The true joy of Easter

Today as I take a moment to pause and look back at the previous week and the things that we thought about as we celebrated Easter and the hope and the blessings that we can have today because of what the Lord Jesus Christ came for and suffered as He went to the cross where He was crucified and died to pay the penalty for the sins of mankind that through Him we might be brought back into a right relationship with our heavenly Father. The thing is that He not only died but He arose from death and He now lives forever and that all who will accept Him into their hearts can have this same hope! This hope of eternal life is not a life like we now live in a world that has much suffering, pain, hurts and tragedies and death, but in a place where Jesus Christ will rule with His love, peace and a place where there will be no evil and no devil there to stir up trouble or cause discord. It is a place where people live together and truly enjoy life to the fullness. The Bible says, "God is love," and that will be His way of rule and the principles that will be the way of life there.

Sometimes we use words and we don't really understand what they mean. The Bible states that He came to save us from our sins ? what are our sins? First off, for rejecting Him! Then anything that contrary to His nature or what He is like. The Bible says "that all have sinned" ? that's everybody! The Bible says the "wages of sin is death," which is eternal separation from God! In the beginning when God created mankind, He put them, Adam and Eve, in a very beautiful place in which they lived and knew real joy and happiness and the Bible says, "They walked with God." In due time, Satan came into the Garden of Eden and lied to them and they listened to him instead of God and rebellion and sin entered into mankind and we can see the results of it down through the ages and how real it is today. Because of their rebellion against God, God prepared a place for the devil and his angels and the judgment that He has put upon them because of their rebellion and for what they have done in warfare against God and His people. The Bible speaks of a Lake of Fire prepared for the devil and his angels. That is where all who have rejected God will spend eternity. But once again we see the love of God demonstrated and made real when God sent His Only Begotten Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, to pay the penalty for our sins when He died, suffered death, in our place, and in His resurrection to give life to all those that would believe in Him and accept Him into their hearts as their Lord and Savior! The word "lost," separated from God. "Saved," saved from the penalty of sin. "Joy," one of these days He will come back and all those that have accepted Him will be with Him in "Paradise" as He promised the thief on the cross beside him on the day of His crucifixion. That is the true joy of Easter and what it is all about. May you all find this and experience the true love that God has for each and every one of us. Thank you!