Color-coordinated outfits, plastic eggs, and Easter speeches all point to a celebration that believers eagerly participate in with great joy; Easter. We gather in our churches to thank God for the life, death, and resurrection of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
We celebrated Easter this past weekend, and I’m sure many of us heard messages about what Christ did for us on the cross. He died a death each of us deserved to die, but on the third day was raised to life with all power and authority in his hands.
The message of Easter is one of hope, redemption, love, and sacrifice. Although the Easter celebration has come and gone this year, we can still live out the message we received in our everyday lives. Let’s explore five ways to live out the Easter message even after the celebration is over.
1. Let the Redeemed Say So
“Let the redeemed of the Lord say so, whom He has redeemed from the hand of the enemy.” (Psalm 107:2 NKJV)
To redeem something means to gain or regain possession of it in exchange for payment. We were once slaves to sin, but Christ shed his precious blood to buy us back. Our redemption came at a high price, but Christ was willing to pay it for all mankind.
Psalm 107 encourages anyone who the Lord has redeemed to say so. Once we understand what transpired at the cross and what Christ redeemed us from, we can then begin to tell our story of redemption. I believe we often shy away from “saying so” because we don’t fully understand how bound we were before coming to Christ or how free we are after giving him our lives. The more we grasp the totality of the Easter message, the more willing we will be to “say so.” As our understanding of the Easter story grows, our desire to tell others about our personal redemption will grow as well.
We can live out the Easter message of redemption by telling others what Jesus did for us. You can share it with your children, family, church members, coworkers, or strangers at the grocery store. Anyone who belongs to Christ has a story of redemption. It is time for us to tell our story and say so!
2. Use Your Access
“And behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom; and the earth shook and the rocks were split.” (Matthew 27:51 NASB)
The veil being torn in two was so significant because only the high priest could go beyond the veil once a year to make atonement for the sin of the people. God’s presence dwelt in the Holy of Holies, and the death of Jesus was the final atonement needed for all sin. Now that our sins have been atoned for (removed by blood), anyone has the ability to enter God’s presence. We now have continual access to God.
The death of Jesus bridged the gap of the great divide that stood between a holy God and every sinner. The message of Easter reveals the access we have to God the Father through the finished work of Jesus on the cross. We can live out the message of Easter by communing with the Lord in prayer and worship throughout the mundane moments of our days.
I encourage you to use the access you have in Christ to go boldly before God’s throne of grace. Use your access to commune with the Lord while you clean your home, on your lunch break, or even while you drive home from work.
Let’s go beyond the veil and use the access that has been granted to us to freely pray and worship our God.
3. Don’t Allow Sin To Rule In You
“Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires.” (Romans 6:12 NIV)
When Christ rose from the dead, he took back the power from sin and death. Where sin was once our master, Christ stepped in and now has lordship. Before Christ, we had no choice but to do sin’s bidding, but now we are dead to sin and alive in Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit.
Sin is not our master, and we don’t have to obey its commands. Do you have a besetting sin that you can’t resist? Are you tired of its incessant pleas? Apply the truth that you are dead to sin. The one who has died to sin does not have to continue to live in it.
We can live out the Easter message by not allowing sin to rule in us. Jesus has given us power over sin, and we can exert our rule over it in our everyday lives.
4. Have Hope That Dead Things Will Rise
“Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live.” (John 11:25)
Hope is a feeling of expectation and desire for a certain thing to happen. As believers, our hope is in the person of Jesus Christ. Our hope will not be deferred when we put it in the One who is the resurrection himself. Jesus causes dead things to live again. Any believer is a testament to this, for we were once dead in our sins but made alive through belief in Christ Jesus.
Do you have the walking dead among you? Do you have dreams that have died somewhere along the way in your life? Or what about dead situations that lay before you?
I encourage you to keep your hope alive. Place these lifeless things before the Lord and believe that he has the power to raise them up again.
The Easter message declares that dead things can rise again by the power of the Holy Spirit. We can live this truth out beyond Easter Sunday when we see dead things within or around us, and place our hope in Jesus, the resurrection and the life. He gave life to our mortal bodies, and He can bring life to the dead things we encounter.
5. Allow God To Fulfill His Purpose For You
“The Lord will fulfill his purpose for me; your steadfast love, O Lord, endures forever. Do not forsake the work of your hands.” (Psalm 138:8 ESV)
When I think about the death and resurrection of Jesus, I often think about how he didn’t prefer his will over the Father’s. Jesus desired for the cup to be passed from him but declared in the same breath, “yet not what I will, but what you will” ( Mark 14:36 ESV).
Jesus allowed the Father to fulfill his purpose for him, even when the purpose included a gruesome death on a cross. He could have easily been married to his will but decided to forgo it so the Father’s purpose for him could come to fruition.
The Easter message speaks of sacrifice and self-denial. We can live this message out each time we release our will and allow the Lord to fulfill his purpose for us. The Lord knows the purpose and plan he has for each of us, and it is good. We can trust his will even when we don’t understand or agree with it.
He desires to fulfill his purpose in us, but we have to allow him the ability to do so. May we join in with Jesus and declare, “not my will, but your will be done.”
Let The Celebration Continue
The Easter message is one of celebration because it is the message of the gospel. Jesus lived a sinless life, died a sinner’s death, and rose with all power in his hands. Our king lives, and we have reason to rejoice at the news. Why let the celebration stop on Easter Sunday when we can live this truth out every day of the year? I pray you will join me in doing just that.
Until the next Easter Sunday,
