The beauty of Easter properly remembered is that it opens our vision to three things that people often underestimate.

 

1. The awfulness of sin

We are so hardened towards sin becasue it is with us from when we are born. We build up a tolerance for it, a hardness in our heart that protects us from our own awfulness. Like a fish born in acidic water we don't even know there's anything wrong with the environment until it kills us.

 

We find ways of justifying sin or minimising its importance.  We call it by false names like "self-expression",  "white lies" or "self-defence". We blame others or society. We condone our own actions while condemning the deeds of others.

 

When we see the Son of God being tortured to death we are forced to admit "I did that. My sin did that."

 

We cannot begin to  comprehend what it meant for Jesus to be abandoned by God, to receive all of humanity's sinfulness  and the wrath of God's judgement.

 

But we should gain an insight into the awfulness of our own personal sin.

 

2. The awesomeness of God's grace 

If our sin is too awful to contemplate, then the grace of God in deflecting the consequences of sin should be too awesome to absorb.

 

The resurrection of Jesus on Easter Sunday reminds us that judgement is not the final word. Death has been conquered, sin has been overcome and now eternal life is available to all.

 

The path to eternity is simple. Follow Jesus all the way to the cross, dying to your own self-directed path, and He will bring you through to eternal life.

 

New life. New birth. Life in all its fullness.

 

It's yours by the grace of God.

 

3. The greatness of God's blessings 

There is a joy that is indescribable that comes to followers of Jesus.

 

Popular opinion of christians is that they are miserable whiners with no life.

 

Nothing could be further from the truth!

 

When we let go of the false prizes and glittery nothings that the world dangles before our eyes, the true goal emerges.

 

We weren't born for the non-life of suburbia, the Matrix-like subsistence of living for the weekend and making the house ever prettier.

 

God designed you with a purpose, a hand-crafted original. When you start to align yourself with His plans you discover blessing after blessing. Above all you receive the incredible peace of a life lived in harmony with its design and its designer.

 

Next weekend most Australians will celebrate a 5-day long weekend, and 95% of them will miss the point of the holiday. Sure you can waste it camping or watching footy. 

 

Or you can look for the reason for the break, the meaning beyond the holiday, and move into the greatest experience any person can ever hope to receive.