I’ve got bad news and I’ve got good news.
Every time my husband approaches me with this phrase my response is almost always the same. I’d rather have the bad news first. I mean, I don’t really want to hear it. But since I can’t ignore it and pretend it’s not there, I’d rather get it over with so that I can get on to the good news. And that good news sounds great after the bad news, doesn’t it? So it is with the gospel–literally the good news–of Easter.
The message of Easter has taken on a deeper experiential meaning for me this year.
There is bad news all around us right now. Every time I tune into NPR, open up my browser or even look at my phone I’m confronted with the bleak reality that is the wake of this global coronavirus pandemic. The number of confirmed cases continues to go up, the death toll keeps rising, and people are out of work. And even harder are the Facebook posts from friends sharing that they’ve tested positive for COVID-19, that they or someone they know is being hospitalized, or that someone they know and love has died. It’s overwhelming.
But there is always hope.
Life in the time of COVID-19 has, for me, enabled me to understand spiritual truths in a deeper, more tangible way. The message of Easter morning is truly good news. But it’s good because of the horribly bad news that came first. I’ll get to that in a minute… I’d like to start with who God is.
God Loves You
Friend, this is the truth. I don’t know what your background is or where you are on your spiritual journey, but God loves you. In the book of John in the Bible, Jesus tells Nicodemus–an influential religious leader–that God so loved the world that He gave His one and only son that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal (neverending) life. Jesus was not sent into the world to condemn the world, but to save it. He came that we might have life and have it abundantly, or experience it in all of its fullness (John 3:16-17; 10:10).
But There’s a Problem
Here’s the bad news. All of us have failed to please God. We’ve done things that we know we shouldn’t (active rebellion) and–perhaps even worse–we’ve failed to do the good we know we should (passive indifference). We’ve all lied, cheated, hurt others, and let pride feed our egos. We have not loved our neighbors, cared for widows and orphans in their distress, welcomed the immigrant, loosened the chains of injustice, or cared for the poor the way we should. This is an example of what the Bible calls sin.
I don’t like the word sin. It has so much baggage, doesn’t it?
Let me unpack it for you in a way that really helped me to understand it earlier in my own spiritual journey. The word sin was actually borrowed from the sport of archery. When an archer aims their arrow at the target, they do so with the goal of hitting the bullseye. If they miss, be it by a millimeter or several feet, their score is sin. They have missed the mark of perfection. In the same way, we as imperfect human beings have all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God–we’ve missed the mark of moral perfection (Romans 3:23).
It gets worse.
The Bible also tells us that the wages–or what we earn–as a result of our sin is death (Romans 6:23). Death is spiritual separation from God in three ways: spiritual, physical, eternal. Because of our failure and inability to do the right thing all the time we cannot experience God’s love in a real and personal way through philosophy, religion, or by living a good life. We have been socially distanced from God because we have been infected by a genetic disease with a 100% mortality rate. Which, without intervention, is essentially a death penalty.
Our Only Hope
As parents, we must follow through with consequences when our children disobey us. In the same way, because God is just, He must follow through with the consequences of our sin. But because He is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in love (Psalm 86:15), God sent His only son to pay that death penalty on our behalf. Jesus perfectly fulfilled God’s moral law. He is the only way to God (John 14:6) because He alone was able to take God’s punishment in our place to set us free. Did you catch that? No one took his life from him (John 10:18). He willingly died in our place (Romans 5:8) so that we wouldn’t have to experience spiritual and eternal distancing from God.
And it gets even better…
Jesus didn’t stay dead. After he died for our sins he was buried and raised on the third day according to the Scriptures (1 Corinthians 15:3-6). He rose from the dead! He defeated death and made it possible for us to know God and experience His neverending, unconditional love forever. This is the wonderfully good news that we celebrate on Easter morning.
The Greatest Gift
You don’t have to have it all together. You don’t have to be a perfect mom, daughter, sister, or friend to earn or keep God’s love. He pursues us, meets us in the midst of our messy, broken lives and offers us forgiveness. A fresh start and the beginning of a personal relationship with the God who created you. You don’t have to perform enough good works or religious duties to earn this priceless gift. You simply have to receive it by turning to God and trusting Jesus by faith.
Mama friend, God is so good. And it is my prayer that as you read this, that you would be encouraged and have a growing desire to know Him in a real and personal way. He knows you, loves you, and desires to bless you.
Happy Easter,
Lynda
