Easter has always been considered a day to celebrate power over death. It’s hard not to focus on that, because Jesus is the only founder of a religion that was raised from the dead. All others remain in the grave. Only the tomb of Jesus remains empty.
That is a powerful principle and a great hope for us all. However, when we stop to think about it, death of the soul was never something with which we had to contend. Freedom over death has always been part of how God made us. Our souls are now, and always have been, immortal.
Then the dust will return to the earth as it was, and the spirit will return to God who gave it. (Ecclesiastes 12:7)
Even the spirit of those that that don't believe in an all-knowing God will one day return to Him in judgment. The question that Jesus resolved for us is where our spirit will spend eternity following that judgment, with God or in the pit. This is what Jesus accomplished on the cross during Good Friday—reconciliation between mankind and God, called redemption.
Jesus didn’t say "It is finished” when he arose from the dead and ascended into heaven. He said it from the cross. That’s why I have always felt disappointment that Good Friday is not celebrated in the same manner we celebrate Easter. Good Friday is the day when Christ covered our sin in His blood which will allow us to return to God free of blemish … if we believe.
What, then, of Easter? Does it have no meaning? Easter has boundless significance, but it’s a significance that goes beyond just power over death. It does so because of one simple fact that is often overlooked in our celebration of that day. Without the resurrection there would be no Church. With no church, there would be Christianity as we know it today.
Recall how all the disciples melted into the mist when Jesus was arrested. They were all certain that their faith in Christ as the Messiah had been misplaced. So, they ran and hid. That is, until he appeared to them after his resurrection and everything changed.
His divinity, which He so often talked about, is the message of the resurrection which suddenly became thoroughly genuine to his disciples. From that point forward they would all lead martyr's lives in order to spread that "good news." All save one, who never saw his resurrected Lord. If only Judas had seen Christ alive from the dead, he might have believed.
Good Friday and Easter are two very distinct days. One gives us a hope for our future in heaven, the other a design for our time here on Earth. Good Friday is a day to celebrate our release from the bondage of sin through the sacrifice of Christ who stepped down from Heaven and made himself man. Easter is a day to celebrate the true divinity of Christ, which allows us to speak of Him with authority … as true disciples. It allows us to speak for the living God, not some long-dead myth or ideal that lies covered in dust.
But if I am delayed, I write so that you may know how you ought to conduct yourself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth. And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifested in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen by angels, preached among the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up in glory.– 1 Timothy 3:15-16
Keywords: Christ, Cross, Easter, Freedom, Judgement
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