus and Easter.
I am a Christian. I'm writing this article as VIP content because this is the format where I can share my personal thoughts and beliefs with you most directly, and I'd like to share with you how I view Easter.
“In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth” (Gen.1:1)
— Greg Laurie (@greglaurie) March 27, 2024
If you believe Genesis 1:1 the rest of the Bible will come easily.If you believe this opening passage of scripture then you will be reminded that we follow a God that is all-powerful, all knowing and all loving.…
The very first verse of the Bible is one of my favorites because it implies so much about God.
We see scripture starts at the 'beginning'. The beginning of what? Everything. Time itself. God is already there, and we learn in the first four words of the Bible that God exists outside of time, outside of space, and has no beginning. The writer describes the 'beginning' to those bound by time - us.
Genesis goes on to describe God's creative act of a perfect world, culminating in the creation of man and woman in a state of perfect communion with God in person.
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Here, we find the physical and spiritual perfection of humanity, exactly as designed, allowing man and woman to live in pure bliss.
Within that perfect harmony with the Creator, it is logically necessary, in my view, that humanity was in willful communion with God. God loves his creation, and love is never forced. Willful communion with God requires the ability to exit that relationship.
“In the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.”
— James David Dickson (@downi75) March 25, 2024
— Genesis 1:9
Man’s first pickle was a choice between eternal life and certain death
Do I need to give a spoiler alert? pic.twitter.com/YOZs432bti
Humanity was a perfect creation. They had not defied the will of God, which is what the Bible calls 'sin'. They had no way to sin unless God gave them a way to make a choice.
For this reason, God placed The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil in the garden. The lie that Satan told Eve was that eating from the tree would give her knowledge. The truth was the knowledge of good and evil was imparted by the very presence of the tree and God's accompanying command to refrain from eating its fruit. There was no magic fruit. To eat was evil. To refrain was good. That's the knowledge.
They broke from God's will and their perfect relationship with God was severed. From that point, man required redemption to restore unity with God. The battle between man's will and God's will still rages today.
A series of events followed that proved the redemption of mankind could not be achieved through his own actions. God established a covenant with Abraham and his descendants, making them his chosen people - Israel.
Throughout the Old Testament, the Israelites struggle to maintain a right relationship with God. They are led by patriarchs who answer directly to God, the written law, judges, prophets, and kings. All prove ineffective in restoring a lasting peace with God.
I help teach the teen class at church. As we work through the Old Testament, it's often easy to be critical of the Israelites: 'God sent the plagues! They survived the final plague! God parted the Red Sea! How did they see all these things and still turn away from God repeatedly?'
Are we any different? We remind ourselves that we would do the same - that we do the same, even now. It is not only hard for imperfect man to reliably follow God … it's impossible.
We need a better way.
Near the beginning of Israel's struggle, we learn about Moses.
Raised among Egyptian royalty, it seems Moses lacked any deep knowledge of the God of Israel. When he flees Egypt and is later called by God through the burning bush, he doesn't know how to convince the Hebrew people that he is sent by God.
EXODUS 3:14
— THE VOICE 🌹 🗣🎙🇺🇸🦅🌎⚓💜♠️CHRIST CONSCIOUSNESS (@WETHEKINGDQMQ98) March 29, 2024
KING JAMES VERSION
¹⁴And God said unto Moses, I Am That I Am: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I Am hath sent me unto you. pic.twitter.com/0JFi0Nfcl9
Moses asks God 'When I tell the Israelites you sent me, they're going to ask what your name is. What should I tell them?'
God instructs Moses to tell them that 'I Am' sent him.
We find ourselves back at Genesis 1:1. I've mentioned this so many times with the kids at church that it's sort of a running joke at this point. 'Tell them Bob sent you', we'll imagine God replying. The joke is that the God of the Bible is special. He had no beginning nor any other being to give him a name. He simply exists. God answered 'I Am' - literally 'I exist'. It's the perfect answer from the self-existent all-powerful God.
The Israelites understood this about their God. They knew they worshipped the one God, who existed from the very beginning.
Jesus answered, “I tell you the truth, before Abraham was even born, I AM!”
— e (@eemn_2) March 30, 2024
John 8:58
We later find Jesus claiming that he is the I Am. There is no mistaking his intent because scripture goes on to say they wanted to stone him to death for his blasphemy, which would have been the proper course of action for claiming himself to be God … unless he was telling the truth, of course.
It was the charge of blasphemy that eventually provided the excuse for his crucifixion.
God would later give his law to Moses and ritual sacrifice in the temple and adherence to the Mosaic law was necessary to maintain a right relationship with God. This often gives the impression that God is a bloodthirsty tyrant. Rather, he is a loving God who knows humanity's perfection is achieved only by following his will because his will for us is perfect. Anything contrary to that leaves man in a state of imperfection.
He requires blood sacrifice because, unlike us, who often view physical death as the worst thing that can happen to a person, God understands that spiritual death and separation from him is our worst fate. Sacrifice allowed the Israelites to demonstrate that God's will was more important to them than their possessions, and blood (death) served as a constant reminder of the weightiness of disunion with God and the eternal consequences that would follow.
Israel finds itself in a perpetual cycle of sin, discipline, and momentary reconciliation. They were looking for a Messiah who would help restore their fallen state.
Christians like myself believe Jesus is that messiah. Born of the Virgin Mary, the Son of God, and sinless, Jesus is the lamb of God - the perfect sacrifice to once and for all reconcile mankind to God by atoning for our sins.
“No greater love than He, who would lay down His life for His friends.”
— Jessica Barber⚓️ (@JessBarbes10) March 29, 2024
-John 15:13 pic.twitter.com/QHtZPxRLaA
I think the concept of sacrifice is sometimes misunderstood. We often view sacrifice as a person giving up the thing they value most (such as their life). What we're actually admitting is that the person gave up the thing we valued most. The person who made the sacrifice showed that they placed greater value on some other thing than the thing most of us consider most valuable.
Communion with God was the thing of most value to the faithful Israelites who made the required sacrifices in the Old Testament.
WE were the thing of most value to God when he sacrificed Jesus. For me, it would present a flaw in God's character if we were to admit that he valued my life more than that of his son … unless Jesus and God are one, which is exactly what Christianity teaches.
Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. (John 15:13)
This is what we Christians celebrate at Easter. Jesus Christ, God incarnate, sacrificed himself to atone for our sins. He provided a final path for redemption for mankind to restore the perfect communion with God that was lost in Eden.
The cycle of sin, discipline, and temporary reconciliation has been broken. In his final act of providing redemption, Jesus overcame death itself with his resurrection. We now have hope of eternal life through the one who has defeated death, the great I Am.
We no longer have to prove our desire to follow God's will through sacrifice. We only have to accept Christ's sacrifice on our behalf, repent of our sin, and follow Jesus.
How, then, do I view Easter? It's the culmination of a relentless pursuit by God, throughout history, to restore our broken relationship with him because he loves us without limit.
It is finished.
— Joanne Mason (@JoanneMason11) March 29, 2024
"Christ died for you individually just as much as if you'd been the only man in the world."--C.S. Lewis
It is finished.
He is risen!
Happy Easter, brothers and sisters in Christ!
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