A Conglomeration of Easter Thoughts
С пасхой! Happy Easter!
I was wondering this morning, when I was sitting outside listening to the birds sing their symphonies, why the Lord chose to die in the Spring. I mean, I know there are reasons like Passover is in the Spring and Jesus is the fulfillment of the Passover and stuff like that, but why, in God's sovereignty, did He choose the season most closely associated with joy, love, and life to die on a cross for us?
There are probably a lot of very insightful answers to this question, but I just wondered something very simple. I wondered if maybe He was helping us realize that the point was not death but life, not darkness but light; the point is that He rose three days later.
Because in our "Jesus died for me" church culture, it's easy to make that an afterthought.
The Spirit has been drawing my attention more to the resurrection this season than in some years past. He's been drawing me to the fact that Jesus isn't in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, he isn't in a gaudy tomb, or even a plain one, he's at the right hand of the Most High, with a name above every name, so that at that name every knee should bow and every tongue confess that He is Lord, to the glory of God the Father! (Hebrews 12:2, Philippians 2:10-11)
It's such a mystery, what Jesus did. Were we reconciled at the moment of his death, or were we made alive through his resurrection? Last year at this time we were studying the models of the atonement in Theology class. Those just add to the mystery really, and I don't think we will ever fully grasp it in this life. But sometimes I think we focus so much on Jesus' death as our salvation that we forget his rising is also for our rising.
"If Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain...If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied. But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive." (1 Cor. 15:14-22)
In church today Lloyd talked about how the New Testament often uses imagery of sleeping to refer to death (see three lines up), and so our Easter theme was "Come Awake." The worship band played an incredible song which I'm sure was written by them, and the lyrics are nowhere to be found, but the one line I remember is, "O church, stand in the light, for our God is not dead, He's alive. Come awake!"
So I guess the whole resurrection/life/awake thing is just very profound to me today, and I share all of this to try and sort through the millions of lyrics and messages and Bible verses on my heart this Easter. The truth of the Passion story is so powerful, and I pray you would be struck by it in as many ways as I am.
Christ the Lord is risen today, Alleluia!
Earth and heaven in chorus say, Alleluia!
Raise your joys and triumphs high, Alleluia!
Sing, ye heavens, and earth reply, Alleluia!
Love's redeeming work is done, Alleluia!
Fought the fight, the battle won, Alleluia!
Death in vain forbids him rise, Alleluia!
Christ has opened paradise, Alleluia!
Lives again our glorious King, Alleluia!
Where, O death, is now thy sting? Alleluia!
Dying once He all doth save, Alleluia!
Where's thy victory, O grave? Alleluia!
Soar we now where Christ has led, Alleluia!
Following our exalted Head, Alleluia!
Made like him, like him we rise, Alleluia!
Ours the cross, the grave, the skies, Alleluia!
I was wondering this morning, when I was sitting outside listening to the birds sing their symphonies, why the Lord chose to die in the Spring. I mean, I know there are reasons like Passover is in the Spring and Jesus is the fulfillment of the Passover and stuff like that, but why, in God's sovereignty, did He choose the season most closely associated with joy, love, and life to die on a cross for us?
There are probably a lot of very insightful answers to this question, but I just wondered something very simple. I wondered if maybe He was helping us realize that the point was not death but life, not darkness but light; the point is that He rose three days later.
Because in our "Jesus died for me" church culture, it's easy to make that an afterthought.
The Spirit has been drawing my attention more to the resurrection this season than in some years past. He's been drawing me to the fact that Jesus isn't in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, he isn't in a gaudy tomb, or even a plain one, he's at the right hand of the Most High, with a name above every name, so that at that name every knee should bow and every tongue confess that He is Lord, to the glory of God the Father! (Hebrews 12:2, Philippians 2:10-11)
It's such a mystery, what Jesus did. Were we reconciled at the moment of his death, or were we made alive through his resurrection? Last year at this time we were studying the models of the atonement in Theology class. Those just add to the mystery really, and I don't think we will ever fully grasp it in this life. But sometimes I think we focus so much on Jesus' death as our salvation that we forget his rising is also for our rising.
"If Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain...If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied. But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive." (1 Cor. 15:14-22)
In church today Lloyd talked about how the New Testament often uses imagery of sleeping to refer to death (see three lines up), and so our Easter theme was "Come Awake." The worship band played an incredible song which I'm sure was written by them, and the lyrics are nowhere to be found, but the one line I remember is, "O church, stand in the light, for our God is not dead, He's alive. Come awake!"
So I guess the whole resurrection/life/awake thing is just very profound to me today, and I share all of this to try and sort through the millions of lyrics and messages and Bible verses on my heart this Easter. The truth of the Passion story is so powerful, and I pray you would be struck by it in as many ways as I am.
Christ the Lord is risen today, Alleluia!
Earth and heaven in chorus say, Alleluia!
Raise your joys and triumphs high, Alleluia!
Sing, ye heavens, and earth reply, Alleluia!
Love's redeeming work is done, Alleluia!
Fought the fight, the battle won, Alleluia!
Death in vain forbids him rise, Alleluia!
Christ has opened paradise, Alleluia!
Lives again our glorious King, Alleluia!
Where, O death, is now thy sting? Alleluia!
Dying once He all doth save, Alleluia!
Where's thy victory, O grave? Alleluia!
Soar we now where Christ has led, Alleluia!
Following our exalted Head, Alleluia!
Made like him, like him we rise, Alleluia!
Ours the cross, the grave, the skies, Alleluia!
The song is by Matt Maher, and it's wonderful. That was my blog post this morning :)
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