If I could sum Easter up in one word, for me that word would be “Hope”. Listen to the words of the Apostle Paul, “If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men” (1 Corinthians 15:19 NIV). Paul had a hope beyond this life, beyond this world. His hope was in Jesus Christ. His hope was in the living, risen, reigning Lord Jesus Christ. A hope based in and dependent upon the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Without the resurrection of Christ, Paul says, there is no hope and he (Paul) would be a false witness for Christ.
As I celebrate Easter this year, I will be reminded of this hope: Hope that through the resurrection of Jesus Christ a way has been made for me to be right with God, a way for my sins to be forgiven, a way for me to find a new beginning where the past failures are buried and are no more, a way for me to live victorious over the sins that cling to my fallen human nature, a way for me to rise above the downward spiral of my culture and society, a way for me to stand strong and sure in the face of difficulties, a way for me to overcome the opposition of the evil one and his demonic host, and a way for me to escape the dark tomb of death and to be raised in the very image of the risen Lord of LIFE, Jesus Christ. I have hope.
