23.05.2014 22:41:14 641x read.
ARTICLES
Easter leads us to Newness Of Life
It is a known fact that the resurrection of Jesus, which we celebrate at Easter, is the foundation of our Christian faith. The meaning of Easter is Jesus Christ's victory over death and symbolizes the eternal life that is granted to all who believe in Him. Easter also symbolizes the complete verification of all that Jesus preached and taught during His three-year ministry. If He had not risen from the dead, if He had merely died and not been resurrected, He would have been considered just another teacher or prophet. However, His resurrection changed all that and gave final and irrefutable proof that He was really the Son of God and that He had conquered death once and for all. God has therefore given us a new birth into a living hope through His resurrection. Through faith we have been raised to walk in newness of life – to live the resurrected life. The resurrected life is one of restoration, transformation and elevation. The newness of the resurrection of Christ has as its immediate fruit the transformation of the fearful disciples into a new community that is the Church, the body of the risen One.
Very often, we find ourselves in prison, in the prison of fear, of imperfection, of blaming others, or the constant projection of an idealized image of ourselves to those around us. Sometimes the pattern of our life constitutes a prison from which we cannot break free. We become prisoners like Paul and Silas (Acts 16:24), become fearful like the disciples in the upper room (John 20:19) and disillusioned like the two disciples on the road to Emmaus (Luke 24:13f).
But if we praise God from our prison cell, in the confidence that in spite of our fetters we are in God's hands, then we too can experience the earth moving, the resurrection of Christ like Paul and Silas. If we have the eyes that see, we will discover the risen Lord in the ordinary events of our life. This is how we can experience the transformation, the newness of life and the renewal. Resurrection happens in the very midst of our lives. The risen Christ walks with us on our path of life. We can recognize Him if only we have the eyes that see. Easter is both a celebration of the gift of spiritual rebirth and at the same time a reminder of the constant renewal of life here on earth.
Jesus says to the frightened disciples, "Do not be afraid". By this, Jesus offered them, as he offers us, new life, and hope for the future. Easter injects hope into our disillusioned life. Nothing brings hope back to life like Easter. For the Easter message gives us hope in a bewildering world, hope to face the uncertainties of the future. This special season never arrives without its refreshing reminder that there is life beyond this present one: True life, Eternal life, Glorious life. Let us all therefore during this special season be open to see the resurrected Christ in our brother/sister, let us acquire the eyes of faith that can see the resurrected Christ on our path of life, and let us be disposed to the newness of life He is offering through His resurrection.