He is Risen Indeed
9 Get yourself up on a high mountain, O Zion, bearer of good news, Lift up your voice mightily, O Jerusalem, bearer of good news; Lift it up, do not fear. Say to the cities of Judah, "Here is your God!"
10 Behold, the Lord GOD will come with might, With His arm ruling for Him. Behold, His reward is with Him And His recompense before Him.
11 Like a shepherd He will tend His flock, In His arm He will gather the lambs And carry them in His bosom; He will gently lead the nursing ewes.
Isaiah 40:9-11 (NASB)
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Easter as a holiday is to Christian like Christmas, New Year's Day, a birthday, Thanksgiving, and the Superbowl all rolled into one. At least, that's how it should be. Unfortunately, all those other holidays we seem to approach with a far greater sense of anticipation, joy, and excitement. No other day has as great an impact on the totality of our lives as the day of Jesus' resurrection. Christmas was the beginning of the work of salvation and the birthday of Jesus, certainly, but Easter is the completion of that work. It is also the beginning of forgiveness and salvation for everyone.
Think about those two holidays for a moment. How many office Easter parties did you attend? In the weeks and months before the day, how many sales fliers for Easter sales did you see? Were we all upset that we saw Easter candy or decorations before we'd finished Valentine's day, St. Patrick's Day, or April Fools Day? And did we have to admonish our children to go to bed for the third time on Easter Eve?
1 The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me, Because the LORD has anointed me To bring good news to the afflicted; He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to captives And freedom to prisoners;
Isaiah 61:1 (NASB)
Easter is the day the captives were set free from their bondage. We are all captives in the flesh, but our spirits are free with the Lord. It is precisely because He completed this work that we can say that. The Law no longer binds us as the way to get to God. We are now beholden to the glory of faith in Jesus Christ. That faith which drives our actions. That faith which empowers our spirit. That faith grants us the courage to do the things our gifts direct us to do. This is the condition Jesus left us in for all time. It is God's gift to us so that we will believe His Word when it says:
14 "As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up;
15 so that whoever believes will in Him have eternal life.
16 "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.
17 "For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him.
18 "He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.
19 "This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil.
John 3:14-19 (NASB)
We who come after the days of His lifting up have a choice. We have three options with that choice. We can choose the light, we can choose the darkness, or we can choose the shadows. Yes, the light reveals all our flaws, idiosyncrasies, and past wrongdoing; but it also grants us the freedom to do better. If we choose to remain in darkness, we embrace those bad decisions and never move on. To remain in the shadows trying to skirt the darkness but never fully stepping into the light because we are embarrassed by who we are, we deny the truth. God made each person wonderfully and purposefully. If we stay in the darkness, Satan scores points, but if we step into the light, we diminish his power and ability to manipulate us and everyone around us. Remaining in the shadows means we are still being manipulated by Satan, affecting everyone we encounter, and that is helping the wrong side.