What Does Easter Mean to You?

As I sat thumbing through recent magazines and catalogs, it struck me that Easter is only two weeks away and all I could find in these current commentaries on our culture were hosts of bunnies, baskets, eggs, and flowers intermingled among recipes for baked ham, pea casserole, and coconut cake in the shape of…you’ve got it…bunnies, baskets, eggs, and flowers.

Is this what we’ve reduced Easter to mean?

Well, may I present a different view of this season for Your Refreshed Life?

Easter is love. Yes, Easter is the highest representation of love ever seen.

Why? In His overwhelming mercy and truly amazing grace, the Almighty Creator God of this Universe who is perfect, saw the flaws of all humanity (due to our ancestors’ rejection of His loving guidance and care first seen in Eve and Adam-Genesis 2:9,16-17), and knew this left an impenetrable barrier, thwarting His relationship with His Creation.

Perfect holiness could not associate with evil, human flaw, or sin. The separation could not be removed apart from a sacrifice. And no sacrifice would be sufficient but His own sacrifice.

So, the God of the Universe came. He was born, lived among us, loved us, taught us His ways, touched our lives, felt our pain… and then died an excruciating death to pay the penalty for our decision to disobey Him.

When we place our faith in Jesus Christ, we become His children in His perfect Kingdom, forgiven and reconciled, fully experiencing His love. Easter is actually about God and His love relationship with us.

Some consider it a fairy tale and others delusion. But love is the opposite of evil. All you have to do is look at the evening news to see the depth of depravity, hate, unspeakable behavior, and evil atrocities. In contrast, God’s love is greater than anything we can imagine. God’s love is no delusion or fairy tale…it is truth. And it is this gift of that love we celebrate at Easter.

The apostle John describes it best:
“Beloved, let us [unselfishly] love and seek the best for one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves [others] is born of God and knows God [through personal experience]. The one who does not love has not become acquainted with God [does not and never did know Him], for God is love. [He is the originator of love, and it is an enduring attribute of His nature.]

“By this the love of God was displayed in us, in that God has sent His [One and] only begotten Son [the One who is truly unique, the only One of His kind] into the world so that we might live through Him.

“In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation [that is, the atoning sacrifice, and the satisfying offering] for our sins [fulfilling God’s requirement for justice against sin and placating His wrath].

“Beloved, if God so loved us [in this incredible way], we also ought to love one another. No one has seen God at any time. But if we love one another [with unselfish concern], God abides in us, and His love [the love that is His essence abides in us and] is completed and perfected in us.” (I John 4:7-12 Amp)

In our family, we never referred to this holiday as Easter, but instead, RESURRECTION DAY! This year let’s demonstrate the love this day celebrates…and remember it’s so much more than bunnies, baskets, eggs, and flowers. Resurrection Sunday is all about Jesus Christ alone!

Joyous RESURRECTION DAY from our family to yours!