The Easter Post
Since Easter is upon us, and despite the fact that I really don’t have the time to write, I feel compelled to write about what Easter means to me. Do you ever think about it? Easter egg hunts, candy everywhere you look, those innocent yet somehow scary Easter Bunnies, the Springtime setting, and everything, regardless of what color it is the rest of the year, painted in pastels. It doesn’t exactly seem to fit the occasion, does it? After all, it’s the time of the year when us Christians recognize the single, most amazing event in history…when Jesus Christ, the Word that was with God from the beginning and the Holy Son of God, provided the ultimate sacrifice. I hope that doesn’t sound sterile to you. I can’t even say “Have a Happy Easter” without considering the cost of my salvation.
The word is “sacrifice,” and if you think about it, I bet you hear it and say it more than you realize. You sacrificed an evening to help a friend move, the game was won on a sacrifice fly to left field…stated simply, something was given up for the benefit of something else. It’s a calculated trade, performed consciously, knowing ahead of time that the outcome was worth the period of loss. Understanding “sacrifice” from a Biblical perspective can be slightly more difficult considering the sacrifice rules and regs of the who, what, when, where, and why contained in Jewish history. To simplify this, please consider Genesis 3. Adam and Eve had disobeyed God. In turn, God made Adam and Eve “coats of skin” to cover their nakedness, which cost the blood of innocent life. To summarize, this is basic rule…the wages of sin is death. Lucky for me, God accepts substitutionary payment…a sacrifice, if you will.
The payment for my sins was the blood shed on Calvary’s cross by Jesus Christ. I call it the Ultimate Sacrifice. It’s the ultimate because from the beginning God wanted my worship and loyalty…not my sacrifice. When I sinned against Him, not only did He make the provision of sacrifice, but He provided Himself a lamb for offering (Genesis 22:8). The blameless sacrifice would be His Son, His only Son, Jesus, whom He loved(Genesis 22:2), and He took the wood of the offering and laid it upon Him (Genesis 22:6). And now for the kicker…have you ever heard of the phrase “like a lamb to the slaughter?” You know, the concept that the lamb, unwarrily and happily, is led to its death…Well, this does not characterize the death of Christ. “They went both of them together” (Genesis 22:6, 8 KJV)…the Father and the Son in complete and thorough agreement. How complete was Christ’s understanding? I feel confident in providing Luke 22:44 as proof of total understanding, “And being in an agony he prayed more earnestly: and his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground.“…trust me, He knew.
Now I’m ready to explain what Easter means to me. In the Old Testament, a veil stood between man and the presence (Shekinah) of God. The veil, made of blue, purple, and scarlet material as well as fine twisted linen, might have been as much as 60 feet high and 4 inches thick and was reportedly strong enough that horses could not pull it apart. Similarly, my sin separated me from God. When Jesus was sacrificed on the cross, it was recorded in Mark 15:38 that, “…the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom.,” effectively breaking the barrier between Man and God, “from top to bottom” or “from God to us.” This is not the end of the story, yet for so many in our society it is. They believe that Christ came, lived, and was crucified…even that He removed all barriers between them and God…but not that He is the way, the truth, and the life (John 14:6) and not that the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life (Matthew 7:13-14).
What Easter is to me is found in Hebrews 10:19-22: “Therefore, brethren, having boldness to enter the Holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He consecrated for us, through the veil, that is, His flesh, and having a High Priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.” The old veil is gone, the “new veil” is Christ, and no man can come to the Father, but by Him (John 14:6). Easter reminds me that my faith and hope of eternal salvation is in Him who “is able to do exceeding abundantly above all we ask or think…” (Ephesians 3:20 KJV) His name is Jesus.
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March 18th, 2010 at 11:52 pm #
Since Easter is upon us, and despite the fact that I really don’t have the time to write, I feel compelled to write about what Easter means to me…..
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Kylie BattName
April 11th, 2010 at 12:12 pm #
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Kylie Batt
May 12th, 2010 at 5:32 pm #
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??????? Since Easter is upon us, and despite the fact that I really don’t have the time to write, I feel compelled to write about what Easter means to me…..
Kylie Batt1
June 13th, 2010 at 11:54 am #
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