Easter Makes Everything NewSample

What Is Easter Really About?

Most of us, if we are Christians, go to church during Easter week. We take communion on Good Friday. We dress up on Sunday. We enjoy the music and the messages. But at the end of the day on Easter, many of us go home the same way we came in.

And that’s strange, after we’ve just been reminded of all that God has done for us: He sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to die on a cross, even though we didn’t want Him. We were cursing Him, living our own way, but Jesus said, “I’ll take the guilt; you receive the pardon.” That’s how much He loves us.

But there’s more.

On top of dying so that we could be forgiven, Jesus was raised from the dead. God raised His Son to life again to show us that, not only did He forgive us through the blood that Jesus shed on the cross, but He also offers us resurrection power so that we can live new lives.

Listen, when we believe in Jesus, the same power that raised Christ from the dead—the Holy Spirit—comes to live inside us. Now we can finally be the people God wants us to be. The Holy Spirit gives us victory over sin, ugly habits, compulsive disorders. We can’t change on our own, but God loves us so much that He operates in grace and does for us what we can’t do for ourselves.

If all that’s true—and it is—then why are so many believers in Jesus not living in the fullness of this new life? They battle loneliness or fear. They struggle with besetting sins. They know that they are forgiven, but they think that maybe this is as good as it gets. Why is that?

We find the reason in a beautiful promise that Jesus made in Matthew 11:28: “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.”

Notice what Jesus said: “Come to me.” The Old Testament religion was “Obey the commands.” But Christianity goes deeper than “Obey the law.” Why? Because none of us can do it! We’ve all broken the law, violated our consciences, hurt ourselves and others. All of us have sinned and come short of the glory of God. But the New Testament, the message of God’s grace, is not “Try to obey.” It’s “Come to Jesus!” He’ll change us!

But we don’t come to Jesus. Instead, we try to keep the law. We vow, “I’m going to read the Bible. I’m going to love that person. I’m determined to get victory over that sin.”

But we mess up: We look at things we shouldn’t. We lie. We lose our tempers.

Yet we still say, “I’m going to change.”

We’re not going to change! Only Jesus can change us. That’s the message of Christianity: come to a Person. Jesus didn’t say “Come to church” or even “Come to the Bible.” Jesus says to all of us who are trying to be good enough to please God, “Look, come to Me. Stop trying to fix yourself. I’ll do the changing. In Me, you are a new creation.”

That’s what Easter is really all about. This week don’t stay in the same-old, same-old. Come to Jesus. Let Him make everything new.