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What does Easter mean to me?

What does Easter mean to me?

This article was originally commissioned and published in Grace Magazine (Spring Easter Issue). Please visit http://www.gracemagazine.org.uk/ for more information and to subscribe.

I’ve got a great job. I get to work with scientists in various fields of science who are constantly pressing the boundaries. But the one field which fascinates me the most is gerontology. Now before you run to your dictionary, it simply means that branch of science which is concerned with the problem of ageing. Why do we age? How do we age? How can we improve wellbeing as we age? In other words, how can we live longer and restrain the tide of death. And it is into this problem, namely ageing, that the government is currently investing vast amounts of research money.

But a question arises. Will the ingenuity of science and the investment of money solve the problem of ageing and death? To be fair, gerontology may help us understand the process of ageing better, but to solve the problem of death, we need to look elsewhere.

What does Easter mean to me? It means just that, looking elsewhere to solve the problem of death, and nowhere else is this clearer than in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. It is in these three components of His perfect existence that we find the way, the truth and the life.

For He was born into this sinful world yet lived a perfect life that we could by no means live. He voluntarily went to the cross and died the death that we all deserved to die. And then on the third day, He triumphantly rose from the grave, defeating the very power of death itself. Easter is the celebration of that very triumph; the death of death, in the death of Christ. It means death is no longer my enemy, but the hope of eternal life.

What does Easter mean to me? It is the historical event and supernatural act of God we call the Gospel.

“…Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures…” (1 Corinthians 15:3-4) – ESV