Sunday, March 23, 2008

Happy Easter!

Why do we say ""Happy Easter"? Why is this day supposed to be so "Happy"? For me, it is found in the following passages:

John 3:3-7
3. Jesus declared, "I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again ". 4."How can a man be born when he is old?" Nicodemus asked. "Surely he cannot enter a second time into his mother's womb to be born!" 5. Jesus answered, "I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit. 6. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. 7. You should not be surprised at my saying, 'You must be born again.'

and

1 Peter 1:3-5

3. Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4. and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade--kept in heaven for you, 5. who through faith are shielded by God's power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time.

These passages point out that Jesus' resurrection has fulfilled the "Kingdom of God" requirements. Jesus stated that no one would see the Kingdom of God unless he was born again (from above) and that although it was a requirement, it was out of our control.

Let me ask you this: How much control did you have over your birth? How much control do you have over the wind? None - zero - nada! Good news, you've had no control over your new birth, too!

The 1 Peter passage tells us that we were born again (from above) into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus from the dead and into an inheritance that is kept for us, by God's good faith, in heaven. The emphasis on "through faith" is on God's faithfulness not ours!

Easter is a "Happy Day" for those that believe the news that the gracious (and merciful) goal of God's passion has been fulfilled through Jesus and we are indeed NOW born again in Him!

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi Mark,

So good to hear from you again. Really missed you!!! Hope all is well.

Dyann

Jerome Ellard said...

Good post, Mark! I have a question for you - since God's love is so great and he has already reconciled us to Himself, how should we reach out to those who persist in believing that the God of the Christians does not accept them unless they jump through hoops (or else!)? There is so much evil and darkness in this world, and you don't have to focus on child prostitution in Thailand to comprehend that heinous things are occurring in our own communities! There are lives crying out for freedom in Christ, but they don't know the real Jesus. How can we make a difference, especially as we have come to see the utter love and acceptance the Father has for us and the wonderful future He has for us? I don't want to be resigned to "oh, well, it's too much. God will have to sort it out after their miserable lives end." Our understanding of God should REVOLUTIONIZE our evangelism, but I guess I'm trying to figure out what that LOOKS like.