Spring Thoughts

References:
• 2 Corinthians 5:11-21 NAS
• Galatians 6:10-18 NAS

The other day, my wife went outside to work in our yard. It is something that she really loves to do. In fact, if the weather is decent and there are not other pressing things to do, she will often work outside when given the chance. Although I enjoy being outside and enjoying nature, doing yard work, gardening, etc., are things that I do not enjoy at all. It is something that I really appreciate about my wife.

It is interesting to me that Easter is in the Spring. Interesting and awesome, in my opinion. Think about it. In Spring, we celebrate plants seemingly ‘come back to life.’ Grass becomes green again, deciduous trees start budding and new leaves come out, the days become warmer, the days become longer, flowers start to appear and bloom, etc. It can almost be like the world is ‘coming back to life!’

During Easter, we celebrate the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, Who was fully Man and fully Divine, so that our sins could be forgiven and we could have a new life. As Christians, we believe that so that a sinful person could have a personal relationship with a holy and righteous God, something had to atone for our sins. Because of God’s great and unfathomable love for us, He chose to take our place on that cross.

Think about it… A holy and righteous God cared so much for a fallen and rebellious people that He took our place! Here is a way to put it into context. Imagine a person who lives an abundant life, caring and loving others, lives with integrity, is always honest and speaks in a compassionate manner. Does this not sound like someone who you would want to emulate?

Now, say an evil man or woman, who has tortured and killed many people is finally arrested. This particular person is accused of torturing and killing more than 30 people who did noting wrong. In fact, this evil person went out of their way to find people who sought to live a good life to murder in very painful, even excruciating ways, making it last days if possible. This person is tried and found guilty and has earned the death penalty because of the horrendous crimes that he/she has committed. And, let’s assume that there is absolutely no question of his/her guilt because this person was so evil at heart that he/she videotaped many of their ‘sessions,’ DNA evidence clearly links this person to the numerous crimes, etc. You probably expect, even hope, that such a person would be “thrown in prison and that they throw away the key” at the very least, if not publicly execute him/her for all of the evil that he/she did.

Now, let’s say that the ‘righteous man,’ the outstanding citizen mentioned above, chooses to have compassion on this evil person, who is now pleading for mercy and swearing that he/she will totally change their ways. This ‘righteous person’ not only pleads with the judge for clemency for the wicked person, but voluntarily will take their place with the death sentence. If you were the judge, would you accept this man’s offer? If you were one of the victims of this ‘monster,’ would you be willing to accept the ‘righteous man’s offer’ to take place of the man or woman who was, without question, found guilty of torturing and killing your loved one?!

If this sounds to horrendous to consider, that’s the point. Because, whether or not we want to believe it, we are all like that ‘horrendous and evil killer.’ Why? Because in thought, word, and deed, we rebel against God’s authority in our lives and ‘murder’ others in our hearts by hating others. We all break each and every one of God’s 10 Commandments in thought, word, and deed, each and every day of our lives. Each of us.

As a holy and righteous God, when Adam and Eve first sinned, God would have been justified in permanently ending our existence right then and there. Or God could have chosen to have done nothing and allow us to perpetually live separated from Him in this life and in eternity. Instead, God allowed us to endure the consequences of our sins by being physically alive and spiritual dead until He could, at the right time, remove the consequences of our sins for those who trust in Him and His forgiving love. There is a cost for us, though. In exchange for receiving His free grace, God expects us to repent of our sins and to turn away from them. We are not alone in doing this, though. Upon repenting of our wickedness and receiving God’s love and grace, He in turn dwells within us via His Holy Spirit. In living through us, God helps us to change, learn and grow in faith and become more like Him.

Imagine that… Though we are broken, have wicked hearts with evil intentions, and by nature do not want to obey God, He wants to change us. That is what we celebrate this Easter. It’s not about colorfully decorated eggs, it’s not about a bunny delivering baskets (Hasenpfeffer, anyone?!), it’s about God taking our sins upon Himself so that we could live with Him for eternity.