The True Meaning Of Easter
by Polly Griffin
To understand the true meaning of Easter, we must go all the way back to the beginning of creation.
God made a beautiful earth and heaven to be a home for His son, Adam. (Luke 3:38, Genesis 1:1 thru 3:24) Adam was made in the image and likeness of God, his father. Out of the ground the Lord God formed every beast of the field and every fowl of the air. He brought them to Adam so Adam could give them names.
Also, out of the ground grew every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. At this time, there was no sickness, suffering or death.
And the Lord God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it.
"And the Lord God commanded the man saying,, of every tree of the garden you may freely eat: but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat of it: for in the day that you eat thereof you shall surely die." (KJV Gen. 3:16-17)
God said that it was not good for man to be alone and so he caused a deep sleep to come upon Adam. God removed a rib from Adam and formed a woman from the rib to be the wife of Adam. Adam named his wife Eve. God had given Adam and his wife Eve just about everything. They truly lived in paradise, the earthly heaven.
Now, in the garden of Eden was a serpent. This serpent was Satan. (Rev. 20:2) Satan is also known as the tempter, Lucifer, and the devil. He personifies evilness and rebellion.
The serpent tempted Eve and said:
"Ye shall not surely die: for God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil." (KJV Gen. 3:4-5)
So, Eve looked at the fruit and saw that it was good for food and pleasant to the eyes and she ate of it. She then gave some to Adam and he ate of it.
By eating of the forbidden fruit, Adam caused the downfall of man. God expelled Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden and sickness, suffering, and death came upon the earth.
In spite of Adam's and Eve's failures, God did not lose His love for mankind and promised that He would send a Savior to restore man back to the paradise state that He had intended for man.
(God speaking to Satan in KJV Gen. 3:15) "And I will put enmity (hatred) between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed, it shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel."
(Romans 16:20) "And the God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly/ The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Amen.
Throughout the centuries, the prophets told the story of a Savior that would come to earth to save mankind from their sins and restore them to paradise: (Isaiah 7:14), Matthew 6:10, Hebrew 9:12, Revelation 21:4)
About two thousand years ago that prophecy was fulfilled when a virgin named Mary became pregnant with a son that had been conceived in her by the Holy Ghost. This child was no ordinary child because He was the incarnation of the Word from heaven which came to earth in the form of God's only begotten son, Jesus. (KJV John 1:1-14, John 3:16, 1 Corinthians 15:47, John 8:23)
Mary was engaged to Joseph when she became pregnant by the Holy Ghost. Joseph married her, but their marriage was not consummated until after the birth of baby Jesus.
When it was almost time for the child to be born, a decree went forth from Caesar Augustus that a census of the whole world should be taken. This first census took place while Cyrinus was governor of Syria. And everyone was going to his own town to register.
And Joseph and Mary went from Galilee out of the town of Nazareth into Judea to the town of David, which is called Bethlehem. The town was crowded and since there was no place for them to stay in the inn, they went into a stable. Mary delivered her child there and placed Him in a manger.
All around Bethlehem shepherds were watching their sheep. Suddenly an angel of God appeared. The angel spoke:
"Fear not, for behold I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David, a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.
And this shall be a sign unto you: you shall find the Baby wrapped in swaddling clothes lying in a manger.
And as the angel spoke, the heavens were filled with a chorus of angels proclaiming, "Glory to God in the highest, and on Earth, peace, good will toward men."
God's great love for mankind was made manifest through the birth of His son. The long awaited promise of a Savior had now come to pass.
"For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son that whosoever believeth in Him shall not perish, but have everlasting life." John 3:16
God's heavenly son was the only person that could save mankind. The price for redemption was His blood. He paid this price upon the cross at Calvary when He was put to death. He conquered death when He was resurrected. His resurrection is celebrated each year at Easter time.
"Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us." (Hebrews 9:12 KJV)
Like Adam and Eve, everyone has a choice to make. Each of us must decide if we want to choose to follow Jesus which leads to life or do we want to follow Satan the evil one. His way leads to death. When we choose Jesus, we are reborn. We cast away the lineage of God's earthly son Adam, who fell from grace. We take on the lineage of God's heavenly son, Jesus.
"He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil." 1 John 3:8
Jesus is calling for workers to help him restore the earth to a heavenly paradise like it once was. He pleads for workers to help with the work.
"'And Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people.
But when he saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion on them, because they fainted, and were scattered abroad, as sheep having no shepherd.
Then saith he unto his disciples, The harvest truly is plenteous, but the labourers are few; Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth labourers into his harvest." Matthew 9:35-38
"And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away." Revelations 21:4 KJV)
The Killing Of Three Lambs
Much of the Bible revolves around the killing of three lambs.
Lamb #1
Long, long ago there was a man named Abram who was married to a woman named Sarai.
God made a covenant with Abram saying:
"Unto thy seed have I given this land from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates. (Genesis 15:18)
Now Sarai bare Abram no children, but she had a handmaiden named Hagar. She told Abram to go into Hagar and have a child by her. He did and Hagar became pregnant. She bore a son named Ishmael. od told Abram that His covenant was with him. God changed Abram's name to Abraham. God told Abraham to circumcise all males of his seed and all males purchased with money.
