Why Easter is a Time of Celebration: The Resurrection
Jesus has risen, he has risen indeed. We all know and are familiar with this saying and yet I wonder how many really know why this is indeed a celebrate that Jesus died and rose again.
To fully understand why Easter is a time of Celebration we must go a little journey. Throughout this journey I will look at the beautiful promises of the coming Messiah in the Old Testament and the culmination of those promises in the New Testament. Then finally we will look at His death and Resurrection and the future promise of our own Resurrection into eternal new life with Him.
Christ’s story began with the very first man Adam (and before that since he has always existed) and then traveled from Adam down through Abraham and King David. Christ was of their lineage and God so beautifully orchestrated this history. This leaves me with awe and wonder.
But the real awe and wonder comes from what Christ did in his final moments of life. He died for us, sinners.
Do you fully understand the impact of what this means?
Christ died. Why? He died to become the Atoning sacrifice. Just like the Old Testament sacrifices, Jesus became as sacrifice for us.
Only this would be the last and final sacrifice ever needed. Why? Because Christ is the perfect spotless lamb. He was blameless before God. God’s son willingly gave up himself to God’s wrath in order to make us blameless before God the Father.
For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. 2 Corinthians 5:21
Christ did not sin. He was and is perfect, he is God and therefor resisted all temptation and did not sin. Because of this he became the ultimate sacrifice.
But sending His son to die, God fulfilled the Law (Old Testament) and made a way for all to believe to enter into salvation.
For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, would not do. By sending his own son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the spirit. Romans 8:3-4
Easter is essentially about Salvation. Christ came to earth, He died and then he rose again. Christ continues to live on and he is ready to welcome believers when we finally go home.
He gave his perfect life for ours so that we could enter God’s Kingdom. This is joy enough! On Easter morning we should get up feeling like celebrating! Our king died for us yes, we must take that with a somber realization.
But then you know what? He rose again and made a way for us to come into His Kingdom and for that we celebrate!!
We also celebrate because in Christ we now have salvation and at the end of the ages, we will be resurrected into His Kingdom and this is even more cause for celebration. Come back tomorrow to see how this plays out in our Easter Celebration.
Read more from this series:
- Introduction
- Promises of the Coming Messiah: A Journey Through the Old Testament
- Fulfillment of the Messiah: A Journey Through The New Testament
- Why Easter is a Time of Celebration: The Resurrection
- Why Easter is a Time of Celebration: Future Promises