One Day When Heaven.
1. One day when heaven was filled with His praises,
One day when sin was as black as could be,
Jesus came forth to be born of a virgin—
Dwelt amongst men, my example is He!
(Chorus)
Living, He loved me; dying, He saved me;
Buried, He carried my sins far away;
Rising, He justified freely, for ever:
One day He’s coming – O, glorious day!
2. One day they led Him up Calvary’s mountain,
One day they nailed Him to die on the tree;
Suffering anguish, despised and rejected:
Bearing our sins, my Redeemer is He!
3. One day they left Him alone in the garden,
One day He rested, from suffering free;
Angels came down o’er His tomb to keep vigil;
Hope of the hopeless, my Saviour is He!
4. One day the grave could conceal Him no longer,
One day the stone rolled away from the door;
Then He arose, over death He had conquered;
Now is ascended, my Lord evermore!
5. One day the trumpet will sound for His coming,
One day the skies with His glories will shine;
Wonderful day, my beloved ones bringing;
Glorious Saviour, this Jesus is mine!
Right at the outset I want to ask us all – Can we truthfully sing the last line of that hymn – Glorious Saviour, this Jesus is mine? Is He your Saviour? Is He my Saviour? Let us answer that question honestly this morning as we consider the events of Easter.
That’s what I want to talk about, the events and symbols of Easter – not to overly criticise their commercialisation or their corruption into something unacceptable, because this is what we often do and rightly so. But I want to look at the origins of these things and see how they tied in with devotion and gratefulness to Jesus for His work on the Cross, how they tied in with a person’s preparation for and utter respect and worship for the work Jesus performed at Easter.
The Word Easter is derived from a word meaning east and was originally a celebration of the sunrise or a change of season. It was eventually applied to Jesus and His work on the cross because this would herald a new beginning, a new era for mankind. The work of the cross would bring new life and spiritual growth for those who would accept what Christ had done as a substitution for their own death.
Leading up to the days which we call Easter is a period of 40 days known as Lent. The word is derived from a word meaning long and notes the fact that during Lent, the days of spring in the Northern Hemisphere are becoming longer. In fact the word Lent can be correctly translated as spring
Lent is a time for fasting and simplicity, allowing those involved to focus on the solemn events of Easter. The day preceding Lent is known as Shrove Tuesday. In order not to be tempted during the next 40 days people would empty their pantries of all sugary or rich food. With this food they would make a sumptuous feast, part of which involved the making of pancakes, hence the name Pancake Tuesday, as a last indulgent fling, as it were, before the start of the fasting period. It was also called Mardi Gras or Carnival, Mardi Gras (Fat Tuesday) because of the sumptuous meal prepared from leftovers. It was also called Carnival (pertaining to meat) which meant giving up meat which was banned during Lent. By undertaking these precautions they would be free from the temptation to sin by breaking the fasting and abstinence rules. This feast would absolve them from that possibility. And that is exactly what the word Shrove means – to absolve, or be free from the possibility of guilt.
What a pity that such a noble tradition should have degenerated into the debauchery and depraved conduct of a modern Mardi Gras or Carnival. Forget that and concentrate on the original meaning.
The next day, the beginning of Lent, was known as Ash Wednesday. It was a day to remember one’s mortality, that is, that man is only dust and some day will return to dust. Often, ash mixed with oil was used to paint the sign of the cross on the foreheads of individuals as a sign of identification with the cross work of Christ. In other cases people had ashes thrown over them as in ancient times of sitting in sackcloth and ashes as a visible sign of sorrow. The ashes also were a symbol of remorse and repentance and hence one of the passages of the Bible read on Ash Wednesday is Psalm 51.
Here are several verses from the Psalm.
PSALMS.
PSALM 51
1. Be merciful to me, O God, because of your constant love. Because of your great mercy wipe away my sins!
2. Wash away all my evil and make me clean from my sin!
3. I recognize my faults; I am always conscious of my sins.
4.,I have sinned against you—only against you— and done what you consider evil. So you are right in judging me; you are justified in condemning me.
PSALMS.
PSALM 51.
