LIVING THE GLORIOUS EASTER MESSAGE

The messages we deduce from the ultimate sacrifice of Christ on, and through the cross, contain much to enrich our lives and our societies.  But without a matching lifestyle, we’ll profit little. 

The fundamental message of Easter is one of love, sacrifice and selfless service.  This is portrayed in the death and resurrection of Christ: “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends” (John 15:13). Not only was the “laying down of His life” done for us, but the resurrection of Christ, was very much for the salvation of man.  The Apostle Paul writes: “If Christ be not risen, your faith is in vain, ye are yet in your sins” (1 Cor.15:17). Easter (including Good Friday and Glorious Saturday) is not given special observance merely for us to remember the qualitative and quantitative aspects of the love, sacrifice and selflessness of Christ.  The most important thing is that the world recognises the main purpose for which Christ paid such a huge price, and that we respond as God requires of us. 

Man being “born in sin and shaped in iniquity” (Ps 51:5) needs redemption, since “the wages of sin is death” (Rom 6:23).   Christ, through His Easter sacrifice, paid the penalty (death) which man, because of sin, had been destined to pay. Colossians 2:10 also tells us, “We are complete in Christ”, while in Philippians 4:19 the Apostle Paul pens: “My God shall supply all your needs, according to His riches in glory, by Christ Jesus”.  The blessings of Christ, through His redemptive sacrifice, are all-inclusive. The real blessings and benefits of Easter, however, do not come to those who make mere pious observances of the occasion.  Christ tells us, “If ye abide (live) in me... ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be given you”.  A once-and-for-all repentance, or turning away from sin, and living a life in and for Christ, is where the true glories of Easter are found and continuously enjoyed.
Those of us, who receive the salvation experience of our Lord, must remember that, from then on, we are basically called to do what Jesus did.  We are required to selflessly extend love to our fellowmen, sharing this experience with them, even if it means much sacrifice on our part. 

We need to have an eye for those in need and share that love, mercy and saving grace of Christ with them.  In John 15:16, our Lord says to those who are His followers, “You have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, that you should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit will remain”.  He also tells us that when we bear one another’s burdens, we would fulfill the principles by which He lived on earth (Gal 6:2). The life of Christ - His sacrifice and service - was meant to be a model for us to emulate. The messages we deduce from the ultimate sacrifice of Christ on, and through the cross, contain much to enrich our lives and our societies.  But without a matching lifestyle, we’ll profit little.

As I generally say, “The credibility is really in the consistency... True greatness is taking a great act and making it a habit; taking a great principle and making it a practice; taking that great practice and making it a lifestyle”. Christlikeness is a lifestyle.  Christianity is a lifestyle.  Christ lived His life that way.  He never had a season to live in righteousness, love and peace and another season for fete, drunkenness, promiscuity, hate and discrimination.  His lifestyle was consistent on a daily basis.  Our every-day walk with Him must be one which exemplifies the sacrifices and self-denial connotations of the cross. We must, in a diligent and wholehearted way, strive to “crucify the flesh with its deeds” (Col. 3:9)  and manifest Christlike character as a lifestyle, and not  merely a seasonal or occasional thing. 

In the book of First Corinthians 5:17 the Apostle Paul writes, “He that is in Christ is a new creature, old things are passed away, behold, all things are become new”.   He clarifies that the old things - the sinful, ungodly lifestyles - are passed away (dead) and all things (not just some) are become new or transformed. The Apostle James was also quite strong in his caution:  “A double-minded man is unstable in all his ways... let not such a man think that he shall receive anything from the Lord... no fountain can send forth bitter and sweet water at the same time” (James 1:8 ; 3:12).  By using our spiritual acumen to decode whatever the biblical “mystery” in the Easter message, one must conclude that we have to go beyond the boundaries of a mere pious observance.  Live the rich “Easter lifestyle” every day.