Our God's Not Dead

The world is an ugly place. No, I mean, really. Sure, it looks beautiful. The mountains are magnificent, the oceans are incredible, the sunrises and sunsets are a beautiful display of splendor. But I'm not talking about the world you can see. I am talking about the battle within the world. Everywhere you look destruction and destitution are coming into view. People are bending the rules, changing morals, destroying holy things, loving themselves more than others, seeking pleasure rather than satisfaction, filling their emptiness with temporary joys instead of searching for the eternal joy that lasts forever. I would say that this is all new to the world, that people are worse than they used to be. But the fact of the matter is, people have been doing these things almost from the beginning of time. And that is the world to which Jesus came.

Jesus, being God, saw all that was happening. He knew the hearts of the people and their need to be satisfied and in control of their own lives. He KNEW that they would not accept him and he knew that his life on earth would come to an end in a shameful, dreadful way. Yet he still chose to come.

He allowed himself to be ridiculed, hated, beaten, shamed, mocked, mistreated, disrespected and ultimately killed by the very ones he came to love and to get to know. He longs to have relationship with us, and we rejected him. We didn't want anything to do with him.

However, he is a God of many chances. He died so that we could live. He gave himself for people who didn't want him. He gives us a choice to love him in return. He doesn't want robots who will come at his beck and call, he wants living, breathing, decision-making humans to have a relationship with. That is why he came. That is why he died. And that is why he lives again.

The story doesn't end with Jesus on the cross, the world left in shambles and no hope for a better future. No, the story does not end there.

For after 3 days of being dead, God revealed his power over death--and life. God controls death, and God controls life. If we give our lives to him, he gives us his in return. He takes our temporary lives in this ugly world and gives us hope of an eternal life in a beautiful world. If God were dead, as all other "gods" are, he would not have the power to give life and death. He would not be able to continue to pursue our hearts and win us over for him and the life he promises.

So why does Easter matter? With the resurrection of Jesus Christ, we have HOPE for a better life, we have PEACE that God is in control, we have JOY knowing that even the painful things in life have a beautiful purpose, we have LOVE because God showed his love to us by dying for us while we were still sinners, we have a PROMISE of commitment--one who will never leave us nor forsake us (and he proved that not even death can separate us from his love). We have a loving God who we can trust--all his promises will come true.