16. You do not want sacrifices, or I would offer them; you are not pleased with burnt offerings.
17. My sacrifice is a humble spirit, O God; you will not reject a humble and repentant heart.
Where ashes were combined with the sackcloth which was scratchy clothing there was a constant reminder that sin is uncomfortable and leads to spiritual death. The cross on the forehead reminded people that it was only the cross work of Christ that could bring life out of that spiritual death.
EPHESIANS.
CHAPTER 2.
1. And to you did he give life, when you were dead through your wrongdoing and sins,
Where did the ash come from? To answer this we must move forward to Palm Sunday, the Sunday before Resurrection Sunday. You remember how the people lining the route of Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem cut down palm fronds as part of their celebration of this event. The use of palm fronds to decorate places of worship or to construct crosses made from palm fronds has become the traditional way of observing this day. Immediately after Palm Sunday the palm fronds used in the observance of the day are burnt and the ashes retained for almost a year, you guessed it, for use on Ash Wednesday of the following year.
A further 39 days, making a total of 40 in all, made up the period known as Lent.
Yes it was a time of abstinence, it was a time of fasting, giving up certain foods or behaviours in order to focus on the Easter celebrations immediately ahead. Depriving oneself of certain necessities meant the enduring of physical things such as hunger and thirst, would in some small way remind us that while Jesus was truly God yet He was also truly man and suffered in the same way that you and I suffer.
JOHN.
CHAPTER 1.
14. The Word became a human being and, full of grace and truth, lived among us. We saw his glory, the glory which he received as the Father’s only Son.
You see there had over time arisen a focus on Jesus as God with the assertion that the physical sufferings of the cross were no big deal because after all Jesus was God and there would have been little effect on His physical well-being. That is not the case. He felt every blow, every wound and all the other sufferings in the same way we would. So the abstinence of Lent in some very small way connected people to Christ’s humanity and the extent of His physical suffering.
1 PETER.
CHAPTER 2.
23. Although he was abused, he never tried to get even. And when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he had faith in God, who judges fairly.
Do you remember one of His cries from the Cross.
JOHN.
CHAPTER 19.
28. Jesus knew that he had now finished his work. And in order to make the Scriptures come true, he said, “I am thirsty!”
29. A jar of cheap wine was there. Someone then soaked a sponge with the wine and held it up to Jesus’ mouth on the stem of a hyssop plant.
30. After Jesus drank the wine, he said, “Everything is done!” He bowed his head and died.
And yet in one sense there were still things to happen. He was buried and on the third day He rose again. Hollow Easter eggs remind us that the grave once occupied is now empty and this empty grave is another powerful symbol of Easter. No doubt the resurrection will be dealt with more fully on Sunday, Resurrection Sunday but for now hear the words of the Bible.
1 CORINTHIANS.
CHAPTER 15.
17. And if Christ has not been raised, then your faith is a delusion and you are still lost in your sins.
18. It would also mean that the believers in Christ who have died are lost.
That’s pretty powerful stuff, but look at what the Bible goes on to say.
1 CORINTHIANS.
CHAPTER 15.
20. But the truth is that Christ has been raised from death, as the guarantee that those who sleep in death will also be raised.
The resurrection is proof that the work of the Cross has indeed been successful. It displays victory over death and shows that death no longer has power over Christ or those of us who have trusted in the work He undertook.
Soon after He returned to heaven and the despicable, humiliating and scornful crown of thorns has now been replaced by a glorious crown of victory which God has given Him as proof that the work of the Cross has achieved its purposes.
Chorus 649.
You have won the victor’s crown
You have triumphed over sin and death
Your name is lifted high
And rings through all the earth
He suffered emotionally as well. When He was in the Garden of Gethsemane we are told this.
MATTHEW.
CHAPTER 26.
38. Then he told them, “I’m so deeply grieved that I feel I’m about to die. Wait here and stay awake with me.”
Some commentators suggest that not only did He feel that way, but from a medical point of view, He was in fact at the point of death because of the emotional pressure. His whole body was basically in melt-down mode.
And He will always remember that human suffering.
JOHN.
CHAPTER 20.
26. A week later the disciples were together again. This time, Thomas was with them. Jesus came in while the doors were still locked and stood in the middle of the group. He greeted his disciples
27.and said to Thomas, “Put your finger here and look at my hands! Put your hand into my side. Stop doubting and have faith!”
