People die every day. According to ecology.com, 151,600 people die each day. This shows us that death is a common thing. But resurrection, that doesn’t happen every day. That’s what makes Easter so amazing. Jesus Christ died on a humiliating death on a cross and came back three days later. Not a ghost or spirit, but a physical body that people were able to see and touch. Jesus did this so that we could have access to an eternal relationship with God the Father.
A lot of you may be reading this and thinking, “Andy, I know all this.” That’s great, but do you rejoice in it? Meaning, does the death and resurrection of Jesus cause you great joy? When you tell others about this can you not smile and get excited? Think about it, God so desires a relationship with you that He tells His only Son to take on the sin of mankind and die for them. That is a humbling statement. Jesus died so that you can have a personal relationship with God the Creator of all things. This is what the Church calls the Gospel, the Good News. I am going to put it as plainly as possible; Jesus died for your sins so that you can spend eternity with God in Heaven if you choose to accept Him as your Lord and Savior.
I know I keep going on and on about it, but it’s important. We are talking about eternity. We are talking about life in Heaven with God the Father forever. Every once in a while we get a small taste of Heaven here on Earth. For example, during my last trip to Ethiopia I was able to go to a rock-hewn church from the 14th century. The whole time I was there all I could think about was the fact that I will be worshipping God in Heaven with some of the people that attended this church when it first started! Mind blown! Because of Jesus’ sacrifice I will be worshipping with believers from all times. You may be reading this and think I am a little too excited. I don’t think you can be too excited about Heaven.
I don’t know where you are in your life right now. You may have a relationship with God and walking with him. Awesome! You may have wandered away from that relationship and don’t know how to come back. The answer, Talk to God. He’s there, waiting for you, pursuing you. God wants to spend time with you. This may be the one thousandth time you have heard this but you never have had a relationship with God and you want to change that. Praise God! Find a church, get involved, and find someone to disciple you.
God loves us and He has been the same god always. We change the relationship, not Him. Charles Spurgeon once said about God, “Consider what you owe to His immutability. Though you have changed a thousand times, He has not changed once.” C.S. Lewis stated, “Though our feelings come and go, God’s love for us does not.” Think about these quotes when you think about God’s desire to have a personal relationship with you. I hope each one of you reading this takes the time to think about your relationship with God, whether you have one or not. Happy Easter and Melkam Fasika!
