Chaplain's Corner

Here I am, at my desk on December 8th, 2011, thinking about Easter April 8th, 2012 (or April 15th, 2012 if you are Orthodox). Christmas and Easter serve in many ways as the book ends of the Christian Faith, certainly the book ends of the life of Jesus.

Easter, like every other Christian holy day has been co-opted by business as an occasion on which significant profit can be realized. Sadly, the engine of commerce roars so loudly that many can not hear the cry of victory that is Easter. So maybe, amidst the spring themes, the bunny themes, the egg themes, the basket themes we could listen just a bit more closely and try to hear the most beautiful of all sounds – the shout of victory; that is, after all, what Easter is all about.

Victory? Over what? Over the greatest, most powerful thing that has ever imprisoned the human soul – SIN. We do not live in a theological age. The church in far too many sectors has gone soft on theology. Maybe people think it is dry and uninteresting? Maybe pastors believe it is irrelevant to the day to day, rubber meets the road issues that their congregations are facing? I don’t know. But in my humble opinion, good, bible based theology is the most practical, most life sustaining and strengthening thing we could engage in. Theology after all is the study of God and his relationship with us. Anyway, if you will, allow me to help you hear the shout of victory that is Easter.

Easter is God’s declaration that he is undefeatable. That there is not a challenger in existence that he does not stand in victory over. Part of the bad theology that has infected many North American Christians is that of dualism: the belief that there is a power of good and a power of evil that are equal and that we live in the context of this conflict. The entire Star Wars franchise exposes a belief in this cosmic dualism. In dualism, sometimes good is victorious and sometimes evil is victorious and in the big picture they balance each other, in the big picture they are both necessary.

Easter on the other hand declares the ultimate unrivaled power of God over everything, including all that is evil. It declares God’s victory over the penalty of sin. When Adam and Eve rebelled against God, just as God had promised death came into human experience. This death is the penalty for sin. Sin is that disposition of rebellion that exists in every human heart. That disposition of independence that says, “I am my own boss. I will do what I want, when I want, how I want and for whatever reason I want.” The Bible teaches that because we possess this disposition, we are born spiritually dead, under this death penalty, we are helpless in ourselves to reverse it and if we pay the penalty, we not only die physically but spiritually, condemned to spend an eternity separated from God’s love.

Christian Theology, growing from the Scriptures which teach that Jesus’ death was substitutionary in nature. He died in our place for he alone was the only perfect man who could truly die for the sins of another. He experienced the full impact of sin, not because he had ever offended God’s law, but because he took the offences of all humanity upon himself and suffered the consequences of that – death in all its aspects.

Now many deny the substitutionary nature of Jesus death, but to do so, at least if the Bible is believed to be authoritative, is to deny the clear teaching of the Scriptures. It is only as Jesus stood in our place and received the just punishment for our sins that God’s holy wrath could ever be satisfied and forgiveness could be righteously extended to those who would receive Jesus’ sacrifice for their personal sins.

Easter is also a declaration of God’s victory over death. The very center piece of Easter is the resurrection of Jesus. The grave could not hold Him; death could not have victory over Him. It is the very fact of his resurrection that the Scriptures use as proof that those who trust in him will likewise experience resurrection. Victory over death is what makes a Christian funeral different than any other funeral, for when a Christian dies, the Scriptures promise that a day will come when the very body that is laid in the grave will be resurrected and changed, fitted for eternal life in the presence of God. Because of Easter, those who trust in Jesus need not fear death. For these death becomes the door through which one passes from this life into the perfection of eternal life.

Easter is also a declaration of victory over the power sin. The Bible teaches that because Jesus rose from the dead, Christians are given the ability to say “No” to their sinful impulses and “Yes” to God’s way of living. We live in a society where self-improvement has become a multi-billion dollar a year industry. Yet the truth is, no matter how many books we read, no matter how many seminars we attend, no matter how hard we try, we can make little progress in self-improvement without the help of God and that help comes to us because Jesus declared victory over the power of sin when he rose from the grave.

Easter is a declaration of victory over Satan and all his devilish minions. Some would insist that Satan and demons are simply psychological projections of our darkest fears. If they were, one look at our present culture and we would have to conclude that we are full of this darkness and fear. However, Satan and demons are real spiritual beings. They are not all powerful, they are not all-knowing, and they don’t posses the power to be everywhere at once. These are characteristics of God alone. They were originally created as holy angels, but the same rebellious spirit that resulted in the fall on humankind, had already infected a vast number of the angels God created.

Satan’s primary objective is to prevent God’s plan to rescue humanity from happening. When Jesus died on the cross, Satan believed that he had accomplished his mission. Satan didn’t know that it was in dying that Jesus would accomplish God’s mission to pay for the sins of humanity and in rising from the grave on the third day he would announce Satan’s ultimate defeat.

Easter is a marvelous holy day. When Christmas and Easter are viewed together we see in summary the redemptive plan of God, a plan that God developed, not after the fact of humanities rebellion but before he even created our race, a plan that demonstrates just how willing God is to get involved in our lives.

Easter is God’s declaration of victory, not that his victory was ever in question, not that he ever faced a serious rival, for God has no rivals who posses even the faintest glimmer of hope that they could one up God. One of the mysteries of God’s love is that He will not use his power to get his way – he is not an abuser. He possesses unrivaled power, but he doesn’t use it just to overwhelm us and force us into submission, he is no cosmic Genghis Khan, he is instead the most respectful, most compassionate, most loving Creator who has done absolutely everything necessary for you and I to know the victory of Easter and offers that victory to us freely. Our only duty is to receive the gift, this is faith.

As you mark Easter Sunday this weekend, have you received the victory that Easter declares. The victory Jesus secured over sin’s penalty, sin’s power and over Satan and all the minions of hell?