The sun is shining, the birds are chirping, and we are starting baseball season!

I love this time of the year. The cold days and sun going down before we even leave work are behind us, and warm sunny days are ahead!

A bonus to my favorite time of the year is that it also includes my favorite holiday, Easter. Easter is not my favorite holiday for the Easter baskets or egg hunts, although I loved getting baseball cards and chocolates in my baskets as a kid, and my family still has an egg hunt with an adults-only round! The winner gets gift cards to restaurants! How cool is that?

While we have commercialized Easter like other holidays in America, when we get to the heart of Easter, it’s all about Jesus Christ’s resurrection. No other religion can compete with that fact. The competitive nature in me views Easter in one word, VICTORY!

Victory over sin!
Victory over death!
Victory over Satan!

What do I mean by victory? Well I’m glad you asked! 😁 Let me show you why I love this holiday so much!

Jesus’ resurrection shows God’s acceptance of Jesus’s sacrifice.

Let’s back up a second. Three days before this great celebration of Jesus’ resurrection was a traumatic day. Angry Jews took God’s Son, Jesus, and nailed Him to a cross. I’ll spare you the gore of that scene, but it was graphic. Jesus had done no wrong, but He had been tried, convicted, and condemned to death.

Jesus knew this day would come. He, being God, was on this earth for that very reason. We as mankind are condemned in our sins without hope. The Old Testament prophesied that this day would come, but the people of that time, much like people today, ignored the Bible and denied Jesus as the Messiah.

Without this perfect, holy sacrifice, we would be condemned to hell and the Lake of Fire for eternity. This week Hell has gotten some attention because a foolish rapper named Little Nas X decided to use his influence to promote going to hell in a very sinful, provocative way.

I doubt any of my readers are Little Nas X fans, but just in case, a simple study of the Bible shows that Hell is anything but fun. Hell is a place of torment and misery for eternity.

Jesus had come to die, to pay the price for our sins. The resurrection was Jesus displaying the receipt of our sins paid in full!

But for us also, to whom it shall be imputed, if we believe on him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead; Who was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification.
Romans 4:24-25

Now that the price for sins has been paid in full, we have hope! To claim this free gift of salvation won by Jesus on the cross, we must come to Him by faith. Romans 10:9 tells us,

That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.

Jesus’ resurrection gives me new life and a new power because I have a new Master!

I currently work at First National Bank here in Cloverdale, Indiana. I’m a retail loan officer (If you are looking to buy a home or refinance, look me up!), and I clock in each day and work. I have my routines at work, but I also have people over me, commonly referred to as a boss. If the boss (master) tells me what to do, I do it. Why? Because they are the boss, aka my master.

When I was 22 years old, I had a job at everyone’s favorite place, Walmart. I’ve been out of that job now for 17 glorious years! If I had to walk into Walmart today and they yelled, “Hey Brad, get over here and clean this bathroom,” do you know what I would say to them?

“NO, YOU ARE NO LONGER MY MASTER!”

That may have been a bit dramatic, but the principle is true. I no longer am under their authority. I have a new authority in my life, First National Bank.

Now, don’t miss this important truth! If you have received Jesus Christ as your personal Savior, by faith, you have a new Master, Jesus Christ! Your old master, sin was harsh and brought pain and destruction after deceiving you with what seemed like pleasure.

Jesus brings joy, peace, security, and the list could go on! Pause a second and read some of these verses from Romans and let the truth sink in.

But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you.
Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh.
For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live.
Romans 8:11-13

This new life in Jesus gives us victory over sin! We no longer have to give in to sin. We can claim victory in Jesus! I have seen alcoholics, drug addicts, porn addicts, and more find freedom from sin when they placed their trust in Jesus Christ and gained a new loving Master. Romans 6 tells us,

Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof.
Romans 6:12

With this new Master Jesus we now have a new focus and a new desire to serve Him.

We once focused on pleasing ourselves, and now we live to please Him.
We once wanted to bring glory to ourselves, and now we live to glorify Him.

Now let’s take a second to deal with a common question. Am I saying we can live sinless lives? No, not on this side of heaven (I’ll get to that in a second). What I am saying now is that your excuse of, “Well, I have to do this, it’s just the way I am,” is debunked. With Jesus as our Master, you can get victory over that sin.

Our problem is we like sin too much. We choose to sin instead of listening to God, and we find pain, destruction, and hurt. Our flesh still desires sin and will show up every day to tempt us. We have to discipline ourselves to run to Jesus and claim His Victory.

Jesus’ resurrection makes death less fearful

I’m not too fond of the thought of death. No normal human being does. All of us, though, have thought about it at some point. If you have received Jesus as your Savior, as I mentioned above, then here is what we know.

On this earth, sin wears our bodies out.
On this earth, our flesh still tempts us to sin.

But,

In Heaven, we will have a new body that never grows weary or sick.
In Heaven, we will have no more struggle or guilt with sin.

Paul reminds us of Jesus’ victory in I Corinthians 15:

So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory.
O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?
The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law.
But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
1 Corinthians 15:54-57

What does Easter mean to you?

Can I say it one more time? I love this time of year! This weekend my family and I will be dressed in our Easter best and together celebrating the resurrection of Jesus Christ and enjoying every minute of it!

Can I ask you a question? What does Easter mean to you?

Have you received Jesus as your Savior, or are you living under the cruel master of sin? If you have received Jesus, are you still living defeated by sin? Have you begun to think that this is the normal Christian life? It’s not! In Jesus, you have a new position and power over sin.

Have a great Easter weekend! Go celebrate the fact that Jesus has risen victorious over sin and death! If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact me. I’d love to talk to you more about what the resurrection means for you!

Would you take a second to consider these cool opportunities below?

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