Easter! What comes to your mind when you hear that word? Do you think of new clothes? Painted eggs? Chocolate bunnies? or ______ ??
Easter to me is a word filled with meaning. It means so much because of something that changed the history and future of this world. That something is often forgotten or overlooked every other day of the year yet it is without a doubt the most significant historical event the universe has ever seen. That something is the resurrection. Thus Easter means a new beginning. It means hope. Easter is the day Jesus the Nazarene came gloriously out of the borrowed tomb by the power of God. On the morning after Passover, Jesus conquered death.
Easter means that Christians are not defeated in life or by death. Easter means we have God’s promise of a fresh start and a new creation. We have God’s promise of joy, even in the face of death, because God said, “Arise my Love!”
When our loved ones pass on we miss their physical presence. But if we are in Christ, Easter assures us—we will see them again. We will not see them because we enter into death too. We see them because we will be resurrected, like Jesus was, to a new life. Not ghosts mind you but our bodies will be raised to new life. What hope we have. What joy because of what the Lord has done.
Easter means a new beginning for those who have been afflicted in this life. Elise Reid, a dear friend of mine, was a nearly six feet tall at one point. But Elise was eaten up in her body by radical diabetes. When she died she was blind. When she died she had no arms. When she died she had no legs. When she died she was not even four feet long. But I rejoiced with her because Easter promises her a new body and new life. How I love Easter! Easter is good news.
The things we tend to associate with Easter, the new clothes, etc. are joyous because of the newness they symbolize. They point to joy. They celebrate life. May God bless you this day—Easter. Christ the Lord is risen today. Hallelujah.
Shalom,
Bobby Valentine
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