"Resurrection day (Easter) is the celebration of the resurrection of Jesus Christ on the third day after His crucifixion. Jesus paid the price for our sins on the cross and rose again to reconcile us to God (Romans 4:25). Easter is the fulfilled Old Testament prophecy of the Messiah who would be persecuted and die for our sins (Isaiah 53). There are about 300 prophecies, from Genesis to Malachi, in the Old Testament detailing the coming of the Anointed One, all fulfilled by Jesus.

The good news of deliverance (Isaiah 61), only makes sense once we see how we are enslaved by sin. It was through Adam that sin entered the world. When God created Adam and Eve as the first people in the Garden of Eden, they lived faultless and in obedience to God's commandments until they transgressed His command by eating from the tree they were told not to eat from. They believed satan's lie that they would receive special knowledge when eating the fruit of the tree and become like gods (Genesis 3:1-6). When they ate from the tree, they were punished by God in the form of spiritual death, and curses upon their lives. The relationship with God was cut off.

From that point on, every person born has inherited Adam’s sin nature and suffered the same consequences of both spiritual and physical death. Just like Adam and Eve, we are sinners who transgress the law of God. We are born physically alive but spiritually dead. This is why Jesus told Nicodemus, “You must be born again” (John 3:7). Physical birth provides us with a sinful human nature; spiritual rebirth provides us with a new nature (Ephesians 4:24). Most people think they are a good person because they make the tragic mistake of judging themselves by their own standards rather than God's standards. To understand this fully, we need to look first at God's Moral Law (Ten Commandments) to show us the fallen state of all mankind; then to the Gospel of Jesus’ grace that brings us salvation. (Matthew 5:17-48)

We're all infected with sin (1 John 3:4). We're born with sin and personally choose to sin (Romans 3:23; Ecclesiastes 7:20). Sin begins in the heart. Sin is what makes us unsaved. Sin is what separates us from God. It has us on the path to eternal destruction. Some common examples of sins we commit include sexual immorality, lying, stealing, mistreating others, lust, vanity, envy, greed, using God's name in vain, idolatry, witchcraft, divination etc. (Proverbs 6:16-19, Galatians 5:19-21). But we can also sin in the privacy of our own thoughts. God sees everything and His moral standard extends to our thoughts, fantasies and attitudes (Jeremiah 12:3).

A Holy God has to punish sin because He is just. If He did not punish, He wouldn’t be a just judge. However, God is also loving (Isaiah 61:8; 1 John 4:16) and does not desire anyone to perish. Jesus was sent into the world to bear the sins you and I committed so that God's judgement toward us could be transferred to Jesus. Through Jesus Christ’s death on the cross, He paid our debt and took away our sin (Isaiah 53:5). Jesus existed eternally in Heaven from the very beginning. Jesus and God are one (John 10:30). Through Him everything was made (John 1:1-4). God became a human in Jesus Christ (John 1:14), being conceived through the power of the Holy Spirit in the virgin Mary (Matthew 1:20). Jesus was truly man and truly God in His idenitity. He lived a perfect life to fulfill the righteous requirements of the Law that we fail to abide by. The wrath of God against sin had to be poured out on Jesus, the Lamb of God, the perfect sacrificial substitute, in order for forgiveness and salvation to be poured out to the nations (John 1:29).

Before Jesus died on the cross, He said, "It is finished!" An accounting term, meaning that the debt had been paid in full. God is Holy and morally righteous and the moral law demanded payment for sin, and justice was fully satisfied with payment through the blood shed by Jesus on the cross (Hebrews 9:22). Because of the cross, God could then be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus (Romans 3:25-26; 2 Corinthians 5:21).

After the crucifixion, Jesus' body was buried in a tomb sealed with a heavy stone and guarded by Roman soldiers. An angel descend and roll away the stone from the tomb’s opening. At the sight, the guards “shook with fear” and “fell into a dead faint” (Matthew 28:4). When they reported the event to the Jewish leaders, their reaction was to give the guards money, saying, “Tell people, ‘His disciples came by night and stole him away while we were asleep.’ (Matthew 28:13–15). The tomb of Jesus was discovered empty by multiple women, among them Mary Magdalene (Matthew 28:5-6). Peter & Simon arrive at the empty tomb after being summoned by Mary. (Luke 24:12, John 20:3-10).

The death and resurrection of Jesus Christ finished His work of redemption, atonement, and reconciliation and is the core of the Christian Gospel. (1 Cor. 15:14). If Jesus had simply died and not been resurrected, He would have been thought to be just another teacher or prophet. Over 500 people saw the resurrected Jesus, including His disiples, His half brother James and Paul (a persecuter of followers of Jesus). Paul converted to Christianity after his encounter with the risen Jesus.

Jesus’ victory over sin was also a victory over death. He did not remain in the grave, but arose from the dead with a glorified body, containing the whole fullness of God’s own nature. If you truly believe and receive Jesus alone as your Lord and Savior, you will be saved from judgment and spend eternity with God in heaven. (John 3:14-16). By grace you have been saved through faith. Not by your own doing or works, but it is a gift of God. (Ephesians 2:1-10).

If you don't know Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior you are still under the weight of your sin, guilty before a Holy God and you will be held accountable for your moral crimes and you will not enjoy eternal fellowship with Him. You, personally, must repent and believe on Jesus as your Lord and Savior otherwise you will die in your sins (Revelation 21:8). Salvation is not about certain steps we must follow to earn it. Yes, Christians should be baptized, publicly confess Christ as Savior, turn from sin and commit their lives to obeying God. However, these are not steps TO salvation but results OF salvation. Salvation is about receiving Christ as Savior and recognizing that He has done all of the work for us. God requires one step of us: receiving Jesus Christ as our Savior from sin and fully trusting in Him alone as the way of salvation. That is what distinguishes the Christian faith from all other world religions, each of which has a list of steps that must be followed in order for salvation to be received. The Christian faith recognizes that God has already completed the steps and simply calls on the repentant to receive Him in faith.

Repentance is an ingredient of faith. Repentance is a change of mind that results in a change of action. From an embrace of sin to rejection of sin. From rejection of Christ to faith in Christ. Repentance leads to life (Acts 11:18), and it is a necessary part of salvation. Such repentance is something only God can enable (John 6:44; 2 Timothy 2:25). Therefore, true biblical repentance will always result in a change of behavior. Sin is no longer desirable or fun, because sin brings condemnation. The repentant sinner begins to abhor his past misdeeds. The apostle Paul warned of the consequences of unrepentance in Romans 2:5 & 6:15.

If you repent and place your faith in Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, you are saved! Your sins are forgiven (1 John 1:9), and God promises to never forsake you (Romans 8:38–39; Matthew 28:20). Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires. (Galatians 5:24; Matthew 16:24).

Will you accept Jesus Christ as your Lord & Savior today?"