REVELATION.
CHAPTER 5.
6. Then I saw a Lamb standing in the centre of the throne, surrounded by the four living creatures and the elders. The Lamb appeared to have been killed. It had seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God that have been sent through the whole earth.
The 40 days of Lent are supposed to connect one’s thoughts to the testing of Jesus in the wilderness at the beginning of His ministry, His work on earth. During a time of fasting for 40 days He was approached by Satan and basically offered alternatives and compromises to this work and to the plan of God for man’s salvation. Satan’s deals would not have worked and man would never have been rescued from their sinful state.
LUKE.
CHAPTER 4.
1. Jesus returned from the Jordan full of the Holy Spirit and was led by the Spirit into the desert,
2. where he was tempted by the Devil for forty days. In all that time he ate nothing, so that he was hungry when it was over.
The 40 days of Lent are supposed to remind those who observe it of what Jesus went through during this time of temptation.
I would suggest, though I have no Biblical proof, that the events celebrated in Lent mirrored what might have happened in heaven as Jesus prepared to implement God’s wonderful plan of salvation.
In heaven the decision has been made, and the only plan that would succeed in rescuing God’s creatures begins. The period before He comes is a celebration of what had been Jesus life and fellowship with the Father from eternity. Both He and Jesus would have realised what great changes were shortly to occur and we will list some of them soon. Maybe the hosts of heaven joined in. Then there was the parting with the new life of Jesus on earth to be wholly dedicated to the work of the Cross. There would be significant loss as He became a human, as He became absent from heaven and present on earth, a new life that began in Mary’s womb and then birth into a human family as a human infant.
Can you and I even begin to imagine what He had to give up? Can you even begin to imagine the change in His lifestyle? – now constrained by the limitation of time, now constrained by boundaries and weaknesses of a human body, and though we read in John1 of certain glory He seems to have retained yet it was definitely not the glory He had with the Father. We are told that He willingly laid that glory aside.
JOHN.
CHAPTER 1.
14. The Word became a human being and, full of grace and truth, lived among us. We saw his glory, the glory which he received as the Father’s only Son.
PHILIPPIANS.
CHAPTER 2.
6. Christ was truly God. But he did not try to remain equal with God.
7. Instead he gave up everything and became a slave, when he became like one of us.
8. Christ was humble. He obeyed God and even died on a cross.
From His birth to the Cross His life on earth became a time of suffering.
ISAIAH.
CHAPTER 53.
3. He was hated and rejected; his life was filled with sorrow and terrible suffering. No one wanted to look at him. We despised him and said, “He is a nobody!”
Can you imagine how that contrasted with His life with the Father in heaven – never a cross word, neve a wrong action, never any kind of falling out, no enemies to oppose Him, no constraints or possibilities – a life of perfection and perfect peace.
JOHN.
CHAPTER 10.
30. and I am one with the Father.
If That Isn’t Love.
1. He left the splendour of heaven,
Knowing His destiny,
Was the lonely hill of Golgotha,
There to lay down His life for me.
(Chorus)
If that isn’t love;
The ocean is dry,
There’s no stars in the sky,
And the sparrow can’t fly.
If that isn’t love;
Then heaven’s a myth,
There’s no feeling like this,
If that isn’t love!
2. Even in death He remembered,
The thief hanging by His side;
There He spoke with love and compassion,
Then He took him to paradise.
From Heaven You Came
1. From heaven you came
Helpless babe,
Entered our world,
Your glory veiled;
Not to be served
But to serve,
And give Your life
That we might live.
(Chorus)
This is our God,
The Servant King;
He calls us now
To follow Him,
To bring our lives
As a daily offering
Of worship to
The Servant King.
2, There in the garden
Of tears
My heavy load
He chose to bear;
His heart with sorrow
Was torn,
‘Yet not My will,
But Yours,’ He said.
The number 40 in the Bible speaks of trial and judgment – Noah’s flood, the wanderings in the wilderness to name just two cases and during this time when He was restricted by His humanity He was constantly challenged by those who opposed His work on earth not just for 40 days but for the whole time.
MATTHEW.
CHAPTER 13.
