What Easter means to me

But He was pierced because of our transgressions,
crushed because of our iniquities;
punishment for our peace was on Him,
and we are healed by His wounds.
Isaiah 53:5 (HCSB)

I have been meditating on this verse all Holy Week long.

I lied to my neighbor....He died for me, and my neighbor.
I was rude to my co-worker....He died for me, and my co-worker.
Two females beat up another female at McDonalds the other day. He died for all three of them.
A TSA Screener is charged with child pornography...He died for him.
A woman was charged with adultery in NY...He died for her.

The stories go on and on...hatred, violence, lust acted on, and incidents that occur every day of our lives and make headlines. What does God say about all of this some would ask?

God loves all of us so much, just the way we are, that he sent his one and only son to die on a cross for us. By dying on the cross he paid the price for our sins (some listed above). On the third day he rose again from the dead.

Big deal you say. Who cares about that? Big deal? Who cares? Well, for one God cares about you. You may not be able to see him physically, but God is there, and He is real. He sent his son over 2,000 years ago to pay the price for our sins, and then to prove he was God, he rose from the dead. Your sin, my sin, and everyone else's sin was redeemed through this sacrifice on the cross, and then confirmed through his resurrection, proving he was God.

Still don't care? That's fine, God still loves you. But here's where the rubber meets the road. Unless you repent of your sin (say "I'm sorry" to God and mean it in your heart) then God can't forgive you, and Jesus won't be able to add your name to the book of life. Without your name being written in the book of life, you will have condemned yourself to hell.

Let me be clear, God doesn't send anyone to hell. If you reject God's free gift of salvation, you have chosen to go to hell. God loves all of us, but he can't save someone that doesn't want to be saved.

So, on this glorious Easter Sunday we remember the one time and eternal sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross, and then his resurrection from the dead. And then we say, "He is Risen!" What does that mean? Why should you care? Because he is risen, we have eternal life in heaven with God, if we repent of our sin, and believe that Jesus is who he says he is - God's one and only son.

So there's the message of Easter, the way I am thinking about it this year. All of that horrible sin on the street, and God still loves me, loves you, and loves all of us. If that isn't worth praising God for, I don't know what is.

Happy Easter!