The Significance of Easter

The focal point of Easter is the celebration of Jesus’ resurrection that occurred nearly 2,000 years ago. Jesus came to die for our sins, was buried, and rose again on the third day. This is the “gospel” which means “good news”.

This gospel is explained to us in 1 Corinthians 15:1-4, “Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received and in which you stand, by which also you are saved, if you hold fast that word which I preached to you—unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures.”

Why did Jesus need to die for us? Romans 3:23 says “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” If you’ve lied, you’ve sinned. If you’ve stolen something you’ve sinned. If you’ve wanted something that’s not yours, you’ve sinned. God has a perfect standard and all of us have failed this standard. All the sin we commit is ultimately against God (Psalm 51:4).

This also means that due to our fallen state, there’s nothing we can do to save ourselves. No amount of praying, giving to the poor, or being a “good” person will save us, help us reach “enlightenment” or get us into heaven/paradise. In fact, God sees our good works as filthy rags, “For all of us have become like one who is unclean, And all our righteous deeds are like a filthy garment; And all of us wither like a leaf, And our iniquities, like the wind, take us away,” (Isaiah 64:6).

Because God is just, He cannot leave our sins unpunished; He must punish sin. The bible says that the punishment of this sin, this offense against a perfect and holy God is death, “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 6:23). So when we die apart from Christ, what awaits all of us is eternal torment in the lake of fire (Revelation 20:11-15). That’s the bad news. However, that’s not where it ends! It’s the bad news that makes the good news shine much brighter.

We’re told that God is love (1 John 4:8) and because He loves mankind, He offered us a way to escape the punishment that we rightly deserve by sending His Son to die for us, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life,” (John 3:16).

So on the cross, we see God’s wrath against sin and love for humanity intersect. God poured His wrath on His Son so that He could take the punishment we deserve and in doing so we can have eternal life when we believe (or place our trust in) what He did. Although Easter is a holiday known to be celebrated by Christians, its true significance – the resurrection of Jesus – is something meant for all of humanity to dwell on and believe in. I encourage you today to consider the claims of Christ and of the bible. Our life is like a vapor so tomorrow isn’t guaranteed for anyone (James 4:13-14).

Although God offers humanity the gift of eternal life through the shed blood of His son, it’s our choice to either reject this gift and pay for the penalty of our sin ourselves or accept it by placing our trust in the one who’s already paid it all in full (Acts 16:30-31, Romans 6:23, Ephesians 2:8-9). Make sure you’ve made the right decision about Jesus today! It will be the most important decision of your life, for eternal life.