57. And so they rejected him. Jesus said to them, “A prophet is respected everywhere except in his hometown and by his own family.”
58. Because they did not have faith, he did not perform many miracles there.
MATTHEW.
CHAPTER 16.
21. From then on, Jesus began telling his disciples what would happen to him. He said, “I must go to Jerusalem. There the nation’s leaders, the chief priests, and the teachers of the Law of Moses will make me suffer terribly. I will be killed, but three days later I will rise to life.”
22. Peter took Jesus aside and told him to stop talking like that. He said, “God would never let this happen to you, Lord!”
23. Jesus turned to Peter and said, “Satan, get away from me! You’re in my way because you think like everyone else and not like God.”
Then of course there was Pilate, Herod and the crowd.
JOHN.
CHAPTER 19.
5. So Jesus came out, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. Pilate said to them, “Look! Here is the man!”
6. When the chief priests and the Temple guards saw him, they shouted, “Crucify him! Crucify him!” Pilate said to them, “You take him, then, and crucify him. I find no reason to condemn him.”
7. The crowd answered back, “We have a law that says he ought to die, because he claimed to be the Son of God.”
But as usual God was using this opposition, this suffering, as a means of furthering His own plans.
ACTS.
CHAPTER 2.
23. Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain:
His focus would remain firmly on the Cross and His death for us.
JOHN.
CHAPTER 6.
38. I didn’t come from heaven to do what I want! I came to do what the Father wants me to do. He sent me,
39. and he wants to make certain that none of the ones he has given me will be lost. Instead, he wants me to raise them to life on the last day.
40. My Father wants everyone who sees the Son to have faith in him and to have eternal life. Then I will raise them to life on the last day.
LUKE.
CHAPTER 9.
51. Now it happened that when the days were approaching for him to be taken up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem.
Fasting is designed to divert our focus from what is less important to what is more important. Focus is a strange thing. When we concentrate on something that is extremely important to us we tend to lose track of time and to neglect some of our usual activities, such as eating. Have you ever been so engrossed in what you are doing that you suddenly realise that it is mid-afternoon and that you haven’t had lunch or that it has become so late that it is well past your usual bedtime? I trust that our focus on the events of Easter and the work of Jesus, in fact our focus on Jesus Himself, will be just like that.
Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus
1. O soul, are you weary and troubled?
No light in the darkness you see?
There’s a light for a look at the Saviour,
And life more abundant and free!
(Chorus)
Turn your eyes upon Jesus,
Look full in His wonderful face,
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim,
In the light of His glory and grace.
2. Through death into life everlasting
He passed, and we follow Him there;
Over us sin no more hath dominion—
For more than conquerors we are!
Chorus 420.
1. We have come into his house
And gathered in his name to worship him
We have come into his house
And gathered in his name to worship him
We have come into his house
And gathered in his name
To worship Christ the Lord
Worship him, Christ the Lord
2. So forget about yourself
And concentrate on him and worship him
So forget about yourself
And concentrate on him and worship him
So forget about yourself
And concentrate on him and worship Christ the Lord
Worship him, Christ the Lord
Any fasting leading up to Easter should involve more than just food. It should be more than just repentance. What is given up should be replaced by things of greater importance and a drawing nearer to God. It has been suggested that the 3 practices to be taken up with greater vigour leading up to Easter should be prayer (an orientation toward God), fasting (an orientation toward self) and almsgiving or good works (an orientation towards our neighbours.)
It ought to be a time of reflection and re-focus away from a life involved in the affairs of the world towards a more God-centred lifestyle. A time of judging our manner of living, a time to take stock, and a submission to a more God-directed life.
Chorus 129.
1. Draw me, draw me, draw me blessed Saviour
Into thy presence, let me see your face
Draw me, draw me, draw me blessed Saviour
Lord I can come to you by your great grace
2. Thou art worthy to receive my offering
Fruit of my lips O Lord I bring to thee
Lord I love you, I lift my heart before you
Lord, may my spirit give its praise to thee
Search Me, O God
1. Search me, O God, and know my heart today;
Try me, O Lord, and know my thoughts I pray;
See if there be some wicked way in me,
Cleanse me from every sin and set me free.
2. I praise Thee, Lord, for cleansing me from sin;
Fulfil Thy Word, and make me pure within.
