What do you think of when Easter comes around?

The world has ways of celebrating it with Easter bunnies, egg hunts, and chocolate.

And though chocolate is good, that’s not the point of Easter. 

The point of Easter is celebration, thanksgiving, and praise to God for Jesus.

John 3:16, one of my favorite verses and essentially the Gospel in a nutshell, says:

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

John 3:16

In this article I’d like to focus on that word ‘loved’ and help remind you of what Easter really means.

God First Loved Us

In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.

1 John 4:10

From the very beginning, we have been choosing other things over God. We have always been this way– thinking we know best and taking matters into our own hands.

And this is the judgement: the light has come into the world, and the people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil.

John 3:19

We chose the darkness. Sometimes, we still choose the darkness.

But God… He first loved us. He first chose us.

God’s Love Was Planned

Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.

Isaiah 53:4-6

Hundreds of years before Jesus walked the earth, prophets spoke of Him. They prophesied everything from where He would be born to what He would do. 

God knew we would fail. He knew we wouldn’t ever be able to be enough on our own. He knew we would make mistakes again and again. 

That’s also why He sent the ultimate sacrifice.

God Sent His Son

For one will scarcely die for a righteous person– though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die– but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Romans 5:7-8

We’re a mess.

We choose darkness over light.

We choose sin over righteousness. 

We choose earthly desires over God.

And yet, God loved us so, so much He sent His son to die for us. And though we still make mistakes and still choose those things over God sometimes, He still loves us and the hope we have still stands.

Jesus’s death shouldn’t be taken for granted either, nor should the things he went through before His death.

Jesus was betrayed by one of His disciples, mocked, beaten, accused of sins He never committed, sentenced to death, had nails driven into His hands and feet, hung on a cross, and died. 

He knew this had to happen, but that didn’t make it any easier. While He was praying before his arrest, Luke says:

And being in an agony he prayed more earnestly; and his sweat became like great drops of blood falling to the ground.

Luke 22:44

He knew what was coming, and though it would be hard, He said, “Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done.” (Luke 22:42)

He didn’t run or fight back or return to heaven, rather, He knew what God’s will was and went silently to fulfill it.

He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth.

Isaiah 53:7

God’s Love Will Never Let You Go

Our lives can change in an instant.

Our lives can end in an instant.

But we have an amazing, imperishable, everlasting, great hope.

For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Romans 8:38-39

That love God showed us when He sent Jesus to die for us will never leave us. Even if we lose everything– God is still there, and He loves you.

This Easter

This Easter, remember how God showed His love for you. Remember what Jesus did. And don’t just dismiss it– pray, praise, and reflect. This holiday and event in history is one of the most important parts of our faith. It’s why we don’t have to worry about being perfect. It’s why we’re okay to stumble. It’s why we have this confidence in life.

Because we know, no matter what, Jesus has saved us. 

Since, therefore, we have been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled shall we be saved by his life. More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.

Romans 5:9-11

Let us rejoice this Easter.

Final Thoughts

Thank you for reading this article! I hope it was encouraging or helped you in some way. Let me know if there’s any way I can serve you as we near Easter Sunday; even though we have Jesus as our hope, life can still be hard. If you need a prayer or words of encouragement, don’t hesitate to email me at live2thelord@gmail.com or through the Contact page on this blog.

Have a blessed day and wonderful Easter,

~Caroline

P.S. Here’s A Song

Here’s a song I’ve been listening to recently that especially fits this Easter article: