Hand-lettering // Hope Hickman @sincerelyhope.designs
Now, brothers and sisters, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand. For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: 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.
1 Corinthians 15:1, 3-4
I have such wonderful memories of Easter growing up. I loved dying Easter eggs, hiding and hunting them, and excitedly opening my Easter basket. I always looked forward to choosing a new Easter dress and readying my white shoes. My mom and I wore matching dresses when I was little, and I adore those pictures! Easter Sunday church service was the focal-point of the week. But most of all, Easter was and is still a time of thankfulness for, honor to, and celebration of our redeemer, Christ Jesus.
Because of Christ’s love for man, He died for our sins. But on the third day, he rose from the grave; He overcame death. Death had no hold on Jesus. The depth of those words is immeasurable.
The Easter holiday is a time of newness, both in nature and in meaning. Nature remarkably symbolizes Christ’s resurrection. Spring has arrived, plants begin to green, and flowers bloom anew. In this season of new life, we celebrate Easter, the holiday of new life. Jesus rose from the grave on the third day, and His resurrection gives man new life in Him.
And if you take this one step further, consider the season before spring: winter. With the arrival of spring, nature returns from death to life. In defeating death, Jesus returned to life, and so, too, do we live when we accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior.
Jesus is our redeemer. Our salvation is given to us by no doing of our own (Galatians 2:8-9). Romans chapter 5, verse 8 says, “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” When we accept Christ, we choose to live a new life, a life following Jesus. We are called to change. “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone and the new has come!” (2 Corinthians 5:17). And even when we drift, even in our wandering, Jesus will continually call us back to Him. Jesus, our Savior, can redeem anything.
I have been crucified with Christ, and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
Galatians 2:20