If Jesus Really Rose from the Dead...

Easter has begun! This of course means that our forty days of fasting and discipline are finally over and we can gorge ourselves on chocolate and junk food and movies and go back to being lazy slobs! Our reward for denying ourselves is indulging ourselves!

You think I'm being sarcastic but you know in your heart I am not really kidding. That's pretty much how we approach Easter - as no-longer-Lent, as Sherry Weddell put it in a recent post on her Forming Intentional Disciples Forum.

But Easter has got to be more than that. This is the biggest feast of the Christian Church. Even bigger than than the birth of God as a baby is the final accomplishment of everything that Baby came to do.

And what did He do? He broke the bonds of death, He spoke the final word, He won the ultimate victory in the great cosmic battle between good and evil. Picture every superhero movie you ever watched, and think of the final showdown between the hero and the villain... this is SO much bigger.

But what does this mean for you and for me today, and in the days to come?

1. WE ARE NO LONGER SLAVES

For freedom Christ has set us free, therefore stand firm and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery. Gal 5:1

We were made to be free, and we are freest and happiest when we are living as we ought, with clean consciences, and days filled with prayer, love and service. Don't fall back into slavery of seeking happiness in fleeting sensory pleasures. Lent wasn't supposed to be a 'sad' time, but a time to realign our hearts to the truth, and re-order our desires so we seek God first and most.

The Resurrection means you have a choice! You don't HAVE to be a slave to sin. You don't HAVE to be anxious and sad and angry or selfish all the time. The door of the prison cell is open - step out and live as a son or daughter of God.

2. WE HAVE SUPERPOWERS

I also pray that you will understand the incredible greatness of God’s power for us who believe him. This is the same mighty power that raised Christ from the dead and seated him in the place of honor at God’s right hand in the heavenly realms. Ephesians 1:19-20

"Have you heard of Spiderman? You know he was just a normal boy named Peter Parker who had glasses and wasn't very different from everyone else. But then he became Spiderman! And  now he can shoot webs and he has amazing vision and he can climb walls. How did that happen?"

"A spider bit him!" shout my twelve year olds at Jesus Club.

"Yes! And we also on our own are just normal human beings. We are lazy and selfish and impatient and negative. But we have our own radioactive spider - the HOLY SPIRIT!" (Theologians, please don't kill me.) "On our own, we can't do much. But with the Holy Spirit we can be DIFFERENT! We can be saints! And do you know what our superpower is?"

"Um.. we can climb walls?"

"No. Our superpower is that we can LOVE!"

I will sprinkle clean water upon you to cleanse you from all your impurities, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. I will give you a new heart and place a new spirit within you, taking from your bodies your stony hearts and giving you natural hearts. I will put my spirit within you and make you live by my statutes, careful to observe my decrees. Ezekiel 36: 25-27

This, but holier

3. WE HAVE HOPE

God indeed is my savior; I am confident and unafraid. My strength and my courage is the LORD, and he has been my savior. With joy you will draw water at the fountain of salvation. Is 12:2-3

It seems like most of us live with this cloud of gloom hanging over our heads. And who can blame us? Things in the world seem horrible. Bombings that kill hundreds of innocent people, nations torn  apart by divisive hate-filled politics, brokenness everywhere, in our families, in our church, in the news, in ourselves. It seems the best thing to do is just 'accept reality' and give up hope, just try to protect ourselves from the worst of an ugly world. People are bad, things are hopeless.

But Jesus' death and resurrection means something! Death, the ugliest and most powerful foe of all, has been defeated. It no longer has power over us! Because if Jesus really rose from the dead, then the sin and suffering and death we see all around us is NOT the final word. Our God is a God of LIFE, of newness, of new beginnings and light in what seems like crushing darkness.

The truth is that LOVE prevails. Love wins. Love has the final word. The God of life has promised to bring to life anyone who comes to Him. That newness of life begins now. We celebrate it in this Easter season. There is nothing that need rob your peace. God will bring clarity to your uncertainty about the future. He will bring healing to your wounds. He will bring good out of evil. He will get you through whatever difficult situation you're going through. We may be in the middle of a battle but the war has been won.

“Do not abandon yourselves to despair. We are the Easter people and hallelujah is our song.”  
Saint John Paul II

Related Reading

Why Are We an Easter People?

When You Are in a Dark Place and Can’t Get Out

The Antidotes to Anxiety

The Lent Project