Easter is about faith, hope, and love.
Easter is pre-eminently about the love of God for us. The Father loved His Son and rescued Him from death. When the Father rescued the Son, He also rescued us, so that we can join in Paul’s taunt-song against death: “Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?”
Through His resurrection, Jesus became the Last Adam. The first man was earthy, raised up from the dust to become a living soul. The first man was flesh and blood, but earth and flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of heaven. Through His resurrection Jesus has become life-giving Spirit, the heavenly man. Through Him, because of the Father’s love, we also inherit the kingdom of heaven.
Jesus says that He Himself has authority to take up His life again. Death cannot hold Him. The Father raised Jesus from the grave, but Jesus raised Himself. By triumphing over death, Jesus our Husband has also rescued His bride from death. Because of His great love for His bride, He goes into the grave to bring her new life.
When we finally share fully in the resurrection of Jesus, and are conformed to His image, faith will be consummated by sight and hope by fulfillment. The one thing remaining will be love, the love of God displayed in the death and resurrection of the Son, the love fulfilled in our resurrection from the dead.
Easter is about faith, hope, and love. But the greatest of these is love.
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