Sunday the
majority of people in our area celebrate Easter. To some it will simply be a time for family. For others it will be a time for chocolate
bunnies and Reese’s eggs. Others will
reflecte upon a historical event: the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus
Christ.
My hope is
that all will recognize that the coming of Jesus Christ to earth to suffer and
die to pay for the sins of man was not an afterthought but rather a plan from
before the “foundation of the earth.”
(Eph. 1) God in His omniscience
(all-knowing) knew that man would rebel. God in His holiness knew that he could
not fellowship with sinful man. God in
His justice required a penalty for sin. God in His love and mercy chose to put
a plan in action to provide redemption for all who would believe.
Through time
God gradually revealed his plan. This started with his response to Adam and
Eve’s sin in the garden when he promised a “Seed that would bruise Satan’s
head.”(Gen. 3) Many, many passages speak
of God’s plan throughout the Old Testament, but not many are any clearer than
Isa. 53:2b-6 “He has no form or comeliness and when we see Him, there is no
beauty that we desire Him. He was
despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows acquainted with grief, and we
hid, as it were, our faces from Him; He was despised, and we did not esteem
Him. Surely He has borne our griefs and
carried our sorrows; Yet, we esteemed Him stricken, smitten by God, and
afflicted. But He was wounded for our
transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement of our
peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; We have
turned, everyone, to his own way; And the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of
us all.”
This passage
though recognized by most as referring to Jesus Christ was written several
hundred years before Christ came to earth.
As Jesus
ministered publicly for three years he again and again presented Himself as the
Messiah. This required individuals
either to bow the knee in worship or to punish Him as a blasphemer. Despite the fact that through His miracles and
wondrous acts He revealed that He indeed was the promised Messiah, the pious
religious leaders were not willing or able to accept Him. They manipulated a Pilate, the people
pleasing Roman ruler of the territory, and incited an emotional crowd to bring
about Christ’s death.
To many
observers this seemed like the end of Jesus Christ. Perhaps God’s plan had failed? What these observers did not realize is that
God had used Pilate, the Pious religious leaders, and the crowd to fulfill His
plan. They acted through their own
personalities and desires to accomplish what God had promised would
happen. They crucified the Messiah as
promised.
In trying to
pre-empt any possible fake resurrection they helped to prove the reality of
Christ’s resurrection. The governor’s
seal and the soldier’s stance could not stop the Son of God from being
victorious over sin and death.
God had
indeed kept His promise, His plan was fulfilled. He had provided a way for man’s redemption
from sin. “But as many as received Him
to them gave He the power to become children of God, even to those who believe
on His name.” (John 1:12)
I hope that
as each of you reflect upon Christ’s resurrection that you will turn from your
sin and put your faith in Jesus Christ to pay the penalty of your sin. “For by grace are you saved through faith and
that not of yourselves it is a gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should
boast.” (Eph. 2:8-9)
