By Jerry Parmentier 

Trinity Baptist Church

Easter is the time of year when we as Christians celebrate the completion of God’s redemptive plan to rescue all people from the sin that has been passed down since the fall of humans happened in the Garden of Eden. Sin entered the world when God gave an order not to eat the fruit from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, but they disobeyed. (Genesis 2:16-17; Genesis 3:6). Since then, humans have been under the consequences of that choice. The biggest consequence of that choice was separation from God that can only be made whole through the person of Jesus Christ.

At Christmas, we celebrate the gift that entered the world to provide us with hope and possibility. Jesus came as the Savior of the world, a babe born of a virgin, wrapped in cloths and laid in a manger. From the time of His birth until His death, was without sin. He grew up and, in every choice, set an example for us to follow. As a result of those choices, He became the sacrifice that would make THE WAY for us as humans to be rescued and made whole for our sin. He was then punished for our sin; His punishment was death, death in the most inhumane way, death on a cross. He was then buried in a borrowed tomb.

For those who followed Jesus, the days following His death had to be the longest three days. In the scriptures leading up to His crucifixion, Jesus warned His followers that this would happen on three separate occasions (Luke 9:21-27; Luke 9:43b-50; Luke 18:31-34). On the morning of the third day after His crucifixion, two ladies went to prepare His body for burial. When they arrived at the tomb where Jesus had been laid, they discovered a couple of things: the stone that was in front of the tomb was rolled back, and the tomb was empty. They still were in disbelief after all that had happened and asked the gardener where the body of Jesus had been taken. His answer literally changed the future for all mankind. “He’s not here; He has risen just as He said, come and see the place where he was laid” (Luke 24:1-12).

As a result of Jesus being raised from the dead, we as humans have hope; we have the promise of forgiveness for our sin. We also can be made right or made whole with God (John 3:16-17). We must accept His gift of forgiveness by choosing to admit or agree with God that we all are sinners (Romans
3:23). By believing in faith, we accept that Jesus lived without sin, died on the cross, was buried, and rose again (Romans 6:23). By faith, we choose to receive this gift of salvation that is gained through a relationship with Christ (Romans 10:9-10). When we choose Jesus as Savior, we are accepting the promise of God’s word: eternal life (John 14:1-6).

We all must face the reality that we are not immune to death; we are certain to face the end of this life. The reality is we must choose prior to death where we will spend eternity. God loved, He gave, and He wants to have a personal relationship with you.

As a child, our family loved the annual Easter egg hunt at my Nannie and Papaw’s house. One Easter, we caught Papaw eating the candy from the eggs and dropping the EMPTY eggs on the ground for us to find. As we searched for the eggs, my mom made the most of this moment and declared that the empty eggs were the “golden” eggs and worthy of the best prize. “Why?” you ask. We asked the same question. She said, “These eggs represent the true meaning of Easter.” I am praying for you as you read, seek, and search for the true meaning of Easter. Jesus loves you, and His greatest desire is for you to choose to have a relationship with Him.