It has been only recently that the meaning of Easter dawned on me very strongly. Till then Easter just means the day Jesus was raised from the dead. When I started reading the Bible afresh, attempting to understanding how the whole historical-theological narrative from Genesis through Revelation works out, I realised Easter has meaning much deeper than the one I have grown up with all the years.
In 1 Corinthian 15 the Bible says that if Jesus is not risen from the dead our faith is in vain, and we are still in our sins. If Jesus had not been raised from the dead, death is not really conquered; death will conquer us all ultimately. But Jesus is risen, therefore, death will not prevail. But what relevance does it have for me while I am still alive? Does it give me just hope beyond the grave and nothing else? No. The conquer of death is a very subversive message. The ruler of the world uses death sentence as an oppressive tool. To have his sinful ways he puts to death all those who oppose him. And many follow his ways because to them death is scary and the end of life. But did not the poet say, "death, be not proud"? If death is not the end because Jesus is risen from the death, then the ruler of the world has no weapon with which he can threaten his subjects. I stand for what is right and just because I know as I do what HE wills death will never have the final say. I shall be scared when the ruler of the world threatens me with his weapon of death if death is the end of the story. But as I look to Jesus I know HE has triumphed over death.
Easter also reminds me that God has begun his new creation. "Thy kingdom come on earth... as it is in heaven" is not a dream of the Enlightenment era, but God's sovereign work inaugurated through the resurrection of his Son Jesus Christ in history. To live out God's teaching in my life, even when it is in the interest of my tribe or my nation, is not carving out an utopian dream to be achieved only in heaven but an exercise of faith in Jesus Christ as the Son of God who has been raised from the dead in time and space. This suggests that I forgive as the Lord forgave ( Col 3. 13), love my wife ( v.19), break tribal-class barrier of Greek or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free (v. 11) and so on.
Easter spurs me on to stand firm and to work for the Lord. After all the work I do will not go in vain; Jesus will take notice of each of them, even a glass of water that I give to the thirsty.
In 1 Corinthian 15 the Bible says that if Jesus is not risen from the dead our faith is in vain, and we are still in our sins. If Jesus had not been raised from the dead, death is not really conquered; death will conquer us all ultimately. But Jesus is risen, therefore, death will not prevail. But what relevance does it have for me while I am still alive? Does it give me just hope beyond the grave and nothing else? No. The conquer of death is a very subversive message. The ruler of the world uses death sentence as an oppressive tool. To have his sinful ways he puts to death all those who oppose him. And many follow his ways because to them death is scary and the end of life. But did not the poet say, "death, be not proud"? If death is not the end because Jesus is risen from the death, then the ruler of the world has no weapon with which he can threaten his subjects. I stand for what is right and just because I know as I do what HE wills death will never have the final say. I shall be scared when the ruler of the world threatens me with his weapon of death if death is the end of the story. But as I look to Jesus I know HE has triumphed over death.
Easter also reminds me that God has begun his new creation. "Thy kingdom come on earth... as it is in heaven" is not a dream of the Enlightenment era, but God's sovereign work inaugurated through the resurrection of his Son Jesus Christ in history. To live out God's teaching in my life, even when it is in the interest of my tribe or my nation, is not carving out an utopian dream to be achieved only in heaven but an exercise of faith in Jesus Christ as the Son of God who has been raised from the dead in time and space. This suggests that I forgive as the Lord forgave ( Col 3. 13), love my wife ( v.19), break tribal-class barrier of Greek or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free (v. 11) and so on.
Easter spurs me on to stand firm and to work for the Lord. After all the work I do will not go in vain; Jesus will take notice of each of them, even a glass of water that I give to the thirsty.
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