Dakota Beacon

Easter is upon us and it is arguably the most important observation of the Christian calendar surpassing even Christmas. For those who grasp the full significance of Easter – Hallelujah for them! For those who might not, well, here’s the story. A bit of revelation from above might help.

A logical argument begins with a premise. The premise of Easter must be grounded in the Bible as a record of God dealing with His creation, specifically the pinnacle of His creation – mankind. Without acknowledging the Bible as God’s Word, there can be no further logical discussion.

In a very myopic view, Jesus Christ was brutally executed as a solution to a religious as well as a civil problem. The Jewish leaders wanted Him gone because He challenged the established religious order even claiming to be God. The Roman occupiers wanted Him gone because He was a threat to civil order and stability. They did not know who He was, why He came, and the cosmic plan at work far exceeding anything they could possibly comprehend.

According to the record (history and our own lives as witnesses) we humans are rebels at heart – and have been ever since The Fall of mankind in the Garden of Eden. We walk our own way and do our own thing and God is a mere afterthought. Or better yet, we create God in our image and then construct our religion around this creation. From God’s point of view, we are the ones who deserve rejection and crucifixion.

However, if God chose to redeem his wayward posterity, how would he do it? Rather than destroy his creation, Jesus His Son, the only sinless human being, assumed our guilt and took our place by shedding his blood and dying horrifically on the Cross. This shedding of blood goes as far back as the institution of the Hebrew Passover about 1490 BC when God brought the Israelites out of Egypt. “And they shall take of the blood [of the lamb], and strike it on the two side posts and on the upper door post of the houses, wherein they shall eat [the unblemished lamb]…And the blood shall be to you for a token upon the houses where ye are: and when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and the plague shall not be upon you to destroy you…” (Exodus 12:7-13).

The blood of the sacrificial lamb portrayed a type or shadow of the ultimate and final sacrifice offered by Jesus Christ on the Cross. God would see the blood and know that that they were to be set aside. He would not destroy them. Blood represents the idea of atonement. “For even Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us.” (1^st Corinthians 5:7). God values life-giving blood.

The resurrection of Jesus imparts new life to those who believe in and receive Him for who He says He is. Since The Fall, mankind has been regarded as the enemies of God. Through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ we have made our peace with God. He is satisfied. The problem of our standing before God has been resolved. Sins (behaviors) have been blotted out by the blood of Jesus and we have been justified in God’s eyes. But that only tells half the story.

Being sanctified, or made holy, through a new walk in a new life tells the second half of the story. Those who profess Christianity must come to grips with, that is come to an understanding of, the first eight chapters of the letter written by Paul of Tarsus to the early Roman church. He discusses both sins (plural -- acts we commit) and Sin (singular – the principle root cause of sins).

What about the Sin nature or Sin principle present in all people? As the blood of Christ dealt with our sins, the Cross of Christ deals with the Sin principle. All people are born sinners by constitution, not because of their actions. We are all born sinners because of what we inherited from Adam – a rebellious nature otherwise called the old man.

If we have a Sin nature by birth, then we eradicate that nature by death – the death of Jesus Christ as the substitute for us on the Cross. “Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with Him, that the body of sin [principle] might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin [principle]. For he that is dead is freed from sin [principle]… For in that he died, he died unto sin [principle] once: but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God. Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin [principle], but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord. For sin [principle] shall not have dominion over you: for you are not under the law, but under grace.” (Romans 6:6-14).

That said, now this: “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.” (Galatians 2:20) I live no longer to myself, but Christ lives His life in me. Here is a fact. God answers all our questions in one way only, and that is by showing us more of His Son. Should we chose not to see more of Jesus, then all that follows can only remain a mystery.

There. This is what Easter is all about and what Easter truly celebrates. The cross is the demarcation between the old rebellious man and the resurrected man, between death and the new life in Christ. To recap, sacrifices in the Old Testament dealt with sins of commission and omission. Not until the cross of Jesus Christ struck at the root of the Sin principle (big S) was the old sinful nature put to death. The blood of Jesus, as Son of God, dealt with our multitude of sins (small s) once and for all as the final blood sacrifice. This is a sketch. There is more, much more, and it is not complicated. Search the Scriptures yourself.

Easter eggs, candy, and bunny rabbits are fun. But understanding Jesus Christ, His death, resurrection, blood, and the cross are vital.

Dennis M. Patrick can be contacted at (JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)