God said that Sarai's name would be Sarah and that He would bless her and she would give him a son. She would be a mother of nations; kings of people shall be of her.
With this statement, "Abraham fell upon his face and laughed. He said in his heart, Shall a child be born unto him that is an hundred years old and shall Sarah, that is ninety years old, bear?" Genesis 17:17
God said that Sarah would indeed bear him a son and his name shall be called Isaac, and He would establish His covenant with him for an everlasting covenant and with his seed after him.
God also blessed Ishmael. He said that Ishmael would beget 12 princes and he would make him a great nation. However, he said His covenant would be with Isaac.
Sarah did bear Isaac. As Isaac and Ishmael grew, Sarah did not like Hagar and Ishmael. She asked Abraham to cast them out from their home. God told Abraham to do what Sarah asked. She said He would also make Ishmael a mighty nation. Abraham obeyed.
Then God decided to test Abraham's faith in Him. He told him to take his son, Isaac, that he loved, and offer him for a burnt offering. Abraham obeyed God. He bound Isaac and laid him upon the altar. Then he raised the knife to slay Isaac. The angel of the Lord called out to Abraham and told him not to slay the child because he had proven his faith in God.
Then a ram that was caught in the bushes was slaughtered for the burnt offering.
God told Abraham that in his seed all the nations of the earth would be blessed.
Lamb #2
Isaac had a son named Jacob. He had many children, but he loved one of them more than all the others. His name was Joseph. The other children hated Joseph because their Dad loved him most.
One day Jacob gave Joseph a coat of many colors. This really made the other children angry and they decided to get rid of Joseph. They sold him to some merchants who were on their way to Egypt. They killed an animal, put its blood upon the coat and told their father that Joseph had been killed by an animal.
The merchants sold Joseph to the captain of the guard of the ruler of Egypt. The ruler of Egypt was called Pharaoh.
Pharaoh loved Joseph because he had interpreted some dreams for him. Then Pharaoh made Joseph ruler over all of Egypt. Only the Pharaoh was more powerful than Joseph.
Time passed and a famine came upon the earth. Joseph's family came to Egypt to buy corn. Joseph told his family who he was and they were reunited.
All was well until after Joseph and the kind Pharaoh died and other persons took their places. The Israelites (the name of Joseph's family) grew. The Egyptians became fearful of the Israelites because they thought they were going to take over all of Egypt, and they put them in slavery and made them work and serve the Egyptians.
God heard their crying and grieving and sent Moses to lead them out of slavery. God gave them the land known as Israel today for their homeland.
Moses met with the Pharaoh that was ruler at the time and asked him to let the Israelites go but the ruler would not let them leave. God gave Moses the power to show the Pharaoh many signs, but still the ruler would not let the people go. Finally, God said He would do one more thing and after that the ruler would let the people go.
This was to be one of the saddest days in all of history and God said the Israelites must remember it always and to always observe it each year. He was going to set them free from slavery by killing the firstborn child of all the Egyptians.
The Israelites were ordered to eat special foods during this time and they must also kill a lamb and take its blood and paint it on the door so death would not take the lives of the firstborn of the Israelites. When the destroyer saw the blood on the houses of the Israelites, that family was "passed over" and the firstborn were not killed. The ruler of Egypt finally let the people leave Egypt to go to the land that God had given them.
God instructed the Israelites to observe this day by eating the Feast of the Passover each year on the 14th day of the first month. This month is called Abid (or Nisan) on the Jewish calendar.
Lamb #3
Many years later, there was to be another lamb slaughtered to free all the people on earth from the slavery of sin. This time God used His own son, Jesus, as the lamb to be slaughtered and by doing so, the world could be saved.
The slaughtering of our Lord Jesus Christ upon the cross coincides with the days of the Passover and both times must always be remembered as an expression of God's love for the people. Love isn't love until it is put into an action .
As the days drew closer for eating the passover meal, Jesus goes to Jerusalem. As he entered the city, the people laid their garments and branches off the trees and laid them in his path. They cried saying Hosanna; Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord. They gathered together in an upper room to eat the passover meal.
Judas Iscariot made plans to betray Jesus. He was promised money if he did.
"And as they did eat, Jesus took bread, and blessed, and brake it, and gave to them, and said, Take, eat; this is my body.
And he took the cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them; and they all drank of it.
And he said unto them, 'This is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many. Verily I say unto you, I will drink no more of the fruit of the vine,until that day that I drink it new in the kingdom of God. And when they had sung an hymn, they went out into the Mount of Olives." Mark 14:22-26
Jesus was betrayed by Judas Iscariot and was arrested. He was tried and sentenced to die upon the cross.
He died upon the cross. His blood bought redemption for all mankind.
"Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place , having obtained eternal redemption for us." Hebrews 9:12
The third day after his death, he rose from the dead to live forevermore.
The day he was resurrected is called Easter!!
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