DeSoto County Newsroom.com

Southaven,MS

Easter is a time to celebrate! But why? Why do we celebrate? Why the Easter Bunny, and Easter Egg Hunts, and ladies in brightly colored dresses and Easter hats, and people attending Church? Why are the stores filled with my favorite creamy egg? (Insert Homer Simpson drool).
Well, I’m not sure I know the origin of Easter eggs and the Easter Bunny and those yummy creamy eggs, so you can search the internet for all that later…..but we are here to talk about why there is even an Easter and what it means to those of us who are Christians.
There are people way smarter than me that have written volumes on this subject, but let me bring you yet another attempt, albeit a rather meek and amateur one. Let me explain Easter the way I see it.

You see, our Heavenly Father had a problem. God had a problem because the world had a problem. The problem of the world was and is SIN. God, our awesome Creator, is a holy God and He cannot fellowship with sin nor can He condone it, nor can He allow it in Heaven. Sin has a penalty; the penalty is death. There must be the shedding of innocent blood through the death of a sacrifice. Sounds gross and a bit harsh, I know, but a holy and perfect God cannot erase sin or overlook it by saying “that’s ok, don’t worry about it”. It must be dealt with. So, God gave commands to Moses that innocent animals should be sacrificed and their death would bring forgiveness to those who had sinned. Unfortunately, this would only work for people born into the Jewish Race, His chosen people.
And it would only be a temporary forgiveness for the children of Israel.
Even they couldn’t enter heaven without an eternal blood covering. Think of it this way; the sacrifice for their sins only covered them until they sinned again. They needed eternal “once-and-for-all” forgiveness. But God was faced with another dilemma as well. He loved everyone He would create, including you and I. And He wanted us with Him for all eternity too! He needed a way for all of His children to be eternally forgiven. Enter Jesus!

The truth is, the only way we can enter Heaven is if our sins have been forgiven.
So, God devised a plan before the world began that would have all our sins eternally forgiven. He chose Jesus, his only true begotten Son, to pay the price for everyone’s sin through the shedding of His blood and through His death and resurrection.

In order for someone to pay for another person’s sins, they must first be sinless. Well, that eliminated everyone in the world from the short list of ‘those who could pay for other’s sins’, but we are told that Jesus never sinned. You must remember that the blood shed for sin must be innocent blood. If I were to attempt to shed my blood for your sins, I would only be punished for MY sins. Oops, you still have a sin problem, and now I’m dead. Not good!
Secondly, they had to be born in a way that escaped the curse of Adam’s disobedience bringing sin into the world. Hence, the virgin birth of Jesus which gave Him pure blood.
Thirdly, the person who gives their life up for other’s sins must have power over death, so that we too can rise from our death to live forever with Him. No animal could do that.
You know, sweet little lambs are pretty innocent. And they were among the animals chosen by God to be used in sacrifice. Jesus is called the Sacrificial Lamb. And you’ll always see a lamb somewhere in Easter festivities because of that, but they have no power over death. Jesus does!
So, back to Easter. On Friday, Good Friday, Jesus’ perfect blood was shed when He was beaten. That excruciating and horrible beating He took on Good Friday was for US! He was not being beaten for HIS sins. He was being beaten for MY sins and YOUR sins. He took that beating for us! Then they nailed Him to a cross where He died! I know, right? That should have been me on the cross paying for my sins. But Jesus, an innocent man, died for me instead. He died saying “Father, I will die in Michael’s place so that he won’t have to”. And He died in your place too!
But here’s the best part; on Easter Sunday morning He ROSE from the dead! That’s right, He came back to life! Whoo Hoo!
Why shout? Because now, your sins are eternally forgiven when you confess them, and your death is not permanent. Instead, you are going to Heaven when you die and you will live with Jesus and the Father forever! But, you must believe He died and rose again, and you must confess your sins to Him. That is critical! If there is no confession or remorse, then there is no forgiveness.

THAT is why we celebrate Easter! Because if Jesus had not come and shed His innocent blood, we would not stand a chance of ever seeing Heaven and being with our Creator.
Now mind you, I love those creamy eggs, and Easter egg hunts are fun, but the true reason we celebrate is because an innocent man died two thousand years ago so that you wouldn’t be punished for your sins!

Happy Easter everyone! And that’s the way I see it!

Chaplain Michael Upchurch
Team RFC®
Racers For Christ®