Christ has risen from the dead! Why should we care?
Talk about a loaded question! In terms of the ultimate meaning of life — “What’s It All About, Alfie?” — I’ve been trying to answer that question during all my Sunday lessons during this Lent, which will come to an end this Good Friday. The answer has so many facets that it’s hard to follow the K.I.S.S. motto — Keep It Short and Simple. But let me try.
In the beginning, God created everything… and it was all absolutely PERFECT!
Rather than trusting God’s loving directions, humans (Adam & Eve, therefore you & me) fell for Satan’s lies and disobeyed God’s simple directions.
Human connection to the Creator God was the force holding everything together in its original perfection. By disobeying God, we humans broke that vital connection, that linchpin, so EVERYTHING fell apart… God’s perfect universe was broken—by US! That’s where the world’s destructive forces come from—earthquakes, hurricanes, cancer, violence, bloodshed, war. Through self-centered disobedience, we are alienated from God, one another, and nature.
Thankfully, God had devised a rescue plan: Jesus Christ!
As both God AND human, Jesus rebuilt the connection, the bridge, between God and humans and offers that reconnecting bridge to you and me.
God’s rescue plan reached its climax when Jesus conquered death by his resurrection on the first Easter morning!
Jesus’ resurrection was the beginning of God’s NEW CREATION, Genesis all over again, rebuilding a perfect world the way God made it in the first place.
That’s why Easter is the heart and soul of what Christian faith and life are really all about. I like the way theologian, N. T. Wright, describes Easter.
This is our greatest festival. Take Christmas away, and in Biblical terms you lose two chapters at the front of Matthew and Luke, nothing else. Take Easter away, and you don’t have a New Testament; you don’t have a Christianity;… This is our greatest day. We should put the flags out.