Fill me with fire where once I burned with shame;
Grant my desire to magnify Thy Name.
But Easter’s greatest symbol especially on Good Friday is the cross. But let me say at the outset that we should not corrupt this symbol. It is not an object of worship. It is the Christ who hung there who is to worshipped. It is not a kind of tool or weapon to be used by exorcists. It is the power of the Spirit of God who works in people’s lives. It is not a charm to be worn around one’s neck, although if it is being worn as a witness to a crucified Christ that is a different story.
The symbol is so powerful that there are advocates actively seeking to remove any display of the cross in any place. It is said that the cross is confronting. That’s right – it confronts man’s sin and shines the light of conviction upon man’s guilt. But it is also a symbol of hope because it provides the only solution to that conviction of guilt.
That’s why I like hot cross buns. They are so commercialised that I doubt that those seeking to remove crosses would have much impact. I don’t care how long they are in the shops because each one is a witness to Christ’s work on the cross. They provide a simple way for us to explain the true meaning of the cross to family and friends. Use the cross on the buns to explain Easter to your grandkids.
Jesus dragged His cross through the streets in utter humiliation and was then nailed to this object of execution designed by Roman experts in torture to inflict maximum pain.
He Paid the Debt
1. He paid a debt He did not owe;
I owed a debt I could not pay;
I needed someone to wash my sins away.
(Chorus)
And, now, I sing a brand new song,
“Amazing Grace”, the whole day long
Christ Jesus paid a debt that I could never pay.
2. He paid that debt at Calvary.
He cleansed my soul and set me free.
I’m glad that Jesus did all my sins erase.
3. One day He’s coming back for me
To live with Him eternally.
Won’t it be glory to see Him on that day!
Hallelujah for the Cross
1. The cross, it standeth fast,
Hallelujah! hallelujah!
Defying every blast,
Hallelujah! hallelujah!
The winds of hell have blown,
The world its hate hath shown,
Yet it is not overthrown,
Hallelujah for the cross!
(Chorus)
Hallelujah! Hallelujah!
Hallelujah for the cross!
Hallelujah! Hallelujah!
It shall never suffer loss!
3. Twas here the debt was paid,
Hallelujah! hallelujah!
Our sins on Jesus laid,
Hallelujah! hallelujah!
So round the cross we sing
Of Christ, our offering,
Of Christ, our living King,
Hallelujah for the cross!
It Was His Love For Me
1. It was His love for me
That nailed Him to the tree,
To die in agony, for all my sin;
For my own guilt and blame,
The great Redeemer came,
Willing to bear the shame,
Of all my sin.
(Chorus)
Oh, what a Saviour is mine!
In Him God’s mercies combine;
His love can never decline,
And He loves me.
2. To Calvary’s hill one day,
The Lord was led away;
None else the price could pay,
For all my sin;
He on the cross was slain,
Yielding His life in pain;
He felt the bitter stain,
Of all my sin.
3. Was ever love so strong?
Was ever crime so wrong?
When Jesus suffered long,
For all my sin?
He saw my greatest need,
Became my Friend indeed,
Through Him I have been freed,
Of all my sin.
The shroud signifies that Jesus really died. If you don’t believe that then you are more discerning than some of the most eminent legal minds who have declared that the evidence shows conclusively that Jesus actually died.
1 CORINTHIANS.
CHAPTER 1.
18. For the message about Christ’s death on the cross is nonsense to those who are being lost; but for us who are being saved it is God’s power.
Then there are the Easter lilies
Lilly bulbs are drab and remain dormant, sometimes for many years, until the right conditions are applied and then they spring into life with a burst of new life and become things of beauty
With regard to Easter lilies, their beautiful large white trumpet-shaped flowers and heavy fragrance would suggest something clean and holy. But inside under that beautiful exterior there is bitterness and harmful toxicity, containing poison which will kill some animals.
In a similar way God takes our former lives of bitterness and harmfulness and transforms them into something of beauty, something which is holy and therefore acceptable to Him. And remember the parable that Jesus told where He said that the beauty of the lily had nothing to do with them.
MATTHEW.
CHAPTER 6.
28.Why worry about clothes? Look how the wild flowers grow. They don’t work hard to make their clothes.
