What comes to mind when we think of Easter? I’m sure many of us think of the Easter Bunny, hard boiled eggs, egg hunting, and family meals. But isn’t the whole point of Easter Christ’s death and resurrection? There is no religion on the planet, besides Christianity, that offers the only plan of redemption for the problem of sin. Christianity is the only religion with a living Savior. Christianity is true and our Savior lives. Here are 2 reasons why Easter is my favorite holiday:
I Get to Celebrate Good Friday: Where Christ Paid the Penalty of Death for the Elect
Without Christ we are depraved & reprobate (Rom. 1:2-32), totally deserving the penalty of His wrath. Christ atoned for our death. In the OT the Day of Atonement ‘indicated the penal aspect of substitution…[and] provides a symbol of the real atonement by the Lord Jesus Christ”.[1] Because of Jesus’ death we averted the Lord’s wrath. The Hebrew word for atonement, ‘kipper’, implies averting and turning aside the Lord’s wrath.[2] This is why Aaron offered a ‘scapegoat’ in Lev. 16:9-10:
"9 Then Aaron shall offer the goat on which the lot for the LORD fell, and make it a sin offering. 10 But the goat on which the lot for the scapegoat fell shall be presented alive before the LORD, to make atonement (kipper) upon it, to send it into the wilderness as the scapegoat."
Jesus was our scapegoat. God demanded that blood be spilled to pay and take away the sins of the world (John 1:29; c.f. Lev. 17:11). We can celebrate Jesus’ death because we know that by His death, sin was conquered by the just (Jesus) so that the unjust (sinners) can believe (Rom. 3:22; 5:8) and be reconciled before God (2 Cor. 5:18-21)
“For Christ died for sins once for all, the just for the unjust, so that He might bring us to God.”- 1 Pet 3:18
Christ actually atoned for His elect (1 Cor. 15:3; Eph. 1:1-11), being the perfect substitute to pay the penalty for our sins. Theologians call this Penal Substitutionary Atonement, which means that ‘God gave himself in the person of his Son to suffer instead of us the death, punishment and curse due to fallen humanity as the penalty for sin.’[3] What’s the 2nd reason?
I Get to Celebrate Resurrection Sunday: Where Christ Lives so that We Can Live Eternally
Christ actually rose from the grave to conquer death for the elect (1 Cor. 15:3). He then ascended into heaven to sit at the right hand of God the Father as a living Savior (Heb. 1:3). Christ died and rose from the grave so that we can die to our sin and live with Him presently and eternally (Rom. 6:8). He is the living Lord of our lives (Rom. 14:9). We recognize that Christ’s resurrection means we die to self and live for Christ (Gal. 2:20).
“For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.” - Phil. 1:21
The elect participate in his resurrection as a living sacrifice who please God’s desires (His Will), by presenting our lives before God as good, acceptable, and perfect in worship (Rom. 12:1-2). Another way we participate in the resurrection is by preaching to others that their Savior has conquered death by raising from the grave (1 Cor. 15:11-19). All who are saved will repent and believe in the facts of the resurrection (Acts 2:37-41). Without the resurrection, we are dead in Adam, but with the resurrection we are made alive in Christ (1 Cor. 15:22).
Do you believe in the resurrection? Are you celebrating the resurrection today by preaching the facts of Christs death and resurrection? I pray that many come to faith in Jesus this Easter holiday as we celebrate The Resurrection and the Life (John 11:25). Amen!
Please also check out our article last year on Holy Week and the Holy Week Resource.
[1] John MacArthur and Richard Mayhue, eds., Biblical Doctrine: A Systematic Summary of Bible Truth, Illustrated edition. (Wheaton, Illinois: Crossway, 2017), 312. [2] Steve Jeffery et al., Pierced for Our Transgressions: Rediscovering the Glory of Penal Substitution (Wheaton, Ill: Crossway, 2007), 45, 82. [3] Ibid., 103.
David J. Lupinetti is the Associate Pastor at San Tan Bible Church in Arizona. He has a passion for Expository Preaching, Biblical Counseling, Discipleship, and Evangelism.
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