For the longest time, I thought I knew about Easter. It was about Jesus taking Christians to heaven. Be “good enough" and you get to play the harp on a cloud for eternity. It never interested me much.
But you won’t find anything like that in the Bible. Let me explain...
But you won’t find anything like that in the Bible. Let me explain...
I want to tell you about a cosmic story that looks like a tragedy. It’s about love and loss and redemption and restoration. It’s a true and beautiful story that transformed my life.
It’s the story of Jesus Christ, which is story of the world. It’s the Good News.
It’s the story of Jesus Christ, which is story of the world. It’s the Good News.
For the longest time, I was an ardent atheist, frustrated by what I perceived to be religious cosplay. But then I got to know Christians who were smart, thoughtful, and well-considered. And most of all they had a love I didn’t know.
The more I studied, the more my interest grew.
The more I studied, the more my interest grew.
Why do I follow Jesus? Because it’s true. Because his way explains the gritty reality I see far more clearly and predicts behavior, beautiful and terrible, far more accurately than anything else.
Truth has a name and is a person. And that person wants a relationship with you.
Truth has a name and is a person. And that person wants a relationship with you.
What began as a minority report from the backwaters of Mesopotamian empires, blossomed into a world-spanning, multi-cultural, multi-lingual, multi-generational movement that turned the world upside down.
If you haven’t taken it seriously, you haven’t seriously studied history.
If you haven’t taken it seriously, you haven’t seriously studied history.
The Bible is one unified story about Yahweh, the Creator of all. It’s about his character and intentions and expectations.
It’s about how He designed the world to function with “shalom" and about His image bearers, us, who he created to reign and rule over creation.
It’s about how He designed the world to function with “shalom" and about His image bearers, us, who he created to reign and rule over creation.
But wanting to be God, we rejected God and fractured creation. Death became inevitable. Selfishness and self-obsession paved the way to a thirst for power, a craving of pleasure, and a lust for manipulative knowledge.
I see it clearly in my own life and it’s not pretty.
I see it clearly in my own life and it’s not pretty.
The story of what we call the Old Testament is a repeating pattern — we turn good things into ultimate things, get in trouble, call out to God for help, God rescues us, then we go astray again.
Just like my life.
We need a rescuer to break the cycle. We need a king.
Just like my life.
We need a rescuer to break the cycle. We need a king.
People expected a mighty warrior king. But Yahweh became human in Jesus, the radical suffering servant.
In Jesus, we see who God is — eternal love, grace, and generosity. A creator who loves his creation and desperately desires a relationship.
In Jesus, we see who God is — eternal love, grace, and generosity. A creator who loves his creation and desperately desires a relationship.
Jesus wasn’t killed because he was a great teacher, or because he performed miracles, but because he claimed to be God and to be the king over all creation. That threatened not only the religious elite, but also the political power structures.
If Jesus is king, Caesar is not.
If Jesus is king, Caesar is not.
Jesus came to Jerusalem on Sunday and was greeted by the people as king. He was arrested on Thursday and crucified on Friday. Sunday, he rose again defeating death and ushering in his reign and rule.
This is the Good News. It’s the best news, ever.
This is the Good News. It’s the best news, ever.
Jesus subsequently appeared to many people, including 500 people at one time, as asserted in a letter written only two decades later.
He wasn’t a spirit, but a person in a restored body. This is our promise — a new heavens and new earth for those who bend the knee.
He wasn’t a spirit, but a person in a restored body. This is our promise — a new heavens and new earth for those who bend the knee.
Jesus’s resurrection was an announcement of something new. A new creation was springing out of the old and seemingly dead.
Jesus was inviting people to participate in a new reality, to become new creations, to live in this old world the way they will when creation is made new.
Jesus was inviting people to participate in a new reality, to become new creations, to live in this old world the way they will when creation is made new.
Faith means a belief in, a trust in, and a reliance upon.
After a decade of intense study and many doubts, I have faith that Jesus is alive. He has defeated death and gives me a new life today and always. And it’s a beautiful gift to be received, not something to be earned.
After a decade of intense study and many doubts, I have faith that Jesus is alive. He has defeated death and gives me a new life today and always. And it’s a beautiful gift to be received, not something to be earned.
I bend my knee to Jesus not out of obligation, or by trying to earn anything.
I trust Him and want to obey him because of the incredible, lavish love he has shown me. And when I stumble, which is daily, I know He’s there to welcome me back.
I trust Him and want to obey him because of the incredible, lavish love he has shown me. And when I stumble, which is daily, I know He’s there to welcome me back.
So on this Easter Sunday, I join together with my brothers and sisters in Christ to celebrate and shout the Good News.
Jesus is alive. Death is defeated.
Happy Easter everyone.
Jesus is alive. Death is defeated.
Happy Easter everyone.
