In the Christian community, this is our most important week; it even overshadows Christmas, as it is the fulfillment of the prophecy of the Messiah who will free mankind from sin and provide eternal salvation from death, Hell and the grave.
When I was a small boy, Easter meant chocolate rabbits and colored eggs, new clothes and a big family dinner on Sunday. I like big family dinners; family is very important to me. A gathering of family is usually a joyous occasion (excluding sickness and death, of course). As a boy, we would all sit at our table enjoying roast leg of lamb, baked ham, sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, fresh bread and pasta (of course) and all of the other Italian delicacies that always accompany a family dinner. After dinner, we would have an Easter-Egg hunt that encompassed the entire house; children were running everywhere to retrieve dozens of colored hard-boiled eggs. Then the Easter Baskets arrived, filled with candy of all types, enough to rot all the teeth in the Chicago-land area. Just like all family dinners, there was much laughter, hugging and kissing from aunts, uncles and cousins. We Italians are an emotional lot, you know!
Unfortunately, we didn’t discuss too much about the meaning of Jesus’ resurrection after His sacrifice on the cross at Calvary. Perhaps there are a number of you who are reading this who also don’t know very much about the real Easter Celebration. If you are offended by Jesus, I am not. It is not my intention to enrage or agitate any of you, but it is my duty, and my pleasure, to talk about Jesus.
Why did Jesus die on the cross? Many people don’t know the answer to that question. For generations the children of Abraham made “blood sacrifices” to atone for sins in their lives, which extended back to Adam’s fall from grace in the Garden of Eden. In Genesis, the Lord said he would provide a sacrifice that would give mankind a chance to return to a right relationship to Him, through the seed of the woman.
For centuries, prophecy spoke of exactly how the Messiah would return to “pay the price” for man’s weakness in sin. I will not go through all of the Old Testament to show how this all ties together, but if you are curious, it is all in His Book!
In Genesis, we are punished with death through our sin nature, a nature that makes salvation through our own acts impossible (we all sin). God, through His love for man, provided us with a perfect sacrifice through His own Son, Jesus; who, in obedience to the Father, gave up His life as propitiation for our iniquities. He then rose from the dead, in victory over death and Hell, providing us with a way to come back to the Lord. Jesus offers us the gift (through grace) of eternal life; all we have to do is accept it and follow Him in obedience to God.
Some of you that read this will dismiss it; others might want to know more about it. I’m not a person of small intelligence (I’m not trying to boast), and I have studied this to a great extent. Even if you examine this with only cold logic, it will come together; God will speak to you, I promise!
The decision you make about your spiritual life is more important than any other decision you will ever make about anything else, even a Presidential Election. On this Resurrection Sunday, I urge all of my readers to find out who Jesus really is; you can buy a Bible for less than $2.00, or a local church will probably give you one. Please get a Bible, please read its message; the decision you make will have “eternal consequences”. God Bless you all!!
(This is my last blog until Tuesday, the rest of my week I will be thinking about “eternal consequences”!)
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