Easter..

Eggs, goodies, chocolates and many other goodies are being sold everywhere in supermarkets, shops and churches.. But how many people has ever dwelled in the true meaning of Easter? Easter is celebrated, commemorated worldwide as it symbolises the resurrection of Jesus Christ 2000 years ago..I wish to share what Easter truly means to me..

Firstly, what was Jesus' mission on Earth? Now i know I'm going back to the basic of Christianity, but sometimes human get too involved or obsessed with earthly matters like school and work that they forget and do not take Easter seriously..And this, unfortunately is true for some..To summarise his mission on Earth, Jesus came down to Earth as God in flesh to live a perfect, wholly life that no human being has ever done, or capable of doing..That is because of sin that exists on Earth, that made humans corrupted, entangled and disanced from God..Hence, God asked Jesus to replace his 'clean' record with our record, that has been stained by our sinful nature, so that we may be able to enter heaven to live an eternal life with God..

From Jesus' sacrifice for us, I would like to highlight a few(though there's many) characteristics of him that we may be able to apply in our lives.. Jesus lived a perfect, sinless life.This, we cannot achieve, but we can live a Christ-like life, to stick close to his commandments in faith..I deeply admire and am grateful for the perseverance of Jesus as he suffered the brutal torment of the soldiers under the conspiracy of the high priests and carried the cross until he reached his destination. His determination and courage overwhelmed me and Easter sets an image in my mind, a flash of scenes as Jesus was mocked, tortured, and crucified.. Even at the cross, he asked God to forgive those who plotted to crucify him and this was what truly struck me.. There's no greater sacrifice than a man willing to give his life for a friend, much more his enemies or those who were against him.. Jesus being able to ask God to forgive those who crucified him is indeed remarkable.. What had kept Jesus going then? Another characteristic of Jesus I would like point out is his obedience to God.. As he journeyed the crucifixion, he remembered his mission, clinging onto the undeterred perseverance to carry out his Father's will, and struggled through the excruciating journey..

What then, does the resurrection mean to me? By dying for us on the cross, Jesus has placed all our sins, our deserved punishments and burdens on the cross and replaced our record with his, therefore granting us salvation and access to eternal life..And by resurrecting in 3 days, Jesus is alive again and will reign forever at the right hand of the Father, thus proving that the sacrifice that he has made will continue to exist forever..His legacy that continues to give hope and salvation to many..Bearing this in mind, Easter should be a joyous, wonderful celebration that we ought to have great remembrance and gratitude for what Jesus has done for us..If so, then how much more joy and delight will there be up there? Looking from a divine perspective, the angels are celebrating in such triumphance that is nothing comparable to the celebrations on Earth.. Sin and death are defeated..Humans will be able to have new life with God after death.. This is what Easter truly means to me..The great significance that lies in this sacrifice..

How did the resurrection change the world?The resurrection vindicated and validated Jesus' claims about himself, that he was the Son of God in the flesh, the fulfillment of God's dealings with humankind. It proved that the old covanent, characterised by Israel's substitutionery sacrificial system, had been perfectly fulfilled and superceded by Jesus, the true Messiah and sacrifice as the Lamb of God..If there had been no resurrection, Christians would be following the teachings of just another popular rabbi. His words would have merely joined the countless words of other religious writings.Our faith would be in vain and we would be forced to trust in our works to merit God's grace -something our works can never do.If Christ was not raised from the dead, our eternal future would be hopeless..But the resurrection assures that those who believe in Jesus Christ can and will have an everlasting relationship with God himself. Because Jesus was raised from the dead, we can be too. We can live both now and through all eternity.