Some thoughts on this Good Friday…

The last couple of weeks, I have had more than a few people ask me, “Why do Christians celebrate Easter?” And generally, I start off by saying that this is the season we celebrate the central doctrine and the central figure in our Christian faith, Jesus Christ. In our faith community, we recognize that everyone sins – all of us.  And our sin separates us from our Creator God who is holy and righteous. Because He is holy and righteous, sin must be judged. The judgment, the penalty for our sin is spiritual death. But God who is holy, is also loving. He is compassionate, and merciful. Our Creator created us for fellowship with Him and He desires that we be reconciled to Him, that we be restored, and born again to new life. God made a way for that to happen through His Only Begotten Son Jesus Christ.

Jesus Christ is God-incarnate; that is to say, God became flesh, became a man and dwelt among us.  Christ, left His glory in Heaven, was born of a virgin, lived a holy and sinless life, and laid down His life on the cross. Jesus Christ paid the penalty for our sin. He died for us, in our place. He was crucified, He was dead and buried, and He rose again on the third day according to the scriptures. At Easter time, we commemorate the fact that Christ died for us and rose again. We celebrate the fact that Christ demonstrated His victory over sin and death and that He offers that victory to us! He offers forgiveness, salvation, and eternal life to us as a free gift.  As Christians, we celebrate the Resurrection of Jesus Christ, our Savior, and our Redeemer.