29. But I tell you that Solomon with all his wealth wasn’t as well clothed as one of them.
30. God gives such beauty to everything that grows in the fields, even though it is here today and thrown into a fire tomorrow. He will surely do even more for you! Why do you have such little faith?
COLOSSIANS.
CHAPTER 3.
9. And stop lying to each other. You have given up your old way of life with its habits.
10. Each of you is now a new person. You are becoming more and more like your Creator, and you will understand him better.
2 CORINTHIANS.
CHAPTER 5.
17. Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.
We all like to get Easter eggs don’t we. They taste delicious. But they also teach us some lessons, about ourselves, too. Easter eggs remind us of real eggs and the chickens that come from them. They speak to us about new life and growth.
If we were to take some ordinary fertilised hen eggs and place them under a hen, when the mother hen sits on the eggs, something wonderful happens. The warmth of her body brings about changes in the eggs and a chicken embryo, a chicken which is still in the shell begins to grow. You might say that a baby chicken has been born.
However from the time these changes begin to take place, the unborn chicken has a problem. It is almost as if the chicken is living in a tomb (the shell of the egg). It almost seems that the chicken is condemned to die. Yes its alive but it is also under the sentence of death. You see the chicken only has a short time to escape from the shell of the egg or it will die. If after say 3 weeks and a few days it has not escaped it will not survive.
What are the unborn chickens inside the shell like? I can tell you they are not very pretty. They are restricted and can hardly move. They are wet and very scrawny looking. They are not something that you would be attracted to.
But for most chickens at 3 weeks something wonderful happens. They are able to break open the shell and get out. It’s almost as if they are born a second time. And now they are free. Very quickly they can begin to get up and move around. They, sort of straighten out, and their feathers dry out and they become very fluffy. Now they are really cute to look at.
These facts are a really good picture of the true meaning of Easter.
You see at Christmas, Jesus came to earth, where his creatures lived. Because of sin we were and still are a very scrawny bunch marred by sin. While we have physical life we are in essence under the condemnation of death – spiritual death, including eventual separation from God.
It was at Easter that Jesus was able to make it possible for that sentence of death to be removed from us. The Bible tells us in Romans 6 that the wages of sin is death but the gift of God is eternal life. The chicken has to work its own way out of the shell. But for us the work has already been done. And for us there is the same result – freedom, new life, no longer unattractive because of the marring of sin, but now made attractive to both man and God. We are no longer restricted in what we can do, but the new blessings we have in Christ make it possible for us to achieve great things for Him and His kingdom.
But we must be willing to accept God’s pathway to freedom by welcoming God’s salvation into our lives. We do that by acknowledging that we need help. But unlike the chicken we can do nothing to help ourselves. Our help is to be found in Christ alone because of what he did during the Easter period. But as we learnt from the chicken, be aware that this is a limited offer. Delay and you could be too late. During this Easter period look carefully at what Jesus can do for you and accept His offer that will release you from the condemnation of death and lead to new freedom in Christ.
Eggs were often hardboiled and this can serve to remind us of what suffering Jesus went through for us. He took the suffering that was our due.
Eggs were often dyed with the colours of spring, boiled in a brew of spring plants. Green indicated the new life of spring and in turn the new life and spiritual growth to be found in Jesus. Red was often used in recognition of the sacrifice of Christ.
Eggs were often gaudily decorated as an indication of the joy and happiness of the hope of Easter and the end of the sorrow of Lent
Everyone joined in eating and enjoyed the eggs which they had abstained from during Lent. Sorrow had turned to joy. That’s what Easter should mean to us. Our sorrow has turned to joy. Is that so in your case?
Then later there entered one symbol that I do object strongly to and it is the Easter rabbit or more correctly the Easter hare. He originally came in the form of a judge, dressed in waistcoat and long pants and shoes and carried a basket of eggs. Only when German migrants arrived in America was the rabbit credited with actually laying the eggs – what a ridiculous notion to associate with something as solemn as Easter. If the rabbit determined that a child had been good then he would leave them some eggs. He was the Easter equivalent of Santa Claus who also makes judgments as to whether a child is naughty or nice. Now it is true that being good has its rewards but it is confusing to children and, and I suspect, even to many adults, when being good is associated with God’s great plan of salvation. God will accept us and reward us with His salvation, not on the basis of what we do or don’t do, but on the basis of what God has done. As with the lilies, the work of salvation has nothing to do with us but has everything to do with God.
