The Purpose of Easter

“He said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Christ would suffer and rise again from the dead the third day, so that repentance for forgiveness of sins would be proclaimed in His name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem.”
Luke 24:46-47

This weekend we celebrate the most consequential three days in all of history, the Easter story. The Resurrection we all celebrate on Sunday does not happen without the Crucifixion on Friday. The good news of the Gospel requires both. Paul summarizes the Gospel in 1 Corinthians 15:1-5;

“Now I make known to you, brethren, the Gospel which I preached to you, which also you received, in which also you stand, by which also you are saved, if you hold fast the word which I preached to you, unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that He appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve.”

Redemption is the reason Christ came to earth. Jesus’ death and resurrection were the means by which that redemption was accomplished. The Cross and the Empty Tomb are the most significant events in human history, not because they happened, but rather for what they made possible… mankind’s reconciliation with God. Reconciliation required two things: forgiveness and repentance. Forgiveness was required because of the sin debt we owed. God’s justice could not allow our insurmountable debt to go unpaid or ignored, and we could never survive the judgment our sin deserves. That’s why His forgiveness was necessary.

Debts must be paid by someone, especially for those who have been sold into slavery to sin and who cannot redeem themselves. Father God wanted His relationship with us restored, but in order for that to happen, the ransom for our sin debt had to be dealt with. God’s forgiveness never excuses sin. Our redemption demanded a perfect sacrifice, a sacrifice that could only be made by the death of the Son of God. On the cross, Jesus paid the ransom that redeems us and provided the way for us to be reconciled with the Father. 

Sin is never dismissed; it can only be covered by the blood of Jesus that He poured out as payment in full for the sin debt of the world on the first Good Friday. On the Cross, Jesus took our death that our sin required upon Himself so that, through His resurrection, we could receive His righteousness and live forever in God’s presence. This is the great exchange; He died our death so that we could live His life!

The Gospel is the declaration, trumpeted for all eternity by the Easter story, that the gift of Forgiveness is now available. We receive this gift through repentance. Repentance that leads to salvation involves confessing our sins and believing with all our heart that Jesus is both Savior and Lord. What a joy to be given the opportunity to receive such an undeserved gift of forgiveness, and to spend eternity with God, then to be able to proclaim and extend this good news to others!  

Happy Easter!