What a time of year! My flowers are beginning to bud, my dogs are beginning to shed, and the weather is confused as to whether it wants to get warm or stay cold. In Indiana this means spring and Easter are coming. I cannot wait for the changes that are currently happening to take hold.
A little over two thousand years ago a major change was taking hold. The seasons of law and grace were in the balance. As we are told by the Apostle Paul, “For I passed on to you as most important what I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the Twelve” (1 Corinthians 15:3-5).
The coming of Jesus, his perfect sinless life, his sacrificial death and his victorious resurrection have caused a change in our world that is undeniable — certainly on the religious spectrum, but also in all history since. Jesus truly is the reason to celebrate this season of the year and to give thanks for all we have or can receive through him.
I have challenged the church I pastor this year to reflect not only on Christ as the center of Easter but to look through Jesus’ eyes on the cross. I believe that for Jesus the events of Easter center on you and me. He sacrificed for us, for our sins, not for himself. To truly honor his life, death, and resurrection we need to realize he did what he did for us!
In response, we should honor him by keeping what he referred to as the greatest commandment in Matthew 22:37-39: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and most important command. The second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself.”
It is my desire to do a better job this year of recognizing and responding to the gift I have received from Jesus through his suffering, death and victorious resurrection. I am committed to love others as myself, to show compassion to others, to humble myself in service, to share with love the hope that I have in Jesus, and to worship the King with all my heart. I encourage and challenge you to join me in remembering Jesus as the reason for Easter but also to see from his eyes the great love he has for all people as he allowed himself to become the final sacrifice for sins for all who will believe.
Roger Kinion is senior pastor of Calvary Baptist Church in Greenfield. This weekly column is written by local clergy members.