God now accepts the finished work of Christ as a free gift to us. Yes, it is a finished work. When Jesus cried that one word from the Cross I believe it was a cry of success, a cry of victory, a cry of absolute completion, a cry of joy and I expect even a cry of relief that His suffering was now all over.
Why would any of us think that we would be required, or could even volunteer anything extra to complete an already finished work. What an insult, and that is what it is, an insult to the all-wise God to think that we could come up with a better plan. Why, oh why, would God plan for the suffering and death of His son, and go through so much suffering Himself, if there was any other way to achieve the same result.
Imagine, if you will, a street brawl at the end of the street. Many attackers are beating up on one individual. As you look you see that the one being attacked is your own son. He calls out to you. Dad please come and help me. Dad if you can’t come please send someone else to help. Dad please don’t abandon me. I need you. Now what father could or would ever resist that cry for help. Yet that is exactly what God did. If there had been any other way of bringing salvation to us don’t you think that He would have done it?
How dare we ever suggest that there was any other way! And how dare we suggest that we can earn God’s favour by being good. If that were possible don’t you think He would have allowed us to do just that?
EPHESIANS.
CHAPTER 2.
8. You were saved by faith in God, who treats us much better than we deserve. This is God’s gift to you, and not anything you have done on your own.
9. It isn’t something you have earned, so there is nothing you can brag about.
JOHN.
CHAPTER 1.
13. They were not God’s children by nature or because of any human desires. God himself was the one who made them his children.
How Deep the Father’s Love For Us
1. How deep the Father’s love for us
How vast beyond all measure,
That He should give His only Son
To make a wretch His treasure.
How great the pain of searing loss,
The Father turns His face away,
As wounds which mar the Chosen One
Bring many sons to glory
2. Behold the man upon a cross
My sin upon His shoulders;
Ashamed, I hear my mocking voice
Call out among the scoffers.
It was my sin that held Him there
Until it was accomplished;
His dying breath has brought me life –
I know that it is finished.
3. I will not boast in anything,
No gifts, no power, no wisdom;
But I will boast in Jesus Christ,
His death and resurrection,
Why should I gain from His reward?
I cannot give an answer,
But this I know with all my heart,
His wounds have paid my ransom.
In addition the supposed Easter rabbit often hides the eggs. God does not hide His offer of salvation in Christ. In fact, it is just the opposite.
ACTS.
CHAPTER 1.
8. But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.
God wants the world to know about his gift of salvation. He does not want to hide it or expect his creatures to go to great efforts to find it.
There is one way though that a rabbit might remind us of Easter. During Spring rabbits are prolific breeders, breed like rabbits we say, and as such are responsible for bringing new life into being.
That’s what the cross work of Christ does.
ROMANS.
CHAPTER 8.
29. Those whom God had already chosen he also set apart to become like his Son, so that the Son would be the first among many believers.
ISAIAH.
CHAPTER 53.
11. After a life of suffering, he will again have joy; he will know that he did not suffer in vain. My devoted servant, with whom I am pleased, will bear the punishment of many and for his sake I will forgive them.
Are you among the many to benefit from the work of Christ on the Cross? I have. Accept that He died for you and you will add to the total of those who please Christ.
Three crosses standing side by side
Of broken law the sign
Two for their own transgressions died
The middle one for mine.
Often in schools children create Easter bonnets and show them off in an Easter Parade. This tradition started when after Easter services the rich and wealthy in the United States would stroll round outside to show off their new spring outfits and hats. Average citizens began to show up to check out the action.
What a pity that these people would want to draw attention to their puny conceited selves rather than to the awe-inspiring work of Christ. Yet many who will be in Church today are possibly there for the same or similar reasons.
Why did you come? Why did I come? Was it to seek out and to thank God and His son for the successful implementation of the only possible way for us to escape the penalty for sin? Or are there other reasons? Let us all search our own hearts as we contemplate that thought.
A happy, blessed and joyous Easter to us all.